Sarasota fishing report Capt Jim klopfer 2/28/2015
Capt. Jim Klopfer
February 28, 2015
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
The best bite this week has been working structure in 10 to 15 feet of water. The sheepshead are moving in strong with a lot of nice 2-3 pound females as they prepare to spawn. Any dock, rocky bottom or ledge can hold sheepshead, snapper, redfish, drum, grouper and sea bass. Live shrimp fished right on the bottom worked best. Clients also caught jack crevelle near the mouth of Phillippi Creek on jigs and shrimp. Bass Assassin jigs produced a few ladyfish at Marina Jack flat.
I started off my week with a Myakka river snook trip. Conditions were tough; blue-bird sky, high pressure, and the fishing was tough. It happens, there really isn't a "plan B" for that, but as always, the scenery was nice.
Roger Koehn from Kansas went out on Monday. Fishing structure in Big Pass produced redfish, sheepshead, gag grouper, mangrove snapper, and black sea bass. Live shrimp fished on the bottom worked best. Jigs also produced ladyfish at the Marina Jack and Radio Tower flats.
Jay Lalley from Chicago and his buddy John caught a lot of fish on Tuesday. We were greeted with heavy fog as we left CB's Saltwater Outfitters and headed north. I marked a bunch of fish on my depth finder and we spent an couple hours catching snapper, jack crevelle, sheepshead, and sailcats on live shrimp. We moved north up in robert's Bay and caught a nice sheepshead under a dock and ladyfish on the flats.
Long time client Bill Thiel from Naperville, IL and a couple of buddies from MI had a good trip on Wednesday morning. We started off in the "No-Wake" zone north of CB's, catching sheepshead, mangrove snapper, sailcats, and a pair of jacks on shrimp and jigs. We moved to Big Pass, fished docks and ledges, and caught more snapper to 14", and sheepshead to 3 lbs, along with flounder, gag grouper, and black sea bass on live shrimp. Thursday was a rain-out.
Sarasota resident Russel Campbell treated his son Brent and a couple of friend in from Iowa to a trip on Friday. It was cool, overcast, and breezy, so we went a bit later in the morning. The sheepshead bite was on in big Pass, with the boys landing a couple dozen to 3 pounds and a few mangrove snapper on live shrimp. We hit the Marina Jack and Field Club flats, no luck, then finished up in the Intracoastal channel with more snappers and several 2 pound jacks. A good trip under tough conditions.
We tried to go Saturday morning, I even launched the boat. But, strong winds and a steady drizzle dissuaded us, so we bagged it. Crazy week of weather! But, it is supposed to be very nice next week, warm and sunny, that should improve the flats fishing.
More Fishing Reports:
