Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopfer 6/22/2013
Capt. Jim Klopfer
June 22, 2013
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
"Steady" is the best word to describe fishing this week. Nothing spectacular, but consistent action on a variety of species was experienced on the deep grass flats at Marina Jack, the Yacht Club Channel, Radio Tower, Moorings, Bishop's Pt., and Buttonwood. Water temperatures are in the mid 80's; we could use some rain to cool things off. Live shrimp and Gulp! Shrimp were equally effective. Speckled trout to 20", silver trout to 16", flounder to 19", Spanish mackerel to 2 pounds, bluefish to 2 pounds, sea bass, snapper, jacks, ladyfish, and sailcats were caught this week. I saw a lot of bait "dimpling" on the surface and twice this week cast-netted a bunch. Unfortunately, most of it was quite small, which is unusual for this time of year. But, it is good to see it on the flats; it usually triggers feeding sprees by the gamefish.
Emad Alumasmi and his teenage son Adam fished with me on Monday. The morning started off very still; no breeze or tide, this usually results in tough fishing. However, I spotted some bait fish dimpling on the surface and though not very big, they were just large enough. Chumming with the smaller baits and hooking the larger ones resulted in a bunch of ladyfish and trout along with a 12" mangrove snapper and some jacks near Bird Key. We finished up at the Radio Tower with Adam landing an 18" speckled trout.
On Tuesday I was part of a 4 boat charter out of CB's. The Wagenbrenner crew from Ohio was having a reunion and wanted a fish fry. Action was steady with good variety and some quality fish. Nick Wagenbrenner took top honors landing a 20" speckled trout, a 16" silver trout, and a 19" flounder using Gulp! Shrimp. Eric Wagonbrenner, his sons Hudson (15) and Griffin (9) along with Diego Roman (10) pitched in with a Spanish mackerel, a mangrove snapper, and eight more slot trout, most of which were nice, fat fish between 16" and 18". Jacks, ladyfish, catfish, and more fell prey to Gulp! and free lined shrimp at Marina Jacks, Radio Tower, and the Yacht Club Channel.
For whatever reason, fishing was tougher on Wednesday. Bob Arther, his son Andy and son-in-law Joe Ballard from Kansas City, MO caught a fair amount of fish, but the "quality" wasn't there. Trout, flounder, jacks, and ladyfish were caught on the deep flats. We finished up in Big Pass catching ladyfish and a small shark.
On Thursday I took out my cousin Valerie Day, her 16 year old son Tanner and his girlfriend Kaleigh Tobias, all from Howard, PA. We left the boat ramp at Centennial Park at first light and ran over to the west side of the bay. Again, fishing was OK, but nothing spectacular. They landed several speckled trout in the slot, a silver trout, jack crevelle, ladyfish, grouper, flounder, and catfish on Gulp! Shrimp.
Newlyweds Tara and Pat Williams from Garden City, MI fished with me on Friday on their honeymoon, what a great way to get a marriage started off in the right direction! They caught a lot of fish, mostly ladyfish, jack crevelle, and short trout with Tara free lining live shrimp and Pat casting Gulp! Shrimp. They put a 16" and a 20" speckled trout, a 15" silver trout, a 2 lb bluefish, and a black sea bass in the box for a couple of meals.
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