Anglers fishing with me on the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action recently fishing deep grass flats in Sarasota Bay and the coastal gulf waters off Siesta Key. Spin and fly anglers caught and released trout, bluefish, jacks, little tunny and Spanish mackerel. Our fall fishing seems to be getting off to an early start.
Brighthouse Sports Network' "Hooked On Fishing" host, Capt. Bill Miller and I fished on Wednesday, Sept. 24th. It was blowing more than 20 mph out of the northeast that day, so fishing was challenging. However with the barometer moving, fish responded favorable. We had non stop action with trout to 18" on DOA Deadly Combos at Stephens Point. I joined Bill in the studio the following Tuesday when the show aired live in the Tampa/Orlando area.
Fly angler, John Evans from the UK, fished with me the next day. We started before dawn and hit lighted docks for snook at the north end of Siesta Key. John hooked several and landed a couple on my Grassett's Snook Minnow (a.k.a. Grass Minnow) fly. After that we fished deep grass flats on the east side of the bay and at the Middleground flat where John caught and released several trout and bluefish on a popper/dropper combination consisting of a Bubblehead popper and a small Clouser fly about 30" behind it.
Capt. Jack Hartman and I fished a group of anglers from the Chicago and WI areas on Friday and Saturday. Jeff Higgins and Greg Swanson fished with me one day and Greg and their friend, Pat, fished with me another day. Greg and Pat fished the coastal gulf with me and caught and released several little tunny, jacks and Spanish mackerel on Diamond jigs, top water plugs, fly poppers and Clouser flies. The LT's were the most challenging, but we finally got them figured out. The next day Jeff and Greg spent some time fishing in the coastal gulf and then we came into the bay where we caught and released trout and bluefish on flies, jigs and DOA Deadly combos. Capt. Jack's anglers had fast action both days and also caught a couple of nice reds of 25" and 26" on jigs.
David Sugar, his young son, Max and family friend, Campbell Fee, all from Sarasota, fished with me on Sunday, Sept. 28th. We caught and released a few trout and small grouper at Stephens Point before heading into the gulf. They finished the day with several nice Spanish mackerel and a few jacks caught with Diamond jigs and top water plugs.
I was in Delaware visiting family from Oct. 1-7 and had an opportunity to do some fishing while I was there. My brother, Kirk Grassett from Middletown, DE, and I fished a couple of days in the Chesapeake Bay out of Crisfield, MD. We were the guests of our friend, Capt. Matt Tawes (www.chesapeakeangling.com) one day and had great action. We fished points and cuts in shallow water with Clouser flies and jigs and caught more than 20 stripers to 20", bluefish and several nice flounder. Kirk and I fished the same area on our own another day with similar results. Kirk also caught a 20" spotted sea trout, which was a noteworthy catch for that area, since it is the northern extreme of their range. The best fishing was in the afternoon on an incoming tide.
I was back on the water right away after I returned from DE. Rick Happle, from Tampa, FL and Marc Fratello, from Tierra Verde, FL, fished with me on Weds, Oct. 8. We found lots of little tunny feeding on the surface in the gulf just off Siesta Key. They landed 7 or 8 little tunny and a couple of bluefish on Diamond jigs, top water plugs and a Crease fly. We spent the last hour or so of our trip catching a few trout on flies and DOA Deadly Combos near Bishops Point.
The action was still hot the next day when Bob Kahlor, from SC, fished with me off Siesta Key. He caught and released several little tunny and Spanish mackerel on Diamond jigs and top water plugs. Even though fish were in a feeding frenzy, we had to "match the hatch" with something the same size as the glass minnows that they were eating. Fridays' trip was similar with numerous Spanish mackerel and several little tunny caught on Clouser flies, Crease flies, diamond jigs and top water plugs. We finished the day catching more Spanish mackerel and several trout on deep grass flats near Bishops Point
I look for this action to continue in the near future as long as there isn't a significant change in weather. Tides improve next week as we head towards a full moon on Tuesday, so flats fishing should also be good.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com
