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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
April 25, 2004
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
SW Florida Fishing Report for 4/18 through 4/25/2004
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict caught and released snook, reds and trout in a variety of areas during the past week. The best action was fly fishing for snook at night. Flats action heated up toward the end of the week just in time for the 9th Annual CCA Photo All-Release Challenge.
Mike Porter and Mel Childers, both from Osprey, FL, fished the Terra Ceia Bay area with me on Monday. The action was slow to start, but they finished the day strong with 3 snook to 27”, a pair of reds and trout. Mike caught the 27” snook, his first legal size snook, on a CAL jig with a shad tail. He had fished numerous times with live bait and caught at least 100 snook before landing his big fish on the CAL jig.
Fly angler, Erwin Edelman from Sarasota, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Erwin was entered in the CCA Photo All-Release Challenge on Saturday and wanted to scout the area. We fished deep grass flats from Stephen’s Point to Long Bar on the east side of the bay and from Buttonwood Harbor south to near Country Club Shores on the Longboat Key side. Erwin caught and released several trout, including a couple of slot size fish, on Tuesday. Most fish were caught on Clousers and Enrico Puglisi flies.
Fly anglers Bryan Beebe and Steve Dekauy, both from Sarasota, FL, fished “snook alley” with me in Venice on Tuesday evening. We found the snook feeding selectively, but the action improved as the evening went on. They finished with more than 20 snook to 22” on Grassett’s Grass Minnow flies.
The following afternoon and evening fly anglers, John Kirk from Bangor, ME, and Brian Harrington, from Colorado Springs, CO, fished the same area with me. We fished the flats of Blackburn Bay before dark where they caught and released numerous large ladyfish, jack crevalle, a pair of snook and a 20” trout on Clouser flies and Enrico Puglisi’s Bronze Mullet fly. After dark, we fished lighted docks and found the action slow to start. When the tide changed to incoming, fish began to bite and they finished with more than 20 snook to 23” caught on Grassett’s Grass Minnow and small glass minnow flies.
One of the best trips of the week was on Thursday evening with fly anglers, Bill and Gerrie Gramm from Bozeman, MT. They caught numerous large ladyfish in Blackburn Bay on Clouser flies at dusk. We moved to lighted docks after dark and the snook went on a binge, gorging themselves with glass minnows and tiny shrimp. We weren’t counting fish, but they easily caught and released more than 25 snook to 24 ½” on Grassett’s Grass Minnow and small glass minnow fly patterns. As the fish became more selective, we went down to smaller flies tied on #6 hooks. A great trip!
On Saturday morning, DOA Fishing Lures inventor Mark Nichols, my wife Karen and I fished the Sarasota CCA Photo All-Release Challenge. Since I had been fishing mostly nights all week long, I wasn’t dialed into anything in particular on the flats. We left the dock before daylight looking forward to a fun day of fishing. Karen had the hot hand that day with Mark close behind. They each caught slams (snook, redfish and trout) and would’ve had double slams if they could have caught another red. I had a pair of reds. All fish were caught on the DOA shrimp or CAL jigs with grub, shad or jerk worm tails. We fished from Roberts Bay to Buttonwood Harbor on both sides of the bay.
Karen was runner up in the Angler Division for snook with 50" of snook. She also was eligible to win the trout and redfish categories of the Lady Angler division, but opted for the snook award since it was her best snook outing ever. There were numerous slams and big snook of 39” and 35” were also caught and released. This tournament has a relaxed atmosphere with a camaraderie that isn’t found in many fishing tournaments.
Next week’s tides will improve toward the end of the week as we head toward the full moon. Flats fishing should be good and reports of tarpon in the area are increasing every day.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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