Sarasota fishing report Capt Jim klopfer 3/15/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
March 15, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Clients caught a wide variety of species on charters this week. The two techniques we used were fishing live shrimp under docks and casting jigs and live shrimp over the deep grass flats. Speckled trout, silver trout, Spanish mackerel, jack crevelle, gag grouper, black sea bass, mangrove and lane snapper, flounder, black drum, sheepshead, and ladyfish were all caught this week. The docks in Big Pass, Robert's Bay, and the Bird Key flats were the best spots.
I started the week off on Sunday afternoon with Steve Cook from Quebec, his 17 year old son Andrew, and his buddy Phil. They wanted a few fish for dinner, so a stop at a good dock quickly resulted in a half dozen sheepshead in the box. We moved to the deep flats in the Yacht Club channel and caught speckled trout to 20", jacks and ladyfish on jigs and shrimp. We finished up at some docks in Robert's Bay, landing black drum to 20", flounder to 18", and a big sheepshead.
On Monday Harry Corey was down from New Jersey visiting his brother-in-law Jim. Again, fish was on the menu and the docks did not disappoint. Sheepshead have been very reliable this year! They also caught speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, and jacks on glow CAL jigs and free-lined shrimp.
I ran two trips on Tuesday as the front was approaching. Longboat Key resident Jim Mitchell and Charlie Beard did well on a variety of species. Sheepshead, keeper mangrove snapper, gag grouper hit live shrimp under docks in Big Pass and pompano, Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, sea bass, jacks, and ladyfish hit jigs and shrimp on the nearby deep flats. In the afternoon John Lorenz and his twin boys had a similar trip. They put a half dozen fat sheepshead in the box fishing docks and caught ladyfish, trout, and bluefish using jigs near Country Club Shores.
I was off Wednesday and Thursday due to weather. Mike Adkinson and Ricky Steele caught a nice variety on Friday. Free lining shrimp on the edges of grass flats and under docks produced speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, silver trout, flounder to 18", gag grouper, mangrove snapper, blue runners, lane snapper, and ladyfish.
Lauren Biszewski from Chicago, IL and her children Sophia and Buck, who were both in town from college, went out on a fishing trip. We started off anchored up on the edge of a flat and action was very steady on Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, and ladyfish. We moved to nearby docks and caught sheepshead to 3 pounds and gag grouper. We finished up fishing deep edges again, this time landing an 18", and a 20" speckled trout along with a pair of flounder, one of which went 18". They ended up with a nice bag of fillets for dinner! All of the fish were caught using live and frozen shrimp.
More Fishing Reports:
