Sarasota fishing report Capt Jim klopfer 1/3/2015
Capt. Jim Klopfer
January 3, 2015
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing was quite productive this week on the deep grass flats near the passes with Marina Jacks and the Middlegrounds being the best spots. Bass Assassin jigs (chartreuse silver glitter and glow/chartreuse), trolled Rapala X-Raps (#8 in olive and white), and free lined live shrimp were all equally effective. Pompano, Spanish mackerel, and bluefish to three pounds were landed, as well as speckled trout, bonnethead sharks, jacks, ladyfish, and more. Structure near Big Pass is holding red and gag grouper, mangrove snapper, and sheepshead. Live shrimp is the best bait. I ran a charter on Saturday down in Nokomis, catching some very nice bluefish, Spanish mackerel, and a bunch of one pound jacks.
I started my week off on Sunday with John Brennan from Brookfield, WI and his daughters Cari and Teresa. Action was steady near Big Pass, mostly ladyfish, on shrimp and jigs. The wind quit, and so did the bite, so we moved to some deep structure in the pass and caught red grouper, gag grouper, and mangrove snapper on shrimp.
The Manby family, Maria and Jeff and their girls Abby, Julia, and Ashley, also from Brookfield, WI, had a very good day on Monday. Free lined shrimp produced several nice pompano, Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, speckled trout to 16", and loads of ladyfish at Marker #5 and in Roberts Bay.
I ran two trips on Tuesday. In the morning Bo Brownlee and his son (10) Garrett, from Columbus, OH caught speckled trout to 17", bonnethead sharks, sailcats, and ladyfish on the deep flats off of Bird Key. Once again, the wind and tide were slack and the action slowed. We hit a couple of docks and caught sheepshead and gag grouper. In the afternoon, the breeze picked up as did the tidal flow, and so did the fishing. John Brennan took his other daughter Laura and her friend Kevin out. Action was very steady with pompano, sharks, trout, and a lot of large ladyfish being caught near Marina Jacks on Bass Assassin jigs and live shrimp.
I fished with Joe Culloo from Colorado and his daughters and their boyfriends on Wednesday and Friday, taking off New Years Day on Thursday. Wednesday was cool, breezy, and misty. Action was steady at Marina Jacks and the Middlegrounds, and while they did not catch great numbers, there was quality and variety, with eleven species being landed including pompano, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, jack crevelle, bonnethead shark, ladyfish, sail and hardhead cats, and more! Most of the fish fell for free lined shrimp though the larger fish hit trolled Rapalas, including a 3 lb pompano, a "first" for me. On Friday they experienced similar action. Joe caught two nice pompano on a jig, trolled Rapala X-Raps put 6 Spanish mackerel in the boat, and of course plenty of big ladyfish were hooked on jigs and free lined shrimp.
I finished up the week on Saturday with Terri and Gary Rosenthal from Clumbus, Ohio. They are purchasing a home in Nokomis and wanted to explore that area. So, i met them at the ramp at Albee Rd and we fished our way north. The tide was low, but coming in hard and the fish were holding on the channel edges. Casting Bass Assassin jigs and trolling white Rapala X-Raps resulted in big bluefish to 4 pounds, Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, and plenty of jack crevelle. Oddly enough, we never hooked a ladyfish.
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