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 snook, trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper and jacks on flies, DOA Deadly Combos, CAL jigs with shad tails and top water plugs in Sarasota Bay during the past couple of weeks. The best action was with snook and a variety of species on deep grass flats.
Brittany and Joe Darr, from Orlando, FL and their friend, Josh, from Sarasota, did an instructional fly fishing trip in Sarasota Bay with me on Sunday, 9/8. We also spin fished while one angler was fly fishing. They made good progress with fly casting and caught and released blues, Spanish mackerel and trout at the Middleground flat and near Buttonwood Harbor on Ultra Hair Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad tails.
Mike Tremblay, from Richmond, VA, fly fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday, 9/10. We started before dawn fishing Siesta Key docks where Mike caught and released several snook on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. He also caught and released several trout on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly at Stephens Point.
I fished with Capt. Andy Cotton, also out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters, in his boat on Thursday, 9/12. We found few widely scattered Spanish mackerel and false albacore (little tunny) in the coastal gulf, but they were tough to get on. Andy caught and released a tripletail on a Clouser fly and we had good action catching and releasing trout, blues and jacks on Ultra Hair Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad tails in Sarasota Bay near Buttonwood Harbor.
I was at the Florida Sportsman Show in Tampa on Saturday, 9/14, helping DOA Fishing Lures out in their booth. It's always good to see some old friends and talk with anglers about their favorite DOA lures.
James Stewart, from Inverness, Scotland and his friend Paul Cuthbertson, from Aberdeen, Scotland, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday morning, 9/17. We started before dawn to snook fish around lighted docks. They had fast action, catching and releasing about 15 snook to 25" on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. We fished deep grass flats on both sides of Sarasota Bay after daylight where they caught and released trout to 23" on Ultra Hair Clouser flies. Their first snook and largest trout on fly!
Capt. Bill Miller, from Tampa, FL, fished with me on Wednesday morning, 9/18 to film an episode of his new TV show "Fishing with Bill Miller". We had the same plan as the day before and the action was good. We caught and released more than a dozen snook on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly before daylight. Snook and jacks busted baitfish along a seawall at dawn, so we cast top water plugs and caught and released jacks, snook, Spanish mackerel and even mangrove snapper. We also had steady action with trout on DOA Deadly Combos near Bishop Point.
Tom Dunn and sons, Ryan and Brad, from St. Louis, MO, fished deep grass flats along the west side of Sarasota Bay with me on Thursday morning, 9/19. They had steady action catching and releasing blues, Spanish mackerel, trout, jacks and sailcats on DOA Deadly Combos.
I took my wife, Karen, fishing on Saturday morning, 9/21. We had great action catching and releasing blues and jacks to 4-pounds and trout to 18" fishing deep grass flats on the west side of the bay on DOA Deadly Combos, top water plugs and a fly popper/dropper combo. We have a lot of success with trout in Montana with a hopper/dropper rig that consists of a foam hopper with a small nymph about 24"-30" behind it. Lefty Kreh has also described this technique as being one of the best for catching spotted sea trout. I used a foam popper with either a small Clouser or my Grassett Snook Minnow fly behind it and had some great surface explosions. The small fly behind the popper was equally as effective and I had several doubles with fish on both flies!
Beat the heat by catch and release snook fishing before daylight and then look for reds, trout, blues, Spanish mackerel, tripletail and more in Sarasota Bay. Reds are schooling in Sarasota Bay. Look for nervous patches of water or large wakes to find them.
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