Sarasota Fishing report Capt Jim klopfer 8/16/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
August 16, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing was steady once again this week on a variety of species. Redfish, cobia, speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, black sea bass, ladyfish, and more fell victim to pilchards, threadfins, and pinfish. Bait is plentiful and easy to catch on the flats near both passes and out on the beach. Marina Jacks, Radio Tower, and Middlegrounds were the best spots for me this week.
I started my week off on Monday with Donald Button and his boys Jake and Nick. Bait was easy and after loading the well we fished 2 spots near Bird Key, catching a half dozen Spanish mackerel (nice to see them back in Sarasota Bay), speckled trout, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, sea bass, ladyfish, and more. Chumming with bait brought them up to the boat. We finished up on a bar near Marina Jacks, where Jake caught a nice slot redfish.
Fishing was bit tougher on Tuesday for Lori and Jack McLaughlin from Bellica, MA. The tide was slack for an hour mid morning, and it was difficult getting anything going. We hit a bunch of spots, catching a few fish at each one. Still, they caught speckled trout, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, ladyfish, sea bass, and a small cobia.
Action picked up later in the week for Michael Dannehy from North Haverhill, NH and his boys Keegan (7) and Andrew (9). It was the boys first fishing trip, and they did great! I caught bait, and hit Marina jacks and the Radio Tower where the boys landed mangrove snapper to 14", speckled trout to 18", bluefish, ladyfish, and big sailcats. The tide quit and so did the bite, but I made a quick stop in New Pass to "re-load" with bait, and the tide turned to come back in. I anchored up at the Middlegrounds, where they caught several more nice mangs and some Spanish mackerel to 2 pounds before we called it a morning. The week ended with some unstable weather in the morning and a couple of days off for me!
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