Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopfer 2/22/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
February 22, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
I had another diverse week of fishing charters, 2 in Sarasota Bay, 1 in Nokomis, and 3 Myakka River trips. Sheepshead, big mangrove snapper, and nice-sized Spanish mackerel pleased anglers this week on saltwater charters, Marina Jacks, middlegrounds, and docks in both passes were the most productive spots. The bite in the river is slowing down, the water may be getting too warm, though clients landed bass and snook on all of the trips.
Bill Thiel from Naperville, IL treated hish daughter Julie, grand daughter Grace, and son-in-law Tom to a charter on Monday. We started off in the channel near the Siesta Drive bridge where Grace caught a big ladyfish on her first cast! With the skunk out of the boat, we hit the docks in search of fillets. An hour later the box had 7 nice sheepies cooling their heels, destined for a fish fry. We then drifted the deep flats at the Radio Tower and Marina Jacks. Grace added a slot trout to the box and several more released along with a lot of ladyfish. Bill finished off the trip with a nice Spanish mackerel
I had Myakka River trips on Tuesday and Wednesday, with similar results. There was very little cloud cover or wind and bright sun, resulting in an early bite. Snook to 25" and bass to 2 1/2 pounds were landed, and a huge snook wrecked a Rapala right near the boat, made a run, and tossed the bait. Action slowed mid-morning; it was just "too nice", but made for gorgeous mornings with great scenery and company.
Bill Kish and his friends Dana and Kelly had a very good trip in Sarasota Bay on Thursday. They wanted some fish for dinner, so I hit some of my productive docks in Big Pass. The first two held spot-tails, the third put 5 sheepshead and 8 nice mangrove snapper (all between 12" and 15") in the box. Live shrimp was the ticket. We then caught several Spanish mackerel in Big Pass casting jigs and trolling Rapalas, most of which were keepers, but on the small side. The Marina Jack flat had a bunch of ladyfish, Radio Tower was slow, and the Middlegrounds produced more mackerel to 3 pounds, bluefish, speckled trout, and ladyfish on jigs and free lined live shrimp. At the end of the day we had a cooler full of fish and decent action.
Dr. Larry Rose from Houston, TX fished the Myakka River with me on Friday. It was a bit slow, at first light we had no wind or current, and the sun came up quickly with no cloud cover. Then, the wind cranked up. We caught several chunky bass and a small snook before we called it a morning a bit early.
I had a great trip on Saturday morning with two surgeons from North Georgia; Ed Artwell and Scott Daniel. Scott has a place in Nokomis and wanted to learn a few spots and techniques, so I met them at the Albee Rd boat ramp and headed north. I saw a mackerel jump, stopped, and for two hours we caught Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, ladyfish and jacks free lining shrimp in the channel. Boat traffic picked up, so we trolled X-Raps on the flats and caught jacks and ladyfish. We finished up at the Albee Rd Bridge, landing several sheepshead and a nice mang. Great trip, great guys, and plenty of fillets for dinner!
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