Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopfer 12/28/2013
Capt. Jim Klopfer
December 28, 2013
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
A front moved through on Monday night, bringing strong breezes and falling temperatures; I did not fish Tuesday or Wednesday. Fishing was very good before the front in the inshore Gulf of Mexico for mangrove snapper, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, jack crevelle, and a nice 18 pound cobia. Action quickly rebounded in Sarasota Bay as the weather cleared. Pompano to 3 pounds, bluefish to 4 pounds, Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, speckled trout, sea bass, jacks, and ladyfish hit gold D.O.A. CAL jigs and free lined live shrimp at Marker # 5, Big Pass, Radio Tower, and Middlegrounds.
I started off the week on Sunday fishing with Dr Bill Ritchey from Akron, OH and his daughter Laura. They have fished with me a bunch of times, so for a different experience we did a Myakka River charter. The bite was a bit slow, but the scenery was great and Laura did bring a 30" snook to the boat.
Dave Buckley from Gettysburg, Pa took his son Brady and nephew Aaron Cool out on Monday, just before the front moved through. We decided to try a little light tackle bottom fishing on the inshore reefs and had an outstanding morning! A pair of sheepshead to 2 1/2 pounds, ten mangrove snappers to 14", a half dozen Key West grunts, and 4 Spanish mackerel went in the box, along with a 16 pound cobia that Aaron caught. It took him 20 minutes to land it on 10 lb spinning tackle, great battle! We also caught several nice jack crevelle. Most of the fish were caught on live shrimp.
On Thursday Sydney Markum took out some relatives who were in town visiting from Kentucky. We had a large group so we used a CB's pontoon boat. They had a good morning, putting a pair of pompano, 3 Spanish mackerel, and a black sea bass in the box and catching jacks, ladyfish, bluefish, and trout. The best spot was Marker # 5. Dave Buckley, who fished with me on Monday, also used a pontoon boat on Friday to take out his family. These are actually very good platforms from which to fish. We had a good morning, starting things off with several 4 pound jack crevelle in the Intracoastal and catching a nice pompano, a couple of 3 pound bluefish, and a bunch of speckled trout and ladyfish using jigs at Marker #5 and the middlegrounds.
John Brennan from Brookfield, WI and his daughters Cari, Teresa, and Laura went out on Saturday morning. Action was steady on the flats near Big Pass. Jigs and live shrimp produced Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, jacks, large ladyfish, and a nice flounder, which the captain got to take home for dinner!
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