Fly anglers fishing with me, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with tarpon during the past couple of weeks. With the weather in a normal pattern of an east breeze in the morning, an afternoon sea breeze and plenty of sun, fly anglers had lots of shots at tarpon each day, jumping numerous tarpon and catching and releasing several.
I had a real treat on Mon, June 26 when Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key and I had an opportunity to fish the backcountry of Pine Island Sound for juvenile tarpon with our friend, Capt. Joe Harley of Snooktown Charters out of Matlacha, FL (www.snooktown.com or 239-443-7412). We had great action jumping numerous tarpon in the 15 to 30-pound class and leadering a couple of them on 8-wt fly tackle. Great fun and a change of pace from beach tarpon fishing. These fish usually jump higher and more often than their larger brethren! I also fished with Rusty back in Sarasota on Wednesday, 6/28. We had numerous shots at tarpon and Rusty hooked up, getting numerous jumps and runs during a 20-minute fight before the hook pulled.
Hal Lutz, from Parrish, FL and Jeb Mulock, from Bradenton, FL, fished with me on Thursday and Friday. 6/29 and 30. Hal was the first to score when he hooked up on Thursday and fought his fish to the boat. Jeb hooked up twice on Friday, jumping one tarpon and fighting the fish for about 30-minutes before we had an unexpected break off. He immediately hooked up again fighting the second tarpon through several jumps and runs before it was leadered. Great job!
Steve Gibson, from Sarasota, fly fished for tarpon with me on Wednesday. 7/5. Steve hooked up and fought the fish for several jumps and runs. Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key, fly fished for tarpon with me on Thursday. He also hooked up, getting numerous jumps and runs before bringing the fish to the boat in about 20-minutes. We jumped another tarpon that day and had lots of shots and a brief hook up on another trip.
Tarpon fishing should be good next week as many fish are post spawn and aggressive. This is a good time frame to sight fish for snook in the surf. However, snook season remains closed on the west coast of Florida until Sep 1st, so please handle them gently and release them quickly. Fishing lighted docks and bridges in the ICW for snook with flies and DOA Lures also continues to be a good option.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
FFI 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
