The gift of fishing — the perfect present

I think Santa Claus gave us an early Christmas Present this year.

In my Just Reel Fishing charters throughout the waters of Palma Sola Bay, north to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and out to Egmont Key, I am not noticing any red tide. In fact, the waters look so pristine it’s hard not to get hypnotized by being able to clear to the bottom in most areas.

As far as fishing goes, I’m seeing a good variety of species come to the boat while on my Southernaire fishing charters.

Fishing along the beaches with shrimp-tipped jigs is starting to yield a few pompano. Pompano are one of my favorite to catch as they fight extremely hard for their size. Plus, they are great on the grill, too.

Sheepshead are starting to become concentrated around rocks and docks and I’m even seeing them on the flats gorging on shrimp and other crustaceans.

Fishing for spotted seatrout is also shaping up. Casting soft plastics on a jighead over deep grass flats where sandy potholes exist is yielding some good numbers.

Lastly, catch-and-release redfish are being found around docks and oyster bars. Casting lie shrimp to these fish is resulting in a hook up.

Until next week, Merry Christmas to all and keep those lines tight.