Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim klopfer 7/12/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
July 12, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing was steady this week on a variety of species, though we did not catch any really big trout. Speckled trout to 21", Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, sea bass to 14", mangrove snapper to 12", gag grouper to 16", flounder, jacks, silver trout, ladyfish, and more were caught using live baitfish on charters this week. Bait was thick around both passes and a couple of casts with the net filled the well for the entire trip. The deep grass flats near the passes produced the best action. Sharks to 30 pounds hit cut ladyfish, mackerel, and pinfish near Big Pass.
I ran an afternoon charter on Monday. Bait was easy but the fishing was tough, mornings are more consistent this time of year. We did catch a few nice gag grouper and several sharks, but fishing was on the slow side.
Sarasota resident Doc Dojutrek went out early in the week. We started off casting topwater plugs along a mangrove shoreline, but had no interest. A move to catch bait then fish the deep edges near Bird Key resulted in speckled trout to 21", Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, along with other species. Doc finished up with 2 nice sharks, going 30 lbs and 25 lbs, great fun on light tackle!
Rob Gatton who lives in Orlando treated his dad Bob and son Aiden to a trip on Thursday. Bait was easy and action was very steady on mackerel and loads on ladyfish near the Twin Bridges. We moved to the Radio Tower in search of a few trout to keep and the boys landed several slot fish along with some mangrove snappers, sea bass to 14", flounder, and more. I ran a pontoon charter with capt Terry out of CB's on Friday. We caught a dozen or so fish in live shrimp, including a 14" mangrove snapper.
Courtney and Allen McEvin from Louisville, KY took their two kids Kydwyn (5) and Hasten (8) out on their first "real" fishing trip on Saturday. Once again, bait was easy and it did not take long to get fish popping in the chum. We worked the deep grass flats near Bird Key and Marina Jacks and caught several trout in the slot to 18", a half dozen Spanish mackerel to 2 1/2 pounds, mangrove snapper to 12", ladyfish, and sea bass. Hasten had the hot hand, catching more by himself than his mom and dad! Nice going!!
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