In February in southwest Florida there are plenty of species to target. Looking offshore, the sheepshead and flounder will be found in the shallow waters of the Gulf out to 40-45 feet of water. They love the cold water this time of year. They move out to spawn and when you find them the action is awesome. The sheepshead are very sneaky - they like to pick the baits off your hook. You need to set the hook just before they bite. They will eat shrimp, and most any crunchy bait. By using circle hooks, it seems that they come in buttoned about half way to the boat. I think it is because of the plate of crunchers they have. The hook cannot penetrate it. I use 1/0 inline VMC circles and they seem to do the job staying hooked up. Then you've got your flounder that love shrimp. These flat fish can be caught out to the 50 foot line too. They like to lay on the upside of the small hard bottom ledges that are covered with sand. When you find them they give a good fight and are some anglers favorite sea food. They are good table fare. The flesh is very mild unlike mackerel. You may find Spanish mackerel attacking your bait as you drop or retrieve it. They have teeth that will cut 20lb. leader. In these same areas you will find lanes and mangrove snapper, along with grunts, porgies, and triggers. On the groupers, it is a wait and see what the State of Florida is going to do about opening them to harvest. For those that go out deep enough to find red snapper, the State is changing some things so they can collect fish catch numbers for the private sector. Keep your ears and eyes open as to what is going to be the new regulations. They are making it harder and harder to keep up with the changes. With that said, I mostly fish State waters anyway, even when it is for my fresh fish dinner. Enough about that lets take a look at the inshore fishing this month.  Black drum can be found along the pilings of docks and bridges in S.W. Florida. They will eat some blue crabs, broken in half and placed near the bottom close to pilings. It may be best if you use a 30 or 40lb. class setup because the guys can be found in the XL size and they can pull too. The black drum is good to eat. I like the smaller ones 16 to 18 inches for eating. This is a great time for your pompano too they will jump in your wake as you travel along the edges of the bars. They come through the passes where jigging for them is productive to harvest them. They will hit small jigs, some like to tip it with a small piece of shrimp to sweeten it up. The trout should be in action, try using a fly rod with a top water popper to target these guys. It is fun with a 8 weight rig and this will get the job done. If you'd like to search for cobia  this month, you can travel along the edges of the  sand bars and spot these brown tackle testers. If you see one, they like anything live like pin fish to shrimp. Just hook your fresh bait, get it in the line of sight and let the live bait do its thing by swimming around. Okay a teachable moment -- DO NOT set the hook until you FEEL the fish on the line, this will save a lot of heart ache. Or you could give Capt. Bart Marx a call at 941-979-6517 or e-mail him at captbart@alphaomegacharters.com to help you with your angling skills. So always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{

Hello fellow anglers - let's take a look at the offshore species that will be available this month. Along the coast in the waters out to 45 feet, sheepshead will be hungry for shrimp. They are the striped shrimp-steeling bandits. Around the artificial reefs in 30 to 40 ft. they like to hang aroung the piles of culverts where they can easily be caught. It is this time of year they move out to spawn in these waters. They like the cold, are good to eat and they give a good fight! Also in the same areas you can find flounder in the sand. They hang around the edges of the reefs, and they are also there to spawn. In the past, some anglers were catching sheepshead on one side of the boat and flounder on the other side!  It was crazy fun. It can be fast and furious fun catching these bait bandits. Also in these areas you may harvest lane and mangrove snapper, along with porgies and grunts. These are all good table fare. Looking to the inshore species you will find trout on the grass flats that could be harvested with fly tackle. An 8 weight rod will do the job with a top water popper. Just remember to set the hook when you feel it or you may miss your dinner. There should be pompano in the passes where you can use jigs to harvest these hard fighting critters. Put a little shrimp on the jig to sweeten it up. Black drum should be catch-able around the bridges using blue crabs for bait with a 30 to 40 lb. class setup. This is the time of year you may have guests coming to visit Florida and you don’t have an idea what they might like to do. Well, take them on a fishing trip!  Just call Capt. Bart Marx or e-mail me at captbart@alphaomegacharters.com. Always remember, singing drags and tight lines make me smile.