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Sarasota and Venice
Capt. Rick Grassett
January 28, 2008
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 1/18 through 1/28/08
Anglers fishing with me on the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with a variety of fish during the past week and a half. Fly anglers caught and released bluefish, trout and ladyfish while anglers using spinning tackle caught and released reds, trout and bluefish. The best action was with bluefish in Big Pass and reds along the west side of Sarasota Bay.
Sarasota winter residents, Sam Semel and Bruce Feldman, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Friday, Jan. 18th. They had fast action with blues in Big Pass on Diamond jigs and MirroLure Top Pups and trout to 18” on CAL jigs at the Marina Jack flat. That afternoon Bill Gallagher and Ray Smith, both from MD, had similar action fishing the same areas with Clouser flies and CAL jigs.
Sarasota winter resident, Harry Beaty, and his guest, Paul Rotz from Ontario, Canada, fished with me the following Wednesday. They caught about a dozen blues to 1 ½ lbs. in Big Pass before we headed into the bay to fish for trout and reds. They caught and released about a dozen trout and a nice Spanish mackerel near Bishops Point and 7 or 8 reds to 27” near Buttonwood Harbor on CAL jigs with shad tails.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune outdoors editor, Steve Gibson, joined me for a trip on Friday. The focus of the story was to be reds in Sarasota Bay, but a front pushed through on Thursday evening changing our game plan to “post front” fishing. With a stiff northeast wind and water in the high 50’s, we had our work cut out for us. We fished the east side of Sarasota Bay, where we caught and released a red and several trout to 18” on CAL jigs with shad tails.
Fly angler, Hal Lutz from Parish, FL, fished the Terra Ceia Bay area with me on Saturday. Hal is an experienced fly angler with several giant tarpon jumped or landed to his credit, but hadn’t done much shallow water fly fishing for reds, snook and trout. Sight fishing was our goal, but visibility wasn’t great. We worked potholes and mullet schools and Hal scored his first red and trout on my Flats Minnow fly. This fly is now available in the spring 2008 Orvis catalog and at CB’s Saltwater Outfitters along with my night snook fly, Grassett’s Snook Minnow (a.k.a. Grass Minnow).
Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, and his guest, Dave Eakin from Richland, WA, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday. They caught about a dozen bluefish and ladyfish on CAL jigs with shad tails and MirrOlure Top Pups in Big Pass to start the day off. During the rest of the day, they caught and released 7 or 8 trout, including a pair of 20” trout, 7 reds and a 3-lb. bluefish on CAL jigs with shad tails. The best action was with reds near Buttonwood Harbor and with the big trout and bluefish along the east side of Sarasota Bay.
The weather pattern looks good for the next several days and tides will improve as we head toward a new moon on Feb. 6th. Reds and trout in potholes of Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor and trout and bluefish in Sarasota Bay should all be good options.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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