Summertime family fishing in Sarasota
Capt. Jim Klopfer
June 21, 2018
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
It is mid-June and for me that means a lot of "family fishing" as the kids up north are getting out of school for the summer. On these types of trips, action and variety are the goals. Fishing the deep grass flats accomplishes that! Speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, gag grouper, mangrove snapper, jack crevelle, sharks, bluefish, ladyfish, catfish, and more were caught over the last two weeks by anglers fishing with me. Bass Assassin baits and Gulp Shrimp on a ¼ ounce jig head produced as did live shrimp and chumming with pilchards. The Bird Key flats, Middlegrounds, and Bishop's Pt were the top spots.
Snook have moved into both Big Sarasota Pass and New Pass in good numbers. Strong afternoon outgoing tides are a great time to target the snook that are schooled up near structure in the passes. Fishing with live bait such as shrimp, pilchards, threadfin herring, pinfish, and grunts is usually the best approach. Rocky structure, docks, bares, and bridges will all attract and hold snook. Heavier tackle will be required to land a big snook in this environment.
I make it a point to be honest in my Sarasota fishing reports, and the truth is that this has been a terrible tarpon season so far. We are in the middle of June and it just is not happening. I ran a tarpon trip on Tuesday, we saw very few fish and really never made a cast. West wind earlier and some red tide south of Big Pass did not help.
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