Sarasota fishing report Capt Jim klopfer 5/23/2015
Capt. Jim Klopfer
May 23, 2015
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
The annual run of giant tarpon is in full swing, with good numbers of fish being found off of the Sarasota beaches. Tarpon were schooled up as we came up on the new moon and bit well, with crabs, pinfish, and threadfin herring being the top baits. Tarpon to 100 pounds were caught by clients this week. Action should be good this week as east winds are predicted. Inshore, the deep grass flats produced the best, providing steady action on a variety of species. Marina Jacks, Marker #5, Radio Tower and Stephen's Pt were the top spots. Speckled trout, bluefish, pompano, black sea bass, jacks, sharks, ladyfish, and big sailcats were caught using live shrimp and Bass Assassin jigs this week. Snook are thick on the beach, with a lot of small "schoolies" and the occasional lunker mixed in.
I started my week off with Phil Steward from Pepperell, Massachusetts. Speckled trout, bluefish, mackerel, ladyfish, and sea bass hit green/white and white Clouser Minnow flies and red gold shiner Bass Assassin jigs at the Radio Tower, Marina Jacks, and Bird Key flats.
On Tuesday I ran my annual tarpon charter with Chaz Boyter from New Jersey. Chaz only made two casts, but both resulted in hook-ups from tarpon close to one hundred pounds. The bites were text book; pretty schools milling near the surface then ate a crab and a pinfish. Both came to the boat after prolonged battles of over an hour. Wednesday was a boat maintenance day.
Fishing was a bit slow in Sarasota Bay for Don Loyd and his 3 teenage children on Thursday. We hit a bunch of different spots, just kind of picking at them all morning. Sea bass, speckled trout, ladyfish, and big sailcats were landed using Bass Assassin jigs and live shrimp.
The bite was much faster on Friday for Ke Ming Hsieh, his wife Dawn, daughter Lindsay, and her friend Steve. They landed eleven different species including bonnethead and blacktip sharks, speckled trout, pompano, bluefish, jack crevelle, Key West grunts, ladyfish, and more! We started off at Stephen's Pt, where live shrimp produced speckled trout, ladyfish, sharks, and sailcats. I hit a ledge in the bay and Steve caught a nice Key West grunt and a couple little ones. We ran in for more bait and finished up at the Radio Tower, catching more trout, a pompano, a bluefish, a jack, and several ladyfish.
Conditions had changed on Saturday as my clients were greeted with NE winds, blue-bird skies and high pressure. The action was steady at Stephen's Pt and the middlegrounds, with jigs and shrimp producing trout, jacks, ladyfish, sea bass, and sailcats.
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