Anglers fishing with me, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released snook at night in the ICW near Venice, trout, blues and flounder in Sarasota Bay and trout, snook, reds, pompano and a permit in Gasparilla Sound on flies and CAL jigs with shad tails and jerk worms during the past week. The best action was catch and release snook fishing in the ICW at night.
Martin Marlowe, from NY, fished dock lights in the ICW near Venice with me on Tuesday night, 1/31. It was his personal best snook fishing trip ever as far as the amount of action! He had nonstop action catching and releasing snook on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. He also fished with me on Thursday night, 2/9 and had steady action catching and releasing snook on the same fly. Another great trip!
Nick Reding, from Longboat Key, FL and Tony Merlis, from NH, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Thursday, 2/2. We waded a shallow flat and fished from the boat where they caught and released several over slot trout to 24" and a flounder on my Grassett Flats Bunny fly.
Mike Perez, from Sarasota, FL, fished the backcountry of Gasparilla Sound near Boca Grande with me on Friday, 2/3. We caught and released a few trout, snook and a red on CAL jigs with shad tails and 4" jerk worms. We waded a bar and Mike caught and released a juvenile permit, his first ever on a fly, on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly!
Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL and Stephen Liska, from Naples, FL fished the same area with me on Saturday, 2/4. They had a great day catching and releasing a couple of "slams" including trout to 18", several reds to 24", several pompano, flounder and snook on CAL jigs with shad tails and 4" jerk worms. Stephen caught and released his first big red in shallow water!
Gary Marple, from Sarasota, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday, 2/7. He had some action catching and releasing trout on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly while fishing deep grass flats on the west side of the bay. Marshall Dinerman, from Atlanta, GA, and Edwin Rothberg, from NC, fished the same areas with me on Wednesday, 2/8. They had good action with trout and several blues on CAL jigs with shad tails.
Fish in shallow water have been very spooky due to clear water and calm conditions, making them tough to catch, although you should find snook, larger trout and reds there when conditions are good. Wading with a fly rod or making long casts with spinning tackle are good tactics for fishing shallow water. Catch and release night snook fishing around lighted docks and bridges in the ICW with flies and DOA Lures should also be a good option. Trout, blues, Spanish mackerel, pompano and more should be good options on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
IFFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Orvis-Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide at CB's Saltwater Outfitters
Orvis Outfitter of the Year-2011
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
www.snookfin-addict.com, www.snookfinaddict.com and www.flyfishingflorida.us
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
(941) 923-7799
