October 10, 2010 Fishing Report - Capt. Bruce Burkhart

Cooler weather and the water temp going down has made ideal fishing off the beaches for mackerel and kingfish. We have been loading up all week. Tom & Jimmy from Michigan trolled Yo-Zuri lures around Point Of Rocks off Siesta Beach. We caught five or six trolling and then they started busting bait on the surface. So we started throwing white C.A.L. jigs in the schools and hooked up on a mackerel almost every cast. We then headed into the bay and fished Middlegrounds. Using the C.A.L. jigs we tore up the bluefish and jack crevalle. For about an hour the action was fast and furious and we ended up catching close to one hundred fish. Jimmy caught a grouper twenty-one and half inches. He was one happy kid!

Pete and Bruce Friedman also fished Sarasota Bay. We used DOA Glow shrimp, fishing them very slowly in the grass behind Selby Gardens. The guys caught bluefish to five pounds, trout to 19 inches, flounder to eighteen inches, little grouper and enough jack crevalle to keep the rods bent and tire them out.

If you want to catch mackerel, jack crevalle and ladyfish you can try a silver spoon and wing it out there as far as you can. Good luck and enjoy this beautiful weather!

October 10, 2010 Fishing Report - Capt. Jeffri Durrance

David Holifield had a great week on the water with a bay slam (trout, redfish and snook) on Friday followed by an offshore trip Sunday with both red and gag grouper to 14 pounds and his first red snapper (a six pounder). The fish were caught on a combination of live shrimp & bucktail jigs for the bay and pinfish and cut squid for the offshore catches. Other fish caught offshore included kingfish and little tuny.

This is a great time of the year to fish Sarasota Bay & its offshore waters. The kingfish are beginning to show up and with almost everything in the bay cooperating. In the words of Capt Hubbard “If you’re too busy to go fishing then your just too busy!”

October 10, 2010 Fishing Report - Capt. Rick Grassett

Anglers fishing with me on my flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released little tunny, Spanish mackerel, snook, trout and reds on several trips during the past week. The best action was with little tunny near the mouth of Tampa Bay. Ron Foust, from Knoxville, TN, fished there with me on Monday and caught and released more than 10 little tunny on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly.

Christian Wolfe, from Wilmington, NC, and his grandfather, Lloyd, fished Siesta Key docks and near Stephens Point in Sarasota Bay with me on Friday morning. They caught and released a couple of snook, several trout and Christian nailed a 27” red, all on CAL jigs with shad tails, to complete his slam close to the end of the trip. Everette Wolfe, from Knoxville, TN, and his son, Kirk, from New York City, fished deep grass flats at Stephens Point on the east side of the bay and near Buttonwood Harbor on the west side. They caught and released trout, Spanish mackerel, jacks and ladyfish on Grassett Flats Bunny flies.

Action should continue to improve as water temperatures drop. In Sarasota Bay, fish docks for snook and deep grass flats for trout and Spanish mackerel for the best action. Little tunny and Spanish mackerel in the coastal gulf should also be a good option.

Captain's Monthly Fishing Forecast

Capt. Jim Klopfer’s Fishing Forecast for October 2010

October is a fantastic month to fish in Sarasota. Cooler weather will prompt the migratory species to start moving south and the resident bay species will begin to ease towards their winter haunts. There will be many days with high pressure and northeast winds. This can make for a choppy Sarasota Bay, but it also results in perfect conditions to “fish the beach”. By this I mean the inshore Gulf of Mexico from the shoreline out a mile or so. The water will be calm and clear due to the east winds. Baitfish will gang up close to shore than the pelagic gamefish such as King and Spanish mackerel, cobia, false albacore, sharks, and even a stray tarpon will be right behind them.

There are several different techniques than anglers can employ to catch these fish. Trolling is the easiest and often times the most productive method. Plugs and spoons are the most effective baits. Spoons are usually trolled behind either a trolling sinker or a small planer. Use 20’ of 50 lb monofilament leader between the spoon and planer. Diving plugs are also very effective, particularly on kingfish.

While trolling is hard to beat as far as production goes, when it comes to excitement, nothing beats sight-fishing. There will be days when there is a lot of surface activity; fish busting helpless baitfish on top, birds diving, it’s a feeding frenzy! Mackerel will generally stay up and not move a lot while the false albacore can be tougher to dial in. Tossing out a plug, spoon, jig, or fly into the melee should result in a bent rod in short order. Live bait can also be used effectively, especially when the fish are around but not staying up for very long. Simply drift a shrimp or baitfish on a long-shank hook using a piece of heavy monofilament or a thin wire leader.

Another pattern that works well with east winds in October is to drift the passes on an afternoon outgoing tide for pompano. This is very easy to do, just bounce a 1/4 ounce to 1/2 ounce yellow, white, or chartreuse jig vertically off the bottom while drifting with the tide. Bluefish, mackerel, and ladyfish will also inhale a jig while working the passes. Try and fish passes when the wind and tide are moving in the same direction.

Speckled trout fishing has been the terrific and that should continue this month. All of the deep grass flats near the passes and in the north bay should be productive, just keep moving until the fish are located. A live shrimp under a popping cork is tough to beat, but jigs, plugs, and spoons will also catch their share of specks. Pompano should also be daily catches on the deep flats. When specifically targeting pompano on the flats, I prefer a 1/4 oz red jig head with a gold grub tail, but other colors will be productive along with live shrimp.

Redfish will still be schooled up on the shallow flats up north near Long Bar and Buttonwood Harbor. Scented soft plastics are the best choice, followed by gold spoons, and plugs. Snook will also be feeding on the flats and along the mangroves, especially shorelines with deeper water. The docks and oyster bars south of Siesta Drive Bridge are good for snook, reds, trout, and snapper. Later in the month as the water cools, the area between Stickney Pt. and Blackburn Pt. will really start to turn on.

Be prepared to move around this month, October is a transitional month here on the west coast of Florida.

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