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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
January 14, 2006
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Southwest Florida Fishing Report for 1/8 through 1/14/2006
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released snook, bluefish, ladyfish and a pompano on flies and jigs during the past week. I also fly fished a day in the Everglades, which was a real treat.
The best action was, by far, fly fishing for snook at night in the ICW near Venice. Snook and bluefish gorged themselves on glass minnows and ate our small white flies almost as fast. Bernie Feinberg, from Sarasota, FL, and his friend, David Schofield from Elmira, NY, fished their annual early January snook trip with me on Sunday evening. With the water temperature at 62 degrees, snook through caution aside and went on a glass minnow binge. In a couple of spots, bluefish moved in and pushed snook out, not such a bad problem since they fought as hard or harder than the snook. Bernie and David had a banner night, catching and releasing more than 40 fish including 6 bluefish on my Grass Minnow night snook fly.
The following afternoon, Duke University golf coach Rod Myers and his friend, Carl Exner, both from Durham, NC, fished Blackburn Bay with me. Rob started off with a pompano on his first cast and we skipped several others on the same flat. We caught and released numerous large ladyfish on Ultra Hair Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad tails until a group of bottlenose dolphins moved in and shut us down. That evening fly anglers, Paul and Donna Pezza, from RI, fished “snook alley” near Venice with me. The bite was almost as good as the night before. They weren’t counting fish, but they had to catch and release more than 30 snook, including a couple larger than 26”, and several bluefish.
Tuesday was a real treat as Sarasota Herald-Tribune outdoor editor, Steve Gibson, and I headed south to fish canals in the Everglades along US 41 south of Naples. We were armed with 4-weight fly rods and ultra light spinning tackle. We got into the heart of the ‘glades by taking a side road off of US 41, which was like being in a zoo. We must have seen 50 or more gators, some as large as 12 feet, in the road! We probably caught a couple of hundred stumpknockers, warmouth perch, cichlids, oscars, bass, catfish and gar. I used a Gibby’s Myakka Minnow on my 4-weight and Steve used that and a 1/16 oz. crappie jig on his ultra light spinning outfit.
I fished the Terra Ceia Bay area on Wednesday on a group trip with Capt. Ray Markham. Steve Canfield, from Louisville, KY and his family fished with Capt. Ray and me. Things were slow for us. We connected with a nice red and a few ladyfish on CAL jigs with shad tails and grubs. Capt. Ray managed a slam on his boat.
The following evening, Keith McClintock from Lake Forest, IL, and Victor Feldman, from Champagne, IL, snook fished with me in the ICW near Venice. The action slowed compared to trips earlier in the week, but they still caught and released 8 or 10 snook on flies and DOA Tiny TerrorEyz. A strong front blew through on Friday evening with winds gusting in the 30-mph range. That forced the postponement of a Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club/Mangrove Cost Fly Fishers outing in Tampa Bay near Ruskin on Saturday morning. It wouldn’t have been any fun under those conditions.
Next week’s negative low tides, as we head away from Saturday’s full moon, should concentrate reds and trout in potholes of lower Tampa Bay and Gasparilla Sound in Charlotte Harbor. Take advantage of the windows of opportunity between fronts.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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