By Jimmy Tomazinis
mail@floridanewsline.com
Happy New Year! I can’t believe we’re here already. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and are excited for the possibilities that a new year holds. I feel very fortunate to be able to talk about fishing with all of you in 2023. I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions, but I do like to set plans and goals for what I hope to accomplish that year.
This year, my goal is to catch one if not a few tarpon in our area of the river. I caught my first tarpon in the river more than 15 years ago and I’ve been chasing them ever since. I’ve chased them to the ocean, Central Florida, the Keys and back, but catching one close to home again has always eluded me. I’ve already confessed this goal to a friend of mine so he can hold me accountable throughout the year. You can hold me to it as well and I’ll try to keep you updated on any successes or failures along the way.
I’d also like to put this back to you and ask — what are you going to catch this year? What new area will you learn to fish? Is there a new technique you’re going to try? We all want to go out and catch fish, but challenging ourselves to learn new things is how we grow as anglers.
If your goal is to get better at fishing through the winter, be patient because the fishing has been tough. The specks seem to have vacated to local creeks and are sticking it out in the main river. They’re way less apt to be in large schools out there, so it’s work just to get a few fish. The ones I do catch in the river tend to be quality fish though. There’s still a few shrimp in the river — which a bass would just love to find this time of year. Smaller redfish are around looking for the shrimp or small bait fish too. A short drive to the saltier waters of the Intracoastal Waterway might yield better results. A live shrimp on a jig head will catch just about anything. Fish them in deeper holes of the creeks or around oyster bars for easier fishing this time of year. Artificials can produce in the same areas, but try downsizing and slow retrieves for best results. Tight lines.
