Sarasota fishing report Capt Jim Klopfer 3/28/2015
Capt. Jim Klopfer
March 27, 2015
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing was steady once again this week, with sheepshead continuing to please anglers and the speckled trout bite really picked up this week. Clients also saw some decent silver trout. Weather was an issue, with storms moving through on Monday and a severe front passing through on Friday. Cool, breezy conditions shut things down for a couple of days. Large live shrimp accounted for trout to 24" on the deeper flats near the passes. Mangrove snapper, gag grouper, Spanish mackerel, sharks, bluefish, jacks, and more hit shrimp, Bass Assassin jigs, and flies for clients this week. Stephen's Pt., Middlegrounds, and Radio Tower were the best spots.
On Sunday morning, Bob Siemering from Massachusetts treated a couple of friends to a charter. Action was very steady in Big Pass, with sheepshead and mangrove snappers keeping the rods bent. Once the tide picked up, we moved to the flats close by and they caught speckled trout to 17", ladyfish, jacks, and got cut off a couple of times by mackerel. Monday was a rain-out.
On Tuesday I ran an afternoon trip with Doc Dojutrek, John Englander, and Bill Kish. They experienced action and variety, along with some quality fish. Casting Bass Assassin jigs, Gulp Shrimp, Rapala X-Raps, and free lining live shrimp, the boys hooked a half dozen speckled trout between 18" and 23", Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, bluefish, silver trout, jack crevelle, flounder, sharks, ladyfish, sea bass, and flounder. The flats on the west side of the bay were all productive.
I ran two trips on Wednesday. In the morning, the Schlabowske family from Illinois experienced steady action bottom fishing with shrimp in Big Pass, catching sheepshead to 3 pounds and mangrove snapper. They also caught ladyfish and a shark drifting with jigs. We finished up on the flats with a few trout and ladyfish on jigs. In the afternoon, Bob and Lynda Bess from Colorado took out their children Hadley (8) and matt (10) The speckled trout bite was pretty good, with the gang landing a half dozen nice fish, some shorts, and had a big fish shake off right at the boat. Hadley had the hot hand, landing the most and largest fish. They also caught ladyfish, jacks, sail cats, and a bluefish.
On Thursday fly fishers Mike Scavotto and his son-in-law Ryan Nusbickel had a productive charter, landing speckled trout to 18", jack crevelle, ladyfish, and sailcats on Clouser Minnows. They also had several nice Spanish mackerel on, but they ate through the leader. Stephen's Pt., the Radio Tower, and Marker #5 were the top spots. Friday and Saturday were cancelled due to weather, time to work on the boat and tackle!
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