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Sarasota, Florida Fishing Report

Venice to Cedar Key

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Sarasota, Florida Fishing Report

Postby Capt. Bob Smith » Tue Feb 27, 2007 12:02 pm

February 26, 2007

Sarasota Florida Fishing Report
By Capt. Bob Smith


I have had very little to report this month. Fishing has been very slow for most of us! The “I” reef just off the beach in 25 to 30 feet of water has been the most consistent with large sheepshead and small bluefish.

Sheepshead feed on crustaceans and mollusks, dead or alive but not on fish. Small live shrimp, crabs or sea worms as well as barnacles and oysters are good bait. Some anglers will use a shovel to scrape the barnacles off the bridge pylons to start the fish feeding.

It is not uncommon to catch a six pound sheepshead on the “I” reefs, but they can be hard to hook. The saying goes “You need to set the hook before they bite” and that has a lot of truth in it. The sheepshead has a mouth full of big teeth, similar to a sheep but biting very gently, crushing the bait rather than pulling and jerking. You need to raise the pole up and down very slowly and when you feel any resistance, set the hook very hard. Sometimes it will be just a snag but when the fish are biting well, it will be just a matter of timing. A very sharp and stout hook is needed because they have a very hard mouth. I use a Lazer Sharp, O’Shaughnessy L253 3/0 hook that I can only find in this size at BassPro.

This hook will penetrate the sheepshead jaw and can be hard to get out. When the fish are biting fast, I close the barb so that I can get the hook out faster. I also use about 3’ of 30lb mono leader with only a splitshot to get it down.

The bluefish are no problem! They eat everything any time, any place.

On the bay, it has been very slow! There have been the occasional pompano, snook, redfish, and seatrout but seldom a second fish. That would be a good day. When the water starts to warm up, I would expect the fishing to pickup. We have plenty of baitfish and crabs on the bay to hold some nice fish.

I am having a new boat built and it should be finished by March 15th. The boat is a Panga 22’ and you can see what it will look like on my website.

Enjoy & Protect
My Website: http//www.sarasota-fla-fishing.com
Capt. Bob Smith
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Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2003 4:21 pm
Location: Sarasota/Florida

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