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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
February 3, 2005
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southwest Florida Fishing Report for 1/23 through 2/3/2005
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict have had good action with reds and trout on the flats and snook at night despite a couple of fronts within the past 10 days. The fastest action has been on deep grass flats with trout, ladyfish and the occasional bluefish.
Tom Lamb, from Geneva, Switzerland, fished north Sarasota Bay with me early last week. Despite water in the mid 50’s, Tom caught a pair of reds and several trout on CAL jigs with shad tails.
Fly fishers Dan Lagace and Dennis Aust, both from Tampa, FL, fished Charlotte Harbor with me last Wednesday. Dan and Dennis, members of the Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club, are both accomplished casters. Dan is a fly casting instructor known nationally for teaching anglers to cast with their non-dominant hand. The action was not fast, but they caught and released several trout and a redfish on a variety of flies in Gasparilla Sound.
The following day, Keith McClintock and Larry Stillman, both from Lake Forest, IL, fished the same area with me. We saw more reds and the action was faster that day. They caught and released 6 reds to 26” and about 20 trout to 19” on weedless-rigged CAL shad tails.
I was back down there again on Monday with Scott Heidler, from Hudson, OH, and Joel DeMarais, from Minneapolis, MN and the action heated up even more. We started the day in a heavy fog and Scott and Larry caught several reds and nice snook right away on CAL jigs with shad tails. We moved to a flat in Gasparilla Sound, where they caught 15 or more trout in the 18’’ class and Joel already had a slam by 10 AM. They finished the day with 7 or 8 reds to 27”, a 24” snook and more than 25 trout to18”. Nice day!
A trip the next morning in north Sarasota Bay was slow. Despite the water warming to the mid 60’s, we only caught a few trout, ladyfish and a bluefish.
Fly fishers, Don and Barbara Ecker from Ft. Lee, NJ, fished the ICW in Venice for snook with me that evening. The action was steady and we had a good evening. They caught and released more than 15 snook to 23” and a fat bluefish on Grassett’s Grass Minnow flies.
Since north Sarasota Bay was slow on Tuesday morning, longtime friends and customers, Norm and Francie Boardman from Sarasota, FL, fished Little Sarasota Bay with me on Wednesday afternoon. We had plenty of action with trout in the 16’-17’ class and big ladyfish on Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad tails.
Next week’s negative low tides in the morning are favorable for reds and trout. Fly fishing for snook at night also remains a good option.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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