Capt Jim Klopfer's Sarasota Fishing Report 8/25/2012
Capt. Jim Klopfer
August 25, 2012
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Action continued to be outstanding on the deep grass flats in Sarasota Bay near both Big Pass and New Pass. Threadfin herring and pilchards are abundant and loading the well has been easy. Chumming with live bait virtually guarantees success. Speckled trout were the highlight this week, along with Spanish mackerel, gag grouper, mangrove snapper, black sea bass, jacks, ladyfish, and more! Casting jigs and Gulp! Shrimp at first light was also productive. We also landed snook at the end of charters fishing docks in Robert's Bay.
Gary McGurk and his son Mason from the Pittsburg, PA area enjoyed steady action on Monday morning. Using live pilchards and threadfins, they caught Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, jacks, ladyfish, snappers, grouper and more on the deep flats near the Ringling Bridge. The action really picked up mid morning when the tide turned to come in.
Rick Long, Scott Brown, Jason Vega, and Jeff Schreck had a good morning on Wednesday. We started off casting Gulp! Shrimp near marker #5 and #6 and caught trout, jacks, and ladyfish early. Jacks and ladyfish were busting on the surface in shallow water. The action slowed, so I caught bait and chummed at the Radio Tower and Marker #5 and caught a half dozen mackerel, 5 keeper trout to 18", snapper, jacks, ladyfish, and a pair of nice gag grouper.
Tom and Pam Schilling from Wilder, KY had a terrific trip on Thursday morning! We started off on a shallow bar near Big Pass and on the first cast ten cormorants showed up and one ate the bait. I looked behind the boat and bait was thick so I loaded up and anchored up on the edge of a deep flat near Bird Key and we caught fish on almost every cast for over two hours. We put a pair of nice 18" speckled trout for the box, released another half dozen in the slot along with jack crevelle, gag grouper to 16", mangrove snapper to 13', black sea bass to 12" and ladyfish. I "reloaded" on bait and hit the flat at Marker #5. We did OK, but the terns became a nuisance and I had some REALLY big pilchards, so we decided to try and catch a snook in the last half hour. Despite no wind, slack tide, and bright sun, Tom caught 2 snook (his first ever) under a Siesta Key dock. The trip ended with a manatee scratching it's back on the hull of my boat!
Bob Siemering from Wellesley, MA took his two sons Joey (12) and Michael (12) out on a fishing trip on Friday. Action was steady and the boys did a great job catching a bunch of speckled trout, putting a pair of nice fat 18 inch fish in the box and releasing a 20" fish and several more in the slot. Ladyfish, jack crevelle, black sea bass, gag grouper, and mangrove snapper also kept them busy. Free lining threadfins and pilchards on the edges of deep flats near Bird Key were very productive. We finished up catching a snook under a Siesta Key dock on a huge pilchard.
Stephen Owen from Cincinnati, OH and his son Steve who lives here in Sarasota had an excellent morning of speckled trout fishing. We started off casting "glow" Gulp! Shrimp under corks near Marker #5, catching several nice slot trout to 18" along with under sized trout, jacks, and ladyfish. They bit for an hour or so, then I made one throw of the net and loaded up the bait well. We hit two spots near the Ringling Bridge and caught several more quality trout to 23", a pai2 of 2 lb Spanish mackerel, jacks, snapper to 12", sea bass to 12", ladyfish, and catfish. We finished up drifting the Radio Tower flat with the Gulp! and catching several more trout before calling it a morning.
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