Fall Feeding Frenzy continues

Fall Feeding frenzy continues

As winter approaches, the fish in Sarasota are feeding heavily and fattening up for the colder weather ahead.

             The nearshore reefs are holding Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel , False Albacore , Flounderand a variety of Sharks. The Passes are intense with Snapper, Pompano, more Flounder and some Grouper. Finally, Sarasota Bay is alive with Redfish, Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Flounder, Pompano, Grouper  and some Snook. This is one of my favorite months for fishing !!!! But importantly, you must be flexible to the constant weather changes. If the wind is from the East, the gulf is the place to be and with any other wind ,then fish Sarasota Bay.

Gulf fishing explodes !!!!!!!!

The Gulf of Mexico has exploded with bait in the form of Glass minnow schools that are being attacked by Jack Crevalles, Ladyfish , Little Tunny ( False Albacore) and Spanish Mackerel. In turn, Black Tip Lemon and Bull Sharks are feeding on the smaller fish. Finally Tarpon are in the area to clean up whatever is left. We are averaging 10-15 Sharks , 50 or so Mackerel. 3-5 Little Tunny and 2 or so Jumped Tarpon per trip. This is really exciting fishing and will only last for a few more weeks. I'll let the pictures do the talking........

Sarasota September Fishing

With the arrival of late afternoon Summertime rain in full force, fishing in Sarasota has exploded. The water temps have lowered from a high of 92 degrees to 85 in the bay and many species of fish have responded.  Baitfish are all over the bay and are easily netted for bait and chummed fish into a feeding frenzy is now a daily occurrence.

In Sarasota Bay, the Passes continue to hold Mangrove snapper to 20” with most fish in the 16-18”range. Snook have returned after their Summer Spawn and as an added bonus some seriously big Flounder have been caught. Also , Spanish Mackerel and Ladyfish have been crashing bait in the Passes daily. The  Passes involve livebait fishing as artificial are tough on such a current. Large whitebait works best. On the flats , Redfish are schooling on the flats and near oyster bars and potholes.The Redfish are really hitting both small live Pinfish and cut Ladyfish and Pinfish. My favorite tide is a very , very low tide that has just started to turn into an incoming. This is really the time to fish those potholes. For artificial anglers , early morning topwaters can produce and a after the sun has come you can’t beat a gold spoon ot Jig with a GULP trailer. In 4-6’ of scattered grass, anchoring and chumming with small white bait has turned on the Bluefish, Sea Trout and Mackerel. Using this method,  you bring the fish to you and can create a feeding frenzy very quickly. Tarpon are moving to the inside waters of Sarasota Bay. Look for them rolling on the surface at dawn or feeding in bait schools in the morning. If you see schools of Lady fish crashing bait very early in the am, there should be Tarpon close by. Large topwaters, like Skitterwalks or Spooks will get them to strike.

Just off the beaches , Spanish Mackerel ,Little Tunny,  Jack Crevalle and Ladyfish are schooling and feeding on whitebait. All you have to do is to find Birds working and pull into that area and very, very soon the fish will show up by smashing anything thrown in the water. This type of action is just beginning and will last until the Cold weather gets here in December.  This is a fly fisherman’s dream as all of these species are fly friendly and huge numbers can be caught. Last week in my Gulf fly trip, We caught 14 Spanish, about 20 Jacks 1 little Tunny and a couple of juvenile Kings . Very soon, the Sharks ( Blacktips , Lemons, Nurse and Bulls) that follow the Mackerel schools will be here. Also look for a Kingfish run in a few weeks as there are already juvenile Kings here.

Sizzlin Summer in Sarasota

After having the best Tarpon season in 15 years, action now moves into the bay for the remainder of the summer. So far 50 Tarpon have been boated by the Lucky Dawg and well over 100 have been jumped. The best day was Brian Anders of Boston who jumped 8 and landed 4 . He was so tired that on the last hook up (Tarpon #9) that he handed the rod to me and I landed the fish(#5). The Largest Tarpon was caught by Rob Erdesky of Sarasota @ 180+ lbs followed by Zach Hartman @155lbs and Tony Dilworth @150lbs. The Tarpon are still here and still feeding as my last trip we hooked 3 and landed 1. If this season follows the others in recent history, the Tarpon will be here for about 3 more weeks.

In the Bay and Passes, Snook are feeding heavily in preparation for the spawn. Mangrove Snapper are schooling big time on the rocks and Spanish Mackerel are starting to gorge themselves on glass minnows. Redfish are beginning to show up on the area mangrove channels, docks  and Sea trout can be found in large numbers in clean water. With the afternoon rains we have had, the most important thing in Sarasota bay is clean water. If your favorite area is off color… move until you can find clean water. Yesterday I went to one of my best Trout areas in the north bay and for 30 minutes all we caught were small trout. By moving only 300 yards, I found clean water and big trout.  On the nearshore reefs, bait fish are schooling and it will not be long before Little Tunny, Mackerel and Sharks show up for a feast.

As I close let me thank  my sponsors once again. Minn Kota, TFO spinning rods and fly rods, Bayou Buck lures, and Polar boats

Tarpon... Tarpon.... Tarpon

Sorry for the delayed report but,for the past few weeks all I have been doing is Tarpon fishing. The schools are showing in great numbers at North Longboat Key and there are scattered fish for the patient angler off Lido and Siesta Key. The best baits have been pinfish with a good number also hitting crabs.
For those interested my tackle of choice is an Terramar Rod with an extra fast tip, Shimano Baitrunner 6000 spooled with 50lb Diamond Braid line and an 80 lb shock leader. For those of that know me well, you are probably surprised that I have moved away frpm Power Pro line, but  after a few line failures early in the season, I felt a new line was in order.The best Tarpon so far is an 180 lber caught by Rob Erdesky of Sarasota after a grueling 1 hour 15 min fight and most Tarpon in one day (by 1 angler) goes to Matt Stewart of  Indianapolis who landed 3 Tarpon (90,110,120 ) in 1 morning. I am so busy and whipped from fishing Tarpon that my report is going to be very short.... I'll let the pictures do the talking
See you on the water
Capt Jack

Sarasota Slam time !

April  19  Fishing Report

Big Spanish Mackerel , The biggest Sea Trout we have seen in Years, Big Blues, Mangrove Snapper beginning to show up in numbers, Redfish starting to school, Snook  making their presence known, Flounder, Kingfish, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish and even a few Pompano …. Yes… it is springtime in
Sarasota !!!
 The Spanish Mackerel are on the grass flats , artificial reefs and just off the beaches on their annual migration. They are suckers for white bait which is here in huge numbers. Netting good bait at daybreak is about as easy as it has ever been in recent history. Big Sea over 20’ is an everyday event and most days we catch several over 20” . The bigger Trout are targeting top water plugs like the Chug Bug, Deadly Combo, a big white bait freelined  or a hand picked Shrimp under a popping cork. Mixed in with the Trout and Macks are some Pompano, Flounder, Ladyfish, Jacks and some Big Bluefish.

James Pound from the UK joined me and caught a “Sarasota Slam” .That is, Sea Trout Snook, and Redfish all in the Same day. James caught 5 Redfish to 25 “ , 3 Snook to 23” and Sea trout to 19” His best luck was throwing a freelined Shrimp under docks on the east side of the bay. The next day Tate Miller from Ohio and his son Zack and daughter Hannah and Father in law Greg. Let me tell you this crew was fun and they really can fish ! We lost count of how many fish they caught around 10 am . Tate sent me a Text message saying the fish fry was fabulous that night.

That afternoon, Russ Zuege brother Wayne and his daughter Jalissa and family friend, Hannah continued the hot bite. The guys had a great day, but the girls were really on fire. Again , I have no idea how many fish were landed .
Friday, Brent Smith and son Quinn  had a really nice am bite from 7:30 to around 10am catching numerous trout and mackerel. At 10 the wind stopped and so did the bite . after about 30  minutes of inactivity, the wind picked up and the bite continued. James Starks from the UK  started out by using topwaters and caught 3 reds in the 25+ range along with 3 Snook with one going to 26”. After the topwater  bite slowed, we went to deep grass and he caught a 29” and 30 “  Sea trout , 2 Pompanos and a 15” Flounder. A super Sarasota Slam !
Sunday John Buckley from Sarasota and brother Steve and brother in law Bill joined me for John’s 70^th birthday fishing party. Man oh man, what fun ! These guys all can fish and caught many Sea Trout in 20 inch range, Huge Mackerel , Big Bluefish and others. Nick Rinaldi and buddy Bill from Longboat Key continued the hot bite in Sarasota Bay. Nick wanted to learn the techniques of bay fishing Sarasota Style and he proved to be a great student.  He really did well and with his friend ,Bill caught a lot of Trout Blues and Macks.Ron Slovick and son Ben ,age 6, had a fabulous day . While Ron was busy fly fishing, Ben was catching huge Trout , one after the other. Soon, after a fly change Ron joined the fun catch Large mackerel and Trout. The following day Ron‘s dad, Ron fromSarasota joined us . After a slow start, We caught  big Blues, Trout and Mackerel.
  Steve Perkins from New Jersey joined me for a morning of  a mixed bag of Trout , Flounder, Mangrove snapper, Redfish, and small Snook. It was by far the slowest day of the week ,but overall he had a great time throwing topwaters and jigs.  Dan Dunn from RI fished Friday am and caught 6 reds, Sea Trout including a 26 “ monster and Mangrove Snapper. He hooked 3 or 4 huge Reds only to lost them around dock pilings.
The final 2 trips of the report period were with 2 great families. First, Carl Almeter and Sons Taylor and Andrew along with daughter Kate had a super day catching big Trout, Mackerel, and bluefish. These were novice fishermen  who became pretty darn good by days end. Of course, Kate had to show the guys up as she caught the most and biggest fiah of the day. Finally the Katz family from NYC  ( Ben, Sam, Garrett, and Eli ) fish on a windy day. They were rewarded with Pompano, Trout and Macks

Shrimpee Fly catches everything in Sarasota Bay

I do not pretend to be the best fly fishing guide or fly tying expert , but I work to get better and better at my craft every day. I have discovered a fly that is hot right now in Sarasota Bay and has been for the past few years in the water cooler temperatures . A few years ago, I was playing around and trying to design a Shrimp fly .  Most prototypes failed , but the Shrimpee fly was an immediate success . The fly only works when the water is cold to cool ; approximately from November to mid May. The first time this fly proved it's worth was with my son, Zach, in Zwick's channel. We were catching small Trout almost every cast with CAL jigs when Zach decided to try his fly rod . Since the Trout were hitting dark shrimp like jigs , he grabbed the Shrimpee. Zach then proceeeded to catch bigger , fatter Trout for the next 30 minutes until the tide stopped. Just last week, Ron Slovick from Appleton Wisconsin started out using a Clouser in an area that was full of feeding fish ( his son Ben age 6 was catching loads of big Trout Macks and Ladyfish) . After a few minutes of futility, Ron changed to the Shrimpee and immediately began to catch Big Trout and Spanish Mackerel. The Shrimpee has caught Snook, Sea Trout, Flounder, Spanish Mackerel, Gray Trout , Ladyfish and Jacks so far. But I am sure that Redfsih or Pompano will hit it if given the chance.