By: Capt. Bart Marx
December in Southwest Florida that means you are finished shopping for Christmas, or you have not started yet. You can go to your local tackle store and get gift certificates, or you could contact Capt. Bart and get a gift certificate for a fishing trip for your friends! This is the holiday season, and it is the time of year that we spend time with family and friends. And this is also the time of year folks from up north come to visit because it is too cold up north. It is a great time to plan a fishing trip and catch some fresh fish for a meal. Some of the species that are good eating are mangrove snapper, redfish, and trout, what we call inshore fish. Then you have your offshore fish like spanish mackerel and king mackerel and there may even be some triple tail hanging around on the stone crab trap buoys. Also, the sheepshead should start their migration from the bays out to the close to shore reefs to spawn where you could also find some flounder moving in this same type of pattern. The hardest thing about this time of year is the cold fronts as a couple of days before they get here the wind blows out of the south and when the front passes it starts to blow out of the north. This is very frustrating when you are trying to go fishing in the boat as it makes it tough to cast and get your bait where you think the fish are. If you try to go offshore in windy conditions, it’s not fun pounding through the waves, and when you get to your fishing spot and try to anchor the boat, be able to feel the bite while the boat is bouncing up and down. Check the weather and the tides, as the wind can hold the tides where they are not on schedule, so you don’t get stuck behind the sand bar. I use several weather apps for wind direction wave height etc. Also, this time of year the kids are out of school and should get out of the house and learn about the outdoors. This holiday season take a kid fishing if you have your own boat, or Capt. Bart Marx can come on your boat and show you how we get it done. No boat, no problem, schedule a trip on my boat with the rest of your friends or family! Contact Capt. Bart Marx 941-979-6517 or email captbart@alphaomegacharters, and always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile!