Fly and spin anglers experience good action in Sarasota
Capt. Jim Klopfer
March 5, 2016
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing was good this week for clients tossing Bass Assassin Sea Shad baits and fly anglers casting Clouser Minnows on the deeper grass flats throughout the area. Stephen's Pt., Country Club Shores, Robert's Bay, and Little Sarasota Bay near Spanish Pt. were all productive spots. Ladyfish accounted for most of the action, though bluefish to 2 pounds, speckled trout to 20", and jack crevelle were also landed. Structure in Big Pass and the inshore Gulf of Mexico yielded decent numbers of sheepshead, mangrove snapper, and gag grouper for anglers fishing live bait on the bottom.
Doug Fuller from Colorado fished with me on Monday. Ladyfish were quick to hit a jig, but for whatever reason they were reluctant to take a fly. Country Club Shores held quite a bit of fish.
Bill LaPierre from Plymouth, MA was my client on Tuesday. Bill is a great guy and has fished with me for years. We started off in Big Pass on the slack tide, bottom fishing with live shrimp. Sheepshead to 3 pounds and mangrove snapper kept his rod bent. A move to a Bird Key dock resulted in more sheepies and several gag grouper. We moved to Country Club Shores and caught big ladyfish and speckled trout to 18" casting red/gold shiner Bass Assassin jigs. After many trips with Bill, we decided to do something different and finished up in Phillippi Creek, catching jack crevelle to 3 pounds and small snook casting and trolling #8 Rapala X-Raps.
Fly fisher Dave Kremer from Louisville, KY and his buddy Bill did some fly fishing with me on Wednesday. We started off at Stephen's Pt with pretty steady action on ladyfish. The breeze picked up a bit, so we ran across the bay and worked a few spots on the west side with little success. We finished up with a few more ladyfish and bluefish at the Middlegrounds. Red/gold, white/chartreuse, and green/white Clouser Minnow patterns all produced.
I ran a 6 hour charter on Thursday with Sarasota residents Doc Dojutrek, Bill Kish, and John Englander. It was quite still with very little breeze, so I decided to hit a couple of the inshore artificial reefs. Roehr was loaded with pinfish, so I ran over to Silvertooth. Good call, as the boys experienced steady action on sheepshead to 4 pounds, Key West grunts, red grouper, and mangrove snapper, all of which hit live shrimp fished on the bottom. We came back inside and caught ladyfish, trout, and bluefish near Longboat Key casting Bass Assassin jigs.
John McGarry from Michigan and his friends Kathryn and Corey went out on Friday morning. We left CB's and headed north, then catching quite a few ladyfish on red/gold shiner Bass Assassin jigs. We finished up working some docks in Big Pass, landing several sheepshead, gag grouper, and mangrove snapper.
Buddies from the UK, David Theobold and Brian Woods did some spin and fly fishing on Saturday. I picked them up at Pelican Cove and we worked our way south towards Blackburn Pt. Dave fly fished, catching a dozen ladyfish and trout on red/gold Clouser Minnows. Brian used spinning gear and did well using both Bass Assassin jigs and live shrimp. The west side of the bay across from Spanish Pt. was the best spot.
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