Sarasota Fireworks!
Capt. Jim Klopfer
July 9, 2011
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
The Independence Day boat traffic did not hamper the fishing this week. Action was very consistent on a variety of species on the flats near Big Pass. Pilchards and pinfish caught most of the fish. Speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, mangrove snapper, grouper, sea bass, ladyfish, flounder, and sharks were among the species landed on charters this week.
On Sunday The Schneider girls, Teresa and her grand daughters Hailey and Alex caught a bunch of trout, mackerel, and ladyfish at the flats near Siesta Drive on pilchards and shrimp. They took home enough fish for everyone to have a taste.
Long-time clients Marcel Hamburger and his children Grant and Morgan from Houston met me at the ramp at Ken Thompson Park early Tuesday morning. As usual, Morgan kicked the boys behind, catching most of the keeper trout and mackerel and 2 VERY nice mangrove snapper at Marker # 5 on pilchards. Grant did get "big fish" honors with a three foot blacktip shark.
Brent Ables from Columbus, IN took out his sons Riley (10) and Bryce (13) out on Wednesday. They caught a ton of fish and kept several Spanish mackerel and a nice trout for dinner. The Yacht Club Channel was the hot spot that day.
Sharks were the highlight of the trip on Thursday morning. Chumming with pilchards on the deep flats at Marker # 5 resulted in 6 sharks hooked and 3 landed. All were around 3 feet long, great sport on light spinning outfits. We also caught a couple of nice trout, plenty of "shorts", and a huge ladyfish.
Friday was stormy and unfit to fish. Saturday morning the passes were muddy and dirty. I was able to catch bait near Bird Key and we caught a bunch of trout to 18" and a nice bluefish at the middlegrounds and Moorings.
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