October 3, 2010 Fishing Report - Capt. Jeffri Durrance

Inshore fishing this week produced Spanish mackerel to 4 pounds caught on a variety of artificial lures and live bait. Offshore fishing produced snapper, grouper and amberjack on live and cut bait in 100 ft of water. A few kingfish were also caught around offshore hard bottom and artificial reefs. It is a great time of the year to get out on the water with less pressure and great action!

October 2, 2010 Fishing Report - Capt. Rick Grassett

Hey! Hey! Hey! Fat Albert! It’s the time of year when little tunny, a.k.a. bonito, false albacore, LT’s, albies or fat alberts, are beginning their fall inshore blitz. In addition to little tunny, Spanish mackerel are also plentiful in the inshore coastal gulf. An angler fishing with me on my flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had fast action with little tunny and Spanish mackerel last week.

Greg Stepanski, from Tampa, FL, claimed the trip that he purchased at the Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club banquet with me on Friday. We fished Tampa Bay near Ft. Desoto and Egmont Key and had fast action with little tunny and Spanish mackerel. The action was a little slow to start, but as the sun got higher in the sky, bait schools worked their way to the surface where predators made an easy meal of them. Greg scored with Clouser and Grassett Snook Minnow flies, CAL jigs with shad tails and jerk worms and Mirrodine plugs. We caught and released 8 or 10 little tunny to 8-lbs and a dozen or more mackerel to 2-lbs. The action peaked just before the bottom of the tide as predators grabbed a meal before the water stopped moving. A great trip!

I was a guest at Mosquito Creek Outdoors in Apopka, FL on Saturday. Their “Discover Fly Fishing” event was very well planned and organized as vendors, fly tiers and fly anglers from around the state displayed their wares and shared their knowledge of fly fishing and fly tying to introduce new anglers to the sport. I was there to help promote a donated fishing trip with me and legendary fly angler and author, Chico Fernandez, which will benefit the Snook Foundation. Contact me or look for more info on this trip, which will be offered in a silent auction at a future event, at www.snookfoundation.org .

We are at one of my favorite times of the year. The coastal gulf is coming alive with little tunny, Spanish mackerel and more. Flats fishing is also heating up as the water cools down. Reds and snook should be feeding in skinny water and trout, blues, Spanish mackerel and pompano should be plentiful on deep grass flats.

October 3, 2010 Fishing Report - Capt. Klopfer

Fishing continues to be very good in the Sarasota area as fall approaches. The water temperature is in the upper 70s, baitfish are everywhere, and the fish are feeding! On Friday I took out Illinois resident Ray Hauser and his buddy Wes. We started off catching a 5 lb jack and a small snook in Phillippi Creek on Rapala X-Raps. Then, we boated a half dozen nice mangrove snappers to 15", speckled trout to 18", Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, small jacks, and gag grouper on live shrimp, Cotee jigs, and Rapala X-raps at the flats near Bird Key and Marker #5.

Earlier in the week I fished with Jerry and Marg Denhartogh from Canada. Fish of the morning was Jerry's 3 pound pompano caught at the Marina Jack flat. We also landed a bunch of speckled trout to 20", Spanish mackerel to 3 lbs, mangrove snapper to 12", ladyfish, grouper, jacks, and catfish. All of the fish hit free lined live shrimp. The rain chased us south where we finished up catching trout and ladyfish at the flat north of Spanish Point and out in front of Hidden Harbor.

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