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 catching and releasing trout, blues and jacks on DOA lures, top water plugs and flies in Sarasota Bay during the past couple of weeks.
Since I was away most of August, I needed to get back on the water in Sarasota before a trip on Saturday, 9/6. Steve Traves, from Cortez, FL and Rusty Chinnis from Longboat Key fished Sarasota Bay with me on Thursday, 9/4. We had some action catching and releasing trout and blues on DOA Deadly Combos and CAL jigs with shad tails on deep grass flats on both sides of the bay.
Pete Pedersen and his son Bill, from MA, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Saturday, 9/6. We fished some of the same areas and had good action catching and releasing blues and trout on CAL jigs with shad tails, DOA Deadly Combos, top water plugs and flies. Bill also caught and released a couple of trout on my Grassett Flats Bunny fly, his first saltwater fish on a fly!
It was breezy on Friday, 9/12 as a tropical system moved across south Florida when Greg Stepanski, from Tampa, FL and Tom Frankfurth, from Terra Verde, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me. We fished deep grass flats on both sides of the bay where they caught and released trout to 18" on DOA Deadly Combos, CAL jigs with shad tails, top water plugs and flies. I often use a "popper/dropper" rig when fly fishing on deep grass flats this time of year. The principle is the same as the DOA Deadly Combo, with the popper making noise and a smaller lightly weighted fly fluttering along 3' behind it.
I spent some time at the DOA Fishing Lures booth at the Florida Sportsman Fishing Show in Tampa on Saturday, 9/13. The newest bait from DOA is the 4" CAL shad tail and it should be a hit, especially when larger profile baits are around. The lure, which can be rigged on a long shank CAL jig head or on a weedless hook, has an amazing wiggle and vibration!
You should find trout, blues, mangrove snapper and more on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay. Look for bait schools, diving birds or breaking fish to find them. You may find reds schooling on edges of bars or shallow grass flats when the tide is low. Snook fishing should also be good around lighted docks and bridges at night or on shallow flats early in the day.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
IFFF 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.snookfin-addict.com
