 |
Saltwater Fishing Report for Sarasota, Florida.
Capt. Bob Smith
May 3, 2003
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Looking for Tarpon
Yesterday was my first tarpon charter this season. We cruised up the beach along Longboat key but never saw the first tarpon. I have been seeing some at first light in the passes but they soon disappear after sunrise. We cruised up the beach for a little over three miles to a rock-pile in eighteen feet of water. We drifted our live crabs there in hopes of jumping a lone tarpon or cobia. Immediately we had two very large barracuda stalking us to see what we might hook. Barracuda are a smart fish and make a good living on hooked mackerel. The large cuda only come in this close when they have a good food source. We switched to the lighter tackle and free-lined live shrimp while drifting. We had a few hours of good action with large Spanish, small kings with very large barracuda attacking the hooked fish. We never did hold any of the cudas but had fun watching them attack our fish in the shallow water.
We still have plenty of action offshore at the “M” reefs. Kings, Spanish and cuda make up most of the action with numerous other species showing up from time to time. You can also find plenty of baitfish, most of the time, so don’t forget to bring some gold bait rigs.
Bay fishing is still very good on the grass-flats. Seatrout and Spanish mackerel are the most prevalent. Cobia, pompano, bluefish, jacks and ladyfish among others are also on the flats. Most of the trout are small but we will find pockets of large trout throughout the day.
Enjoy and Protect
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
