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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
January 8, 2005
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
SW Florida Fishing Report for 1/3 through 1/8/2005
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict caught and released a variety of fish during the past week. As is often the case at this time of the year, the best action was fly fishing for snook at night. Fly and spin anglers also scored with trout on the flats of lower Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor. We also caught a couple of reds on flies, one at night and another on the flats.
Phil Reever, from Sarasota, FL, and his friend, Eric Dobkin from Pound Ridge, NY, fly fished for snook with me near Venice on Sunday evening. The action was not fast, but was steady. They caught and released about a dozen snook and a redfish on Grassett’s Grass Minnow flies.
Fly anglers, Alan and John Zablocki from Springfield, MO, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday afternoon. We spent a couple of hours targeting reds on a shallow flat on the east side of the bay before hitting a deeper grass flat where they caught and released a few trout to 19”on Clouser and Flats Minnow flies. That evening, Ferman Schlabaugh from Sarasota, FL, snook fished with me. We found the action much slower than the night before. Ferman caught and released several snook on DOA Tiny TerrorEyz near Venice.
Steve and Taylor Canfield, from Louisville, KY, fished the Terra Ceia Bay area with me on Wednesday and Thursday. Although the weather was beautiful and the water getting warmer every day, fishing wasn’t that hot. They caught and released trout to 17” on each day on CAL jigs with shad tails and weedless-rigged CAL shad tails.
Fly angler, Bill King from Sarasota, FL, fished Charlotte Harbor with me on Friday. Reds were tailing on a shallow grass flat first thing in the morning, but were very spooky. Bill had a take, but didn’t hook up and then the tails disappeared. However, he did land several trout and a redfish on Clouser and Flats Minnow flies fishing potholes in Gasparilla sound later in the day.
Next week’s tides are favorable for reds and trout early in the day. Negative low tides will concentrate fish as we come off the new moon on Monday. The weather has been gorgeous and the water on the flats is near 70 degrees. Not bad for the middle of January!
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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