Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopfer 6/1/2013
Capt. Jim Klopfer
June 1, 2013
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Tarpon, snook, speckled trout, silver trout, jacks, Spanish mackerel, sea bass, black drum, gag grouper, flounder, mangrove snapper, and ladyfish were caught this week by clients. Most of the fish were caught on the deep flats near Big Pass using Gulp! and live shrimp. Tarpon fishing along the beach was fair with crabs producing the most action. Wind was a factor mid-week for both bay and tarpon fishing.
The week started off nicely with a productive trip for Dr Bill Ritchey from Akron Ohio and his daughter Laura who lives in Sarasota. They wanted a couple of fish for dinner, so I went right to my silver trout spot near the Ringling Bridge. They put several in the box using Gulp! Shrimp on a jig head, including a 17 1/2" fish, that is a big silver trout! Flats near Marker # 6 yielded speckled trout, silver trout, ladyfish, and gag grouper. We made the switch to live shrimp and the Bird Key flats yielded Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, sea bass, jack crevelle, and ladyfish.
On Monday, Memorial Day, Nick Frederick Sr from Lakewood Ranch took his son Nick Jr who was in town visiting from Arizona, out fishing. The trip was similar to the previous one; silver trout early, then moved to the deep flats near Big Pass and caught mackerel, jacks, a couple of slot speckled trout, sea bass, and ladyfish.
Brian Robinson, his 12 year old son Quinn, and father in law Dave Piper fished with me on Tuesday. It was a bit slower, mostly due to VERY strong winds out of the east. My silver trout bite let me down, catching a couple of small flounder, catfish, and ladyfish, but again, with the wind conditions were tough. We tucked in behind Bird Key and caught several Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, speckled trout to 17", a 12" sea bass, jacks, and ladyfish free lining shrimp. Dinner was in the box! We finished up with some mangrove snapper in Phillippi Creek. After 10 straight days I needed a break and the boat needed service, so a day off for me!
Scott Valentino from Pittsburg took his teenage son Vinnie out tarpon fishing on Thursday. Conditions were less than ideal; it was quite breezy with a big swell. We only found one school that we could work and after several attempts got on them just right and Scott hooked up with a hundred pound fish. After several jumps and rolls and a 40 minute battle, the hook pulled near the boat.
Peter Craig and his friend Ron Hutchenson, both from Ontario, experienced good action on Saturday with quite a bit of variety. Speckled trout, silver trout, jack crevelle, sea bass, ladyfish, and sailcats hit Gulp! and live shrimp near Big Pass. Mangrove shorelines and docks in Robert's Bay produced snook, black drum, and mangrove snapper on live shrimp.
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