We'll be spending all of January on the west coast of Florida near New
Port Richey. We will be on a canal about a half-mile from the Gulf.
The house we are renting comes w/ a "flats boat" and 25hp outboard.
I've never fished in an area like this (home is central IL where I try
to catch LM bass from my 18' Nitro).

From the maps I've seen, the depth in the immediate vicinity appears
to be no more than 20 feet. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on
fishing in this area. What's the major game fish? How do you catch
'em? Any books, web-sites, etc., I should review.

I'm basically catch and release but not adverse cleaning and cooking
if the catch is right.
Thanks.

Try www.captmel.com

If you post your questions in the forums you will get all the help you need.

Erich,

How wonderful that you'll be paying a visit to our fair state, and
especially to the area of the west coast that I live in! I live in Holiday,
which is the next city south along the west coast of Florida. I go out of
the Anclote river instead of the (Pithlachascotee) or Cotee River, or Gulf
Harbors, or wherever it is you'll be renting the boat from. In any case, I
fish these waters all the time. Oh, BTW, I use mainly shrimp as bait
because it's versatile and easy to get. I've used pinfish too, but not with
the same success I've had with shrimp. I believe pinfish are more effective
if you go a little further off coast.

I'll list some the fish I've come in contact with:

* Catfish - Usually a little further up in canals, or rivers in this area.
Yucky, but provide a good fight. Beware of their barbs because they can
cause allergic reactions, etc. I can't count the number of these little
******s that I've caught, but it's probably a hundred.
* Pinfish - Looks like a sunfish like we used to catch up north. The
smaller variety are sold in the stores as live bait, but I find I catch
plenty of them in the waters just off the coast.
* Grunts - These are inedible, little wasted fish, brown and ugly. You'll
know them because of their "grunting" sound.
* Spotted trout - My favorite - check the local regulations, but I believe
they don't go out of season, and they just have to be 15" long. Great
eating. See my recipe for Sheepshead/Drum.
* Mullet - These are jumpers. You'll see them typically do a triple "skip"
out of the water. Mainly along the coast, up in by the mangroves, or up in
the rivers. I hear you smoke these things and eat them, but I have never
kept one.
* Flounder - I've caught flounder in the Anclote river, and also out in the
are between the barrier islands (Anclote Key, and the Sandbar to the north).
Very yummy.
* Sheepshead/Drum - These aren't really the same fish, but I have a hard
time telling them apart. I've caught these babies in the rivers, and out
to, and slightly beyond the barrier islands. Very light meat, just a little
butter and garlic, you'll be good to go!
* Lady Fish - Inedible from what I've been told, I've also heard them
called "baby tarpons" because of their strong fight, and the way they leap
into the air when you're reeling them in.
* Redfish/Snook - Redfish and Snook are supposed to be very good eating,
but I have yet to catch one large enough in season that I can eat. I think
you need special stickers on your license to catch some of these things. Be
REALLY careful about the regulations on these fish, Ignorance is no excuse,
I'm told they'll seize your car, boat and trailer, and lock you up for
having one of these things out of season.
* Pompano/Permit - Just south of where you'll be staying is the Anclote
Power Plant power plant, and the outlet of this power plant, on the north
side, is a spot for nice fishing, particularly in the winter, it seems the
fish like the warm outflow from the power plant. Last weekend I caught a
permit up in the outlet canal there that was large enough to eat.
* Grouper - I've yet to catch one, but I don't typically go out far enough
to get them. I'm told you need rocks on the bottom, and 20 feet of water.
Grouper is like steak in restaurants here. I would say it is my favorite of
all the fish because of it's flavor - or lack of it.

In addition to fishing, I recommend you check out the North Anclote Sandbar,
which we've been having a local fight over for the last few years, it seems
the parks department has taken it over and wants to turn it into some sort
of bird sanctuary. Reference www.saveoursandbar.com for more information on
that. Everyone I've ever run into out at the Sandbar were really cool
people, it's a great place to make friends.

Anclote Key just to the south of the sandbar, and west of Tarpon Springs and
the Anclote river. They have a lighthouse out there that they just
restored. Unfortunately, with this restoration comes a return to safety,
and the ability for the public to tour the lighthouse - which wasn't really
ever supposed to happen, but because of vandals, we were lucky enough to
sneak in for a quick tour. This lighthouse is REALLY spectacular from the
top. http://www.anclotekey.com/home.html has more information about the
key, and the lighthouse.

Nightlife on the rivers are also quite good, On the Cotee river I recommend
The Crab Shack, Catch's, and Hooter's. All three have Good food. Catches
is the classiest of the bunch so I wouldn't try to go in there after a long
days' fishing and sweating. The other places, you'd be more than welcome
I'm sure.

If you go out the mouth of the Cotee, and then south to Anclote river, and
the back in, you'll find Tarpon Springs and the Sponge Docks. Tarpon
Springs is a huge fishing hub for shrimping, crabbing, and sponging.
Originally established in the early 1900s, by mainly folks of Greek descent,
Tarpon is a Tourist trap for sure that you shouldn't miss whether you come
by boat or by Car. On the Anlote river You'll find Pappas, Santorini's, and
Captain Jack's. Pappas is again, the classiest of the joints, and I
wouldn't want to go in there looking scruffy either. Santorini's has a
floating dock, with a big sign that claims: "You hook it, we cook it!"

I hope I've helped you a little in what you can expect when you get down
here. If you want you can email me at dp_midknight at yahoo dott c0m and
maybe I can answer any specific questions you have about the area. Maybe
we'll go out fishing one day in January. Brr!

Finally, my disclaimer- If I've provided any incorrect, or inaccurate
information in this post, I'm sorry. I'm not a professional fisherman, I'm
just your average joe going out fishing and enjoying these waters. If you
have a better opinion, or a correction to what I have to say, then by all
means, post it. If you want to flame just for the sake of belittling
someone who isn't as knowledgeable as yourself, well, just keep it to
yourself, but then again, you wouldn't be the kind of person who would then,
would you?

As for you Erich, I hope you have a good time down here, I know I do. The
fishing in Minnesota was never this good. See you in January.

-BrianDP








"erich" wrote in message
om...
We'll be spending all of January on the west coast of Florida near New
Port Richey. We will be on a canal about a half-mile from the Gulf.
The house we are renting comes w/ a "flats boat" and 25hp outboard.
I've never fished in an area like this (home is central IL where I try
to catch LM bass from my 18' Nitro).

From the maps I've seen, the depth in the immediate vicinity appears
to be no more than 20 feet. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on
fishing in this area. What's the major game fish? How do you catch
'em? Any books, web-sites, etc., I should review.

I'm basically catch and release but not adverse cleaning and cooking
if the catch is right.
Thanks.

Go to floridasportsman.com, log onto the forums, look for the west coast
group, and ask away. Great anglers and terrific people offering lots of
help.



"erich" wrote in message
om...
We'll be spending all of January on the west coast of Florida near New
Port Richey. We will be on a canal about a half-mile from the Gulf.
The house we are renting comes w/ a "flats boat" and 25hp outboard.
I've never fished in an area like this (home is central IL where I try
to catch LM bass from my 18' Nitro).

From the maps I've seen, the depth in the immediate vicinity appears
to be no more than 20 feet. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on
fishing in this area. What's the major game fish? How do you catch
'em? Any books, web-sites, etc., I should review.

I'm basically catch and release but not adverse cleaning and cooking
if the catch is right.
Thanks.

* Grunts - These are inedible, little wasted fish, brown and ugly.
You'll
know them because of their "grunting" sound.

Grunt inedible? You've got to be kidding.

Hi Erich,
Welcome to Florida in Advance. I live in Jacksonville. Further north and
on the other coast, but the laws are the same.
Please have a look at the following website, and you will find a great
deal of info about local laws.

State of Florida all about fishing, licenses, limits and seasonal info.
Also have a look at the manatee regs, as they will be in the bay then.

http://www.floridaconservation.org/fishingareas.html

New Port Richie USCG Auxiliary. These folks will be happy to give you
the local info on fishing, and boating safety too. The Gulf of Mexico is
not to be trifled with. It can be a dangerous body of water.

http://www.uscgaux.org/~0701106/

You may also want to have a peek at my personal website and look over
the "abandon ship, children & pet lifejackets" link

Capt. Frank Hopkins USCG AUX

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks

erich wrote:
We'll be spending all of January on the west coast of Florida near New
Port Richey. We will be on a canal about a half-mile from the Gulf.
The house we are renting comes w/ a "flats boat" and 25hp outboard.
I've never fished in an area like this (home is central IL where I try
to catch LM bass from my 18' Nitro).

From the maps I've seen, the depth in the immediate vicinity appears
to be no more than 20 feet. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on
fishing in this area. What's the major game fish? How do you catch
'em? Any books, web-sites, etc., I should review.

I'm basically catch and release but not adverse cleaning and cooking
if the catch is right.
Thanks.

I go down to the Keys everyear, I like the fishing there much better of
course but one time we cruised up to Dunedin, Tampa bay, we fished pretty
hard and caught a bunch of those sea trouts. What we had fun doing in that
area of the Gulf was to catch some of those smaller grunts or snappers and
hook them in the tail with a larger rig then let them swim out for a while
and BAM,,, a shark or stingray or big grouper. I don't know what the laws
are there about using this type of bait, hopefully someone will add that but
we spent the better part of a day doing that one time, caught about 6 or 8
really big sharks and a few that just wouldn't come near the boat, didn't
know what those were. A few peeled our reels right off and left us there
laughing but wonder what those were. Of course we only had 20 and 30 and 50
lbs line, and not real big tackle.
Good luck, don't forget the fishing licenses.






"erich" wrote in message
om...
We'll be spending all of January on the west coast of Florida near New
Port Richey. We will be on a canal about a half-mile from the Gulf.
The house we are renting comes w/ a "flats boat" and 25hp outboard.
I've never fished in an area like this (home is central IL where I try
to catch LM bass from my 18' Nitro).

From the maps I've seen, the depth in the immediate vicinity appears
to be no more than 20 feet. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on
fishing in this area. What's the major game fish? How do you catch
'em? Any books, web-sites, etc., I should review.

I'm basically catch and release but not adverse cleaning and cooking
if the catch is right.
Thanks.

Subject: Florida Fishing Advice
From: "Joe"

* Grunts - These are inedible, little wasted fish, brown and ugly.
You'll
know them because of their "grunting" sound.

Grunt inedible? You've got to be kidding.


Maybe he's never caught one big enough to eat. :-)

Capt. Bill

Grunts and grits, Dixie' answer to bagels and lox.

Joe wrote:

* Grunts - These are inedible, little wasted fish, brown and ugly.
You'll
know them because of their "grunting" sound.

Grunt inedible? You've got to be kidding.

Grunt inedible? You've got to be kidding.


Maybe he's never caught one big enough to eat. :-)

Capt. Bill

OK, but this NW'er doesn't understand.
Are they so big you have to grunt when you reel 'em in, or so bad that you need
to grunt after you eat one?