Sarasota fishing report Capt Jim klopfer 7/26/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
July 26, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing was VERY good early this week on the deep grass flats near Big Pass and New Pass. Marina Jacks, Radio Tower, and Middlegrounds were the best spots. One day it was big grouper, the next Spanish mackerel, with some of the best mangrove snapper action I have seen in over 20 years of guiding. Speckled trout were steady, with mostly slot fish and a couple that were over 20". Live bait was the key, filling the well with bait was the first step, then chumming the fish up into a feeding frenzy made catching them pretty easy. Action slowed a bit later in the week as the water temperature rose up close to 90 degrees; we need some rain to cool it back down. But, action was still fairly steady, particularly early in the morning.
On Monday Shannon McLaughlin from Cincinnati and her son Nick (12) had a very good charter. Bait was easy and we basically fished two spots all morning; Marina Jacks and the Yacht Club Channel. Speckled trout, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, Spanish mackerel, jack crevelle, black sea bass, and ladyfish provided steady action. All of the fish were caught using live pilchards and sardines.
Brad Watson, who just moved to Sarasota, and his buddy Josh Lansdale from TN fished with me on Tuesday. Action was steady on a variety of species, including an almost-legal gag grouper that made the drag scream, mangrove snapper to 14", Spanish mackerel, slot trout, ladyfish, sea bass, and more.
Anthony Keene from Pikeville, KY treated his girlfriend Erin Caudill and her daughter Kennedi Blair (8) to a charter on Wednesday. The Spanish mackerel bite was on, along with some very nice mangrove snapper. We basically fished one spot all morning near Marina Jack. Kennedi did great on her first real fishing trip, catching some nice snapper and Spanish mackerel. Anthony pitched in with a 15 1/2" mang, nice fish for the bay! Erin caught the most fish, putting a bunch of fat snapper in the cooler along with trout, grouper, mackerel, ladyfish, and jacks. Fish fry tonight!!
Sat Virdee from Dania, FL took his son and brother-in-law out on Thursday morning. The skies were threatening, be we dodged the weather, caught bait, and did very well for the first hour and a half at Marina Jacks. Speckled trout to 22", mangrove snapper to 13", bluefish, gag grouper, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, sea bass, and jacks kept the rods bent. About 9:00 a.m., the wind quit, the sun came out, and the fishing slowed down. We just kind of picked at them after that, but the cooler was full and they were happy. Friday was a boat maintenance day.
I finished off my week on Saturday with Sarasota residents Kim Schoeffel, his teenage daughter Sarah, and Tony Ferretti. Action was steady, though unspectacular, with snapper, Spanish mackerel, and speckled trout going on ice and catch and release action on ladyfish and gag grouper. Tony caught the best fish, a 23" speckled trout that we released.
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