Sarasota fishing report Capt Jim klopfer 7/19/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
July 19, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Clients experienced very good action on charters this week using live baitfish. Trips start with bait-catching, which has been easy, only taking ten or fifteen minutes, then anchoring up over the deep grass flats and chumming brought the fish right to the boat. Speckled trout to 25", Spanish mackerel, bluefish, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, cobia, ladyfish, sea bass, ladyfish, and more were landed this week. Anglers also landed sharks on several trips using cut ladyfish.
I started my week off with an excellent charter with Clement O'Connor and Paul Leighton and their girlfriends Tess and Coquina. Action was non-stop at the Marina Jack flat using live pilchards. A half dozen slot trout, a bunch of mangrove snapper to 13", bluefish, Spanish mackerel, gag grouper, and ladyfish kept the rods bent. we caught a small cobia and had a big one eat a small trout, Clement fought it for a few minutes before it let go. We finished up with a shark on cut ladyfish.
The good action continued on Monday for Sarasota resident Rob Mowers and his grandson Andrew Little who was in town from GA. We started off casting Gulp! at the Radio Tower with Rob catching a bonnet head shark. A move to Big Pass for bait, then chumming the nearby flats resulted in quite a few gag grouper, ladyfish, trout, snapper, and ladyfish. Rob landed a nice 25" trout. We finished up with a blacktip shark and a 14" snapper at Marker # 5.
Long time client Scott Stinson from MO had a very good trip on Tuesday. I picked him up at Ken Thompson Park and idled into New Pass and loaded up on bait. The flats near Marina Jack were very productive, yielding speckled trout to 20", Spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper, and ladyfish. We finished up at the Radio Tower catching more trout.
Fishing was bit tough on Wednesday for the Wright family from South Carolina. It was breezy and overcast, making the bait a bit more difficult to catch. I hit several spots just kind of picking at them until we found better action on a deep flat near Bird Key. We tried a little shark fishing but a fast approaching storm sent us scurrying for cover after only a couple of minutes. Still, 7 year old Connor caught a bunch of fish with Uncle Caleb chipping in with the largest trout.
On Thursday morning it was blowing 20 knots with thunderstorms, so I bumped the trip to Friday for Boris Stoeber from Germany and his 8 year old daughter Joy. It was a bit slow to start but then we had a couple of flurries using whitebait as chum to get them fired up. Speckled trout, bluefish, ladyfish,. sea bass, mangrove snapper, and gag grouper hit baits at Marina Jacks, Bird Key, and the Radio Tower. Joy caught most of the fish and "helped" with a blacktip shark. We also had something spool one of my shark rods, I think it was a big ray.
The Schultz family from Ohio finished off my week with an excellent charter, although it was very hot and still. I caught bait and spent the entire trip at the Radio Tower and Marina Jack flat, catching speckled trout to 20", mangrove snapper to 14", Spanish mackerel, bluefish, sea bass, ladyfish, and more. Action was very steady with the boys catching close to 100 fish!
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