Sarasota fishing report Capt Jim Klopfer 10/11/2014
Capt. Jim Klopfer
October 11, 2014
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
I was on vacation for several weeks, it was fun, but nice to be back. Despite a bunch of rain, action was good throughout the area. The deep flats, the passes, and backwaters produced snook, speckled trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, jack crevelle, black sea bass, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, flounder, ladyfish, and a remora. Bass Assassin Sea Shad, olive Rapala X-Raps, and live pilchards produced fish on charters this week. Snook are moving back into the bays and are being caught near oyster bars along with jack crevelle and snapper. I had a bunch of bait left over one morning and hit a couple spots in Little Sarasota Bay on the way back in. The water was stained, but speckled trout, bluefish, and lasdyfish responded to the chum on bars that dropped off into deeper water.
On Monday Sarasota resident Bonnie Czepiel had a decent day, experiencing steady action on a variety of species. We started off in Big Pass, catching breaking ladyfish using Bass assassin 4" Sea Shad jigs. I then caught bait and we hit several flats near Big Pass and up at Stephen's Pt, with Bonnie landing speckled trout to 18", Spanish mackerel, bluefish, sea bass, gag grouper, flounder, ladyfish, mangrove snapper, and remora.
Bucky Wells from Huntington, MD treated his son in law Paul and grandson Logan (8) to a charter on Tuesday. Action was steady, though it slowed down later in the morning. Ladyfish were once again thick in Big Pass, and after we got tired of catching them three at a time, we moved to the flats. Logan had the hot hand, landing the two largest trout and a nice Spanish mackerel.
Jacob Mirecki and his buddy Tom from Chicago, IL had a very good trip mid-week. We left from CB's saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key and idled north. Along the way we ran across some breaking fish and stopped to take a look. Hand-sized jacks and a nice 17" flounder fell prey to Bass Assassin jigs and Rapala X-Raps. The dolphin moved in and shut them down, so I proceeded to Big Pass. A few ladyfish hit jigs, then I caught some bait. The deep flats near Otter Key produced speckled trout, sea bass, gag grouper, ladyfish, and other species. Action slowed and I was making a move when I spotted a huge school of breaking ladyfish. We caught then two at a time until the boys had enough. We finished up in Robert's Bay catching small snook, mangrove snapper, and jack crevelle to 3 pounds on pilchards.
I fished a two boat charter with Capt Roy on Saturday. I had David Johnson, Jeff Roche, and Steve Patterson, all from eastern Pennsylvania. I caught bait and we sat in one spot near Bird Key, catching Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, jacks, and snapper for an hour and a half. The tide was ebbing out and almost slack and the fish quit. I ran south to catch the tide still moving and we had good action at the mouth of a residential canal. Each of the boys caught a snook, along with decent sized jacks and snapper on live bait.
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