Thanks to the nice weather fishing this week has improve in the gulf.

The fishing this week has started to improve as the water quality continues to improve. Last week seas were calm so I took advantage of the conditions and fished several days offshore.

Anglers caught mangrove and lane snapper, grunts, grouper, porgies and Spanish mackerel.

Inshore anglers caught and released snook, trout, snapper, Spanish mackerel and a few flounder.

Happy 4th of July to all my fellow anglers, have a great holiday and stay safe.

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.

Joe Spath caught this nice looking speckled trout using a bucktail jig.

Speckled trout action has been very good in the bay around deep water flats with small sharks, bluefish, ladyfish, mangrove snapper and Spanish mackerel all in the mix.

Along the beaches, tarpon are cooperating and offshore the red snapper are in season. Also this week, with help from Dr. David Holifield, we fished the Friendliest Fisherman tournament (part of the Offshore Grand Prix celebration) with D.J. Dahlstrom and Joe Spath.

The action was great with Joe using a bucktail jig to catch the biggest fish of the morning which was a 20” speckled trout. He really had the hot hand catching fish on nearly every cast for a while, it was a fun morning.

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.

Jim Dempsey, from IL, battles a tarpon he caught and released on a live crab in the coastal gulf while fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Grassett.

Anglers fishing with me recently, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action catching and releasing tarpon on live crabs in the coastal gulf in Sarasota and trout on DOA Lures in Sarasota Bay.

Jim Dempsey. From IL, and Denis Clohisy, from WI, tarpon fished a couple of days with me during the past week. They had good action jumping several tarpon and catching and releasing two on live crabs.

The wind shifted west on our last day and tarpon in the gulf wasn’t an option.

Denis Clohisy battled this tarpon he caught and released on a live crab in the coastal gulf.

We fished deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay with CAL jigs and jerk worms or shad tails and DOA Deadly Combos where they had good action catching and releasing trout.

Denis Clohisy battled this tarpon that he caught and released on a live crab in the coastal gulf while fishing with Capt. Rick Grassett. Tarpon fishing in the coastal gulf is very dependent on conditions, so when conditions are good we should have some opportunities. There should also be good action with trout, blues and Spanish mackerel on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay.

Fishing shallow water for snook and reds with lures and flies is challenging although they should also be a good option now. Fishing dock lights in the ICW at night is always a good option for snook and more.

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.

Darrell’s Anniversary Snook was a sweet catch.

Congratulations to Darrell and Wanda on 30 years of marriage. Darrell drove 9 hrs, straight after work, from Georgia.

Darrell had no idea what she had planned. Wanda wanted to surprise her husband with a guided fishing charter with me to celebrate their 30th anniversary.

With the incoming tide, I wanted to put them on snook, so we started out using a MirrOlure top dog. He was very accustomed to casting around the mangroves and “walking the dog” because he had fished a lot of bass tournaments.

After about 6 casts the snook started moving in on the lure and slamming it. He landed several and then it was her turn and within 3 casts a big snook slammed the lure and gave her quite a fight.

A Fish Called Wanda, and she happily responded.

As the big snook got close to the boat it made one more run for freedom and won. It was twice the size of his.

After the bite slowed down we left that spot going after Spanish mackerel. Once again she puts 4 mackerel in the boat and asks him where he was.

He kept working at it but started catching small trout, then as if planned she gets a nice 20″ speckled trout in the boat. And actually, he couldn’t be happier his wife outfished him, remarking “happy wife happy life.” They both really enjoyed their trip and he was quite surprised.

Again congratulations to Darrell and Wanda.

Capt. Capt. Terry Simmons

Terry was born and raised in Bradenton, FL and has been guiding clients since 2000, fishing on Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico with live bait, artificial lures and fly fishing aboard his 22’ Bay Ranger which accommodates up to 4 anglers.

Alex Semerano with a nice spotted seatrout!

Anglers fishing aboard my boat the O’ Fish All out of CB’S Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key caught and released tarpon, snook, spotted seatrout, bluefish, and pompano.

Fly anglers fishing with me for tarpon last week had numerous shots at fish in shallow water. Anglers that fished Sarasota Bay with me caught and released spotted seatrout, bluefish, and pompano. Water temps in the bay are almost 90* by midday so we concentrated on the grass flats that are in the 6 to 10 range.

With fishing artificial lures or fly the key is to start early to find some consistent action before water temps heat up. Night snook fishing has continued to be good with fly anglers.

Spin anglers are scoring with DOA shrimp and the Yozuri pins minnow with the best action around lighted docks and structure with good moving water.

Capt. Capt. Andy Cotton

Capt. Andy loves fly fishing and light spinning tackle with artificial lures. He fishes out of an Action Craft 1720 flats skiff rigged with the latest electronics and outfitted with Orvis fly equipment and Shimano spinning tackle. Andy is the owner of O'Fish All Guide Service.

Dave Robinson displaying a nice Red Snapper.

This week saw action offshore fishing for red snapper. Several friends of mine, including Dave Robinson pictured here ho;ding a beautiful red snapper, made the trip out over 60 miles where red snapper, red grouper, scamp, mangrove snapper and lane snapper were caught.

Along the beaches, the tarpon are still schooling and bay trips are still producing speckled trout, black drum, mangrove snapper and Spanish mackerel along with small sharks and some large gaff top sail cats.

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.

Anglers fishing aboard the “Casual Lies” out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters had up and down fishing last week. With small spots of red tide floating around we had to skip around the bay a little bit.

Up in the north bay early in the week we did really well on Trout, Pompano, Jacks, and Ladyfish. Midweek I went back up to fish the same grass and the water was dirty and lots of floating weeds. We headed over to the Country Club Shores flat where the water was dirty two days earlier and it was clean with some big Trout and Flounder on it.

On the outgoing tide, we fished the shallow grass at Middlegrounds flat and 5&7 Flat and caught small Sharks, Trout, Mangrove Snapper, Jacks and Ladyfish on Greenback colored CAL jigs. There was good looking water at the inshore reefs so I grabbed some live shrimp and free-lined them down to the structure on the bottom. We ended up with some small Red and Gag Grouper and nice Mangrove Snapper.

Looks like the Red Tide has mostly moved on so I think the fishing should be picking up this next week.

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.

This family was visiting from Tennessee and enjoying every minute fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Chuck Cress aboard the “Let’s Get Em”.

We had a lot of fun this week aboard the “Let’s Get Em”, my charter boat. I had families from Tennessee, Texas, and Florida aboard the boat.

I had some experienced anglers as well as a couple of first time anglers fishing with me. Snook (catch and release only) are still cooperating as are speckled trout, and nice size Mangrove snapper are plentiful once you locate them.

The picture here is of a dad and his two boys who were down from Tennessee. They enjoyed every minute fishing in Sarasota Bay. The best time to go fishing is when you can, so make it happen.

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.

Let’s go fishing, there’s nothing like it when you need a good dose of Vitamin Sea.

This week, fishing aboard the “Gone Coastal” with Captain Terry Simmons, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key.

Although I generally do not take 4 anglers on a tarpon charter, this week, I made an exception.

I had some friends from all over the country that were here to bury their parents. After they were buried all the family wanted to do was catch a tarpon, to show their love and respect for their parents, who loved fishing for tarpon so much.

They bought a house here so they could stay during the season and catch as many as they could. Their family charted me for the entire week so that various members could get the chance to catch a tarpon. Some wanted to see them and some wanted to catch them.

On our first day out we saw thousands of tarpon, but tarpon being tarpon, just didn’t want to eat. We threw the kitchen sink (pinfish and crabs) at them but on our second day out we boated 1 for 3. Once we hooked up, two of the grandsons helped their father fight a 90 – 100lb tarpon to the boat. They all took turns getting that fish to the boat for picture sharing.

Capt. Capt. Terry Simmons

Terry was born and raised in Bradenton, FL and has been guiding clients since 2000, fishing on Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico with live bait, artificial lures and fly fishing aboard his 22’ Bay Ranger which accommodates up to 4 anglers.

Nick Hoeksema with a nice trout he landed in Sarasota Bay.

Tarpon fishing has been fantastic this week for clients fishing with me on the Josie D. Greg Pratt with brother in laws Sam Browning and Larry Ochs had two great days jumping ten tarpon and landing seven.

None of the fish released were under a 100 pounds with the largest a 175-pound monster, the second large fish in only three days.

Customers have not landed fish this size in many years making this a real treat! The tarpon caught were eating crabs, pinfish, and pilchards.

The big one is still out there with your name on it so get out and hook-em up! Bay trips are still producing speckled trout and Spanish mackerel along with small sharks and some large gaff top sail cats.

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.

On the water with Capt Andy Cotton.

Anglers fishing aboard my boat the O’ Fish All out of CB’S Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key caught and released tarpon, snook, sharks and a kingfish.

Tarpon fishing in the gulf this past week off of Longboat Key was great this week. Anglers fishing with me hooked and landed numerous tarpon on pinfish and crabs. Along with the tarpon bite came a few surprises with small sharks and one angler hooked and landed a 30lb king mackerel.

Fly angler John Smitherman on Tuesday hooked and lost a fish after 26 mins when the hooked pulled. He had numerous other shots at tarpon on a fly that day. Snook fishing at night and in the early morning hours has been good using small white flies and live shrimp.

If tarpon isn’t your game the inshore bite is consisting of trout, mackerel, ladyfish and pompano near the passes.

Capt. Capt. Andy Cotton

Capt. Andy loves fly fishing and light spinning tackle with artificial lures. He fishes out of an Action Craft 1720 flats skiff rigged with the latest electronics and outfitted with Orvis fly equipment and Shimano spinning tackle. Andy is the owner of O'Fish All Guide Service.

Jacob and his friend Daniel on a half day of fishing trip.

It’s Summertime in Florida. That means you need to get out early to catch fish before it gets too hot. Trout fishing has been excellent all week long with many of the fish being above the slot size.

If you are looking to just bend the rod ladyfish and catfish are a can’t miss the target. In fact, one of my clients caught 2 catfish on one topwater lure at the same time.

Grampa Herb who lives in Sarasota treated his grandson Jacob from Baltimore and his friend Daniel to a half day trip of fishing. At our first stop, we were catching trout on every cast using DOA shrimp and live shrimp under a popping cork.

The boys also got to enjoy and see several dolphins throughout the morning. Just remember you can’t catch fish if you don’t go fishing.

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.

Richard Splawn with a nice snook he caught in Sarasota Bay.

This week, fishing aboard the “Gone Coastal” with Captain Terry Simmons, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key. I took Richard Splawn on a Sarasota Bay trip although we had to work to find clean water.

We saw small bait schools all over the bay with birds diving on it. Since we already had our bait we started working the flats picking up several speckled trout.

From there we started working on redfish and snook. We had one redfish take a gold spoon and we picked up three snook on shrimp and DOA shad tail artificial baits with mission fishing 1/4 oz jig head.

After that, we worked another flat with the good tide and picked up several gag groupers, mangrove snapper, trout and a three-foot bonnethead shark.

Capt. Capt. Terry Simmons

Terry was born and raised in Bradenton, FL and has been guiding clients since 2000, fishing on Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico with live bait, artificial lures and fly fishing aboard his 22’ Bay Ranger which accommodates up to 4 anglers.

On the water with Capt. Kelly Kurtz.

Fishing last week remained steady despite the runoff from the heavy rains a few weeks ago. We fished mostly in the passes with good water flow as well as some docks close to the passes.

Snook, mangrove snapper, trout, pompano and a few flounder were caught on live bait. Spanish Mackeral and bluefish also provided some excitement on the grass flats.

I also ran a couple of evening trips fishing the dock lights, catching and releasing many fish up to 26″.

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.

Bill Beachem caught and released this tarpon this past week in the waters of the gulf off Sarasota.

Tarpon fishing got off to a slow start this week with wind and rain early in the week. However several clients were able to brave the weather conditions and land a few tarpon.

Folks who landed tarpon this week include Jimmy Bayes of New Jersey, Pat Leach of Nebraska, Bill Beachem of Sarasota and North Carolina, Doug Manning of Clearwater and Mark Beachem of Sarasota.

Top fish honors go to Mark with one of the largest tarpon on my boat in years. It was in excess of 175 pounds and was boat side after a grueling one hour and twenty-minute battle. The tarpon were eating crabs and pinfish.

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.

Pompano and Flounder were the top fish anglers caught aboard the “Casual Lies” out of Cb’s Saltwater Outfitters. Lots of Trout many up to 21 inches were caught along with some Mangrove Snapper measuring up to 18 inches.

With the wind out of the East now, next week we will be trying to get a few Tarpon to cooperate.

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.

Seven year old Bobby and his proud dad Bob, both from Ohio, had a great day on the water.

Over the last week, the water cleared considerably from all the rain we had in May. Using top water lures proved to be successful for catching trout and snook. Some of the bigger snook would blow up on the lure and miss it but it sure got the blood flowing.

On board, this past week was an enthusiastic seven-year-old named Bobby who set the hook and brought in a nice trout without any assistance.

We also managed to catch a good sized barracuda on the topwater lure. Using shrimp proved to be the key for catching the most of the trout along with some mangrove snapper, ladyfish, and sheepshead.

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.

The Yocco group out for a fun day on the water.

This week, fishing aboard the “Gone Coastal” with Captain Terry Simmons, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key. I took the Stan Yocco group out for a fun day on the water.

Even though it was windy, they had a great day catching fish. Several species were caught creating quite a nice and enjoyable time together. They were looking for just a couple of fish to have a nice meal together. We had to move around quite a bit hitting deep grass flats for some speckled trout. We used artificial DOA baits and live shrimp.

All in all a very nice day and the photos are the proof… Fish Tacos for dinner!

Capt. Capt. Terry Simmons

Terry was born and raised in Bradenton, FL and has been guiding clients since 2000, fishing on Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico with live bait, artificial lures and fly fishing aboard his 22’ Bay Ranger which accommodates up to 4 anglers.

Chelsea Pitman with a nice trout caught in the Bay.

This week saw the weather with lots of wind and rain cut down on fishing time (lots of rain is very unusual for this time of year). However, the folks who wanted to fish the bay in the rain were rewarded with some consistent action.

Chelsea Pitman of Macon, GA and her family caught lots of fish with speckled trout the top catch. The bay trips also produced Spanish mackerel, bluefish, sharks, ladyfish and a variety of striped nibblers.

Only made it out for tarpon one day and worked a couple moving schools with no bites.

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.