Steady snook and trout bite in Sarasota
Capt. Jim Klopfer
August 20, 2016
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Clients caught a wide variety of species on fishing charters this week. Snook and snapper hit live shrimp and pilchards around structure in Big Pass, ladyfish, jack crevelle, and Spanish mackerel took Bass Assassin jigs on the bars in Big Pass, and the deep flats near both passes provided very good action on speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, silver trout, and ladyfish. As has been the case, chumming with live pilchards proved to me the most consistent technique for both action and variety.
I started my week off with Gerry Lawrence from Atlanta, GA and his girlfriend Adrian. Like most charters, this one started off with me loading the bait well. Once done, we moved to the deep grass flats where speckled trout, mangrove snapper, gag grouper, jack crevelle, ladyfish, and other species provided steady action near Big Pass. We decided to try for snook and had success fishing structure in Big Sarasota Pass, with Adrienne landing a nice 25" snook on a pinfish.
John Horn and his son-in-law Doug wanted to try for snook early, so we left at 6:30 a.m. and headed for Big Pass. It was not crazy, but the boys landed a couple of snook and a few mangrove snapper, including a huge 20" mang! I saw a bunch of surface activity just off of South Lido and for an hour it was fast action as the guys cast glow Bass Assassin jigs into the fray, landing ladyfish and jacks. We finished up on the flats landing speckled trout, snapper, grouper, and a Spanish mackerel.
Manuel Tillez from Miami and his 14 and 22 year old daughters fished with me on Wednesday. Neither of the girls had ever fished before but were casting well after just a few minutes. They caught a lot of fish, probably around 75 between them, mostly trout with snapper, grouper, mackerel, and ladyfish mixed in.
Tom Marquardt from Milwaukee, WI and his 18 year old daughter Hailey went out on a fishing charter on Friday. There were reports of mackerel on the beach, so I ran out to take a look. Unfortunately, not much happening, so we came back inside, caught bait, and experienced steady action at the Middlegrounds. Most of the fish were speckled trout, with snapper, grouper, and ladyfish mixed in.
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