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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
July 31, 2004
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southwest Florida Fishing Report for 7/24 through 7/31/2004
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict had a variety of action during the past week with tarpon, snook and trout. Fly and spin anglers “kept ‘em flyin’” as they connected with 3 tarpon and landed 1 on the beach and in upper Charlotte Harbor. Trout and ladyfish were found on the deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay where they ate flies and snook were targeted on the outgoing full moon tide at the end of the week. Despite a strong outgoing tide, they were finicky at best.
Andy Cotton, from Sarasota, FL, joined me to hunt big tarpon on the beach last Sunday. We found them plentiful and giving us plenty of shots with flies. One fish ate a black and rust bunny fly 15 feet from the boat, but broke off before we got her in the air. Tarpon thinned on the beach over the next couple of days.
I was the guest of Nick Reding, from Longboat Key, FL, and his son Nick on their new Maverick Mirage HPX flats skiff on Tuesday. Conditions were poor with a big tide and overcast conditions. We covered a lot of water and didn’t find any tarpon. Young Nick had a shot at a shark that put its nose right on the fly and followed, but didn’t eat.
The action picked up on Wednesday as Joey Schwab, from Sarasota, FL, joined me for a tarpon trip in upper Charlotte Harbor. We found tarpon in the 20 to 40-pound class fairly plentiful. These fish are never easy, but I’ve found if we’ve got fish to cast to we can usually hook up. We jumped a 40-pound tarpon that wore through the leader after several jumps and landed an 18-pounder on DOA TerrorEyz. We also had several other bites on DOA’s and flies.
Fly anglers, Steve Rieker from Wexford, PA and his son, Mike, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Friday. Although they are experienced freshwater fly anglers, they had never fished the salt before. They caught and released several trout and ladyfish on Clouser and Enrico Puglisi flies. That afternoon, Lee Ibsen from Sarasota, FL and Bill Owen, from Purcellville, VA, fished the ICW in Venice for snook with me. We had a “blue moon” tide, which is the 2nd full moon in a month. I thought the snook would feed heavily, but they didn’t. We drifted channels and fished points, cuts and docks with a variety of DOA’s. They caught and released only 4 snook to 22”.
Next week’s tides improve toward the end of the week as we move back to 4 tide days. I look for good action with tarpon in Charlotte Harbor and trout on the deeper grass flats of Sarasota Bay. Reds should begin schooling at any time now and will be easier to locate at the bottom of the tide.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail [email protected]
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com
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