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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
May 30, 2004
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sarasota, FL Fishing Report for 5/24 through 5/30/2004
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict had great action with tarpon during the past week. Tarpon schooled heavily in the coastal gulf waters off Sarasota as they prepared to spawn on next week’s full moon. We found a couple of large schools at first light early in the week, however the best action was from mid morning to noon. Clear water and abundant sunshine have allowed us to fish tarpon schools that stayed deep, but moved slowly.
Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, and a group of 7 other anglers fished with me and 3 other guides from Monday through Thursday of last week. Hal D’Orazio, also from Lake Forest, IL, and Dave Kinnamon, from Milwaukee, WI, were the other anglers on my boat. Their timing was just right, as the weather and the moon phase made for great tarpon fishing. We landed 8 out of 15 tarpon jumped on my boat and anglers on the other 3 boats also had good action. Two fly anglers in the group jumped a couple of fish and had several other bites.
Larry Ford, from Longboat Key, FL and his son-in-law, Sean Toole from Austin, TX, tarpon fished with me on Friday. The action continued as they landed 1 out of 3 tarpon jumped with live crabs on spinning tackle. Russell Johnson, from Clovis, NM, and his sons, Kyle and Patrick, fished with me on Saturday. They also had good action, landing 1 out of 3 tarpon jumped. Russell landed an estimated 60-pound fish and Kyle and Patrick both jumped large tarpon. Kyle battled a large tarpon for about an hour and a half only to have the big female wear through pour 80-pound fluorocarbon leader with the fish close to the boat. Patrick jumped a fish in the same class and had her on for several jumps before she found a submerged crab trap line to cut us off with.
We landed a total of 10 out of 21 tarpon jumped for the week. All fish were caught with live crabs. The average size was about 100-pounds with a couple of smaller fish in the 60 to 70-pound class and a couple of pigs that probably went 130-pounds or more. The action should continue next week as we head toward the full moon on June 3, providing that the weather stays favorable.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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