Saltwater Fishing Report for Sarasota, Florida.
Capt. Bob Smith
March 4, 2000
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Swiss Cheese
Spanish mackerel have invaded the inshore waters! Along the beaches and in the passes, the mackerel have come to feed on the large schools of glass-minnows. Live shrimp, spoons and jigs have worked well all week. A few nice cobia have been caught on the artificial reefs along the beach and I expect it to get better. You can still find a tripletail or two around the crab trap floats.
Offshore we fished the fifty-foot depth around the (M) reefs and found plenty of mangrove snapper. Large live shrimp worked best for the snapper. We fished the natural bottom and used very light line, 8-12 pound test with a 1/4-ounce splitshot. The water is very clear now so you can see the bottom and the fish. There were snapper along with large schools of 3-5 pound jacks and an occasional keeper gag grouper that might be caught. Porgy, grunts and many other reef species have been caught on shrimp. Plenty of barracuda are on the (M) reef and they will hit tube lures on a fast retrieve.
Further offshore at the Swiss Cheese area in 72' of water (250-255 cc / 18-19 miles off New Pass), we found plenty of large gag and red grouper. Some were well over 15 pounds. The grouper are moving around in groups so drifting was the best method to use. You won't see much on your recorder here, just some ground clutter at best. Don't be surprised to see 10 or 12 grouper follow a hooked fish to the surface. Live pinfish on the bottom worked for us. It was calm Friday so a one-ounce sinker was plenty of weight to get the bait down. With the clear water, we used a light 60# test leader. Use a marker when you hook fish but do not expect them to stay there very long.
Enjoy and Protect
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