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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
January 2, 2005
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
SW Florida Fishing Report for 12/26/2004 through 1/2/2005
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict had good action with reds in Sarasota Bay, lower Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor during the past week. The action was slow at the beginning of the week due to extremely cold water, but picked up later in the week as the water warmed slightly.
Fly angler, Tom Pokornik from Chicago, IL, and his dad, Rich Pokornik from Venice, FL, fished Little Sarasota Bay with me on Monday morning. It was cold! With the air temperature in the 40’s and the water only in the mid 50’s, fishing was challenging. The only place we could find fish was in the ICW channel, where Tom and Rich caught and released large ladyfish on Clouser flies and jigs. Tom also caught and released an almost legal gag grouper on a fly in the ICW channel!
Conditions were almost the same on Tuesday morning as Denis Clohisy and his young son, Deny, both from Hudson, WI, fished with me. The water was still in the mid 50’s and we found large ladyfish schooled in the ICW channel of Roberts Bay. We had to go to a class 5 sink tip fly line to get the fly down to the bottom of the channel. Once we went to the faster sinking tip, the action picked up. Denis and Deny caught and released numerous large ladyfish on Clouser flies and jigs.
That afternoon, Keith McClintock from Lake Forest, IL, his son-in-law Rick Anderson, also from IL, and his son, Steve McClintock, from Pittsburgh, PA joined me for a trip. We headed north and fished the east side of Sarasota Bay, which offered some protection from the wind. The sun had warmed the shallows enough that reds were hungry. They had a great day catching 6 nice reds to 24” and several nice trout on weedless-rigged CAL shad tails.
Bill Beauchamp, from Bradenton, FL, and a guest fished the Terra Ceia Bay area with me on Wednesday. We found reds and trout concentrated in potholes on the negative low tide that we had in the morning. They caught 4 or 5 reds to 24” and more than 40 trout to 18” on weedless-rigged CAL shad tails. Although it warmed up nicely in the afternoon, the action was slow later in the day.
Keith McClintock and Barry Slee, also from Lake Forest, IL, fished Charlotte Harbor with me on Thursday. They had a banner day fishing shallow grass flats, sand bars and potholes in Gasparilla Sound. They caught and released a dozen big reds to 26”, 10 trout to 22” and a snook on weedless-rigged CAL jigs. Keith and Barry fish Charlotte Harbor with me often in the winter and this is one of their best trips ever with reds!
The action came to a screeching halt on Friday. The forecast was partly cloudy, 78 degrees with east winds at 5 to 10 mph by afternoon. Wrong! It was overcast, windy, and rained several times during the day. Fly anglers, Phil Rever from Sarasota, FL, and Eric Dobkin, from New York City, fished with me and it was tough. We didn’t catch the reds we hoped we would, but did catch and release several trout on crab colored (olive, tan and white) Clousers.
Next week’s tides are favorable for flats fishing, particularly toward the end of the week as we get back into negative low tides. Catch and release fly fishing for snook at night should also be a good option as long the water temperature remains at 60 degrees or higher.
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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