File photo

Here's Red Stier holding a Belize kingfish he caught while fishing the Belize Barrier Reef with his lovely wife of 50 years this month. Red was using a method that is described in the article.

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January is looking great for all fishing fronts as I prepare this article. Our water temperature is staying at a level perfect for slowing the southern migration of Spanish mackerel and kingfish in our near and offshore waters.

While there will be some kings lurking around the nearshore waters, we should have an increase in the patches of bait with mackerel and some kings working them intermingled with jack, bluerunner, ladyfish, shark and barracuda.

The mackerel will be found from the beach out with some of the kings also there. The bulk of the kings should be found in the deeper offshore waters.

While summer months are best for tripletail, anglers should not have any trouble finding them this time of year lurking over the wrecks, around the towers, and around buoy markers from the passes out.

The clear water should make it easier to spot them. The downside is it makes it easier for them to see you coming. Being as stealth as you can while approaching the spot is best. Live minnows, crabs, shrimp, fiddler crabs and sandfeas all will work well. Many angler like to tip a jig with the bait.

Finding the bait and trolling lures, spoons and jigs through the bait or drifting up to the bait and using tipped jigs on lighter tackle should produce some mackerel. Letting the tipped jigs get near the bottom before retrieving them might get a larger fish on the hook.

I have caught some nice sized kings by using a live pinfish or grunt on a jig. I cast it out up current away from the boat as far as I can, let it sink slowly until it gets close to the bottom and then begin retrieving it slow enough that it looks like it is swimming on it’s own. Sometimes the king will hit it going down.

This method allows you to fish the bait at all depths as it is falling and retrieving it just before it gets to the bottom will keep it out of the structure on the bottom.

Several years ago Sharon and I were fishing the Belize barrier reef for yellowtail snapper. We had them chummed up and action was great using tipped jigs.

I decided to cast a jig tipped with live white bait up current. The guide asked me why I did that, might catch a larger fish I answered. He gave me that “Another gringo” look and about that time the tip of the rod was bending double with the spool singing. I fought it for about 15 minutes and as it broke water near the boat this four foot kingfish had a huge shadow following it. I never saw it but it was large. Needless to say we got the kingfish gaffed and in the boat quick. I gave the guide my best gringo look as Sharon took my picture.

Good news, weather permitting our inland, outer shoreline, passes and grass flats should be offering you a nice selection of species going into the New Year. The list includes redfish, snook, trout, sheepshead, black drum, pompano, shark, mangrove snapper, ladyfish and resident tarpon.

Trout have a not smaller then 15 inches or larger then 20 inches with not more then 4 legal size trout per harvester, one of the four trout can be larger then the 20 inches. Do not get too excited, trout season is closed in our southern waters until Feb. 1, 2008.

Redfish have a not smaller then 18 inches or larger then 27 inch size window with one legal size redfish per harvester per angler per day.

It has been some time since we have talked about the problem we have with giant goliath grouper in our area. Last I heard the powers to be said they would do a study on the GGG in our area that would take about a year. Well, I have some more news. I have noticed increasing numbers of small GGG moving into Isles of Capri waterways and one about 160 pounds showed up at my neighbor’s dock.

A few days later they noticed a decline in the number of small mangrove snapper at their dock. Is this a sign of things to come?

We have not beat the drums about this subject in a while, maybe we should begin again and see if they could move that study up a few months.

Several plans to think the GGG out have come forth. The one I like best is to sell State of Florida GGG tags with no size limits. When an angler catches one they must put the tag on the fish at once and report the catch via the cell phone or VHF radio. This would make it easier to make sure an angler does not try to use the tag more then once.

John Smith owner of Action Belize has added a section to his website www.actionbelize.com that tells about the history and the death of my fishing buddy Capt. Van Every on Nov. 27. Van started Action Belize in 1980. Van was not only an excellent angler who knew the Ten Thousand Islands as good as anyone but was a true friend.

John has been asking anyone that has a fishing story about him to email it to Action Belize and he will try to post it on the website.

I have sent one about one of Van’s guides gaffing a wild hog swimming across a Belize bay.

My wife and I had the pleasure of knowing and fishing with Van for many years. We were on his first Action Belize trip that hosted about 16 guest.

Sharon and I fell in love with Belize and hosted fishing trips once or twice a year for about 15 years that spawned many interesting and humorous stories.

Van and I also fished our Ten Thousand Islands and I was amazed as to his knowledge of them.

More about this later.

Have a great week!

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Red Stier is a weekly contributor to the Marco Island Eagle. Questions or comments may be directed to redstier@aol.com or 172 Trinidad St., Naples, FL 34113.