Jerry Poslusny, from Rochester, NY, with a cobia caught and released on a CAL jig with a shad tail while fishing Sarasota Bay.
Anglers fishing with me recently, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with snook, trout and a juvenile tarpon on dock lights before daylight and trout to 4-1/2 lbs, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and a cobia on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay on flies, DOA Deadly Combos and CAL jigs with shad tails.
Jerry Poslusny and Bill Nesbitt, both from Rochester, NY, fished several days with me early in the week. We had multiple shots at tarpon with a fly before the blow on Monday, but on Tuesday we saw very few tarpon.
The wind turned west on Wednesday and the coastal gulf was unfishable for tarpon. We fished Sarasota Bay where they had good action with trout and a cobia on Ultra Hair Clouser flies, DOA Deadly Combos and CAL jigs with shad tails.
Kirk Grassett with a snook caught and released on a Grassett Snook Minnow fly while fishing the Sarasota Bay dock lights.
My brother, Kirk Grassett from Middletown, DE, fished with me later in the week. With the wind still in a westerly pattern, we fished dock lights before dawn and had good action with snook, trout to 20” and a 10-lb juvenile tarpon on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly.
We worked deep grass flats in Sarasota Bay after dawn and had good action with trout to 4-1/2 lbs, bluefish and a Spanish mackerel on Ultra Hair Clouser flies and DOA Deadly Combos.
There should still be some tarpon fishing in the coastal gulf when conditions improve. There may be fewer fish but late-season tarpon have already spawned and are more aggressive.
There should also be good action with trout, blues and Spanish mackerel on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay. Fishing dock lights in the ICW at night is always a good option for snook and more.
Our natural resources are under constant pressure, 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.
