Anglers fishing with me on the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action the past couple of weeks with Spanish mackerel, bluefish, trout, pompano and reds. The best action was on the deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay and the inshore artificial reefs off Lido Key.
We caught Spanish mackerel, bluefish, pompano, trout and ladyfish on CAL jigs with shad tails and flies on several trips during the week of 3/27. The best trip of the week was on Wednesday, 3/28 with Sarasota winter residents, Harry Beaty and Tom Schalk. They caught more than 40 fish including Spanish mackerel, bluefish, pompano and trout on CAL jigs with shad and grub tails at the Middleground flat, Stephens Point and near Buttonwood Harbor. They caught and released about 10 trout and ½ of them were between 18" and 20"
Fly anglers, Dave Macomber from MN, and his brother, Scott Macomber from MA, fished with me on Monday evening. They had good action with ladyfish and a pompano before dark and a couple of snook after dark. Mark Bonnett from Portland, OR and Dick Badman, from PA, caught and released ladyfish, trout, Spanish mackerel and bluefish on Clouser flies in Sarasota Bay with me on Thursday. Stephen Lewis and his young son Danny, both from NYC, and a guest fished with me that Friday. They had fast action with trout and ladyfish on flies and jigs.
Mike Perez, from Richmond, IN, his daughter Kelsey and a friend fished Sarasota Bay with me on Sunday, April 1st. They had steady action with ladyfish, trout, bluefish and a Spanish mackerel on flies and jigs. Fly angler, Bruce Maguire from MI, fished a couple of days with me during the week of April 1st. Bruce is a serious fly angler who enjoys sight-fishing whenever possible, so that was our focus. Bruce caught and released a red with a chartreuse Clouser in the Terra Ceia area on Monday. A front pushed through on Thursday evening and forced us to cut our full day trip on Friday to a ½ day.
John Wolfstaetter, from NYC, fished the same area with me on Tuesday. He had a couple of takes by reds on his Clouser flies, but neither fish stayed hooked. Fly angler Nick Reding and I waded and fly fished along the east side of Sarasota Bay on Wednesday. We had good action in the morning, catching and releasing 4 reds and a pompano on chartreuse and pink Clousers.
The best trip of the week was with fly angler Marc Chiaperrino and his 12-year old son Marc, both from Marlboro, NJ on Thursday. I heard some "dock talk" about plentiful Spanish and king mackerel at the Lido Reef, 3 miles off of Lido Key. We headed out to check it out and found fast action. Marc and his son, Marc, caught more than 25 Spanish mackerel to 24" and an estimated 15-pound king mackerel on flies and jigs. The king ate a Puglisi style bunker fly fished on a 300 grain Orvis Depth charge fly line. Another king of about 30-pounds chased the fly to the boat, but saw the boat just before it ate the fly. We came back in to Sarasota Bay in the afternoon where they caught more Spanish mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish and trout on jigs and flies.
Following this weekend's front, next week should be good for reds, snook and trout on the flats or Spanish and king mackerel in the coastal gulf. I will be instructing a fly fishing school next weekend, April 14, at CB's Saltwater Outfitters, 1249 Stickney Point Rd. on Siesta Key in Sarasota. Cost is $150 per person and includes the user of premium Orvis fly tackle, a textbook and an instructional video. Contact CB's Saltwater Outfitters at (941) 340-4400 to sign up.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
