Sarasota Bay Plenty

By Jan S. Maizler
Article & Travel Editor
Photos By Jan S. Maizler

Captain Kelly Stilwell eased his Silver King skiff away from the shelter of CB's Saltwater Outfitters marina. The winter sun was rising over the eastern horizon, spreading a fan of orange-colored spokes into the cloudless blue dome of the sky.

The "night before" was a doozy. I'd eaten up the wee hours live baiting for monster snook with some success, but came back to my Floribbean digs at the Siesta Holiday Home at 4 a.m. and fell asleep knowing I'd be getting a three-hour nap at best.

In what seemed like five minutes of sleep, my alarm lock blew out its' Mike Tyson ring. The acoustic impact coxed me up and towards some pretimed brewed coffee, which eventually got me back in motion. I was glad that Siesta Holiday Home was barely a two-minute drive from CB's. As I drove into their front parking lot Kelly was waiting at the entrance and waved to me. I grabbed another coffee and settled into his skiff. The warm rush of coffee mixed with the ambient sunlight. Together with the early morning chill and the anticipation of well-documented action, it felt wonderful to be poised at the starting gate of yet another brand-new fishing experience.

Weaponry at the Ready

As we headed under the Stickney Point Road Bridge into the main channel, I turned my attention to the tackle the Captain Kelly had brought aboard. I was pleased to see a full array of fly, spin, and plug tackle stored in both the under-gunwale and console vertical rod holders.

The bulk of his all-artificial arsenal relied on braided line and soft plastic lures - of the latter, some of the shapes were the classic lineal and bulged tail profiles that were born in the days of the old Cotee jigs. I reflected on the importance of "braid" on this day of lure fishing where casting distance, strike sensitivity, and power transmission on the hookset would be so relevant. All of the outfits were finished with robust leader material. I asked Kelly about the leader thickness and size. He responded that the ferocity of the recent action on mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish, and seatrout allowed him to use two feet of fifty-pound fluorocarbon without any concern for diminished strikes. And, indeed, the hordes of sharp-toothed predators like the macks and blues that were fanning out over the beaches and deep flats demanded a leader that could cope with such "bad-intentioned" dentures. Kelly mentioned that all his shallow water fishing for redfish and snook in these environs demanded subtler leader sizes of thirty-pound test. His nighttime fishing for larger snook was generally done with forty-pound fluorocarbon leader.

Kelly had spooled some yellow "high-viz" braid on his plug rods so anglers could see the exact placement of their lines when they employed focused casting to potholes and sighted fish; of course, the running line color "disappeared" when the clear leader appeared at the moment of truth. The four spinning outfits had "low-viz" green-colored braid, when anglers were "blind" or fan casting the expanses of deep flats, Gulf passes and beaches. I would find out shortly that the eight-pound braid-, which had the same diameter as two-pound mono, would cast a country mile.

As soon as the no-wake signs ceased, Kelly pushed down the throttle and off we flew northward into the open spaces of Sarasota Bay. Our speed made the cool air sting my cheeks and I pulled my Buff over my head and hat. Kelly looked at my comfort "moves" and told me we'd be fishing in five minutes.

Getting to It

It wasn't long before Kelly pointed to some diving birds in the 11 o' clock position and steered his skiff accordingly in the direction of the still-distant melee. When we got within 100 yards of the action, he slowed his skiff to barely idle speed and eased his way in.

In the heart-thumping interlude between approach and arrival, I picked up one of the spinners that was rigged with a greenish tube-shaped soft plastic bait that ended in a paddle tail. I thought to myself that the slow stealthy idling towards the action would produce better results, but that it sure took a toll on the adrenaline-charged mojo coursing through me.

Kelly cut the engine and we both cast towards the spaces between the diving birds. In moments, both of us were hooked up into high-flying ladyfish. These gamesters were so thick that if one spit the lure, another would get hooked up to our jigs being retrieved back to the skiff. The action was non-stop and I was grateful for the de-hooker he had onboard: quicker releases and no slimy hands!

Kelly smiled and told me that there were plenty of seatrout in the area, but that these aggressive ladyfish were making it hard to hook up on Mister Spotsides. I decided to cast to the periphery of the action and I was rewarded with a fat seatrout on the third sweep of my rod. The next cast brought me a colorful small sea bass, which is very rare in my home waters of Biscayne Bay. The proportion of trout stayed strong on the ring of the activity and the ladyfish were solid in the ring's center. After an hour of splendid action, I asked Kelly if we could target some mackerel and bluefish- a request he was more than happy to comply with.

He fired up his engine and jumped on plane. It was easy to see that he was headed towards the large pass to our west and out into the open Gulf. On the way through the pass, we saw more diving birds and slowed down to make a few casts. Again, solid ladyfish action- something Kelly was eager to leave to other anglers. We picked up again and ran a mile into the open Gulf to look for mackerel that might be jumping or "flashing." Kelly said, "if we're lucky, we might find some bonito schools. " That comment set my heart racing and our search continued. We ran a few miles south and then a few more to the north, but there was nothing worth stopping for. Kelly said our next step was to fish the next pass to the north and we sped inshore.

As we neared the pass, we could see birds diving alongside the sandbars that ringed the north side of the deeper water. Kelly eased his skiff right in the middle of the fracas and cut his engine. As I picked up one of his plug rods, I saw a mackerel skyrocket, which was a wonderful sign. Kelly told me to let the lure sink to the bottom, then reel it as fast as possible. As if on cue, my lure was smashed on the third turn of my handle. I struck hard and the rod tip dipped down as line whizzed off the reel for a fifty-yard run. We both know I had a big mackerel. After a few shorter runs the fish gave up and Kelly lifted a nice three-pound specimen out of the water and into the ice chest. As the birds dove around us, we released another dozen mackerel and then kept a few larger specimens.

Kelly asked me if I'd like to catch some bluefish and pompano now. I thought to myself what generous, fish-filled waters he guided in that permitted him to make this offer. Of course, I was game and we motored to the first grassflat inside of the pass. After we'd drifted about three minutes, our rods heeled over and line flew off the reels, but the fish thrashed along the top. Kelly said, "bluefish" to my delight. The next hour once again was an outdoor writer/angler's heaven with non-stop action on bluefish to an honest five pounds mixed in with big ladyfish. By 11 a.m., I was exhausted and happy to call it quits for the day. Though Kelly wanted to hunt for some pompano, I was ready to head for CB's and do some hunting for a funky seafood house on Siesta Key-which I did find.

Little did I know that 12 hours later, I'd be starting the beginnings of a snook trip that would end in over 70 releases- but that's another story!

Contact Data

Captain Kelly Stilwell / Tide Tuit Charters
Phone: 941-376-0605
Email: fishingstil@comcast.net

CB's Saltwater Outfitters
Phone: 941-349-4400
Web Site: www.cbsoutfitters.com
Email: info@cbsoutfitters.com

Siesta Holidays
1011-1015 Crescent Street
Siesta Key, Florida 34242
Phone: 800-720-6885
Web Site: www.siestaholidays.com
Email: sales@siestaholidays.com

See all the photos from the outing in Jan Maizler's Photo Gallery.