Anglers fishing with me on my Action Craft flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action fly fishing for tarpon in the coastal gulf. Fly anglers jumped 2 tarpon, had several other eats and numerous shots at tarpon with a fly in the coastal gulf during the week of 7/15. We also caught and released a variety of species including snook, trout, bluefish, mangrove snapper, sheepshead and tripletail on flies and CAL jigs with shad tails in Sarasota Bay during the week of 7/22.
Jerry Poslusny and Jay Peck, both from the Rochester, NY area fished Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with me, 7/15, 16 and 17. Conditions were tough a good portion of the week with a lot of clouds and some rain. However there were enough windows of good visibility to get them numerous shots at tarpon each day. They jumped 2 fish and had 3 other eats on Deceiver and Grassett Tarpon Bunny flies.
My brother Kirk Grassett, from Middletown, DE, came down to fish a few days later in the week. Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key, FL joined us on Thursday, 7/18 and we came across an osprey struggling and flopping on the surface as we ran in the coastal gulf. As we got closer to investigate, we could see that the bird was near collapse from exhaustion. It showed no fear and allowed Kirk to cover its head with a towel and lift it onto the deck of my boat. We took the bird to the beach and it was too exhausted to either fly or jump off the deck, so Kirk lifted him off the bow and sat him on the beach. The bird appeared to have an injured wing and was very waterlogged, so Rusty contacted Save Our Seabirds who came out to the scene to rescue the bird. A follow up call reported that the bird was recovering at the bird hospital. We only had a few shots at tarpon that day due to heavy clouds and fish deep in the water column but we had a dozen or more good shots on Friday, 7/19.
Kirk and I were the guests of our friend Capt. Rick DePaiva, from Ft. Myers, FL, to fish Pine Island Sound on Saturday, 7/20. Capt. Rick knows his fishery well and since conditions were good for reds to tail on shallow grass flats late in the day, we planned to be there at that time. We had some shots at tailing reds and Kirk caught and released a very nice, upper slot red on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly. Due to the dark, tannic water that is prevalent in that area this time of year, colors on the fish were vivid!
Steve Retzlaff, from Switzerland, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Wednesday, 7/24. He caught and released a few trout and a mangrove snapper on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly fished on a sink tip fly line over deep grass near Buttonwood Harbor. He also had several shots at tripletail and hooked one on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly.
Jerry Poslusny and Bill Nesbitt, both from the Rochester, NY area, fished with me on Thursday and Friday, 7/25 and 26. With a stiff west wind, tarpon fishing in the coastal gulf wasn't an option so we fished Sarasota Bay. We fished shallow and deep grass flats on both sides of the bay both days where they caught and released trout and a nice bluefish on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly and a CAL jig with a shad tail. Bill also caught and released a sheepshead on a shallow flat on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly.
Tom Files, from McIntosh, FL, snook fished with me before dawn on Saturday morning, 7/27. We fished Siesta Key docks and he had good action catching and releasing more than 6 snook to 4-pounds on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. We moved to Sarasota Bay and with good conditions decided to hunt for tripletail. Tom hooked a couple and landed a 4-pounder on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly. He finished the morning catching and releasing a few trout over deep grass near Buttonwood Harbor on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly.
There should still be some tarpon fishing in the coastal gulf when sea conditions improve. Tarpon are thinning out in the coastal gulf so it may require a lot of waiting for a few fish, but they are aggressive now so it should be worth the wait. Tarpon are also a good option around bridges at night and juveniles in creeks, canals and basins. Beat the heat by catch and release snook fishing before daylight in the ICW and then look for trout, blues, Spanish mackerel, tripletail and more in Sarasota Bay.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Orvis- Endorsed Outfitter Guide
CB's Saltwater Outfitters-2011 Orvis Outfitter of the Year
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com