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Sarasota Florida Fishing Reports.
By Capt. Bob Smith
2004 Archives
December 4, 2004
Grouper on the bay! Yes, this is the time of year that small boaters have a chance to limit out on keeper size gag grouper and the occasional black grouper. They are hard to tell apart but are equal in table fair and have to be a minimum size of 22”. You are allowed five grouper total per day. Harts Reef has been one hot spot, but they can be found on any structure, deep channel, docks, or artificial reef around the bay. I need to note that I could not get any to bite yesterday but this was probably due to the weather.
A popular method of fishing for them is trolling large deep diving plugs slowly. I prefer live, fresh caught, medium size pinfish or grunts. I like to cast free-line baitfish to the structure because if he sees the grouper he won’t swim to it. When the grouper are at their best, the pinfish will dance on the surface and as soon he sinks you will have a fish on. You should not anchor over a structure like you would offshore because the water is too shallow on the bay and you will spook the larger fish. Use no less then twenty pound test line and forty to sixty pound mono leader. Lock the drag down! You can’t let grouper take any line or they will put into the rocks or cut you off.
The other hot fish on the bay has been pompano. Pompano are being caught consistently in the afternoon on the Middle Ground grass flats with some good runs in Big Pass during the morning. Tipped pompano jigs, small live shrimp, DOA shrimp, and on fly have all been working well.
The fish are here but the weather will turn them on and off. You do have hope and that is all we can ask for when we go fishing.
The Middle Ground grass flats are holding some nice pompano, cobia, and bluefish. Towards the end of last week, we found that the large mackerel and kings had moved off the beach and we were inundated by small Spanish mackerel and large ladyfish. They were feeding on large schools of glass minnows in about twenty feet of water. We used ¼ ounce Diamond jigs to catch the mackerel. You need to move them as fast as you can for the macks. Other boats told me that the kingfish action was only moderate out on “M” reefs but the groupers are chewing well further off shore.
Moving on to the middle ground grass flats, we would see an occasional pompano skipping the water and that is when starts to get good for pompano. We found a good variety of fish on the grass but the bite was on and off. The off could last for some time but was worth the wait. We caught small cobia but another boat caught a 26 pound fish on 8 pound test line that took about 45 minutes to land. We caught pompano over three pounds, bluefish around three pounds. In the mix were flounder, mackerel, trout, whiting, jacks, and ladyfish. We also found pompano on the south side of the twin bridges. Live shrimp, DOA shrimp, pompano jigs all worked well. White bait also worked but not well for the pompano.
November 13, 2004
A full house is the way I would describe the fishing around the Sarasota area this past week. From the bay to the deep Gulf, it has been an overlapping of summer and winter species.
Long offshore trips have produced some large dolphin, kingfish, grouper, snapper, and amberjack. Inshore and coastal trips have produced redfish, snook, trout, cobia, flounder, mackerel, bluefish, tripletail, etc.
I would like to point out that the above does not mean that you need to make room in your home freezer if you plan to go fishing. The bite is not 24/7 and you still need to work at it. It does mean however, that you have a chance at a large variety of fish and getting on a good bite.
Many methods are being used and are working at this time but if you would like to kick it up a notch, here are a few tips. If you are going to use live pinfish and grunts for grouper, I like to catch them just before I go offshore. Pinfish kept overnight will definitely catch fish but fresh caught via hook and line will double the bite. This becomes more apparent if you fish closer to the coast. Taking live shrimp and small crabs along for permit, tripletail, snapper, and cobia is also a good idea. Being able to net your own white-bait is always a plus for bay or gulf fishing. Two things I always have on board are plenty of gold hook bait rigs, “Sabiki rigs” for offshore and D.O.A. 3” shrimp for bay and coastal.
November 5, 2004
The fall run is working and everyone is finding fish. From the back waters on Sarasota Bay to the sixty foot depths offshore, anglers are finding the species they want. Some days are better than others and none of the fish have been stacked up for very long, but all in all it has been a good fall run.
Most of the grouper and snapper are being caught out deep but the kings and Spanish have been hitting from the beach out to the sixty foot depth. The Spanish are also on the bay grass flats and in the passes. Snook and redfish are in the back water. Cobia although sparse, has been caught on the bay and Gulf.
Pompano are starting to show and I am hoping to see a good run this year. Pompano action has been slow for the last several years but the South East coast had an exceptionally good spring run this year.
Pompano only feed on crustaceans or mollusks and will take a small round jig, ¼ to ½ oz. bounced on the bottom. The best colors are chartreuse, yellow, and sometimes white. The jig needs to have short hair no longer than the bend of the hook. Tipping the jig with a small piece of shrimp or a live sand flea will work wonders. Sand fleas are the best bait you can have for pompano but they are hard to find on this coast and hard work when you do find them. Sand fleas are found in the surf along the coastal beaches. For the hard core pompano angler, there is no other bait and well worth the work and time. If you do find some fleas, don’t put them in a bucket of water, they will drown. Keep sand fleas in damp sand, paper or cloth but not too damp. I never had any good results with frozen or fresh dead fleas. Small live shrimp would be a better choice if not using a jig.
We have been finding king mackerel and large Spanish mackerel near shore on the “I” reefs as well as on the “M” reefs further out. It has not been hard to find fish, but the bite is not steady. On the “I-2” reef, Fisher, we caught Spanish to five pounds and kings to twenty pounds. We also saw some large eagle rays flying out of the water and some cobia have started to move in. Bottom fishing has also picked up on the “I” reefs. The fishing has been better further offshore at the “M” (1&5) reefs, but the bite has been fluctuating as far as when and where. You never want to run over fish to find fish some place else.
Trolling spoons and drifting live bait are both working well with live bait being the better of them. We caught some nice fish on large shrimp as well as live bait fish. When the fishing drops off, I take off the six inch steel leader and tie directly to forty pound mono leader. This will pick up the action.
On the bay, it has been redfish and small snook along the docks and backwater. Trout are on the flats with an occasional bluefish, mackerel, flounder, and a few surprises here and there. D.O.A. 3” shrimp have worked very well for us. Live shrimp has also worked well but the pinfish will get most of them.
This is a good time of year to go fishing! You can see the fish boiling the water with some jumping into the air as they feed on the schools of baitfish moving along the beaches and further offshore. The birds will follow the fish as they feed and you can follow them.
October 8, 2004
At the beginning of the week, we found the beaches loaded with small Spanish mackerel, little tunny, large barracuda, and sharks of all sizes. They were feeding on the large schools of very small baitfish, anchovies, and whitebait. We used small ¼-½ ounce Diamond jigs. We trolled very fast with a long flat line or we cast our lines out and let it sink before retrieving as fast as we could. This technique loaded us up with mackerel and some tunny. Other boats that were chumming and fishing with live whitebait also did well. The sharks and barracuda were feeding on the mackerel and tunny. By noon Tuesday, the beach was boiling with the fish in a feeding frenzy. On Wednesday, the wind started to get stronger and the action slowed down but we still caught plenty of fish. The mackerel only averaged a pound or two but this will improve as we go into the fall season. Some kings and cobia have been caught in the mix.
Bay fishing has produced some very nice seatrout on the grass flats, the Middle ground flats to start. Keep an eye open for cobia on the grass flats. D.O.A. and live shrimp as well white bait has been working well. Some redfish are being caught in the back waters.
In the mix of bay and coastal fish, you can also find some snapper, flounder, bluefish, pompano, grouper, and many other species that live in the area. I find that using an artificial D.O.A. shrimp or live shrimp will produce a larger variety of fish. All our fish eat shrimp, not all eat fish.
September: 4 Hurricanes!
Bay fishing has turned on this past week! In the last few days, morning trips have turned up a large variety of fish on most of the grassflats and in the passes. Yesterday at about 0700, we started fishing on the Middle-ground grassflats just north of the New Pass channel. We had a light breeze and drifted for about a quarter of a mile with non stop action using only artificial bait, the ¼ oz. D.O.A. shrimp.
We spent the morning fishing the same area catching sea trout, flounder, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, small grouper, ladyfish, and jacks. Cobias are also being found on the grassflats. Pompano and mackerel are being caught in the passes. Snook and redfish are around the docks and snook are also in the surf along the beaches.
There is plenty of white-bait and other types of baitfish in the bay. The baitfish will kick up the action for mackerel or are also good for chumming plus you can’t beat the price. I prefer to use the D.O.A. shrimp or live shrimp to catch a larger variety of fish. For the mackerel, I just move the shrimp faster and then let it sink a bit. This is the strike zone while the shrimp is sinking. For all other fish, I move it very slow along the bottom, periodically adding the three short snaps needed for the D.O.A. shrimp. Live shrimp are small now and don’t last long with the pinfish chewing on them.
It has been mostly mangrove snapper offshore on the bottom at the “M” reefs and live shrimp for bait. Plenty of cuda on top for a good pull.
July: Morning rain was a problem and not expected in July. I hardly got out at all and had little to report. The weather was not all that bad for the whole day but we can't fish with possible thunder storms in the early morning.
The bay fishing has slowed down while fishing the offshore “M” reefs has staid hot, most of the time. Kings, barracuda, permit, cobia, and plenty of sharks are being caught on the “M” reefs. An occasional sailfish has also been caught or seen in the same area. Live sardines and herring on a free line are working best and are plentiful from the beach out.
Make sure to take a few “Sabiki” gold hook rigs along! The fresh sardines also make excellent cut bait for bottom fishing. If you plan on doing some bottom fishing, throw a few on the ice and you will have a nice firm bait to fish with. If you are looking for permit, take some large live shrimp or small crabs because permit feed only on crustaceans. I always have plenty of D.O.A. shrimp on hand for this.
Bay fishing dropped off late last week but may have picked up by now. The variety of fish on the bay was good but the numbers were down. Trout, snook, redfish, mackerel, bluefish, snapper, and flounder are all being caught but the action has been very slow. Snook have been good along the beaches and in the passes. Redfish have been caught in the small channel running south of Buttonwood harbor. The D.O.A. shrimp has been working well for me on the grass flats.
June 3, 2004
Kingfish, barracuda and little tunny are still active on most of the “M” reefs but you may need to have patience between chews. We have also had plenty of baitfish schools from the beach out to the “M” reefs.
Along the beaches, it has been tarpon and some very large hammer head sharks. One that I did not see was estimated at 16 feet by other guides. John Swinehart of TN landed a five and a half foot tarpon while fishing with me on Friday. He caught the tarpon on live crab and twenty pound test line. I would estimate the fish to weigh a little over a hundred pounds and it took an hour to bring it to the boat.
Bay fishing has produced seatrout, flounder, bluefish, ladyfish and jacks on most of the grass-flats. The fish are in small schools and moving around. The action was on and off but good for most of the morning hours. We caught all of our fish on D.O.A. ¼ ounce shrimp.
Snook got hot in the surf when the beach got choppy from the westerly wind. Remember, it is catch and release on the snook at this time.
King mackerel are still hot on the “M” reefs. Live Whitebait netted on the beach or in the bay and sardines via Sabiki rigs are doing the job.
Rigging: A six inch length of number 3 to 5 coffee wire leader, backed off with four feet of 40# to 50# mono. Hook size depends on bait size, 3/0 to 5/0 works for me. I like a single hook but many anglers like to add a stinger hook.
Tip: If you find the fish not chewing, take all the rigging off and tie the hook directly to your line. You may lose a hook but I have caught a lot of toothy fish this way when they get picky. If you lose a hook, you will at least know you have fish in the area.
Spanish mackerel fishing has been good along the beach and “I” reefs. We caught all of ours on D.O.A. 3” shrimp and live shrimp. Whitebait is also working very well. The average Mack has been 2-3 pounds. Flounder, snapper and grouper are some of the other species being caught on the artificial reefs.
Tarpon are being caught along the beaches but they are sporadic at best. Last week we tried for tarpon along Longboat Key. We had about two hours before the south wind started to rip and we had to give it up. We never saw the first tarpon and other reports have also been bad. We ran from New Pass to Longboat Pass and only passed one other boat looking for the big fish.
Bay fishing has been very active with sea trout, mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish, an occasional pompano and small cobia, and all on the grass flats. Snook have been stacking up around some of the docks and bridges. You may find more bluefish in one area and more trout in another. The fish have been bunched up, so your drift will be hot and cold. The D.O.A. 3” shrimp has produced a large variety of fish.
May 2, 2004
King mackerel are still hitting hard offshore at the “M” reefs. All methods of baiting are working but live bait is top gun. Sardines, herring, and blue runners are plentiful at the “M” reefs, so don’t forget your Sabiki rigs. Pilchards are along the beaches but so far they have been hard to net. Some fish have been deep but a free-line will work most of the time. I use only one hook, 3/0 to 5/0, depending on the size of the bait. Many anglers will ad a second stinger hook if the fish are hitting short. I like to use only six inches of light steel leader and back it off with about three to four feet of forty pound mono. I like to catch the kings on twelve to twenty pound test line. Some sailfish have been reported in the same area also.
Tarpon have been seen along the beach but are very thin so far. It is time for them to run but I don’t have much news yet. I will be looking for them like everyone else, at least until the end of June.
We have been keeping busy on the bay with trout, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and ladyfish. They have been moving around on the grass flats. Most of the trout have been small but the number of keeper size fish is improving every day. I have found the Ringling flats to be the most consistent this past week. I used nothing but ¼ ounce DOA shrimp all week while fishing the bay and found them outstanding. Snook and redfish are being caught around docks and backwater but no hard runs that I know of. Pompano and cobia have been caught although they have been very scarce.
Bottom fishing offshore has produced some snapper and grouper in the fifty and over depths. Shrimp for the snapper and live pinfish for the grouper have been top baits. You can buy the pinfish but catching your own just before you go out can dramatically increase your catch. Fishing very light for the snapper will also increase your snapper catch but you might lose a keeper grouper. I keep one rod for snapper and one for grouper and switch when necessary.
Yes, the kings are in but dragging a fin. Before the blow started last week, we had king mackerel throughout the Cudahole area but the action was spotty. The best king action was well south of M-6 in the Icebox area. Last Thursday and Friday after the blow, the offshore boats had to run over twenty miles out to find clear, fishable water. The silt should have settled by now and fishing should be back to normal. We had been getting plenty of mangrove snapper on the “M” reefs but not much on the closer “I” reef. The bottom action on the “I” reefs should pickup soon and I expect to see cobia action intensify.
The bay action was hot for trout on Friday and they were gobbling up ¼ ounce D.O.A. shrimp faster than the live shrimp. Unfortunately, most of the trout were undersize although plentiful and we had fun. We did not find the variety of fish we had been getting before the blow, but I expect them to start showing up this weekend. Spanish mackerel, bluefish, snook, and cobia had been around and probably still are, but just not chewing with all the silt in the water. This is the season for some of our best fishing if the weather cooperates.
I am sorry for the long delay between reports, but this spring break has been very busy for me. Twelve hour days on the water and doing catch-up during the other twelve leaves little time for reports. Then the wind and rain started and I had nothing to say.
If you plan on trying a D.O.A. lure for the first time, remember to work as slow as you can, three small snaps and let it sink. With light tackle, you need to strike it very hard to set the hook because of all that plastic around the hook it is also rigged weed-less. Don’t change the rigging. It has perfect balance as is, but check for hook sharpness often! Fish don’t just strike a D.O.A.; they eat and swallow them. I may move the lure fast when I am in a school of mackerel.
Kings have started to show up off of Venice in fifty feet of water. Blackfin tuna have also made their traditional spotty appearances in deep offshore water. Good catches of grouper have been made in 80 to 150 foot depths. On the Cudahole and “M” reefs, there are large numbers of mangrove snapper but they have been on the small side. The Cudahole area has also produced a few nice groupers this past week. The king mackerel are close and may show up here this weekend.
Closer inshore on the “I” reefs; you should find plenty of large sheepshead from three to five pounds. Cobia have started to show up along the beaches and have been caught up to thirty pounds.
The bay has been hot! Not 24/7 due to the cold fronts and wind but very good most of the time. There has been plenty of Spanish mackerel, bluefish, trout and an occasional pompano on the Middle ground grass flats. Schools of large trout have been moving around the bay and in and out of the deeper channels. Some large snook and nice redfish have also been caught this past week. The passes have been holding mackerel, bluefish and whiting.
The bait has been mostly live shrimp on the bay and for the sheepshead and snapper offshore. With all the action, artificial baits have also worked well, fly’s included. Offshore it has been live sardines on top and pinfish on the bottom. Trolling has worked well for some, especially on the rough days. Sounds like it is time to go fishing!
We finished the week with plenty of hot action! By Saturday the bay was full of nice size Spanish mackerel, sea trout, some nice pompano, permit, bluefish and an occasional redfish. Sheepshead are also thick along with the mackerel on the “I” reefs. On Friday, David Rosevear from Connecticut had his first shot at saltwater fly fishing with me. He landed trout, pompano and mackerel on a sinking Clouser fly “Shrimp”. Unfortunately, a mackerel is now wearing his lucky fly. Live shrimp has been the best bait for both inshore and offshore. We have been using the shrimp on a free-line and giving it a little movement which has been very productive. Most of the action has been on the grass flats and not the passes, that is, up to now.
Offshore at the Cudahole area, it has been mostly mangrove snapper on the bottom with live shrimp. An occasional keep grouper is also being caught on live shrimp, pinfish or other small baitfish. Further offshore, like at the “9”, it has been big amberjack bending the poles. AJs around a hundred pounds have been caught in deep water but some days it has been a hard ride for even the big boats.
January 28, 2004:
It is switch on, switch off fishing this time of year! If you have read a good
report and then gone fishing, only to find out that you can’t lose bait that is
the way it is this time of year. We have plenty of fish on the bay. Trout,
redfish, bluefish, flounder, snook, sheepshead and some nice keeper size gag
grouper have also moved in to the bay. The fish haven’t left, but the wind,
barometer and temperature all play a part in how well the fish will chew. I
often use the phrase "Good weather, good fishing" but this is not completely
true when it is applied to catching. You can have blue skies, low wind and a
comfortable temperature but a very steady and high barometer. Steady high
pressure is not good for the bite but often comes with a nice day just to go
fishing.
The offshore bottom fishing has been good for grouper and snapper but the sea conditions have been rough at times. Some of the fishermen have come back looking like Kermit the frog. The Cudahole area and "M" reefs have been the focal points for most of the boats. Closer to the beach on the "I" reefs we have found sheepshead, gag grouper, flounder and smaller snapper.
Just go fishing when you can, keep it safe and let Mother Nature work out the details. I have see some of the best fish caught on what would have been called a bad day.
January 11, 2004:
With the wind and passing fronts this week, I am left with little to say about
fishing. I found trout over most of the bay on Thursday, but the larger, keeper
size trout were closer to the shore line.
Places like Otter Key were holding some nice trout along the edge of the channel. Zwicks canal was also holding some nice fish. Any small patch of grass close to a drop-off can hold larger fish this time of year. Fish the edge of the drop-off and only expect a keeper or two, then move on to another spot. The pattern was a couple of good fish then all small fish but that can change anytime and often does.
We found bluefish in Big Pass. It was not a good run but small schools here and there averaged not much more than a pound each per fish. When we did find them, everyone hooked-up and we had some fun on the light tackle. Some people do like to eat them. This time of year you can always find the sheepshead around
pylons, rocks in the passes and most of the docks and bridges. Along with the sheepshead, you can catch snapper, flounder, redfish and black seabass.January 4, 2004:
The fishing has been stable with the good weather of the last few weeks.
With highs and lows, we have been able to find keeper size grouper and snapper
offshore. The further offshore you go, the more you find. Lately I have been
fishing close in on natural bottom at about a thirty foot depth. Using live
shrimp for bait and fishing on the bottom, we caught a large variety of fish.
Gag grouper, mangrove snapper, flounder, black seabass, scamp and sheepshead to
name a few. It was hard to catch a grouper 22" or over but we did get some.
On the bay, we had plenty of seatrout on the grass-flats. The action was fast but most of the fish were under the legal size of 15". Bluefish were hot at times in the passes and sheepshead were hanging around the rocks and some docks. You could find redfish around the backwater docks but there were no good runs that I know of, however some nice fish have been caught.
In all, the fishing has been fun the last couple of weeks! No big headlines but we have been able to keep the rods bent most of the time. I am looking forward to larger gag grouper to come closer in and maybe even into the bay. They do this sometimes. It is also time for a good run of flounder. Flounder have been light the last few of years since we had a bad red tide. If they come back this year, I usually find most of the big ones in with the large gags.
