Hello fishermen, I trust that all of you had a Merry Christmas. I know that we did as we celebrated the birth of our son, Evan Keith Mixon A.K.A. Captain Kid. As you can imagine, I can hardly wait for the opportunity to take him fishing along Florida's Space Coast for his first redfish. As we begin a new year in our lives, it is once again time to give thanks for all of our many blessings in our past and look forward to the memories that will be made in our future.
During the month of January, there should be many opportunities for anglers to catch a wide variety of fish along the Florida's east coast.
When fishing inshore, redfish as well as black drum should be willing to bite a variety of live and artificial lures along channel drop offs. When using live or cut bait, fishermen will find that select shrimp, lady fish or mullet attached to a circle hook will work well for a trophy size fish. This is especially true in areas around the Haulover canal. Patient anglers will find that a strong outgoing tide will provide plenty of action when these baits are fished on the bottom.
While fishing the flats, sea trout, black drum, and red fish will be in search of warm water during mid day. When targeting these fish, scented jerk baits will work well around wind protected areas. With a slow retrieve, lures such as Bass Assassin's Electric Chicken 4" BLURP Shrimp hooked weedless should provide plenty of action. Calm conditions will make sight fishing easier near sandy "potholes". Large black drum are known to feed along the eastern shores of the "NO-Motor" zone as well as spoil islands located at the northern end of the Banana River. Some of these fish can weigh in excess of thirty plus pounds.
Also, when fishing near Port Canaveral or along the beach, keep an eye out for tripletail. On bright sunny days, these tasty fish which are known to hang out near the buoy line. Tripletail can be sight casted to when using a variety of bright colored lures as well as live shrimp. When hooked up, hold on tight. These fish are known to be awesome fighters. If you are looking to take some home for dinner, take note of the following regulations, tripletail must have a minimum length of fifteen inches, and a daily bag limit of two fish per person.
In addition, surf fishing should be at its best throughout the Brevard County coastlines. When the water temperatures reach 65 degrees or colder be on the lookout for the Florida pompano. If you are on looking to hook up with one of the tastiest fish that swims in our waters than look no further. These fish which can put up quite a fight on light tackle will prefer to feed on cut clams or sand fleas. With an average weight of two to three pounds, the pompano will make it to many anglers' dinner tables.