Action and variety in Sarasota with capt Jim klopfer
Capt. Jim Klopfer
March 10, 2012
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Although it was breezy, this week fishing was very good, the key was adapting to conditions. Finding cleaner water out of the wind resulted in steady action on a variety of species. Speckled trout, silver trout, Spanish mackerel, flounder, redfish snook, sea bass, sheepshead, ladyfish, whiting, jack crevelle, gag grouper, and red grouper were all caught this week. The Bird Key docks are loaded with sheepshead. Nearby flats are holding plenty of trout. Live shrimp, jigs, and flies all produced on charters this week.
Bill Thiel from Naperville, IL and a couple of buddies were looking for enough fillets for a fish fry on Monday. Four hours later we had a nice box including speckled trout to 17", ten silver trout, a 2 pound sheepshead, and a nice flounder by fishing edges of flats near the Ringling Bridge on live shrimp.
Tuesday fly fishers Jack Martin and Bill Zimmerman from Philadelphia, PA fished in difficult conditions. Five trout to 17" and a couple of ladyfish were caught on green/white Clouser Minnows and gold/chartreuse Crystal Minnows near Bird Key and in Robert's Bay.
Wednesday morning was once again breezy, and once again we had steady action. Stephen Brooks and his son Smith (13) caught silver and speckled trout, ladyfish, and sheepshead on the Bird Key flats and docks on live shrimp.
The sheepshead bite was ridiculous on Thursday morning! Fishing the docks in Big Pass with Gary Oxender and Darold Votaw resulted in four nice fat fish in the box and another dozen released on live shrimp. Any bait that was within six feet of a piling got hit immediately. We also caught trout, ladyfish, spanish mackerel, and jack crevelle in the Yacht Club Channel. In the afternoon Ron Blanck and his friends Cathy and George Diffenbaucher, all from MD, caught silver trout to 12", speckled trout to 17", sheepshead to 2 lbs, and a 3 lb Spanish mackerel in the deep dredge areas near Bird Key on live shrimp.
Ladyfish were thick on the bar in Big Pass on Friday morning. Steve Gutwein and his uncle Phil Gutwein from Indiana experienced non-stop action using gold Cotee jigs. A move to the deep grass flats near Marina Jack resulted in 3 slot trout and a few short ones. We finished up dock fishing and put 4 keeper sheepshead in the box.
Saturday's charter was terrific! Frank Regnery from CT and his son-in-law Mike Cribbs from Tampa were my clients. The morning started off cool and hazy. A drift in New Pass resulted in a ladyfish. We moved out to a ledge in 25" and caught 15 flounder to 20", 8 Spanish mackerel to 2 1/2 lbs, red grouper, Key West grunts, Sea bass, and blue runners on shrimp and cut bait. After a couple of hours, we came back in and hit my best sheepshead dock where we added 6 sheepies to the box in short order. Casting large shrimp under a Siesta Key dock resulted in 2 reds and a snook. We finished up on a deep edge near Otter Key and caught a few speckled trout.
More Fishing Reports:
