Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict had a great week despite torrential rain most of the week. Tarpon, snook, redfish, and trout were caught on a variety of lures and flies during the past week. Reds were schooling on the flats of Sarasota Bay and tarpon fed heavily in the Peace River. A new lure from DOA called the “Deadly Combination”, which consists of a Cajun Thunder float and a DOA lure, produced good numbers of reds and snook.
Dr. Lewis Hanan and his son, Ben Hanan, both from Sarasota, fished Sarasota Bay with me last Sunday. The action was slow to start, but they managed several trout to 17” on DOA shrimp and Deadly Combination rigs near Ringling and Buttonwood Harbor.
Fly anglers Steve and Lynn Blackledge, from Longboat Key, FL, fished a pre dawn trip with me on Monday morning. The action was slow, but Steve caught and released his first snook on a Grassett’s Grass Minnow fly before we moved to the flats. They caught a few more fish on the flats, including Lynn’s first trout on a fly, before our day was done.
The action picked up on Tuesday as 970 WFLA’s, Capt. Mel Berman, joined me for a trip in Sarasota Bay. We spent a good bit of the morning dodging rain showers before we were forced to take cover for a while. When we went back out we found a large school of reds near Buttonwood Harbor. We caught and released several reds to 30” on a CAL jerk worm and MirrOlure She Dogs before the school slipped into deeper water and disappeared.
Scott Heidler and his 8-year old son, Scottie Heidler, from Hudson, OH, fished the Peace River near Punta Gorda with me on Wednesday. Their goal was to catch their first tarpon and they were successful! I knew it was going to be a good day when Scott hooked up on his second cast and landed a 14-pound tarpon with a rootbeer DOA TerrorEyz. He followed it up by jumping a 20-pound fish on his next cast, which broke off next to the boat. Scottie also jumped a couple of fish. They jumped a total of 5 tarpon in the 15 to 20-pound class, landing 2 of them. Scottie did great job casting, detecting bites and setting the hook all on his own!
Jim Gray, from Lakewood Ranch, FL and Rich Fildes, from Orlando, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Thursday. After catching and releasing numerous trout on MirrOlure She Dogs near Ringling, we moved closer to the shoreline to search for reds and snook. We found a school of reds in about 6 feet of water, as we were heading in towards a sand bar. Rich caught a pair of reds and lost another on a MirrOlure She Dog before a severe thunderstorm forced us to leave the fish and take cover. When we returned the school had done a disappearing act. We spent a good portion of the day dodging rain showers.
One of the best days of the week (and the worst weather) was on Friday with Miami guide, Capt. Del Pernas and Angel Armas, also from Miami, FL. They landed a pair of reds to 26”, four snook to 26” and numerous trout to 18” mostly on the DOA Deadly Combination. Capt. Del lost a snook in the 15-pound class that we couldn’t turn. We fished both sides of the bay near Ringling and Bishop’s Point. A severe thunderstorm, which dumped 4” of rain and contained lightning and wind gusts to 40 mph, forced us to make a run for the dock and ended our day early.
Next week’s strong outgoing tides late in the day should be productive for snook.Reds should continue schooling on the flats and will also be a good option. We are back in a flood situation in southwest Florida. I’ll be glad when the weather returns to a normal pattern and we can quit dodging rain and lightning!
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail [email protected]
www.snookfin-addict.com and www.flyfishingflorida.net
