Capt. Rick Grassett's Fishing Report for 1/2 through 1/14/2007
Anglers fishing with me on the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released reds, snook, trout and bluefish during the past 2 weeks. Action was fast in Little Sarasota Bay prior to a front last Monday. There was plenty of action with trout, reds and ladyfish with the water temperature at 72 degrees. Pompano were plentiful and skipping all over the flats, but not biting well. Behind the front, the water temperature dipped to 60 degrees and the action slowed.
Fly anglers Randy Sengel, from Alexandria, VA, and Terry Reideler, from MA, fished Gasparilla Sound in Charlotte Harbor with me on Jan. 2nd. They had numerous shots at tailing reds near Whidden Creek, but we didn't connect. However, we found trout in Bull Bay willing to eat later in the day. Randy and Terry switched from 8-weight fly rods to 5-weights and we caught about 15 trout with Clouser flies. Randy caught and released a 24" trout and a 23" snook. Nice trout!
Bob Harness and Nick Reding, both from St. Louis, MO, fished the same area with me on Jan. 4th. We found reds tailing, but in fewer numbers than the previous trip, and not giving us many good shots. They caught and released a few trout and a bluefish on Clouser flies near Catfish Creek.
Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, Victor Feldman, from Champagne, IL and Jack Lyons, from Chicago, fished Little Sarasota Bay with me on Friday, Jan. 5th. They had a great day catching 15 or 20 trout, several reds, a nice pompano and bluefish on CAL jigs with shad tails from Stickney Pt. to Midnight Pass. A couple of other trips in the same area resulted in trout, ladyfish and bluefish on jigs and flies.
A front pushed through last Monday and the water temperature dropped more than 10 degrees slowing the action. Keith McClintock and Victor Feldman fished Charlotte Harbor with me on Tuesday under tough conditions. We started off with a few trout and a nice bluefish near Catfish Creek on CAL jigs with shad tails. Then the wind cranked up to 20-mph and blew all the water out of the backcountry and kept it out forcing us to fish deep grass flats and sand bars around the outside of Bull and Turtle Bays. The wind dropped at the end of the day and we fished docks along Gasparilla Island where they finished the day with several snook including a couple estimated at more than 30". The larger snook bullied their way back under the docks where they were hooked giving us a glimpse of them before they said goodbye.
Nick Walter, the new outdoors writer for the Bradenton Herald, fished with me on Thursday. We were scheduled to fish on Wednesday but the wind was howling at 20-mph so we bumped it back a day. With the water temperature at 60-degrees compared to 72-degrees on Saturday, we found fishing to be tough. Ladyfish were plentiful on deep grass flats, but trout had disappeared. Fishing got better as the day went by and we finished with a snook and a few trout. Friday's trip was similar with a red and several short trout. It is inevitable that you'll catch lots of ladyfish this time of the year while probing deep grass flats in search of trout, blues and pompano.
Next week's negative low tides will have reds and trout concentrated in potholes of Gasparilla Sound. Reds should tail on shallow grass flats as the tide starts to rise. I look for trout fishing to improve on the flats of Sarasota Bay as the water warms.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
http://www.snookfin-addict.com/ and http://www.flyfishingflorida.net/
