Hi Erich,
Welcome to Florida in Advance. I live in Jacksonville. Further north and
on the other coast, but the laws are the same.
Please have a look at the following website, and you will find a great
deal of info about local laws.

State of Florida all about fishing, licenses, limits and seasonal info.
Also have a look at the manatee regs, as they will be in the bay then.

http://www.floridaconservation.org/fishingareas.html

New Port Richie USCG Auxiliary. These folks will be happy to give you
the local info on fishing, and boating safety too. The Gulf of Mexico is
not to be trifled with. It can be a dangerous body of water.

http://www.uscgaux.org/~0701106/

You may also want to have a peek at my personal website and look over
the "abandon ship, children & pet lifejackets" link

Capt. Frank Hopkins USCG AUX

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks

erich wrote:
We'll be spending all of January on the west coast of Florida near New
Port Richey. We will be on a canal about a half-mile from the Gulf.
The house we are renting comes w/ a "flats boat" and 25hp outboard.
I've never fished in an area like this (home is central IL where I try
to catch LM bass from my 18' Nitro).

From the maps I've seen, the depth in the immediate vicinity appears
to be no more than 20 feet. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on
fishing in this area. What's the major game fish? How do you catch
'em? Any books, web-sites, etc., I should review.

I'm basically catch and release but not adverse cleaning and cooking
if the catch is right.
Thanks.