Sarasota Fishing Report CVapt Jim klopfer 4/5/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
April 5, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
The sheepshead bite continues to be fantastic throughout the area! Docks, bridges, and rocky ledges are holding good numbers of these tasty saltwater panfish. Clients have also been catching a lot of small mangrove snapper, with the occasional nice one mixed in. A live or fresh shrimp fished on the bottom is all it takes. Speckled trout to 20", Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, bluefish, jack crevelle, gag grouper, black sea bass, and ladyfish hit gold D.O.A. CAL jigs, white Rapala X-Raps, and live shrimp in Big Pass and the nearby deep grass flats.
On Monday Jack Grumet from the Hudson Valley area of New York went out on a 6 hour charter. We hit the mouth of Phillippi Creek first thing; no bites. I then headed into Big Pass where the sheepshead bite was on. We caught a bunch to 3 pounds, along with some mangrove snapper using live shrimp. A move to the nearby deep flats resulted in slot trout, ladyfish, and jacks on jigs. Things slowed late morning and we just picked at them for the last two hours.
Todd Bruce, his girlfriend Nicole, and daughters Hazel (8) and Ruby (11) from Minnesota experienced fast fishing on Tuesday. Once again the sheepshead bite was hot, and even though they were not keeping any, they are still great fun to catch. The girls caught a bunch, then the tide became a bit too strong, so we moved to the Bird Key flats and caught speckled trout, bluefish, jacks, ladyfish, and sea bass on jigs and free lined live shrimp. All told, they caught around 60 fish, a fun morning!
On Wednesday Blake MacKenkie and his son Mason from Chicago had a good trip with steady action. The sheepshead bit very well, and after putting a few in the box we moved on. Spanish mackerel, bluefish, sea bass, jack crevelle, and ladyfish hit jigs and live shrimp in Big Pass and the flats near Bird Key.
Lisa and Steve Schreck took their 2 boys Aiden (11) and Quin (12) out on Thursday. We got out a bit late and the tide was running too strong to fish for sheepshead in the pass, so we started off drifting live shrimp and casting jigs. Several ladyfish, a jack, and a Spanish mackerel were caught. We moved on to the flats and caught a few trout and more ladyfish, but the bite was kind of slow. The wind picked up out of the south, so I headed back to Big Pass for a little protection from the wind. We finished up trolling Rapala X-Raps and catching 8 mackerel and a nice bluefish.
The sheepshead bite was crazy for Candra and Ray Kurzer and their grown son Cody, all from Sebewaing, MI. We left Centennial park at 7:15 and headed for Big Pass. At 9:00 we had probably landed 50 sheepshead and mangrove snapper, putting enough in the box for a meal. Every shrimp that hit the bottom got eaten almost immediately. They also caught (and released) speckled trout of 20", 18", and 17", a couple of mackerel, ladyfish, and sea bass on jigs and shrimp on the nearby grass flats. The wind cranked up so we headed in, great morning!
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