If any place on Earth could truly qualify as a Fisherman's Paradise, Florida's at the top of the list.

Whether your quarry swims in fresh, salt or brackish water, the Sunshine State offers world-class angling for a number of glamour species, and they're easy to tap into.

Regardless of where you live in Florida, you're never more than 65 miles or so from salt water, and likely no further than 30 minutes from a highly productive freshwater fishery.

Getting in on the action isn't hard. But picking the best time to be at the best place can be a little more complex.

Even a world-class fishery can have down periods due to weather, water temperatures or seasonal migration patterns. Timing is often the key to experiencing the best that any given water has to offer.

Here are 36 destinations where you'll be right on time this year.

JANUARY
Largemouths
Crooked Lake
Located just west of Frostproof, Crooked Lake isn't yet a household word among bass anglers. But it should be! It produces trophy bass every year, and January is peak time to tangle with them.

The first spawn of the year occurs in February. The lake's best spawning habitat is in the second bay north of the public ramp on County Road 630.

The west side bordering U.S. Highway 27 is an endless shallow flat, loaded with native vegetation. Bass flock to it from the 20-foot-plus depths where they've spent the winter.

Look for bass to stage along the outside edge of the flat around bulrush patches in seven to nine feet of water. Local guides favor slow-trolling live shiners along their edges, but plastic worms and countdown crankbaits also produce. Alternatives
Lake Talquin produces some of the biggest speckled perch in Florida, and they are active along submerged channel edges in the main pool.

Seatrout are holding in deeper holes within the Steinhatchee River and will take jigs or sinking plugs ticked along the bottom. The best holes are those with rock on the bottom and along outside bends.

FEBRUARY
Largemouths
Lake Istokpoga
The spawn normally begins in February on Istokpoga. Invariably, the first location that spawning bass use is in the canal systems.

That tends to simplify things. Local experts advise starting your search in any hydrilla beds located in six to nine feet of water just offshore of a canal mouth. These are the final staging point for bass moving from mid-lake waters to their spawning sites.

Topwater lures, swimming plastic frogs like the Horny Toad, spinnerbaits or 10-inch plastic worms rigged Texas-style are top bets.

Which will be most effective? That depends on the density of the hydrilla and the time of day.

If the action is slow, move into the canals themselves. Local guides will slow-troll live shiners down the canal center while watching the banks for bedding bass that can be sight-fished.

Alternatives
This month, the Mayport jetties at the mouth of the St. Johns River yield bumper crops of hefty sheepshead.

Fiddler crabs fished tight to the rocks are the ticket.

Look for largemouths on Lake Tohopekaliga to begin spawning along the inside edge of shallow vegetation in two to three feet of water.

MARCH
Largemouths
Lake Woodruff
This DeLand-area lake is actually a wide spot on the St. Johns River and doesn't get a lot of publicity. But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's annual creel surveys show it to be one of the best bass producers in the Sunshine State.