Saltwater Fishing Report for Sarasota, Florida.
Capt. Bob Smith
February 12, 2000
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
This is the time to get the most out of your bottom recorder. Although we
have had some very good catches of snapper and grouper offshore, they are moving
around. We have been finding schools of individual species in open water as they
move around from spot to spot. You may find snapper on any of the (M) reefs in
the morning and find them gone in the afternoon with only the grunts left behind.
This is the time you need to keep an eye on your bottom recorder as you move from
spot to spot. We have found schools of fish from 30 to 60 feet of water with 40
to 50 feet being the most productive. Remember that in open water (no structure)
your bait may be the only thing holding them around your boat. Keep bait in the
water and don't stop for lunch. The fishing sounds good but it has not been easy
and you will need to work at it. Some of the better fish we have been catching
offshore are snapper, grouper, flounder, black seabass and silver trout.
Inshore I have been fishing the deeper channels like Zwicks Channel. We have been catching plenty of spotted seatrout but most of them are short. The bonus is an occasional pompano or flounder.
Large live shrimp has been the bait for inshore and offshore with the exception of live pinfish for the larger grouper. The cold water has changed our fishing techniques a little, making the fish move more to find food offshore and better temperatures inshore. You need to be flexible when fishing in Florida because a subtle difference in the weather can make big difference in the fishing. We had good days and not so good days this past week.
Enjoy and Protect
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