This little man was all smiles on the water this past week with Capt Brandon Naeve.

We seem to be ladyfish crazy as the new year 2020 gets off to a great start. Many of the half day guided trips out of CB’s Outfitters have produced close to one hundred fish in just four hours. Of course you can’t eat them but they’re certainly tons of fun for the kids.

Mixed in with all these fish are some bluefish, trout, lizardfish, and every kids favorite the porcupine puffer. Grab your kids and book a trip while the weather is as beautiful as it’s been this time of year.

Please limit your kill, don’t kill your limit!

Capt. Capt. Brandon Naeve

I've been a fishing guide the Sarasota , Boca Grande area for over 25 years. My Sarasota trips are mostly family oriented 1/2 day fishing trips involving kids who love to catch all the family fun fish. My Boca Grande trips are for the more experienced spin or fly fishing angler.

Flats fishing in the inshore waters around CB’s Saltwater Outfitters in Sarasota, FL continues to provide exciting action for anglers fishing on charters with Quiet Waters Fishing. We found good numbers of redfish and seatrout in all sizes over the last few weeks. Snook fishing remains steady with the best action still coming at night on dock lights.

Night fishing around dock lights is probably your best bet this time of year if you’re focused on catching snook.

Snook

Snook have been active in waters around Sarasota, FL and can be found in a variety of locations this time of year. Brackish rivers and creeks have been a great place to find them. Fly fishing anglers did well fishing gurglers the first few hours of the morning.

Focusing on points and keeping an eye out for obvious signs of feeding snook helps ensure that you’re in the right spot. We are still catching fish on the flats. Using Mirrolure Mirrodine XLs and paddle tails on jig heads around sandbars with good tidal flow. Fishing on flats with the presence of bait or mullet has been a good place to find them.

Fishing at night around dock lights is probably your best bet this time of year if you’re focused on catching snook.

Little Sarasota Bay and Blackburn Bay yielded a good number of redfish.

Redfish

Sarasota Bay has really perked up and we are seeing more and more redfish. Little Sarasota Bay and Blackburn Bay also yielded a good number of redfish. The best bait for redfish continues to be the Aqua Dream ADL series spoon and paddle tails on jig heads.

We are still seeing larger redfish in brackish rivers and creeks in very shallow water. A rising tide on a cold morning around mudflats is a great place to look for redfish on the flats and in brackish rivers like the Manatee and Myakka.

If you’re fly fishing, then adhering to the winter time motto ‘brown and down’ will put the odds in your favor. In clear water situations, reducing your leader to 15 pound test can really help with wary redfish.

We found good numbers of seatrout in all sizes.

Seatrout

Seatrout of all sizes have provided steady action in waters around Sarasota. We found good action on larger healthy sized seatrout using paddle tails and the Mirrolure Mirrodine XL. There are gator trout around and we moved a big one last week. Although we could not get a hook in the fish, it’s still a really positive sign for the fishery.

If you’re an angler that needs more regular action, then you can find that over deeper grass with class-size seatrout. Once you find a pocket of these fish, the action can be steady. A ¼ ounce jig and paddle tail will do the trick on these fish.

Seatrout are providing steady action in the waters surrounding Sarasota.

Looking Ahead

We’re heading towards an extended warm up and that will likely have fish on the move. Anglers fishing in Sarasota in the next few weeks may find it necessary to move around more to find fish. Other winter trends should continue to point anglers towards fish.

Negative low tides in the morning should still concentrate fish in holes, troughs, and deeper basins. River fishing should continue to provide good action for snook and redfish.

Dock light fishing can be outstanding this time of year. With smaller bait around dock lights, fly fishing anglers will have the advantage over their spin fishing brethren.

If you’re interested in a charter, you can contact me by phone, email, or through my website. Good luck out there. We’ll see you on the water soon!

Capt. Brian Boehm

Brian, owns and operates Quiet Waters Fishing LLC and runs his trips out of a 17’ Maverick Mirage. He covers water as far north as Tampa Bay and south to the Charlotte Harbor/Boca Grande area. His favorite trips to offer are: back country, shallow flats, night tarpon, & night dock light snook trips.

That is one good looking Redfish caught and released this past week in Sarasota Bay.

The fishing over the holidays was very good, with water temps in the mid 60’s. Fishing the passes with live bait produced sea bass, snapper, jacks, and a good run of pompano. The sheepshead are also moving inshore and should produce some good action this winter.

On several calm days I finished off the trip running the crab buoys which produced several tripletail up to 26 inches. We also fished some flats and backwater oyster bars, catching and releasing trout, jacks and redfish. The water quality is good and Sarasota Bay is recovering.

I’d like to stress the importance of catching and releasing until the fish in our bay recover.

Capt. Capt. Kelly Kurtz

Kelly is a Sarasota native and the owner and operator of Mangrove Charters. He's pas­sion­ate about fishing and hunting. As a full-time fishing guide Kelly operates out of a 22 ft. Bayscout and specializes in light tackle using both arti­fi­cial and live bait. Redfish are his favorite.

Trout have been on fire with days we have caught 40-50 and some have hit the 18-19 inch mark.

Anglers fishing aboard the CASUAL LIES out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters had some good fishing the last few weeks. The Silver and the Greenback colors of the CAL jigs have been the best bait. We have been fishing a grass bottom with 6 to 8 feet of water.

Trout have been on fire with days we have caught 40 to 50 and some have hit the 18 to 19 inch mark. Bluefish, Mackerel, Black Sea Bass, Grouper,Jacks and Ladyfish round out an 80 to 100 fish trip. Pompano have been around the bay and passes. Flutter jigs fished down on the bottom are producing some nice Pompano.

Capt. Capt. Bruce Burkhart

Bruce is a Florida native and has lived in Sarasota for thirty years. Capt. Bruce grew up on the east coast of Florida and started fishing with his dad when he was about six years old. Fishing has been a lifetime passion of his and in 2001 he obtained his U.S.C.G. Captain’s license.

We caught ladyfish and trout on almost every cast.

Over the holidays the fishing was spectacular after the weather finally decided to cooperate. I took a lot of groups fishing the first part of the morning with live shrimp catching keeper sheepshead, pompano, and some undersized redfish and snook.

We then moved on to the bays off of the ICW and caught ladyfish and trout on almost every cast using an 1/8 oz jig head with a Lil’ John tail by mirrolure.

I also fished Sarasota Bay on a couple of those really windy days and found some groups of keeper-sized trout that were a lot of fun to catch and release.

It’s great to see the bay coming back to life after the red tide we suffered through in 2018.

Capt. Capt. Tom Reutter

Nothing brings me greater joy than seeing customers catch their first fish on my boat. My style of fishing is knowing and going where the fish are. I do it all. Inshore, Offshore, Spinning, Bottom, Fly, Day, Night, anything. I want to make your days with me memorable and will do whatever it takes.

Matt Schenk, from CO, had great action with a variety of species including blues while fly fishing deep grass flats with Capt. Rick Grassett.

Anglers fishing with me recently, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with trout, blues, Spanish mackerel and pompano on deep grass flats, reds in skinny water and snook and blues at night. Fly anglers fishing deep flats with me scored with trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and pompano and snook and blues in the ICW at night. Spin fishing anglers also had good action on deep flats and catching and releasing reds on CAL jigs with shad and grub tails in shallow water.

Fly anglers Alan Sugar and Ray Hutchinson, from MI, had good action catching and releasing trout and Ray caught and released his first pompano on a fly. Dave and Shara King and family, of King Outfitters in Dillon, MT fished a couple of trips with me. Dave is an outfitter/guide in Montana whom I’ve fished with for many years, so it was good to show them our fishery.

The whole family got in on the action on a rainy, windy day on one of the trips and Dave and Shara had great action catching and releasing nice snook and bluefish on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly on a night trip.

Marshall Dinerman, from Lido Key, and his son-in-law, Alex, fished with me and Marshall caught and released a couple of nice reds including an over slot fish! Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, fished a couple of days with family members and they did very well catching and releasing numerous reds on CAL jigs with shad and grub tails. Matt Schenk and Dylan Lewis, both from CO, had fast action catching and releasing blues, Spanish mackerel, pompano and trout on Clouser flies on another trip.

Fishing shallow flats for catch and release reds and snook should be a good option now. Fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay is a good choice for action with a variety of species including trout, pompano, blues and Spanish mackerel. 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!

Mark Templeton and Ashley with a couple nice redfish.

Fishing in our area has been pretty good the last couple of weeks, despite the weather’s best attempts of making it difficult.

Inshore fishing has been producing trout, mackerel, and bluefish on the deeper grass flats throughout the bay. Mixed in with those we have been finding pompano as well, if you can be patient with all the pinfish and ladyfish getting in the way.

Dock fishing in the bay has also been decent if you can find the right docks, which are holding redfish, black drum, and sheepshead.

Nearshore fishing has been good as well (when the wind cooperates). Tripletail remain in the area, but are not as prevalent as they were a month ago due to being heavily fished. The reefs have been producing good amounts of snapper, grouper, and even some hogfish.

Hopefully January yields calmer seas and lighter winds for all of us!

Capt. Capt. R.C. Gilliland

I'm very laid back and easy going. I love fishing, hunting, and just about anything outdoors. I'm a licensed Charter boat Captain who likes having a good time and hates drama. I have a wide variety of friends and get along with just about anyone. Did I mention I love to fish?

Pete Taurus with a nice pompano he hooked while Flyfishing with Capt. Kelly Stilwell.

Anglers have had a great week aboard the ‘Tide Tuit’. The pompano bite has been as good as I can remember with lots of fish up to 3 pounds in Big Sarasota Bay.

Little Sarasota Bay has been great for catch and release fishing with lots of big ladyfish as well as some nice spotted seatrout. Flyfisher Pete Taurus and his daughter Jamie had a great day Saturday catching pompano on flies and trout on jigs in Big Sarasota Bay.

There were also plenty of other fish to keep the action hot on our day out on the water.

That’s a nice looking Redfish young Ben Lam caught.

As 2019 comes to an end the fishing has been great. We’d like to wish everyone a Happy New Year from all of us aboard the Lets Get Em’. We hope you have a great and prosperous new year. Anglers are catching a variety of fish including snook, black drum, redfish, speckled trout, ladyfish, pompano, sheephead, jack crevalle and mangrove snapper.

One of the top catches this week was nine year old Ben Lam catching a beautiful 26 inch redfish. Bait used included live shrimp, CAL and buck-tailed jigs. Remember, the best time to go fishing is when you can and be sure to save some for seed!

Capt. Capt. Jeffri Durrance

Jef­fri is a fourth generation native Floridian who grew up in Bowling Green, Florida, located in Hardee County. While growing up on a cattle and citrus operation Jef­fri fished many creeks and lakes in the central Florida area as well as the Peace River.

Michael, who hails from the Chicago area, shows off a nice looking Redfish caught in Sarasota Bay.

Last year at this time Sarasota Bay was hurting from the red tide. It’s unbelievable the turnaround in the quality of the Fish and bait that we now have back in our bay. I had a charter out of CB’S on Siesta Key with Michael, Diana, his wife, and their daughter Jenny who hailed from the Chicago area.

Our four hour charter produced numerous fish with each family member catching and releasing some nice sized redfish, trout, jacks and ladyfish. The bait of choice were jigs with gulp and live shrimp under a popping cork.

Talking to some of the other captains at the dock I heard there are plenty of pompano in the bay as well.

Capt. Chuck Cress

Fishing has been a lifetime passion for me. Depending on the skill level of my clients what I like to do is put them on big fish using artificial lures. I like to educating and passing on my knowledge of local history and the many sights the area has to offer while we are on the water.

When a fish whispers something in your ear listen!

I’m not sure these fish swimming around in the intercoastal waters surrounding Sarasota know it’s Christmas but they certainly are showering us with a lot of presents!

Fishing is off the hook right now. There are tons of ladyfish, Jacks, trout, and more out there just waiting for someone to drop a line in their vicinity.

Why not grab your kids and head down to CB’s Outfitters and book a trip during these Christmas Holidays and put a smile on your kids face. Presents come and go but memories are forever!

Kyle Ruffing from Sarasota, had good action catching and releasing reds on CAL jigs with shad tails.

Anglers fishing Little Sarasota Bay and Tampa Bay with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with reds and snook recently. Spin fishing anglers had some action catching and releasing reds and snook in skinny water and around docks on CAL jigs with shad and grub tails. A fly angler fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay with me scored with trout and bluefish on Clouser flies.

Brian Nafzinger, from Rehoboth, DE, caught and released a couple of reds on CAL jigs with shad tails on a recent trip in Little Sarasota Bay with me. Jon Yenari and Kyle Ruffing, from Sarasota, had good action catching and releasing several snook and a couple of reds on CAL jigs with shad tails on a trip in Tampa Bay with me.

Fishing shallow flats for catch and release reds and snook should be a good option now. Fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay is a good choice for action with a variety of species including trout, pompano, blues and Spanish mackerel. 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!

Morgan Cox of Kansas City was pretty excited after catching her first snook.

Cooler water has really helped the bite as fish cooperate around Sarasota Bay. Anglers are catching a variety of species with snook, black drum, redfish, speckled trout, ladyfish, jack crevalle and mangrove snapper on the hook.

Matt Salk of Kansas City got his first snook, so did his girlfriend Morgan Cox. As to whose snook was largest I’d have no comment in print, but between you and me… it was Morgan’s. The bait used for the fish caught was live shrimp, CAL jigs and bucktailed jigs. Remember, the best time to go fishing is when you can… be sure to save some for seed!

Capt. Capt. Jeffri Durrance

Jef­fri is a fourth generation native Floridian who grew up in Bowling Green, Florida, located in Hardee County. While growing up on a cattle and citrus operation Jef­fri fished many creeks and lakes in the central Florida area as well as the Peace River.

Capt. Brian Boehm with a nice looking snook.

Inshore anglers on recent fishing charters with Quiet Waters out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters had good success fishing the flats and dock lights for snook, redfish, seatrout, and other inshore species. Snook and redfish provided good action on trips into brackish rivers where some gamefish move during our winter months. Based out of Sarasota, FL, Quiet Water trips are run as far north as lower Tampa Bay and as far south as Charlotte Harbor.

Cold fronts began moving through our area on a regular basis over the last month. The fronts bring with them a blast of cold air from the north and strong winds. On days when fronts moved through, waiting for the water to warm, or waiting until evening to fish dock lights is a wise choice. Fly fishing anglers who fished dock lights on days when fronts moved through, were rewarded with great sight fishing opportunities in wind protected areas.

We found snook everywhere on recent trips.

They found good action on snook, redfish, and even tripletail. Schools of jack crevalle were busy hunting bait on the flats and up the rivers. Large jacks are a great fish for testing the drag on your reel.

We found snook everywhere on recent trips. There are still plenty of snook on the flats. Negative low tides can really congregate a lot of snook into small areas on the flats. Finding these holes can be very rewarding. On higher tides, fishing mangrove shorelines where glass minnows and shrimp were present was effective.

Anglers did well fly fishing for snook on dock lights using glass minnow pattern flies, the JT clouser, and a variation of Lefty’s chum fly. In brackish rivers, their normal winter haunts, snook were caught using the Aqua Dream ADL series spoon and topwater plugs. Points and in shallow coves near creek mouths were the best places to locate them.

Targeting larger seatrout on the flats is a worthy pursuit.

Targeting larger seatrout on the flats is a worthy pursuit. Once seatrout approach the 20″ mark in our area, they begin to behave like a different fish. Inshore anglers fishing the shallow flats found a few this month. Soft plastics like paddle tails on 1/8 oz. jigheads and suspending plugs were effective at targeting larger trout over the last month. For class size seatrout, the deeper grass in Sarasota Bay is beginning to show better production.

Additionally, there are stretches of grass in Little Sarasota Bay and Blackburn Bay that are yielding these class-size seatrout. The same goes for lower Tampa Bay. Drifting slowly over these areas and jigging soft plastics near the bottom produced fair action, but you will have to work through ladyfish, mackeral, and other species to get to the trout.

This is a great time of year to find redfish in our area

This is a great time of year to find redfish in our area. They’re all over the flats right now. We found a few dock lights in Sarasota, loaded with redfish. We’re also seeing plenty of redfish in brackish rivers and creeks.

For shallow water redfish, it’s going to be hard to find a better producer than the Aqua Dream ADL series spoon. You can cover water quickly and it really flips the switch for redfish. Once the switch is flipped, they’ll do just about anything to get the spoon.

Fly fishing anglers excelled fishing for redfish on dock lights using the JT clouser. In brackish rivers, redfish were spread out cruising and working mud bottomed coves. Spoons, plugs, and soft plastics were all good baits to use on these fish.

Negative low tides in the morning should continue to congregate fish on the flats. Finding fish in our brackish rivers should be a good bet. Redfish and snook have provided the best action in brackish rivers to date. We are also hooking up with jack crevalles and we are seeing good size fish in large schools moving around in the rivers. Areas in Sarasota Bay, Little Sarasota Bay, and Blackburn Bay should provide some ideal conditions to target large seatrout. See you on the water soon!

Capt. Brian Boehm

Brian, owns and operates Quiet Waters Fishing LLC and runs his trips out of a 17’ Maverick Mirage. He covers water as far north as Tampa Bay and south to the Charlotte Harbor/Boca Grande area. His favorite trips to offer are: back country, shallow flats, night tarpon, & night dock light snook trips.

Anglers fishing with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action in Sarasota Bay and the coastal gulf recently. Fly anglers scored with tripletail, pompano, trout, Spanish mackerel and blues. Spin fishing anglers had some action catching and releasing reds and snook in skinny water and trout, bluefish, pompano and Spanish mackerel on CAL jigs with shad and grub tails.

Denton Kent, from Sarasota, with a nice tripletail caught and released on a fly while fishing the coastal gulf in Sarasota with Capt. Rick Grassett.

Mike Perez and Denton Kent, from Sarasota, fished a day in Sarasota with me recently. We covered a lot of water in the coastal gulf but only found a few tripletail that day. Fortunately, Denton caught and released a nice one on a fly. We moved to inside waters and were pleasantly surprised to find some reds and snook in skinny water. They caught and released several reds and a nice snook on CAL jigs with shad tails. Jim Hazlett, from Sarasota, also caught and released a couple of reds on CAL jigs with shad tails on another trip with me.

Marshall Dinerman, from Lido Key and his son, Michael from Atlanta, fished Sarasota Bay with me recently. They had steady action with trout, Spanish mackerel, blues and pompano on CAL jigs with shad tails. Barney Naylor, from MI, also fished Sarasota Bay with me and had some action catching and releasing pompano, Spanish mackerel and trout on Clouser flies. Good to see Sarasota Bay continuing to rebound!

Fishing shallow flats for catch and release reds and snook should be a good option now. Fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay is a good choice for action with a variety of species including trout, pompano, blues and Spanish mackerel. 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!

Capt. Capt. Rick Grassett

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.

The water quality was good and the temperatures were mainly in the high 60’s, nice fishing weather for sure.

The fishing this past holiday week was excellent. The water quality was good and the temps were mainly in the high 60’s.

Fishing the docks and deeper canals produced some snook, jacks, black drum, and quite a few redfish. Mangrove snapper, seabass and juvenile grouper were also feeding well.

There’s plenty of baitfish around so these fish are growing well after last years red tide. On several calm days we fished nearshore reefs as well as the crab buoys for tripletail which are migrating south.

The reefs produced snapper, and sheepshead as well as some large redfish. All in all this is a great time of year to be on the water catching fish.

Capt. Capt. Kelly Kurtz

Kelly is a Sarasota native and the owner and operator of Mangrove Charters. He's pas­sion­ate about fishing and hunting. As a full-time fishing guide Kelly operates out of a 22 ft. Bayscout and specializes in light tackle using both arti­fi­cial and live bait. Redfish are his favorite.

Five-year-old Max Simmons, visiting from Ohio with his family, looks mighty happy wouldn’t you say.

Wow… this November weather has been perfect for fishing. The water has cooled down very quickly form the much warmer water temps of October and the fish are on the move and biting.

This week saw anglers catching quiet the variety of fish including snook, redfish, speckled trout, ladyfish, pompano, whiting, jack crevalle, black drum and grouper. Other fun fish caught that are unique in their own right were a large sea robin and a puffer fish. Highlights of the week included Doug Simmons and his five year old grandson Max, both from of Ohio, hooked and landed bay slams (trout, redfish and snook).

And on a second trip Doug’s three-year-old granddaughter caught a bay slam as well (with a little help from mom Amy). Mom Amy also landed a big speckled trout and a nice pompano. Most of the fish caught were on a variety of baits from live shrimp, CAL jigs and bucktailed jigs as well as mirror-dines and skitter walks for great top water action.

Remember, the best time to go fishing is when you can and be sure to save some for seed!

Capt. Capt. Jeffri Durrance

Jef­fri is a fourth generation native Floridian who grew up in Bowling Green, Florida, located in Hardee County. While growing up on a cattle and citrus operation Jef­fri fished many creeks and lakes in the central Florida area as well as the Peace River.

Matthew, in from Connecticut and his sister Michelle visiting from Washington, DC on the Lets Get Em’.

Fishing Charters out of CB’S Outfitters this week produced a variety of fish out on the Lets Get Em’ Charter boat. Tripletail, trout, redfish, and Jacks to name just a few species.

Enjoying the long Thanksgiving weekend and fishing with me was Matthew, down from Connecticut and his sister Michelle down from Washington DC. We had a spectacular day on the water catching numerous fish and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Matthew who has fished in our area before caught his first redfish while Michelle caught redfish, trout, and ladyfish even though she’s a novice fisherman. Most of the fish caught were on jigs and shrimp under a popping cork.

Capt. Chuck Cress

Fishing has been a lifetime passion for me. Depending on the skill level of my clients what I like to do is put them on big fish using artificial lures. I like to educating and passing on my knowledge of local history and the many sights the area has to offer while we are on the water.

Brian Nafzinger with a trout caught and released on a CAL jig with a Shad tail while fishing Sarasota Bay.

Anglers fishing with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action on several trips in Sarasota Bay, Little Sarasota Bay, Tampa Bay and the coastal gulf recently. Fly anglers did well with tripletail in the coastal gulf.

Spin and fly fishing anglers fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay with me had some action catching and releasing trout, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on CAL jigs with shad tails and Clouser flies. A trip in Little Sarasota Bay produced snook and trout on CAL jigs with Shad tails and DOA Deadly Combos.

We also caught and released reds and snook in skinny water also on CAL jigs with Shad tails. Tripletail action was good in the coastal gulf.

Jeff Hanna, from Englewood, FL, with a 15-lb tripletail caught on a fly while fishing with Capt. Rick Grassett.

Mike Perez, from Sarasota and Jeff Hanna, from Englewood, fished a day with me and they both caught tripletail. Jeff’s tripletail was the largest tripletail ever on a fly on my boat, 15-lbs!

Denton Kent, from Sarasota, and Rick Guzewicz, from Longboat Key, fished the next day and both also caught and released tripletail. Rick’s 7-lb tripletail was his first on a fly! A trip later in the week was slower but in addition to a tripletail we also caught a small cobia on a fly.

Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, also had a good day fishing lower Tampa Bay with me. Keith caught and released several snook, a couple of good reds, some trout and a flounder on CAL jigs with Shad tails. Fishing hard often pays off!

Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, with a snook caught and released on a CAL jig with a shad tail.

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.

Fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay is a good choice for action from a variety of species including trout, blues and Spanish mackerel.

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!

Capt. Capt. Rick Grassett

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.

That’s one beautiful Redfish.

Anglers fishing with Quiet Waters Fishing out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters in Sarasota, FL found action on the flats for snook, redfish, and seatrout. Pinches and points were good places to find fish on the flats in the beginning of November.

Mirrolure Mirrodine XLs, Aquadream spoons, and soft plastic paddle tails on jigs were reliable choices for artificial lure enthusiasts. Fly Anglers found success fishing sandy shorelines and potholes with a modified clouser minnow and shrimp patterns.

Weather was a factor on recent trips. Fishing really came alive for Scott & Julia of Idaho when we fished before a front. We found willing snook and redfish bunched up over a sandy flat that was saturatd with bait. Later we had more excitement when we found a larger redfish in a trough that we were able to sight cast to and hook.

Fishing after the front was much harder work. Jim & Dave fished on a day after a full moon with high pressure and it showed. We moved plenty of fish, but they were sluggish, non-committal, and a bit out of sorts. Jim caught a very healthy snook on a modified clouser while fly fishing in the late morning. Redfish became more active later in the day and we brought a few boat side.

Snook
Snook were clustered up in smaller areas on the flats. We found larger fish solo, patrolling points or in buckets near depth transitions. Snook were extremely aggressive before the front moved in. The Aquadream ADL series spoon worked well on these aggressive fish. The Mirrolure Mirrodine XL was a highly effective bait for snook staked out at ambush points. High pressure pushed snook into deeper water at the beginning of the week. We did not see a snook of decent size in water shallower than 4 to 5 feet.

Seatrout
Smaller class size seatrout were in areas with deeper grass and fed aggressively. Larger seatrout were present in potholes in 3 -5 feet of water. Soft plastic paddle tails on jigs worked well. This is an ideal time of year to find gator trout in very shallow water. Using plugs and topwaters in the morning can be a good way to find larger seatrout.

Redfish
Redfish were eating well and seemed much less affected by the high pressure. We found mid-sized redfish spread out and working points and pinches between islands. Before the front, smaller reds were working in groups along sand and grass transitions and larger fish were parked in troughs. All of them were hungry and provided good action. Spoons were the pied piper for redfish.

Looking Ahead
Cold front cycles are beginning to take hold. We have not had a significant drop in temperatures yet, but we are cooling and the writing is on the wall. False albacore season is just about here. A few captains have reported catching their first ones. Tripletail are still a good option around crab floats off of the beaches. Larger redfish have remerged on the flats and that is exciting news. As temperatures continue to drop, we should begin to see better action in brackish rivers, creeks, and the back country.

Capt. Brian Boehm

Brian, owns and operates Quiet Waters Fishing LLC and runs his trips out of a 17’ Maverick Mirage. He covers water as far north as Tampa Bay and south to the Charlotte Harbor/Boca Grande area. His favorite trips to offer are: back country, shallow flats, night tarpon, & night dock light snook trips.