November 25, 2007
Sarasota Florida Fishing Report
By Capt. Bob Smith
The artificial 'I' reefs are still hot and getting better. There are small and large kingfish to forty pounds, small and large Spanish mackerel to five pounds, lots of bluefish, sharks and some cobia. We have had plenty of green backs (herring) for bait on both the Alan Fisher and Lynn Silvertooth reefs. Just don't forget the gold hooks. Live shrimp and pilchards are also working. Dragging hardware has also worked but I don't do that. Don't drop your bait rigs too deep, the reef is covered with small gag grouper that will pull your light rig in the rocks.
On Saturday, yesterday, I had Kevin Leczkowski from PA out for six hours and he got his first kingfish. It was a 48' whopper caught while drifting with a greenback sardine on a free-line. The fish almost took all of the 300 yards of twenty pound test mono. We had to run up on the fish to get some line back and Kevin soon turned the big fish. If the fish looks a little small in the picture, it is because Kevin is 6' 7'.
Kevin wanted to boat the fish himself while I took the pictures and then get him back in the water quickly. He grabbed the fish by the tail and got him in on the second try.'Wow, he said, this fish has got to go forty pounds'. Then the fish started to thrash and Kevin went down, hence the split in the bottom photo. We did not want to take the time to weigh the fish.
The coastal waters are looking very good with plenty of baitfish and for now, undersize grouper. I caught a few yellowtail snapper on my bait rig. The 'M' reefs are also holding fish but the goliath grouper can be a problem for bottom fishing.
Enjoy & Protect
My Website: http//www.sarasota-fla-fishing.com
