Trout, Reds and Snook Good Options in Sarasota
Capt. Rick Grassett
April 15, 2012
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers fishing Sarasota Bay with me on my Action Craft flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released silver and spotted sea trout, snook and reds on flies and jigs during the past couple of weeks. Although silver trout are often found in deeper areas along beaches and in dredge holes or channels in bays, we have been catching them consistently at the Marina Jack flat, which is a deep grass flat close to Big Pass.
Anglers fishing the Marina Jack and Middleground flats and various deep grass flats along the west side of the bay caught and released silver trout to 15"and spotted sea trout to 19" on CAL jigs with shad tails, DOA Deadly Combos and Clouser flies fished on sink tip fly lines during the week of 4/2. I spent some time in shallow water hunting for reds and big trout. It paid off when Joe McGurrin, from Stevensville, MD, and Stan Ross, from Virginia Beach, VA, fished with me on Monday, 4/2. They caught and released 3 reds to 24" on weedless rigged CAL shad tails near Bishop Point. They also caught and released about a dozen trout on CAL jigs with shad tails in deeper water.
We had steady action with trout on flies, CAL jigs with shad tails and DOA Deadly Combos on various deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay on Monday, 4/9, when Caitlin, her dad and her grandfather, Paul, from NY, fished with me. Caitlin caught and released the largest trout of the day, a 23" fish, out of a pothole in skinny water on a weedless rigged CAL shad tail.
Anna Maria Island and Sarasota winter residents, Bill Morrison and Gary Marple, fished the ICW near Venice with me on Tuesday evening, 4/10. They caught and released 5 or 6 snook and 8 or 10 trout on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly.
Bruce Kulp and his wife Ronna Romney, from Longboat Key, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Wednesday, 4/11. They caught and released trout on CAL jigs with shad tails and DOA Deadly Combos at the Marina Jack flat and near Bishop Point. They also caught a pair of slot size trout and a red in shallow water on weedless rigged CAL shad tails near Bishop Point. A trip in the Terra Ceia Bay area on Friday, 4/13 produced trout on CAL jigs with jerk worms and flies.
Reds and trout may be found along shallow edges of flats and bars or in potholes when the tide is low or along mangrove shorelines when the tide is high. Look for trout over deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay. You may also find flounder in areas where grass and sand are mixed.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
www.flyfishingflorida.net
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