Hello fellow anglers! Can you believe it is 2020?  A New Year - let's make some changes or new years resolutions. Usually those don’t last more than a couple of weeks. But I am making a change in my fishing habits! I plan to spend more time in the Gulf trolling and bottom fishing. This month near shore the sheepshead and flounder should be on the close to shore reefs and small ledges. Shrimp would be a great choice bait as they  are close to shore and inshore this time of year. With that said, it makes for the best bait until around Easter because they are naturally in the shallow waters and even into the harbor. The local shrimpers pull there nets in the harbor for the bay shrimp or brown shrimp because the water color. It makes them have a brown tint. These shrimp tend to be sweeter.  I think it is there diet in the local waters. And this time of year there are the pinks that are into the Gulf. There are some places that sell these from the boat so if you find them, those are the best fresh bait. That makes shrimp a great bait in January, February and March. In the thirty to fifty foot range you should find hogfish, lanes, and grunts which are all good table fare. When I bottom fish I like to have several different frozen baits. I start with these and switch to live baits of shrimp or pin fish as the bite slows. At times this should lure some of the bigger fish as they have been sitting back and waiting. Spanish and King mackerel should be feeding close to the passes and bait balls. You can troll a jig and spoon combo for the Spanish, or for the Kings, use a planer and a spoon that matches the size bait in the area. While you are bottom fishing, set out a bonus rod with something live and not behind the boat. I usually put a foot long piece of wire because the kings and Spanish have razor blade teeth and will cut through mono. Also use a float about six feet from the hook. My Pops always said you can find kings at 72 degrees water temperature and that is a good gauge to follow. Also this time of year red grouper are out around sixty foot and deeper. You can drift for them depending on the wind. If it is windy you may need eight to ten ounces of weight to keep your bait in the strike zone. Personally I like to anchor up as this gives you a chance to find everything in the area that is hungry. Back in the day we would drift and have a marking jug ready, if two of us got a bite at the same time we threw the jug. This is where we would crank the motor and anchor where the jug was marking a possible new bottom spot. I get it.  Some of y’all don’t like to pull anchor and have those fancy trolling motors that have an anchor hold button. I have a WINCH on my boat and the ball and ring that works well too. If you do anchor I have been told to have as much chain as the length of your boat to make that thing stick the first time. This way you don’t miss your spot, sliding and waiting for the anchor to stick. I get live shrimp from Fishin' Franks. I also use VMC hooks, Suffix performance braid, Rapala lures. If you would like to come along with Capt. Bart Marx just give me a call. 941-979-6517 or e-mail me. captbart@alphaomegacharters.com  Phone calls are the quickest response. And always remember, singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{