Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim klopfer 9/6/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
September 6, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Action continues to be outstanding on the deep grass flats in Sarasota Bay. Recent rains cooled the water off a tad, temperatures are in the low to mid 80s. Bait is thick on the beach and in the passes, catching a well full and chumming the fish up produced consistently this week, though we also caught fish on Bass assassin jigs in Big Pass. Mangrove snapper continue to led the way but there was a noted increase in Spanish mackerel this week. Snook, speckled trout, jack crevelle, flounder, black sea bass, gag grouper, bluefish, and ladyfish rounded out the list of species landed by clients this week. The Radio Tower, Marker #5, and the Bird Key flats all provided a lot of action. I hit a couple spots In Robert's Bay with fair results, just a few snook, snapper and trout. It is probably still just a bit too warm.
I started my week off with Richard Nunn from the UK and Stuart Nunn (20) and Isla Murton (11). I caught bait and basically sat at the Radio tower all morning. The mangrove snapper bite was terrific, with over two dozen fat snappers being caught, along with ten Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, and ladyfish. Action was very steady with most baits producing a bite.
On Labor Day I took out buddies Darrell Rich from Johnson City, TN and John Wade from Lebanon, OH. We started off casting jigs on the flats and in Big Pass, hooking a handful of ladyfish. I caught bait and hit Marker #5, where action was virtually non-stop. Speckled trout, jack crevelle, mangrove snapper, Spanish mackerel, gag grouper, black sea bass, and ladyfish kept the boys busy. After the bite slowed, I hit a couple snook and red spots near Selby, but no luck. We finished up at the Radio Tower with more mixed-bag action before we called it a morning.
I had another very productive charter on Wednesday with Karen and Barry Hamm from Flemingsburg, KY. Bait was easy, I actually caught too much, then we basically fished 2 flats near Bird Key all morning. The tide was high first thing, then turned to go out. The fish came to the chum and Karen and Barry experienced steady action all morning. Speckled trout to 17', Spanish mackerel to 2 1/2 pounds, bluefish to 3 pounds, mangrove snapper to 14", flounder to 14", gag grouper, sea bass, ladyfish, and catfish kept us busy.
I finished up my week with Phil Hughey from Nokomis, FL, his son Jackson, and friend Harold Morse. Fishing was VERY good! We started off drifting in Big Pass and vertically jigging Glow Bass assassin jigs, catching ladyfish and gag grouper. The tide was quite swift, so I moved to catch bait, then hit Marker #5. The snapper bite was decent but Spanish mackerel kind of stole the show with their vicious strikes and blistering runs. In all, they probably landed a couple dozen mackerel, another twenty snapper, along with speckled trout, ladyfish, grouper, and a bonnethead shark. We finished up the charter looking for snook and reds in Robert's Bay, catching a small snook and losing a decent one.
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