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Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopfer 2/2/2013
Capt. Jim Klopfer
February 2, 2013
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Winter reared it's head this week, hopefully for the last time. Before the front, speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and pompano were hitting on the deep flats. Sheepshead, gag grouper, and mangrove snapper are hiding under docks near the passes. Snook and redfish were available in the Siesta Key canals. Bluegill bit very good in Upper Myakka Lake. Snook are still taking Rapala X-Raps in the lower portion of the river. It was blowing 30 knots on Wednesday, then cool and breezy on Thursday and Friday. By Saturday the front had cleared and it was nice enough to fish. There was some dirty water near the passes but the flats further north were nice.
I started the week off fishing Dave Buckley and his cousin Jerry Buckley from Gettysburg, PA. We decided to work bars and canals in Robert's Bay to see what we could catch. Using live shrimp, they landed redfish to 21", sheepshead, snapper, and jack crevelle. Casting and trolling Rapala X-Raps resulted in snook, jacks, and ladyfish.
On Monday Jonathon Smith from Indianapolis, IN treated his two boys Sawyer (3) and Sullivan (5) and father-in-law Terry Hamilton to a fishing trip. It was the boys first "real" trip, and they did great! Free lining shrimp in the Intracoastal waterway just south of Siesta Drive resulted in big ladyfish and a pair of catfish. A move to the Bird Key flats produced speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, and a pompano. We finished up working a couple of docks and caught gag grouper, mangrove snapper, and sheepshead.
I fished Upper Myakka Lake on Tuesday and massacred the bream (pronounced "brim", it is Southern for bluegill and other panfish). Live wigglers and black Beetlespins caught all the fish. we also caught a 16" largemouth bass. A severe weather front moved through and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were quite breezy, so no fishing for me.
Peg Heaslip from Osprey, FL treated her sister Jeannie Musial and brother Jeff Courtright to a trip on Satursday. The water was cool and a bit off-color. Fishing was steady, and although we did not catch a lot of fish, they ended up with 5 nice sheepshead to 5 lbs, a mangrove snapper and a flounder in the box for dinner along with catch and release action on ladyfish, speckled trout, jack crevelle, and a small redfish. Most of the fish were caught near Bird Key and in Robert's Bay on live shrimp.
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