Saltwater Fishing Report for Sarasota, Florida.
Capt. Bob Smith
April 20, 2003
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Plenty of big kings are still being taken on the Seven!
Plenty of big kings are still being taken on the Seven! Kingfish have been caught on all of the artificial "M" reefs in forty to fifty feet of water. Artificial reef "M-7" has been the hot spot for both hardware and live bait fishermen. It is also crowded with boats. You will find plenty of sharks and barracuda to help you catch the kings and add to the fun. Live shrimp, pilchards, herring and bluerunners have all been good baits. Spanish mackerel, cobia and an occasional Sailfish have also showed up from time to time.
Bay fishing on the grass-flats has been good with a large variety of fish possible. Spanish mackerel and Seatrout are most numerous with pompano, bluefish, ladyfish, cobia and jacks jumping in at any time. One tarpon was hooked and fought for a half-hour on Stevens Point grass-flats last week. I have also seen some under the New Pass Bridge.
The average size of the trout has fallen. It is harder to find keepers but the number of mackerel caught has risen and many are about 24".
As always, I drift the flats and cast jigs or live bait. I have many options here depending on wind-speed/drift-speed and anglers skill, but anchoring is not one of them. My favorite method when using live bait is to cast a free-line in front of the boat's drift and slowly retrieve the slack line as the boat moves toward the bait. Leave enough slack in the line so as not to pull the bait but take enough slack up so that you can see the line move if a fish takes the bait.
For the less experienced angler, I use a Drag and Drop method. You let the line out behind the drift. Force about ten feet of slack line out at a time and let the drift of the boat take up this slack. Repeat this as soon as the slack is gone. Most pickups will occur when the line is slack and the shrimp is sinking.
Enjoy and Protect
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