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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
August 19, 2004
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sarasota, FL Fishing Report for 8/13 through 8/19/2004
We dodged a big bullet in Sarasota last Friday as Hurricane Charley took a last minute jog to the east and came ashore at Charlotte Harbor rather than Sarasota. The storm, which was originally forecast to make landfall somewhere between Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay, appeared to be headed further north. It increased in intensity from a category 1 to a category 4 storm in a matter of a few hours. I walked my dogs, Bailey and Shelby, around my neighborhood at 1 PM on Friday afternoon and people were busy picking up items that might become flying projectiles and taping or boarding windows. It was the calm before the storm.
The area where I had hot tarpon fishing last week was ground zero for Charley as it turned east and went right up Charlotte Harbor, devastating Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte before cutting diagonally across the state leaving a swath of major destruction in its wake. I know many people that were affected by Charley ranging from minor damage and no power to losing everything they had. After seeing the destruction that Charley caused, I have a new respect for hurricanes. The next time that a hurricane threatens, I think I’ll be leaving town.
I fished Sarasota Bay on Sunday with my son, Bryan, and future son-in-law, Andy Cotton, on Sunday. I wanted to do some scouting since I hadn’t been on the water for a few days. We located scattered reds in several areas, mainly near Buttonwood Harbor, and caught and released 5 reds to 26” on CAL jigs with shad tails and jerk worms. One red was caught on a MirrOlure She Dog.
The following day, Sarasota Herald-Tribune outdoor editor Steve Gibson, fished Sarasota Bay with me. Our plan was to try to catch a super slam (tarpon, snook, redfish and trout). Easier said than done! We started before daylight and fly fished around lighted docks and bridge fenders near Big Pass for snook. After losing a couple of slot-size snook, we landed a fat 26” fish on a Grassett’s Grass Minnow fly. I checked out an area for tarpon at dawn, but they weren’t home. We moved on to redfish and the areas I had found fish the day before had plenty of activity with baitfish and mullet, but no reds. We easily caught a dozen or so trout to 18” on DOA Deadly Combos near Long Bar before focusing on reds again. We finally found a few reds and hooked 2 but lost both of them before calling it a day.
Bill King, from Osprey, FL, fished Sarasota Bay on a pre dawn snook/flats instructional fly fishing trip on Tuesday. We fished lighted docks near Big Pass where Bill landed his first snook on a fly. After daylight, we fished breaking fish (ladyfish, jacks, trout and Spanish mackerel) where Bill connected with a couple more fish on Clouser and Enrico Puglisi flies. Following our trip, I took a lookout along the beach to see if there were any tarpon around. Guess what! I got 3 shots at tarpon with a fly and saw a couple more fish. Not bad for late August!
Next weeks tides will improve toward the end of the week as we head toward a full moon. Hopefully, any more tropical weather will stay away for a while as many southwest Florida residents start to rebuild their lives.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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