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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
March 14, 2004
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southwest, FL Fishing Report for 3/6 through 3/13/2004
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict had good action during the past week with snook, reds and trout. The best action was fly fishing for snook at night in the Venice area. With spring upon us, snook are staging on shallow flats and bars of north Sarasota Bay.
My brother, Kirk Grassett from Bear, DE, fished with me on Sunday and Monday. We were the guests of my friend, Capt. Rick DePaiva, in Pine Island Sound on Sunday. Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key, FL, also joined us. Since there were four anglers, we fished out of my Action Craft 1820 Kevlar/Carbon Fiber flats skiff and Capt. Rick’s Kevlar Dolphin Super Skiff. Reds were tailing all over, but as is often the case, they were challenging. We landed a pair of big reds, one on a Kwan fly and the other on a DOA shrimp and lost a couple of others. In addition, we caught a couple of nice trout and a large jack. Small schools of jacks cruised the shallow flat busting baitfish in their path!
Kirk and I fished Sarasota Bay on Monday morning. We waded a bar on the east side of the bay and had a good bite with reds and trout. We landed 6 reds and 3 or 4 trout on Crab Clouser flies (olive/tan/white) and my new Grassett’s Flat’s Minnow fly. After some trailer repairs and a short break in the afternoon, we headed for “snook alley” in Venice for some night snook fishing. Snook gorged themselves on glass minnows and ate our flies just as well. We caught and released more than 25 snook to 26” on Grassett’s Grass Minnow and a tiny white Deceiver type fly.
Fred Denk and Jim Larson, both from Sarasota, FL, fished the same area with me on Tuesday evening and the snook fed just as well as the previous evening. They caught and released more than 25 snook to 25” on the same flies.
Fly angler, Perry DeLalio from Southampton, NY, fished Little Sarasota Bay with me on Wednesday afternoon. A front had pushed through late Tuesday evening and the wind cranked up to 15 or 20 mph. Despite the windy conditions, Perry caught and released several ladyfish, trout and a snook on Unique Hair Clousers and Grassett’s Flats Minnow flies. Nick Reding, from St. Louis, MO, and Pat Campbell, from Toronto, OH, fished “snook alley” with me on Wednesday evening. The trend continued, as they caught and released more than 25 snook on flies.
Bob Kahlor and Al Pledrup, both from Callawassie Island, SC, fished Sarasota Bay near Buttonwood Harbor with me on Thursday afternoon. They caught several trout to 18”, bluefish, flounder and ladyfish on CAL jigs with shad tails and DOA shrimp. That evening fly anglers, Dick Reece from Dayton, OH, and Gene Leverone, from Lynnfield, MA, snook fished with me in Venice. The bite had slowed a little from previous evenings, but they still managed to catch and release 16 snook to 24” on Grassett’s Grass Minnow flies.
Ed Franzoni, from Ithaca, NY, and his son-in-law, Stan Witkowski from Point Pleasant, NJ, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Friday. The goal was reds and snook with a fly. Although we located plenty of snook and a few reds, they were extremely spooky in the crystal clear, shallow water. They had numerous shots, but it wasn’t happening. We fished a deeper grass flat near Buttonwood Harbor where they caught a few trout and a flounder on Ultra Hair Clouser flies.
Next week’s tides are favorable for reds, snook and trout on the flats, particularly toward the end of the week. Spanish mackerel should come on strong again as the water warms following last week’s front. In addition, cobia and tripletail should be options in the coastal gulf waters.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
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