It can't get any better than this.....

April 4 Fishing Report

                It just doesn’t get any better than fishing in Sarasota in Late March and April. Redfish can be found on low stages of the tides waiting for rising water to get them on the flats and all of my favorite docks are holding reds. A few Snook are starting to show on the flats and mangroves. Flats from 3-6 are full of Huge Spanish Mackerel, big Sea Trout, scattered Pompano and Bluefish. The Passes are still holding Sheepshead , Mangrove snapper have begun to move in , Spanish Mackerel are thick, and pompano can be jigged up in the early stages of the tide. Best of all white bait is here in greatly increasing numbers.

                Best baits for Redfish have been GULP! baits rigged on a 1/16 jig head or weed less and for docks, nothing beats a chunk of whitebait.  On the deeper flats , CAL jigs in gold, new penny and greenie colors along with a Deadly combo (Gold fleck DOA) have produced a huge variety of fish. For Pompano lovers the paddletail gold seems to really turn them on. For live baiters , a freelined shrimp or white bait have really worked. Be sure drift your live way, way behind the boat for best results. Last week I had a father and son fishing and I was casting the shrimp for the son. He was catching fish after fish while dad was not even getting bite. The dad was only fishing his bait 20 feet behind the boat and the son 40’ or more. With a slight adjustment, dad began to catch a lot too. On calm days a shrimp rigged 3 ‘ under a deadly combo cork is the best bet for Pompano and really large Sea Trout. In the passes , a small diamond jig works quickly can result in monster Mackerel , while a silly Willy with a fly trailer is the ticket for Pompano. For  the Sheepies and snapper nothing beats a SMALL shrimp drifted near the rock piles.

Recent trips

Joe Wasserman and family  from Michigan had a very fun trip with numerous Sea trout and Spanish Mackerel .Kevin and his 2 sons Will and Chase Caught some huge Trout to 25 “ . John Slekins and sons Brock , Mason  and Peyton from Indiana caught Redfish to 14 LBs , beautiful Pompano and nice Sea Trout.

Mark and Emily Harper from Texas caught 8 Pompano,  a few Snapper to 15” , about 50 Sea Trout to 22” and a flounder that measured 19” . Ken Stieger and wife Betty from Ohio caught a few small reds, huge Spanish mackerel and nice Sea Trout. Pat Evans and son Daniel had a great morning until the wind got so bad we had to cut the trip short. They had were lucky enough to get a serious Sea Trout before the front bite that resulted in no stop action for about 3 hours. I have no idea how many they caught, but it was enough for a great fish dinner. After a couple of days canceled due to high winds.

 Pat and Daniel joined me again in windy but very fishable conditions. They Caught  4 or 5 Redfish, flounder and a few Sea trout. Jim and Barbara Cook caught a about 60 Sea Trout including the biggest of the year at 30”, a few Spanish Mackerel and 1 flounder that measured 17”. Finally Valerie and Sonny Fagen and friends Jack and Mary Jo caught numerous Sea Trot to 24”, some Spanish mackerel and others.