Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopder 12/14/2013
Capt. Jim Klopfer
December 14, 2013
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
I experienced another interesting and diverse week of fishing in various locations on a bunch of different baits. Large ladyfish are thick on most of the deep flats and in the passes, along with some speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, black sea bass, jacks, and bluefish. Jigs caught most of the fish. Redfish to 23" and jacks hit weedless gold Johnson spoons and white bait in shallow water and near mangrove shorelines. Snook to 30" hit the new Rapals jointed BX minnow (my new favorite bait) and Skitterprops in the Myakka River. Speckled perch (crappie), bluegill, and sunshine bass ( a striper white bass hybrid) hit Beetlespins and 1/16 ounce charteuse jigs in Lake Manatee.
On Monday Sarasota resident Doc Dojutrek fished a 6 hour trip. We ran down to Robert's Bay to try for snook and reds. We cast Rapalas and gold spoons and caught a redfish and a jack, but it really wasn't going on, so we headed back to Big Pass. I spotted some bait and loaded the well in one toss. The deep flats at Marker #5 and Marina Jacks provided steady action on ladyfish with a few trout, jacks, and mackerel mixed in. I hit an oyster bar nearby where we caught a couple of slot reds and missed a couple more. We headed to Big Pass and found steady action on mackerel, ladyfish and jacks. We finished up at the Radio Tower where I used the rest of the bait to chum them into a frenzy, catching more trout and ladyfish, along with 2 nice black sea bass.
A trip on Tuesday to Lake Manatee resulted in several crappie and bluegill, as well as a half dozen sunshine bass, which I heard they were stocking again. The Myakka River was steady, giving up some nice snook to 30" and larger ones being missed. Rapala jointed BX Minnows and Skitterprops fooled them.
On Friday I had a last-minute afternoon charter from CB's Saltwater Outfitters. We left at 2:00 and headed up north. The flats at Marina Jack and Marker # 5 provided fair action. Then, I moved into Big Pass and it was VERY good for an hour and a half. Spanish mackerel, bluefish, jack crevelle, and ladyfish hit gold jigs and trolled X-Raps. We had 4 fish on at once several times!
I finished up the week on Saturday with Dan Crawford from Massilon, OH, his son Jackson, and buddies Cole Clausen and Ali Khatoun. Action was decent in Big Pass, steady though not crazy. Bluefish, Spanish mackerel, jacks, and gag grouper hit gold DOA jigs and trolled Rapala X-Raps. We hit the flats near Marker # 5 and caught some big ladyfish and Dan caught a nice flounder. Good trip with plenty of fillets for lunch at Claytons!
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