Winter 2020 Fishing Around Anna Maria Island

—What a weather roller coaster ride, here on Anna Maria Island, in January! We started out January 2020 with record setting heat, only to plunge into the 50°’s on most days, during the latter half of the month! 

—I started out the month fishing many of the same areas that I was frequenting in December.

—Inshore, we were catching redfish, black drum, mangrove snapper and sheepshead around residential docks. And nearshore, I was looking for snapper, grunts, porgies, sheepshead, catch and release grouper and more, over areas of hard bottom, in the 3 to 9 miles range. 

—Then when it finally cooled off, the sheepshead began to spawn off of the beaches, and really began to push up into Tampa Bay. Here, they started to congregate over areas of structure – such as bridges, wrecks, reefs, etc. My clients experienced a great sheepshead bite that started in mid-January and will likely continue through March.

These fish offer a challenge, as they are very hard to hook, and offer delicious fillets as well.

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