This is somewhat repetitive from my last report, but sometimes repetitive is good. In this case repetitive is really, really good. Fishing in Sarasota is about as good as it has ever been and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The baitfish have moved in and are easily found right off the beaches. Following the bait is tons of Spanish Mackerel , Kingfish and some Cobia. All of the artificial reefs off of Sarasota are holding these predators and the fishing is pretty easy. Just toss out some small whitebait for Mackerel , free line a bigger bait for the Kings and Cobia. The 1 mile reef has the hot bite right now. While consistent Cobia action can be found at any M reef. If you want a great fight, drop a Mackerel filet down to the bottom and hold on . Black tips, Lemon and large nurse sharks are all feeding heavily around the reefs. The best news of all is that A few Tarpon have been spotted near the bridges signifying that our tarpon season is just right around the corner.
In Sarasota Bay, the Sea Trout bite is still hot along with Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Ladyfish and Flounder. The Pompano bite has cooled a bit ,but late spring and summer are always good for Pompano so ,they could turn back on any day. Find 4-6 feet of scattered grass in places like Selby Gardens, The Middle grounds, Stephens Point, Whale Key and Long bar and you will catch both quantity and quality . The go to lure for this mixed bag of fish is the CAL jig in ¼ (windy) and 1/8 sizes (calmer) with and Cal paddle tail or Shad tail. The best colors are copper crush, gold and greene. Redfish still are a little spooky but can be found at first light on the flat edges using topwater baits and around boat docks later in the day. Snook still have not made an appearance ,but should be heading to the passes very soon.
Best trips in the past few days were Robert Shakey and his buddy Ricky Bunden from Ohio who caught 30+ Macks , 5 Kings and a 75 lb Black tip Shark off the 1mile reef. Chad Allan from Waterford MI who caught flounder to 20"trout to 19' Spanish mackerel, bluefish and ladyfish. Chad probably caught in excess of 50 fish ,all on CAL jigs. He used 2 jig tails the whole trip which is a great testimony to the toughness of the paddle tail design.