Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim klopfer 11/16/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
November 16, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
I experienced another week of productive, diverse, and best of all, FUN fishing! I fished Sarasota Bay and the inshore Gulf of Mexico early and late in the week and sandwiched in between I did some freshwater fishing. Bluefish, ladyfish, speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, sea bass, and other species hit Bass Assassin jigs and trolled Rapala X-Raps on the deep grass flats. In the inshore Gulf, false albacore were fairly plentiful, but VERY fussy! It was difficult to get them to bite as they were focused on the tiny glass minnows. Spanish mackerel were scattered out and a lot of them were small. Clients caught a few to 2 pounds trolling #8 Rapala X-Raps. Residential canals south of Siesta Drive are holding snook, snapper, and jack crevelle. In freshwater, Lake Manatee continued to produce decent numbers of speckled perch (crappie) as well as the occasional Sunshine bass and bream on trolled spinners and jigs. The area from the SR 64 bridge to Gilley Creek was productive for me. I also made a "prospecting" trip out to Ward Lake (Evers Resevoir) in Bradenton. I ran across a school of largemouth bass in 15' of water and caught several to 17" on 4 lb spinning tackle along with a 4' gar.
Long time client Dr. Francis Sacco from northern California fished with me on Monday. The bite was slow early; we hit both Big Pass and New Pass on the falling tide, not much going on. We landed a few Spanish mackerel to 2 lbs trolling X-Raps near the mouth of Big Pass. Fishing improved as the tide turned to come in, with speckled trout, ladyfish, and gag grouper hitting Bass Assassin jigs at the Marina Jack and Radio Tower flats. We finished up with some decent action at the Middlegrounds, catching several bluefish to 3 1/2 pounds on Rapalas.
I fished Ward Lake on Tuesday, catching a few bass. On Wednesday and Thursday I fished Lake Manatee in search of the tasty speckled perch. Fishing was steady, with crappie hitting Beetlespins, jigs, and Road Runners trolled slowly over the channel edges. Bright colors such as chartreuse and pink worked the best. Sunshine bass and bream were also landed.
On Friday Mike Betz from Toledo, OH went out on a charter with me. It was cool, breezy, and overcast, not the greatest conditions. We picked at them for the most part, catching ladyfish, sea bass, and other species near Big Pass. We finished up with a nice flurry near Stickney Pt, catching a dozen jacks, along with snook and snapper.
I finished off my week with very good action at the Marine Jack flats and Middlegrounds with Sue and Bob Lefebvre, their daughter and her boyfriend. They caught a LOT of fish, most of them ladyfish, with some speckled trout, sea bass, and sail cats mixed in. They also caught a few jack crevelle in New Pass. Glow Bass Assassin jigs caught most of the fish, though a few took live shrimp and trolled rapalas. In all, they probably caught around 75 fish.
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