Captain's Weekly Fishing Report

Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 3/12/2011

Anglers fishing with me on my Action Craft flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released trout, Spanish mackerel, flounder, redfish and snook during the past week.

Dave Reinhart, from Richmond, VA and his son, Daniel, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday. The morning was slow and windy, but the wind laid down in the afternoon and they had good action with trout and Spanish mackerel to 2-pounds and an 18” flounder at Stephens Point. Daniel ended the day with an 8-pound red near Buttonwood Harbor. All fish were caught on CAL jigs with shad tails.

My clients fished skinny water for reds and trout with flies and jigs in both Sarasota and the Terra Ceia Bay areas on a couple of other trips. We had some shots at reds, had some follows on a fly and caught one on a CAL jig with a shad tail. We also caught a few trout along the way. A front pushed through on Thursday with rain and wind, forcing the cancellation of Thursday’s trip. Ron Hagemeyer and Gary Paulson, both from MN, fished Gasparilla Sound with me on Friday. It was a very windy, especially in the afternoon, but they had good action in the morning with trout to 18” on Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad tails.

My brother, Kirk Grassett from Middletown, DE, came down for a short visit on the weekend. We fished deep grass flats on the east and west sides of Sarasota Bay on Saturday and had steady action with trout, Spanish mackerel and ladyfish on Grassett Flats Bunny and Clouser flies. We also fished the ICW that evening near Venice and found snook feeding aggressively, despite cooler water. We caught and released more than 25 snook to 24” and 10 trout to 18” on my Grassett Snook Minnow and Gurgler flies.

If you are interested in learning to fly fish or improving your skills, I will be the instructor for another CB’s Saltwater Outfitter’s Orvis-Endorsed fly fishing school on Saturday, Mar. 19, 2011. Located at 1249 Stickney Point Rd., on Siesta Key in Sarasota, FL the school will cover fly casting basics, line control, shooting line and the roll cast. I will also cover leader construction, fly selection and saltwater fly fishing techniques. The course, designed for beginning and intermediate fly casters, will focus on basics but also work with intermediate casters on correcting faults and improving casting skills. Cost for the school, which will run from 9 AM to 3 PM, is $150 per person and includes the use of premium Orvis fly tackle, a text book and lunch. Contact me or CB’s Saltwater Outfitters at (941) 349-4400 or cbsoutfitters@verizon.net to make reservations.

Next week’s tides are good, particularly towards the end of the week, as we approach a full moon on the 19th. Action should be good on deep grass flats for trout and Spanish mackerel. Look for reds and big trout in potholes and edges of flats and bars when the tide is low and on shallow grass when the tide is high. Fish peak tidal flows in the ICW at night for catch and release snook action.

Capt. Jack Ryan Fishing Report for 3/12/2011

Fishing on the Sea Dog this past week has been good. The winds were up a little but good catches of Trout to 20", Spanish Mackerel, 3lb. Bluefish and some of the biggest Ladyfish I've seen for awhile. Our customers are using live shrimp or Cotee Jigs to score on their success. Our weather for the coming week looks very good and tides the
same. Near shore Gulf should start producing Kingfish and more Spanish Mackerel, Cobia, and even some sharks.... Come and fish with us aboard the Sea Dog. We are a fast
clean ready to fish 25' Mako, open fisherman with a large t-top for your shaded comfort.

Capt. Jim Klopfer's Fishing Report for 3/12/2011

Fishing continues to be very productive on a variety of species, although Mother Nature did make things a little challenging this week. Sheepshead fishing remains outstanding around Bird Key and the north end of Siesta Key. I targeted them on trips where clients wanted to take home dinner, none were disappointed! Speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, silver trout, pompano, bluefish, flounder, whiting, and ladyfish were all caught this week fishing the flats around Big Pass.

On Monday I took out Jim Mitchell from Longboat Key. free lined live shrimp fooled trout, macks, and other species along the deep grass edges near Bird Key. Bill Thiel of Napersville, Il fished with me on Tuesday. We started out catching a redfish in Phillippi Creek, then did well on trout, ladyfish, and mackerel fishing near the Ringling Bridge.

Wednesday was a sheepshead day. Peggy Heaslip from Osprey, Fl took out a couple of her friends. They wanted a fish fry, so we targeted sheepshead. The wind was blowing hard, but the ladies shined in tough conditions, catching sheepshead to 4 pounds under the Bird Key docks. That afternoon I took out Jaime Schultz and his wife Amanda from Roslindale, Ma. Jaime is a professional chef and wanted some variety. We ended up with a nice box of fish including silver trout, whiting, Spanish mackerel, and sheepshead.

Thursday it rained and Friday it was very windy, so I used those days to get some maintenance done, but I was back on the water on the weekend. Neil Searcy from Des Moines, Iowa caught trout, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, and sheepshead. Steve Cook from Ontario took his son drew out Sunday aftenoon. Large Spanish mackerel hit free lined live shrimp near the Twin Bridges, while fishing for sheepshead provided dinner. We landed gag grouper to 18", and also hooked a couple of big boys that we could not handle on 10 lb spinning tackle.

Capt. Jeffri Durrance's Fishing Report for 3/12/2011

Matt Moffitt and Alyssa Hurd, students at Virginia Polytech on spring break, were busy first thing Monday catching trout to 16”, mackerel and ladyfish. Later in the morning we were able to find several snook to 25” as well with a snook double! Honors go to Alyssa as she boated a bay slam catching all three species including trout, snook and redfish. It was a fun morning with all of the fish caught on live shrimp. The action was all in south Sarasota Bay. Local Andy Voelz, his father Andy and brother in law Dan Shoultz of Indiana caught trout, mackerel, black drum and ladyfish while fishing along the east side of Sarasota bay. Catch of the day honors go to Dan with a nice 24” snook. Most of the action was on spro jigs and live shrimp. The bite is going good so get out and go fishing and remember to save some for seed!

CB's saltwater outfitters
1249 Stickney Point Road on Siesta Key
(at Stickney Point Bridge)
Sarasota, Florida 34242
941-349-4400
http://www.cbsoutfitters.com