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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
December 4, 2004
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sarasota, FL Fishing Report for 11/28 through 12/4/2004
Fly anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict caught and released snook, redfish, trout, bluefish and ladyfish during the past week. Anglers using spinning tackle had a great day with bluefish and pompano later in the week. Although negative low tides concentrated reds and snook in clear water they were tough to catch, particularly with flies. The fastest action was on the deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay.
Fly angler Phil Berenger, from Avon Lake, OH, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday. Phil caught and released several trout to 18”, ladyfish and a bluefish on Clouser flies near Stephens Point and Whale Key.
I spent a couple of days scouting from north Sarasota Bay to lower Tampa Bay. I covered a lot of water and found some reds and snook, but didn’t get a lot of them to bite. I scored a nice red on my Flats Minnow fly on Monday. I fished with Rusty Chinnis on Wednesday and he caught and released a nice snook on a bendback fly. All of our efforts were directed towards either poling or wading shallow flats and sight fishing for reds and snook.
Mark Huber, from Longboat Key, FL and his son, Mark, who is shipping out this weekend for Navy Seal training, joined me for a trip in Sarasota Bay on Thursday. The action was fast all morning at the Middleground flat as they caught a dozen bluefish to 3-pounds, 6 pompano to 2 ½-pounds and numerous large ladyfish on Cotee jigs with grubs. We moved to shallow water in the afternoon where they caught a pair of reds, a snook and several trout on DOA Deadly Combos and weedless-rigged CAL shad tails. The younger Mark had a slam, which included a multi spotted red with 7 or 8 spots on each side.
Fly angler Bill King, from Osprey, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Friday. We were on a mission to catch a redfish with a fly, so we waded the flats and sandbars of north Sarasota Bay. Bill fished hard and caught and released several ladyfish and a couple of trout, including a 3-pound “gator”, on my Flats Minnow fly. We found that the effects of the previous days front and the full moon had cooled the action.
Next week’s tides are favorable for reds and trout on the flats, particularly on the negative low tides at the end of the week. The water temperature has dropped into the upper 60’s on the flats, which should move snook up rivers and creeks. However, there should still be snook on the flats particularly on sunny afternoons as the tide rises.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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