Happy New Year fellow anglers. 2015 has been a long, hot year, but the water temperature is slowly coming down.  As it cools, the bait moves and the pelagic fish follow. I am talking about king and spanish mackerel. You can troll or still fish for these guys. For the kings, thread fins are a great bait. Find a school over some structure and cast one with some wire leader because kings have very sharp teeth. Or you can troll using some big spoons behind a planer - this is an effective way to harvest some for a cookout. For the spanish mackeral,  you can use a jig and spoon combo to troll and catch two at a time. Also close to shore reefs you will find mangrove snapper and lanes out to 50 feet. As you travel, check the trap buoys for triple tail and cast a shrimp to them - they love them. And there should be plenty of white grunts in these same areas with the snapper. You may encounter an occasional hog fish too. I like to use shrimp that I get from Fishin' Franks for the hogs and snapper. The sheepshead are starting their migration out to the shallow reefs along with some flounder too. When I am reporting, the regulations that are most important to me are the state waters that are out to nine miles. This is the area that I frequently fish. Looking inshore, drum - red and black - using crabs or shrimp around the bridges for the black and along mangrove and creeks for the reds. For trout on the grass flats this time of year I like to get the fly rod out and use a top water popper to harvest some sea trout. I use an eight weight for the trout and it is fun. If you get a redfish to bite or even a snook you have enough rod to play. Along the outer edges of the bars you may encounter some pompano while fishing for trout or a cobia. With the weather conditions changing so quickly, keep informed so you can make adjustments in your fishing trips. If you don't have a boat, I can help and make the day a great one so call Capt. Bart Marx 941-979-6517 or e-mail captbart@alphaomegacharters.com  Or if you have your own boat and would like to learn some of the techniques of this area I can do that too. And always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{