Fly anglers fishing with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with snook and trout on a couple of trips in Sarasota Bay recently. With water temperatures in the low 80’s we are still in a summertime fishing pattern. However days are getting shorter and hopefully the first fronts of fall will arrive soon.
Stewart Lavelle with a snook he caught and released on a fly night fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Grassett.
Stewart Lavelle, from Siesta Key, fished with me recently and had some action catching and releasing several snook to 26” and jumping a tarpon on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club members, Ken Moser and Andy Constantinou, did the same thing with me on another trip. They also had some action with snook to 29” around dock lights and trout on deep grass flats after daylight on the same fly.
Fishing dock lights for snook and more before dawn and the flats or coastal gulf after daylight is a good option. With stone crab traps in the water now, there is more structure to attract tripletail in the coastal gulf. Fishing mangrove shorelines for catch and release reds and snook in backcountry areas should also be a good option. You may find juvenile tarpon in creeks, canals or around dock lights this time of year.
Our natural resources are under constant pressure from red tides fueled by industrial, agricultural and residential runoff, freezes, increasing fishing pressure and habitat loss and degradation, please limit your kill, don’t kill your limit!
Rick is the owner of Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc. He's a full time fishing guide and outdoor writer based in Sarasota, FL. He’s been guiding since 1990 and is an Orvis-Endorsed fly fishing guide here at CB’s Saltwater Outfitters, the 2011 Orvis Outfitter of the Year.
