Sarasota Report, Capt Jim Klopfer, 8/11/2012
Capt. Jim Klopfer
August 11, 2012
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
The strategy to cast lures and flies at first light to take advantage of the early morning bite then switching to live bait when the action slowed has been extremely productive on my charters this week. Baitfish are thick on the grass flats and very easy to catch, even later in the morning. 100 fish trips were the norm. Species caught this week on the flats near Big Sarasota Pass, New Pass, and along Siesta Key in Robert's Bay include snook to 20" ,redfish to 22", speckled trout to 24", Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, jack crevelle in the 2 pound range, mangrove snapper to 13", sea bass to 12", gag grouper, flounder, tons of ladyfish, several 3' bonnetthead sharks, a 2 pound bluefish, and a barracuda. Great week of fishing and the action should continue as we have excellent tides in the upcoming week!
My wife and I spend the night on the beach down in Englewood this weekend. No serious fishing but there are still a fair amount of snook on the beach from Blind Pass to Stump Pass. I did not catch any but had a couple put their nose on the fly.
Tony Suarez, his wife Anne, and father Jamie fished with me on Monday. Action was steady using Gulp! Shrimp early then live bait later in the morning. A bunch of speckled trout with several in the slot to 17", Spanish mackerel (5 landed and a bunch that we missed), mangrove snapper, jack crevelle, ladyfish, and a bonnethead shark were caught near the Ringling Bridge.
We absolutely wrecked them on Tuesday morning! T.J. Shay and his nephew Nick from Columbus Ohio caught and released a 24" trout, a 22" trout, and a pair of 20" trout. They put 4 or five in the 16"-18" range in the box (and released several more in the slot), along with 3 nice mangrove snapper. We started off catching trout near the Ringling Bridge on Gulp!, including 2 keepers. A switch to bait resulted in non-stop action on trout to 24", Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, snapper to 12", jacks, grouper, and more ladyfish than I have caught in a while. We basically only fished 2 spots, the Radio Tower and Marker #5.
Ray Lloret and his two grown sons Mike and Ray Jr were visiting from Miami and wanted to try out local fishing. Once again, chumming with live bait produced a 100+ fish trip! Speckled trout to 18", Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, jacks, mangrove snapper, sea bass, grouper, ladyfish, and a shark were caught near Big Pass.
Chris Conery from Boulder, CO and his friend John Parry from Silver Spring, MD had a terrific morning on Friday. We started off with a really good bite at first light using jigs on the flats near Big Pass. Speckled trout, ladyfish, and jacks were busting on the surface and eating anything close to them. Chris picked up his fly rod and caught a few on a charteuse Clouser. The bite slowed after an hour when the tide quit. Bait was easy and with the well full we chummed up more trout to 18", ladyfish, snapper, and jacks. The dolphins moved in the shut us down, so we decided to spend the last hour in Robert's Bay fishing docks. It paid off as they caught 2 snook, 2 reds, a flounder, a nice snapper, and of all things a barracuda.
The early morning bite was good for Valerie Day and her 15 year old son Tanner from Howard, PA on Saturday. In an hour using Gulp! Shrimp under corks they put 4 keeper trout in the box, had 2 nice ones shake off, and landed a bunch of short trout, ladyfish, jacks, and a 2 pound bluefish. Once again, bait was easy and the well was loaded in a few minutes. Non-stop action followed on speckled trout, ladyfish, jacks, gag grouper, and magrove snapper. Tanner also caught a half dozen fish on a charteuse Clouser. We finished up catching snapper and flounder under a dock and "jumping" a snook in Phillippi Creek.
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