Sarasota Florida Fishing Report
By Capt. Bob Smith
Bay fishing has been very active during the last couple of weeks and has kept us busy most of the time. Some of the fish being caught are spotted sea trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jacks, small grouper and flounder with some redfish and snook around the docks.
Occasional hookups with tarpon, shark, and cobia have been adding to the excitement.
Most of the trout have been just undersize but plentiful with a few over 20". The grass flats are holding large schools of very small baitfish that are attracting the fish. The fish will feed on and off but the time of day has not been predictable. In other words, first light may be good or may be dead slow.
I have been fishing with only artificial, 3" DOA shrimp and when we find the fish, everyone hooks-up. Look for feeding birds or any top-water disturbance. You may see a lot of ladyfish and jacks hitting the baitfish but along the edges you may catch trout and other species feeding as well.
Some of the hotspots for us have been the grass flats off of Stephen's Point on the east side of the bay, south of Whale Key and along the shoal on the west side of the bay, south of Bishops Point and the marina and also the Middle Ground grassflats just north of New Pass.
I use 12 pound test line and a 30 pound test clear mono leader most of the time but also keep 40 and 20 pound test mono leader on hand if needed. With the DOA shrimp, I fish them very slow, three short snaps and let it sink. If I find it snagging in the bottom grass, I move a little faster or put on a Clacker or popping float, still using the three short snaps, then let it sit. You want to hear the Clacker when you snap the line. This will bring the fish to your bait.
For live bait on the bay, I use two types of hooks. Both are by Eagle Claw and both hard to find. First and for most live bait fishing is the 202 Aberdeen, Gold in the 4/0 size found at Economy Tackle in town and J&M Hunting Supplies & Marine on the web. The other hook is the L253 3/0 for larger and hard mouth fish like sheepshead, redfish, snook, and cobia. They can be found at Bass Pro.
Enjoy & Protect
My Website: http//www.sarasota-fla-fishing.com
