Hot speckled trout bite in Sarasota!
Capt. Jim Klopfer
May 2, 2016
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
I only fished a couple of days this week as I headed up to north Georgia on Wednesday for a long weekend in the mountains with friends. The trout bite was hot in Sarasota Bay on the grass flats near Bird Key using hand-picked shrimp. Radio Tower, Middlegrounds, and Marina Jacks were the top spots. Big Pass also produced a lot of action, particularly on the slack tide.
Gary Jobe treated his son Kirk and grandchildren Kameron (8) and Sophia (6) to a fishing charter on Sunday morning. Action was fast in Big Pass for the first two hours. I did a little drifting then anchored up on a sharp drop-off. Gag grouper, mangrove snapper, bluefish, blue runner, Key West grunt, black sea bass, ladyfish, and catfish kept everyone busy, especially me! We finished up on the flats, catching speckled trout to 20" and ladyfish at Bird Key and the Middlegrounds. Just about all of the fish were caught using live shrimp.
Long-time client Joe Puhy from Michigan brought a long his wife and a buddy along for a charter on Tuesday. We started off in Big Pass on the slack tide, catching a bunch of snapper and small gag grouper as well as ladyfish and grunts on a ledge using shrimp. The tide turned to come in and the speckled trout bite was hot as the gang landed several between 22" and 20" along with a few more around 18". Large live shrimp were the best bait.
I headed up to Blue Ridge, Ga on Wednesday and spent Friday morning drift fishing the Taccoa River on fly. My girlfriend Beth Reis came along, and we had a fair day, landing a dozen or so and missing a bunch more. None of the fish were large, but it was a lot of fun with good scenery and certainly a change of pace for me. It is nice to have someone else run the boat!
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