pompano

One of many Pompano caught by Larry on an early winter morning last season. I’m certain we’ll catch a lot more of these critters this year too!

I hate to admit it, but I still haven’t found my way onto the water since my last report. Our recent fickle weather patterns and one pressing project robbed me of the few “nice” weather days I could have fished recently. I’m not too concerned though as this weird weather is expected to be over fairly soon. I expect to be out frequently after the Holiday Season is behind us!

Reports are actually good in the offshore arena. Kingfish are abundant at about the fifty foot depth. Live and trolled strip-baits are catching plenty. Just inshore of the kings are Spanish mackerel. Small spoons and jigs will catch them easily when they decide to show themselves on the surface. Just inside of the Spanish are the pompano. These fish are staying farther offshore than normal because the beach-water and river-water temps are lower than normal given the time of year.

Kim and I are seeing a fair amount of action on our daily walks at Jetty Park. The jetty anglers are catching a mixed bag including lookdown, a variety of snappers, sheepshead, black drum, margate, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jacks and snook. In fact the last few days of snook season we saw several slot fish landed by both land based and boat anglers! Live shrimp and small mojarra were the baits of choice from the jetty with live pinfish and croakers getting results from the boaters.

Once the weather stabilizes and our local nearshore/inshore water temps reach the upper sixty or lower seventy degree range we should see a return of the pompano we all love to target. In the event the waters stay on the chilly side we’ll simply switch to targeting sheepshead and other bottom dwellers holding on hard structures like rocks, pilings and seawalls. Rest assured, we’ll be catching something, somewhere, most of the time this winter season!