Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopfer 11/24/2012
Capt. Jim Klopfer
November 29, 2012
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing was very good this Thanksgiving week. Early in the week ladyfish were everywhere then thinned out as the water cooled off. Spanish mackerel and bluefish bit good later in the week. Species count for the week was speckled trout to 18″, Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, bluefish to 3 pounds, black sea bass, flounder, gag grouper, ladyfish, sailcats, and a small permit. Gold Cotee jigs, Gulp! Shrimp, Rapalas, and live bait caught the fish. Best spots were the passes and nearby flats.
On Monday long time client and friend Tom Hyser from Cambridge, MD had a good day on a variety of species including speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, black sea bass, flounder, gag grouper, and ladyfish using gold Cotee jigs, Gulp! Shrimp, and pilchards. We started off at the Radio Tower catching sea bass and ladyfish, then moved to New Pass where ladyfish were thick with some Spanish mackerel mixed in. We took a ride out in the Gulf in search of breaking fish but there wasn't much going on so we came in Big Pass and caught more ladyfish. A move to the deep flats and free lining pilchards resulted in flounder to 16″, trout, mackerel, and ladyfish.
Sandy and Bruce Borders from Indianapolis, IN caught a TON of big ladyfish at Marker #5, the Yacht Club Channel, and Big Pass using glow Gulp! Shrimp on Tuesday. They also caught several speckled trout, two big sailcats, flounder, and sea bass.
Gina and Jason Sroga and their two children Calvin (13) and Sadie (9) from Woodbury, MN had a terrific trip on Wednesday! Action was virtually non-stop all morning, I don't think five minutes went by without a fish. Ladyfish were thick at the Middlegrounds and hit gold Cotee jigs and free-lined live shrimp. They also caught several speckled trout and bluefish. Jason really wanted a few fish for dinner so we left them biting and went to the Radio Tower where a nice sea bass and a 17″ trout were put in the box. I hit one more trout spot on the way in near Bird Key and they caught four more slot trout on live shrimp. A ton of fish were caught and so was dinner!
Conditions were a little tough for Joe Segobiano and his son Lucas from St. Charles, IL on Thursday. It was blowing hard out of the north at first light and we tried fishing the middlegrounds, it was just too rough. Several drifts at the Radio Tower resulted in two sea bass in the cooler and several ladyfish releases using Gulp! Shrimp. A move to the deep flats near Big Pass and switching to live shrimp got us out of the wind and action was steady on speckled trout, ladyfish, and a nice Spanish mackerel. We finished up in Big Pass with some big ladyfish.
Jeff Wilson and his son Glenn (12) from Wilmington, NC and Scott Tilton from Minneapolis, MN got into a hot Spanish mackerel bite in New Pass on Friday morning. We started off at the Middlegrounds catching sea bass, ladyfish, and bluefish on gold Cotee jigs, but action was sporadic. We moved to New Pass and trolled Rapala X-Raps to locate the macks, then killed the engine and drifted back through the fish casting plugs and jigs. X-Raps accounted for exciting strikes and most of the fish. We finished up at Marker #5 and Big Pass catching bluefish, ladyfish, and a small permit on jigs
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