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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
December 20, 2003
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sarasota & Venice, FL Fishing Report for 12/14 through 12/20/2003
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict caught and released snook and large ladyfish during the past week. The best action was fly fishing for snook at night around lighted docks along the ICW from Blackburn Bay to the Venice Inlet.
Dick Reece, from Dayton, OH, fished a couple of trips with me this week. We fished Little Sarasota Bay on Monday morning and caught and released a pair of small snook and numerous ladyfish on CAL jigs with shad tails. We located several reds around oyster bars, but they didn’t want to eat. Dick had his personal best trip, and one of the best on my boat by an individual angler; fly fishing for snook near Venice on Thursday evening. The action was practically non stop, except for a brief slow down at the turn of the tide. With the water temperature at 60 degrees, the air temperature in the 50’s and a cool northwest breeze, snook gorged themselves on glass minnows. My Grassett’s Grass Minnow fly fooled most of the fish. We ended the evening with 54 snook to 25” and a jack!
I fished an afternoon/evening trip in Blackburn Bay on Tuesday, which was cut short by heavy rain that started as a drizzle just after we got on the water. We took cover for a while and after watching the weather radar at a waterfront restaurant, we decided to run for the boat ramp in between squalls. A funny thing happened on the way back to the ramp. We were distracted by snook popping under dock lights and stopped to make a few casts. They attacked our flies just as aggressively as the glass minnows they were feeding on. We finally went to the boat ramp 45 minutes and 15 snook later. The front, which was followed by strong winds, forced the cancellation of Wednesdays’ trip.
Next week’s negative low tides should be great for reds and trout in potholes. Remember that snook season is now closed through Jan. 31; so all snook fishing is catch and release only.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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