Cudjoe Key January 19 to February 2 Any advice?

[Empty Nest]

We will be at Venture Out resort for the two weeks mentioned above. I plan to trailer my 18 foot boat down. We enjoy light tackle jigging and bottom fishing (we don't have any interest in offshore fishing).

Anybody got any thoughts or suggestions? Fishing or otherwise.

[cujo]

Go oceanside and head north to Little Palm Island....Theres a reef there and anchor balls to tie to...Cut up ballyhoo in 1 inch or so slices and drop to bottom...Reel in fish...and yes its that easy...We were there two years ago and caught many kinds of fish, from angelfish to sharks...Only fishing in about 15 to 30 feet but there are fish there all the time...Come in a little further back towards the Big Pine bridge and fish there too...Good bait shops on Big Pine that will tell you whats going on...Hope that gives you some help...Might want to buy a color fish id chart before you go, too many different fish there to know which you can and cant keep without the chart....Good Luck....Bill

[Perchguy]

I would make sure to put out some chum. You can get frozen blocks of chum from any bait shop. Just put one in a mesh chum bag and hang it in the water. Better yet is to use two bags with a block in each. What also helps is to thaw a block of chum and mix it with oats and some water to make a nice sloppy mess. After you anchor, start ladeling it into the water. This gives you a quick shot of chum in the water while the frozen block slowly melts. If no fish show up in about 30 minutes, move to another spot and start the process again.