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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
February 22, 2004
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sarasota and Venice, FL Fishing Report for 2/15 through 2/22/2004
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict had good action during the past week with trout, redfish, Spanish mackerel and snook. The best action was fly fishing for snook at night around lighted docks and bridge fenders. We had a good bite with Spanish mackerel for a couple of hours on Friday afternoon.
Bill Walsh and sons, Matt and Andrew, from Lexington, MA fished a couple of days with me last week. We fished Little Sarasota Bay on Monday where they had plenty of action with large ladyfish, trout, a flounder and a small red on CAL jigs with grubs. We were scheduled to fish on Wednesday, but we awoke to 15 to mph winds and air temperatures in the mid 40’s. We decided we’d violate the “fun rule” (if it’s not fun don’t do it), so we didn’t fish that day.
They fished again with me on Friday and had a good day in north Sarasota Bay with several trout to 19”and reds to 26”. The best action was along the bar on the east side of the bay with CAL jigs and Exude slugs. Around noon we headed south and fished the Radio Tower and Middleground flats, just inside New Pass, where we had a good bite with Spanish mackerel and trout on CAL jigs with grubs and Diamond Jigs. We caught more than a dozen mackerel and several more trout.
Fly anglers, Sandy Lawrence from Sarasota, FL, and Gary Bartell, from Westernville, NY, fished an afternoon/evening trip near Venice with me on Tuesday. A 15 to mph wind made fishing the flats tough, but they did manage several ladyfish on Ultra Hair Clouser flies before dark. After dark we worked lighted areas and despite a persistent wind, which didn’t let up, they caught and released 25 snook to 23”, several more ladyfish and a bluefish on Grassett’s Grass Minnow flies.
Dick Reece, from Dayton, OH, and his grandson, Daniel Reinhart, from MA, fished north Sarasota Bay with me on Thursday. We fished the east side and caught and released several trout and a redfish, Daniel’s first! We spent the latter half of our trip fishing deep grass flats on the west side of the bay, where they caught several more trout and a bluefish on CAL jigs with grubs.
We had another successful Orvis-Endorsed saltwater fly fishing school at CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Saturday. Eight students received classroom and hands on instruction on fly casting, knots, flies, leader construction and saltwater fishing techniques. The next school is scheduled for March 13, 2004. You can contact me for more info.
Next week’s tides are favorable for fishing the flats and snook around lighted docks and bridge fenders at night.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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