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 albies (little tunny), reds, trout, snook, blues and Spanish mackerel during the past couple of weeks. Some of the best action was with albies on flies in the coastal gulf although there was also good action in skinny water with reds, trout and a nice snook. Visibility was good enough in shallow water that we were able to sight cast to some of the reds with jigs and flies.
Ray Miles, from NY, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Friday morning, 9/30. He caught and released trout and ladyfish at Stephens Point and near Whale Key on CAL jigs with shad tails, DOA Deadly Combos and top water plugs. He also caught a red in skinny water on a weedless rigged CAL shad tail.
Steve Gibson and I fished the coastal gulf off Siesta Key on Tuesday, 10/4 and had a good day with albies. We caught and released 7 or 8 in the 8 to 10-pound class on small white flies. I threw my Snook Minnow fly and Gibby was using a small white fly that he tied. We had to work to stay on the fish, but they would eat when you got a fly into them.
Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers member, Gene Mayberry from Bradenton, FL, went into the gulf with me on Thursday, 10/6. He had a good day catching and releasing 8 or 10 albies on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. Chad McCoy, from Bardstown, KY, his son Hunter and Hunter's friend, Clay Davis, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Friday, 10/7. Chad fly fished while the boys threw CAL jigs, DOA Deadly Combos and plugs. They caught and released a few trout, bluefish and a Spanish mackerel near Bird Key. It was great to see everyone's enthusiasm!
Randy Powell and Ben Hatcher, both from Sarasota, FL, had a good day fishing skinny water in north Sarasota Bay with me on Saturday, 10/8. We had a terrible weather forecast for high winds and rain, but it never got that bad. We hugged the east shore of Sarasota Bay where they caught and released several trout, 3 reds and a nice snook on CAL jigs with plastic grubs. Ben landed the snook, a 28", 7-pound plus fish to complete his slam for the day! The forecast was even worse for Sunday, 10/9, but based on Saturday's trip we decided to give it a shot. Tim Graham, from Nokomis, FL, and his guest, Aaron Way from Okeechobee, FL, fished the same areas with me and caught and released numerous trout, a 4-pound blue and a red that was sight-fished in skinny water on DOA Deadly Combos and CAL jigs with plastic grubs.
Jon Grimes and Tony Rich, both from Longboat Key, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday, 10/11. They caught and released numerous trout to 18", blues to 4-lbs and Spanish mackerel on DOA Deadly Combos and Ultra Hair Clouser flies near Whale Key.
Fly anglers Dave Macomber, from MN, and his brother Scott Macomber, from MA, fished with me on Friday and Saturday, 10/14 and 15. They had a good day on Friday catching and releasing 6 or 7 albies to 8 ½ lbs in the coastal gulf off Sarasota on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. We snook fished in the ICW near Venice before dawn on Saturday morning where they caught and released 4 or 5 snook on the same fly. We fished the coastal gulf out of Venice after dawn and found Spanish mackerel, but no albies. We came upon an awesome scene as Spanish mackerel crashed a bait ball and 25 or 30 sharks cruised the bait ball with dorsal fins out of the water eating mackerel!
Next week's outgoing tides in the morning should be good for fishing the coastal gulf or the flats. Look for reds and snook along sand bars and in potholes at the bottom of the tide.
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
