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Saltwater Fishing Report for Sarasota, Florida.
Capt. Bob Smith
July 22, 2000
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Long offshore
If you have been wanting to run some long offshore trips, this is the time to do it. Blackfin tuna and dolphin have been on the bite forty to fifty miles offshore. Artificial and live bait have both been productive. The baitfish has been plentiful from the beach out to twenty five miles offshore. Shorter runs to the (M) reefs in forty to fifty feet of water have produced plenty of large Spanish mackerel, barracuda and an occasional permit on live crab. The mackerel have been inhaling the #2 spoon when trolling and the cuda have been taking spoons and large live bait.
On the bay, we found the sea trout to be the most consistent and the snook best at first and last light. Due to the small size of the shrimp and the lack of good size whitebait or grunts, we have caught our best trout on artificial baits. We caught more keeper size trout by tipping a soft tail jig with a fresh maggot size shrimp tail. I found most of the trout in the grass between Country Club Shores and Longboat Key Moorings, also along Longbar at the north end of the bay.
Tarpon are still hanging around the fenders at New Pass bridge. Tarpon are best fished like the snook at first and last light, night and change of tide. You can see them all day long but that's about all you can do, just look. The best time of all is when last light and change of tide correspond.
Mangrove snapper have been caught all over the bay from the flats to the docks. Snappers school, so stick with the school when you find them and use your ruler.
Enjoy and Protect
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