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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
May 20, 2006
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 5/8 through 5/20/2006
Tarpon showed up in a big way along the beaches from Longboat Key to Boca Grande during the past couple of weeks. Fly and spin anglers fishing with me jumped and landed several tarpon from Siesta Key to Casey Key during the week of May 7th. A couple of late season fronts pushed through and caused a west wind pattern forcing us to fish the flats for several days. Anglers caught and released trout, reds and snook on lures and flies on those days.
Fly anglers, John Freeman from Nokomis, FL, and his son, John, fished with me on May 8th. We hunted tarpon in the coastal gulf waters off Gasparilla Island and were about to head inside after a few hours when we found a big, happy school. We stuck with them for a couple of hours and got bit a couple of times on an Enrico Puglisi Black Mullet and a black and yellow bunny fly before a hammerhead shark showed up and ruined their appetite. They caught and released numerous trout to 19” on glass minnow fly patterns near Sandfly Key to finish the day.
Steve Collard, from Valrico, FL and John Napolitano, from Lakewood Ranch, FL fished the same area with me the next day. We were doing well with trout on CAL jigs with shad tails and DOA Deadly Combos when a strong front pushed through ending our day early. The best day in the last couple of weeks was with Bill Crowley, from Nokomis, FL and Joe Scotti, from Sarasota, FL. Conditions were near perfect and tarpon were plentiful and happy off Siesta Key that day. Practically everything that we cast a live crab to that day ate. They brought 3 out of 6 fish hooked to the boat, including an estimated 130-pounder. Just like the old days!
Fly angler, Patrice Camillieri from near Paris, France, fished the same area with me the next day. A big, happy school showed up first thing in the morning and after a few casts, Patrice put one in the air with a black and purple Enrico Puglisi Mullet fly. We had a few more shots, but no more bites as the wind came up quickly that day ending our trip early. Patrice also fished with me the following Sunday and although conditions were good, tarpon weren’t showing very well that day.
John Leutner, from Herndon, VA, fished Gasparilla Sound with me on Friday. Our plan was to tarpon fish, but rough conditions persisted so we retreated to the backcountry. Although the action wasn’t fast, we did have a slam on the boat and also a few jacks all caught with CAL jigs with shad tails and a MirrOlure She Dog.
Conditions in the gulf weren’t great this week, although a couple of days earlier in the week were fishable. We had a couple of bites on flies and spent the rest of the time fishing either Sarasota Bay or Gasparilla Sound. Paul Nevins, from Sarasota, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Thursday. The action was slow most of the morning, but we found some reds near Bishop Point on the west side of Sarasota Bay later in the morning. Paul caught and released 4 reds to 30” on CAL jigs with shad tails. Three of them were very small, but the big fish made up for them.
Next week should be a peak week, as we head toward the new moon on Saturday. Occasionally our winds will shift to the west for several days following a late season front. Hopefully, we’ve got that behind us for a while. There seems to be plenty of tarpon so far this season and they are behaving normally due to no red tide (Shhh!). Fly anglers should score with dark fly patterns fished on intermediate fly lines early in the day while those using conventional tackle should hook up with DOA Baitbusters, DOA Swimming Mullet, live crabs and a variety of baitfish.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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