Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopfer 8/24/2013
Capt. Jim Klopfer
August 24, 2013
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing continues to be outstanding in Sarasota Bay. Anglers hooked snook and redfish on Rapala X-Raps and caught Spanish mackerel to 4 pounds, speckled trout to 20", bluefish, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, black sea bass, flounder, jack crevelle, sharks, ladyfish, and more free lining live bait over the deep grass. The mackerel fishing has been particularly good, especially for August, followed closely by the abundant, and tasty, mangrove snapper. There is a nice mix of pilchards and threadfins, and once the bait is acquired, success is guaranteed. All of the flats near the passes have been productive; Radio Tower, Middlegrounds, Bird Key, and Marina Jack. Just choose a flat with nice grass in 6' of water or deeper where the tide and wind are going in the same direction, anchor up, throw a few handfuls of live bait out, and hang on!
I tried to take Jessica Dean out fishing Sunday afternoon, but Mother Nature did not cooperate. Thunderstorms are an issue in the afternoon this time of year. Bait was ridiculously easy and in short order we had trout, jacks, and mackerel boiling behind the boat at the Radio Tower. It was difficult leaving, but we had to.
On Tuesday morning I took Bonnie Czepial, a Sarasota resident, out for the morning. We ran down to Robert's Bay at first light where Bonnie landed a redfish on a Rapala. We also had a decent snook jump off and missed a couple of bites. The tide quit and I caught bait, again very easy. We sat at one spot for an hour and a half and landed six keeper mangrove snapper, several slot trout and Spanish mackerel, along with a bunch of short trout and ladyfish. Back on the trailer by 10:30, nice morning!
Vladimir Prica from Ontario took his two boys Stefan (10) and Vasili (8) out on their first real fishing trip. This was a perfect trip to use whitebait. It was a bit breezy and the bait was a little hard to spot, but I knew where it was and two tosses was all I needed. We fished two spots all morning, A flat near Bird Key and the Radio Tower. The boys put ten mangrove snapper, a trout, and 3 Spanish mackerel in the box, released another dozen macks, a bunch of trout, lane snapper, a ladyfish, several jack crevelle, and a cute little two foot shark. Action was very steady, there was just one little lull when the tide turned.
Allen and Barbara Yanaros and their twenty year old twins Phil and Lindsay went out on Friday. Fishing was fantastic! We left CB's at 7:00 a.m. and idled north. Three tosses of the net got us all the bait we needed for the morning; mostly threadies but with plenty of nice pilchards mixed in. I ran to the Radio Tower to catch the last hour of the falling tide and the fishing was ridiculous. Every bait that hit the water got eaten, and that was without any chum! It was so busy that Al kept stopping to help me land fish and bait hooks. The action slowed as the tide quit and the pinfish became a nuisance. We made a move to Marker #5 and in short order got them cranked up again. We didn't keep count but probably caught a hundred fish. A half dozen nice Spanish ended up on ice along with ten mangrove snapper and a fat 19" trout that al caught right at the end of the trip. Dinner at Clayton's for them and enough for Capt Jim to keep a couple of tasty snapper, too! We released another 15 macks, plenty of small trout and mangs, several jack crevelle, ladyfish, bluefish, sea bass, gag grouper, and of course catfish and pinfish. Great day, great family!
Bob Siemering treated his 3 sons John, Joey, and Michael to a trip on Saturday. I picked them up at their dock in Robert's Bay and caught bait on the way north to the Radio Tower. We sat in one spot for over two hours, steadily catching fish. The birds were a nuisance at first, making it difficult to chum. They caught around 50 fish, including a couple dozen Spanish mackerel, several of which were pushing 4 pounds, speckled trout to 18", jacks, 20 mangrove snapper, most of which were keepers, ladyfish, gag grouper, black sea bass, and catfish. We spent a little time on the way back at an oyster bar, hoping for a snook or red, but only caught a trout and a flounder.
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