Anglers fishing with me on my Action Craft flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, flounder and reds in Sarasota Bay and false albacore (little tunny), Spanish mackerel and tripletail in the coastal gulf on lures and flies during the past couple of weeks. I also fished Pine Island Sound with a friend one day where we caught and released tailing reds.
Sarasota winter residents, Tom Lamb and Roy Glah, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday, 11/12. We started in New Pass where we found Spanish mackerel feeding on the surface. They caught numerous Spanish mackerel to 3-pounds on CAL jigs with shad tails before moving into Sarasota Bay. We fished deep grass flats along the west side of the bay where they caught and released trout to 18" on CAL jigs with shad tails.
Denise Bruner, from Tampa, FL, was the winner of a trip that I donated to the Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club. She fished the coastal gulf off Sarasota with me on Tuesday, 11/13 and had great sight fishing action with tripletail, catching and releasing 4 tripletail to more than 6-pounds on EP flies. She also caught and released a false albacore and had fast action with numerous Spanish mackerel on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. A great day!
Longboat Key and Sarasota winter residents, Nick Reding and Mike Perez, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Wednesday, 11/14. We waded several flats and bars on both sides of the bay where they caught and released a red and several trout to more than 3-pounds on my Grassett Flats Minnow and Clouser flies.
My brother, Kirk Grassett from Middletown, DE, visited for a few days and fished with me Thursday through Saturday. It was cool, overcast and windy but we still managed to have good action. Mike Perez joined us to fish the coastal gulf off Sarasota on Thursday, 11/15. We found the false albacore very tough to get on that day, but fortunately tripletail were plentiful and aggressive. We caught and released numerous Spanish mackerel and 3 tripletail that day on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly, including an 8 ½-pounder.
Kirk and I were the guests of our friend, Capt. Rick DePaiva from Ft. Myers, FL, in Pine Island Sound on Friday, 11/16. Coming off a new moon on Tuesday, tides were perfect for reds to tail on shallow grass flats that day. We caught and released 3 tailing reds to 26" and 1 red that was following a ray on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly. Great sight fishing!
Kirk and I fished the coastal gulf off Sarasota on Saturday, 11/17. Conditions still weren't great to start but the sun popped out and the wind dropped for a couple of hours late in the morning, which was enough of a window for us to get on the false albacore. We caught and released 4 albies to more than 10-pounds on my Grassett Snook Minnow and Clouser flies. With a strong sea breeze coming up about noon, we headed into Sarasota Bay where we caught and released a few trout and a Spanish mackerel on Clouser flies along the west side of the bay.
Patrice Camillieri, from France, fished Sarasota Bay and the coastal gulf with me on Monday and Tuesday. Conditions were rough in the coastal gulf on Monday, 11/19, but he still managed catch and release a couple of tripletail to 4-pounds on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly. We also had a couple of shots at false albacore (little tunny) that day but they didn't stay up very long. With a low tide about noon, we fished potholes on the east side of Sarasota Bay where he caught and released trout to 19" and a 23" red also on the same fly.
Conditions weren't much better in the coastal gulf on Tuesday morning, 11/20, cool and windy with a 2 ½ swell. We had a few shots at a tripletail, but we didn't see any albies at all. We found some protected shallow water to fish in Sarasota Bay where he caught and released another nice red on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly.
Scott Tilton, from MN, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Wednesday morning, 11/21, his first time fly fishing in salt water. We fished deep grass flats close to the passes where he caught and released ladyfish and a nice bluefish on Clouser flies fished on a sink tip fly line.
Bill Beauchamp and his daughter, Noelle, from Bradenton, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Friday, 11/23. We fished deep grass flats on the west side of the bay where they caught and released numerous bluefish to 4-pounds, trout to 2-pounds, a Spanish mackerel and a flounder on CAL jigs with shad tails and grubs. We also fished shallow flats on both sides of the bay where they caught and released 4 reds to 7 ½-pounds on CAL jigs with shad tails and weedless rigged CAL shad tails.
Tim Louis, from MI, and his dad, Don Louis from Nokomis, FL, fished Sarasota Bay and the coastal gulf with me on Saturday, 11/24. Despite being rough in the coastal gulf, we had shots at a couple of tripletail with a fly. We fished a couple of deep grass flats on the west side of the bay where they caught and released Spanish mackerel to 3-pounds and trout on Ultra Hair Clouser flies.
With water cooling into the mid 60's, shallow water fishing for reds should be good this week. Look for them in potholes and on the edges of bars when the tide is low or higher on shallow grass flats at the top of the tide. You may also find trout, bluefish, flounder and more on deep grass flats.
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
