Warm water = Hot Action in Sarasota

Fishing Report Feb 20 2011

Anglers aboard Sarasota Fishing Charters caught Pompano, Sea trout, Redfish, Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish , Flounder, Sheepshead and some very large Ladyfish this past week or so.  We have quickly gone from winter type of Fishing to spring in matter of a few days due to rapidly rising air and water temperatures. The areas we have been fishing are deeper grass patches in 6 + ft of water and we are using CAL jigs and Deadly combos most of the time. 10 days ago catching 20-25 fish in a day was pretty good, but now those numbers have increased to 50 + due to the feeding frenzy of spring. Thanks to Steve Gibson, a local guide, for pointing out that our Sheepshead is very Different from Northern Sheephead. Our Sheepshead are good fighters and are delicious table fare, Northern Sheephead are considered trash fish.

                On chilly Friday morning, Steve and Barb Miller from Michigan joined me for a round of Sheepshead, redfish and Sea trout in channels and near docks due to the cooler weather. Some of the Sheepies ran to 5 or more lbs and let me tell you, these fish fight very hard and are delicious to eat.

                Curt Vagos from  Birmingham joined me or a solo angler trip. It was 38 degrees when we departed and fishing was slow until the sun began to warm the water up. He caught 4 small reds, a ton of Sheepshead to 4 lbs, and about20 trout to 16 “. Actually fishing was best from 10:30 to 12, as he caught 80% of his fish in the last hour and ½.

                Rob Erhart and sons Will and Kane from Connecticut caught Sheepshead, Sea Trout and Ladyfish on a cool day that never really warmed up. They had lots of fun and believe me, they could have caught 50 trout, but finding bigger ones proved to be impossible.

                Tim Voegeli  from Ohio joined me for my 1 angler special and he have a very fun day. Beginning in a cool morning , he caught Sheepshead . Then as the day warmed he caught Redfish in the backwater and then he caught nice Trout and Blues on Artificals. This was a gratifying trip for me as he learned the techniques of jig fishing very, very, quickly.

                Ross Fisher and Bill Sullivan from Ohio fished with me on a wonderful, beautiful Sarasota Spring day. It started warmed and stayed warm.  The fish really responded as the water temps went from 58 to 66 in 2 days. They caught Pompano, Spanish mackerel, Bluefish, Flounder, Sea Trout and large Ladyfish. Honestly I have no idea how many they caught, but it had to be more than 70 fish. The CAL jig again was the ticket to success, but also the DOA deadly combo produced some very large trout to 19”.

Finally Old friends and clients, Glenn Silvers and Dave Martin from Sarasota enjoyed catching Sheepies, Sea Trout, Spanish Mackerel Bluefish and Ladyfish. Dave loves to catch Pompano, but they had moved away from the grass flats, but we caught a good amount of quality fish anyway.

Next week’s tides are good and the warming trend will out the fish in a feeding mood.

Sarasota Fishing Report and Forecast- Feb 2011

Feb Report and Forecast
Capt Jack Hartman
http://www.sarasotafishingcharters.com/
The weather has finally stabilized and last week was as good for fishing as it can get in February. Typically the weather in February is 4 or 5 days days of beautiful weather with highs in the 70's and lows in the the upper 50's, then a couple of days with a nasty cold front, rain and wind. 5 nice  days out 7 ain't bad for winter !  Thursday, in the afternoon, Roger Lindsey and Rodney Brase were guests aboard the Lucky Dawg. Being novices, they were attentive and diligent and their effort paid off in a grand way. They were able to catch and release around 60-80  Sea Trout to 22”. For the trout the Exude Dart rigged with a ¼ oz jig head did the trick, bouncing the jigs down channel edges.  Friday, Andy Madison of Columbus Ohio joined me for a 3/4 day adventure. Fishing was a little slow until around 10 am then got really hot, really fast. Andy threw the same DART combo along channel edges in Golden Bream color and was able to land loads of Sea Trout to 20”, Flounder and  other species. I really don’t know how many he caught in the 3+ hours we fished channel edges, probably well over 50 fish. When I did not think it could get much better, we headed into the north bay hoping to find Snook and Reds sunning themselves in the potholes. The Reds were spooky, but a few smaller Snook were hungry. Andy caught 4 to 20” (and lost another 10 ) and again the RT slug was a killer bait. All Andy had to do was find a pothole and throw the Slug past it and work it SLOWLY into the hole, when the Snook came over to investigate, he just twitched it and they exploded on it.

Sunday, Bill Johns and his brother inlaw Darby joined me for the same action in the same places using the same rigs. After many Trout, the wind came up so they got a chance at Sheepshead and redfish around the docks. Action was steady,but not spectacular as the winds got up into the 20's making fishing difficult . Monday, in a heavy fog, I went out on a exploring trip. Near White Key area, I found a bar high and dry with a 2  ft drop just outside . The big trout were stacked up. For about an hour I threw Slugs and Chug Bugs and caught Trout to 28” with the smallest ones around 20” Needless to say, I’ll mark this new area on my map. After awhile, I found small reds to 18” sitting in 3’ of water and used a slow retrieve and bounced a jig in front of them to catch a few.

Looking forward to next week and temperatures in the 70’s every day.

 February forecast :

You can have great fishing in February if you fish wisely. Fish the nice conditions beyween fronts for a successful day. When it is blowing or cool fish the docks and channels anchored up . Following fronts, sunny afternoons are GREAT  fishing.  Trout, Reds and maybe Snook may sneak out onto grass flats and around bars to feed on sunny afternoons. Sheepshead should be plentiful around docks and oyster bars and they are a good cool weather option.
Trout will be found in channels, potholes or on drop-offs along the edges of bars and flats in February. They will drop into drop-offs along the edges of flats or bars when the tide is low. You may find them in skinny water over shallow grass when the tide is high on a sunny afternoon. On grass flats, I like to drift and cast with CAL jigs to the bottom to get a bite.Darker colors like New penny, Brown and gold seem to work best.  For live bait anglers, Shrimp free lined works best.
Reds will be found in some of the same areas as trout this month. On low tides fish the same channel edges that you would for Trout. In the afternoon  however, things change. If you a have a warm and sunny day, the Reds will move up into very shallow flats to feed. Use spoons, weedless plastics and topwaters and remember that these reds are spooky so make Long , long casts to get them. Bluefish, Spainsh Mackerel, and Pompano can also be found on the deeper grass patches in the same areas that you would find the trout,
once the temperature reaches 65-70 ( currently 63)> Use the same techiques that you would for Sea trout.
Hope to see you all on the water soon
Capt Jack