Kirk Grassett, from Middletown, DE, with a Spanish mackerel and other fish caught and released on flies while fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Grassett.
I had good fly fishing action with snook, reds, trout, Spanish mackerel and bluefish on a recent trip in Sarasota Bay, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key.
My brother Kirk Grassett, from Middletown, DE, visited for a couple of days prior to our annual bonefish trip at Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge on South Andros, Bahamas. Right on the edge of a front moving through, we fished a pre-dawn snook/flats trip and fish were aggressive.
We fished dock lights and had decent action catching and releasing several snook and a couple of reds on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. We fished deep grass flats after daylight and had several hours of fast action catching and releasing blues to 4-lbs, Spanish mackerel and trout on Clouser flies.
Fishing dock lights for snook and more 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.
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.
