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Archived Fishing Reports from Club Members and Area Guides Ron Whiteley - March 15th, 2008 report Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 2/25 through 3/15/2008 Dick Reece, from Dayton, OH, and Brian Green, from Ontario, Canada fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday, Feb. 25th. They had steady action with bluefish in Big Pass and trout, Spanish mackerel and blues at the Middleground Flat and at Stephens Point on Ultra Hair Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad and grub tails. Mike Perez, from Richmond, IN, and Jeff Hanna, from MI, fished Gasparilla Sound in Charlotte Harbor with me on Tuesday, Feb. 26th that week. They caught and released trout, ladyfish and a red with CAL jigs and flies on deep grass flats and around sand bars. Mike also fished Sarasota Bay with me later that week. We found the action a little slower, but the best action was on deep grass flats with Ultra Hair Clouser flies.
I attended the Florida Guides Association’s annual meeting and did a Saltwater Fly Fishing seminar at the Frank Sargeant Show on Sunday, March 2nd. Sarasota winter residents, Harry Beaty and Tom Schalk, fished Sarasota Bay with me and had fast action with blues in Big Pass and bluefish, Spanish mackerel and trout at the Middleground flat and Stephens Point on CAL jigs on Monday, March 3rd. Dick Reece fished the next day with me in Sarasota Bay before heading back north. The action was a little slower but included trout, ladyfish and Spanish mackerel on CAL jigs. Fly anglers Nick Reding and Jim Ewoldt, both from St. Louis, MO, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Wednesday and Thursday that week. The best action was on deep grass flats near Buttonwood Harbor, Stephens Point and the Middleground flat where they caught pompano, Spanish mackerel and trout on Ultra Hair Clouser flies. Friday’s trip got blown out after only 2-hours when 25-30-mph winds swept in ahead of a front. That meant good weather for a fishing show that weekend as I spoke at the Sarasota Florida Sportsman Show and helped DOA Fishing Lures out at their booth on Saturday and Sunday, March 8 and 9. I was back on the water on Monday morning with fly anglers Jeff Wagner, from UT, and his uncle, Chub Bortz from PA. They caught and released trout, ladyfish, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on a variety of flies in Sarasota Bay. Firman Schlabaugh and Junior Miller, both from Sarasota, fished Charlotte Harbor with me on Tuesday. They had a banner day catching about a dozen trout to over 20”, with most fish in the upper end of the slot, around sand bars in Gasparilla Sound. We spent the afternoon targeting reds and they caught 7 reds to 30” along mangrove shorelines and sand bars in Turtle Bay. All fish were caught on CAL jigs with shad or grub tails. Joe Scotti and Bill Crowley, from Nokomis, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me the next day. The best action was with trout on deep grass flats from the Radio Tower flat to Buttonwood Harbor. They caught and released 25 or 30 trout, including several over 20”, bluefish and Spanish mackerel with CAL jigs and shad or grub tails. Trout action came on strong in both Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor last week. I have been asking clients to release all trout in Sarasota Bay to help their recovery. Following the red tides of 2005 and 2006, trout were just about wiped out in Sarasota Bay. It was only last fall that they began to recover and are now on their way to a healthy level. Mike Stehlik, from MN, and his brother Dennis Stehlik, from Chicago, fished Charlotte Harbor with me on Friday. They caught and released about a dozen trout to 18” in Gasparilla Sound and 4 reds to 24” in Turtle Bay on CAL jigs with shad and grub tails. Tides will improve next week as we head toward a full moon on Friday. Fishing deep grass flats for trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and pompano in Sarasota Bay and reds and trout in Gasparilla Sound should continue to be good options. Tight Lines, Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 2/18 through 2/24/2008 Dick Reece, from Dayton, OH, his son-in-law, Dave Reinhart, and grandson, Daniel Reinhart, both from Lennox, MA, joined me for a trip in Sarasota Bay on Monday. They caught numerous bluefish in Big Pass and Spanish mackerel, bluefish and trout at the Middleground flat on CAL jigs with shad tails. We moved to skinny water near Bishops Point for the last portion of our trip and they each caught and released a redfish, also on CAL jigs with shad tails. The next day, Charlie Troccia, from Dalton, MA and sons, Travis and Dan, fished the same areas with me. The action was a little slower, but they still managed to catch bluefish in Big Pass and blues, Spanish mackerel and trout at the Middleground flat on CAL jigs with a variety of tails. That evening Firman Schlabaugh and Junior Miller, both from Sarasota, joined me for an evening trip. We found a mix of ladyfish and snook feeding heavily on glass minnows near the Venice Inlet, but they were being very selective. Firman and Junior caught and released 4 snook to 22” on CAL jigs with glow curly tails, one on my Grassett’s Grass (Snook) Minnow fly and lost a couple more. A mechanical problem sidelined me the next day. A seal failed on the lower unit of my outboard causing an oil leak, but I was up and running again by Thursday. Dennis Stehlik, from IL, and Ron Mosetich, from RI, fished with me on Thursday and Friday. We fished Sarasota Bay on Thursday and caught and released bluefish in Big Pass, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and trout at the Middleground flat and 3 reds near Bishops Point. We fished Gasparilla Sound in Charlotte Harbor on Friday where they caught more than 30 trout to 20”, including 3 in the slot, on DOA Deadly Combos. We spent the afternoon fishing skinny water in Gasparilla Sound. We saw lots of nice reds and several snook on the flats and caught and released a 25” red on a CAL jig with an Arkansas Glow Shiner shad tail. I was the instructor for an Orvis-Endorsed fly fishing school on Saturday held out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters. If you are interested in learning how to fly cast or improving your fly casting skills we have several more schools scheduled on March 15th, April 5th and 19th. Contact me or CB’s Saltwater Outfitters at (941) 349-4400 to sign up. Cost is $150 per student and includes a textbook, instructional video and lunch. We are heading into a great time of the year for fishing the flats and coastal gulf waters. Fishing is good and should get even better in March.
I was gone on a short vacation the following week and I returned with one of the worst cases of the flu that I’ve ever had, causing me to miss the next 3 days of fishing. While I was out sick my son-in-law, Capt. Andy Cotton, filled in for me on one of the days and took fly anglers Marshall Dinerman, from Atlanta, GA and his guest fishing in Sarasota Bay. They caught and released several pompano in Big Pass and ladyfish in Roberts Bay on Ultra Hair Clouser flies. Dick Reece, from Dayton, OH, and Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday, Feb. 12th. They had fast action with bluefish in Big Pass and trout at Stephens Point on CAL jigs with shad tails. Leonard Calhoun, from Toronto, ON, and his friend, Murray, also from ON, fished Charlotte Harbor with me on Thursday. They caught more than 20 trout to 19”, including 7 or 8 fish in the slot, on CAL jigs with shad tails. The best action was in Gasparilla Sound and in Bull Bay.
PHOTO: Bob Parker's Trout..."Not a real big trout,but I'm glad to get it this time of year." Ron Whiteley's Fishing Report 1/30 - 2/3
Sarasota winter resident, Harry Beaty, and his guest, Paul Rotz from Ontario, Canada, fished with me the following Wednesday. They caught about a dozen blues to 1 ½ lbs. in Big Pass before we headed into the bay to fish for trout and reds. They caught and released about a dozen trout and a nice Spanish mackerel near Bishops Point and 7 or 8 reds to 27” near Buttonwood Harbor on CAL jigs with shad tails. Sarasota Herald-Tribune outdoors editor, Steve Gibson, joined me for a trip on Friday. The focus of the story was to be reds in Sarasota Bay, but a front pushed through on Thursday evening changing our game plan to “post front” fishing. With a stiff northeast wind and water in the high 50’s, we had our work cut out for us. We fished the east side of Sarasota Bay, where we caught and released a red and several trout to 18” on CAL jigs with shad tails. Fly angler, Hal Lutz from Parish, FL, fished the Terra Ceia Bay area with me on Saturday. Hal is an experienced fly angler with several giant tarpon jumped or landed to his credit, but hadn’t done much shallow water fly fishing for reds, snook and trout. Sight fishing was our goal, but visibility wasn’t great. We worked potholes and mullet schools and Hal scored his first red and trout on my Flats Minnow fly. This fly is now available in the spring 2008 Orvis catalog and at CB’s Saltwater Outfitters along with my night snook fly, Grassett’s Snook Minnow (a.k.a. Grass Minnow). Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, and his guest, Dave Eakin from Richland, WA, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday. They caught about a dozen bluefish and ladyfish on CAL jigs with shad tails and MirrOlure Top Pups in Big Pass to start the day off. During the rest of the day, they caught and released 7 or 8 trout, including a pair of 20” trout, 7 reds and a 3-lb. bluefish on CAL jigs with shad tails. The best action was with reds near Buttonwood Harbor and with the big trout and bluefish along the east side of Sarasota Bay. The weather pattern looks good for the next several days and tides will improve as we head toward a new moon on Feb. 6th. Reds and trout in potholes of Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor and trout and bluefish in Sarasota Bay should all be good options. Tight Lines, Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 1/8 through 1/17/2008 Fly anglers, Richard Ives from MI, and his brother-in-law, Bob, from VA fished Sarasota Bay with me on Jan. 8th. We worked lots false albacore in the coastal gulf off Lido Key, but they were up and down so fast that we couldn’t do anything with them. We did catch and release one Spanish mackerel on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly fished on an intermediate fly line before heading into Sarasota Bay and where we found some nice reds scattered along a sand bar near Buttonwood Harbor. Richard caught and released 3 on CAL jigs with shad tails while backing up Bob, who was casting a fly while I poled the boat. We finished the day with a dozen trout on Ultra Hair Clouser flies fishing deep grass near Whale Key. The next day, Keith McClintock from Lake Forest, IL, and his son-in-law, Rick Anderson, also from IL, fished the same areas with me. Although the little tunny were still moving fast and not giving good shots, we could throw a top water plug far enough to get in front of them. Rick caught and released a nice little tunny on a MirrOlure Top Dog, Jr. before we headed for the reds. In addition to the reds, which were where we left them the day before, we also caught about 10 trout to 20” and about 6 nice blues to 4-pounds. They caught and released 8 reds to 28”, including several over the slot. Everything was caught with CAL jigs with shad tails. Fly angler, Capt. Joe Schwab from San Diego, CA, fished with me the next 2 days. Joe is a retired, big boat skipper who spent more than 20 years fishing marlin and tuna on trips from southern California to Baja, Mexico. After spending years chasing big marlin and tuna, Joe likes to relax now by sight fishing with a fly, so that was our plan. Although we saw quite a few reds in Sarasota on Thursday and had a few shots, we didn’t get one to eat. We headed for Gasparilla Sound in Charlotte Harbor on Friday hoping to find tailing reds or sight fishing opportunities by wading sand bars. However, the weather turned on us as winds picked up and clouds moved in. We salvaged the day with trout, ladyfish and a bluefish caught and released in Gasparilla Sound with Ultra Hair Clouser flies fished on an intermediate fly line. The next 2 days were also spent in Charlotte Harbor with Sarasota winter residents, Tom Lamb and Lee Williams, on Monday and Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, IL, and Victor Feldman, from Champagne, IL, on Tuesday. Both parties caught and released trout to 21”, several reds and snook to 24”. The best day was Tuesday when we caught about 10 slot size trout to 21”. Cal Jigs with shad tails and DOA Deadly Combos accounted for all the fish. The wind cranked up ahead of an approaching front on Wednesday so I fished Little Sarasota Bay, which offers some protection from wind, with Manuel Pretti and Donald Chiappelli, both from PA. Despite 15 to 20-mph winds, they caught and released trout, ladyfish, flounder, reds and grouper. The best action was near Blackburn Point. All fish were caught with CAL jigs and shad or grub tails. I awoke to a driving rain storm on Thursday morning, forcing the cancelation of that day’s fishing. With water temperatures in the low 60’s, no drastic temperature changes on the horizon for the next week and good tides as we head toward a full moon on the 22nd, fishing should continue to be good. Tides are favorable for reds and trout in potholes or tailing reds in Gasparilla Sound and reds, trout and more in Sarasota Bay. Tight Lines,
PHOTO: Brian and Joanne Shenstone, from Gross Pointe Woods, MI, with a nice Spanish mackerel caught on a fly while fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Rick Grassett. Michelle Ford, from Nokomis, FL, and her dad, Ray Ford, from Brogue, PA, fished Gasparilla Sound in Charlotte Harbor with me on Dec. 26th. They caught and released numerous trout to more than 20” and a pair of reds on CAL jigs with shad tails. Brian and Joanne Shenstone, from Gross Pointe Woods, MI, fished Sarasota Bay with me the next day. They had fast action with bluefish, Spanish mackerel, trout and large ladyfish on Ultra Hair Clouser flies fished on intermediate and sink tip fly lines. The best action was in Big Pass and on the west side of Sarasota Bay near Buttonwood Harbor. Keith McClintock, From Lake Forest, IL, and his son Steve McClintock, from Pittsburgh, PA, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Friday. They had great action with trout, bluefish and 4 reds to 30” on CAL jigs with shad tails. We caught reds along sand bars on both sides of the bay. The best action with reds and trout was on the west side of the bay near Buttonwood Harbor. Fly anglers Nick Reding and Bob Harness, both from St. Louis, MO, fished some of the same areas with me on Saturday. Our main goal was to catch a redfish on a fly, but we had to settle for a few trout. My son, Bryan Gibson from Sarasota, FL, joined me for a trip in Sarasota Bay on New Year’s Eve day. We had fast action with bluefish, Spanish mackerel, trout and large ladyfish on diamond jigs and MirrOlure Top Dog, Jrs. in Big Pass and near Buttonwood Harbor. A strong front pushed through Sarasota on New Year’s Day plummeting air temperatures into the 30’s and 40’s and dropping water temperatures as low as 49 degrees. I cancelled the next 2 days of fishing before testing the waters again on Friday. Fly angler Damon Dunn, from the Chicago area, fished with me and we almost didn’t launch the boat. Even though the forecast was better, the wind was 15 to 20-mph and the air temperature was in the mid 50’s at the dock that morning. Water temperatures ranged from 49 degrees to the mid 50’s and we found several stunned and dead fish (jacks, juvenile barracuda, snook, catfish and an estimated 60 or 70-pound goliath grouper). We spent some time trying to revive the Goliath grouper, but I don’t know if we were successful. We persevered and caught a snook and a small gag grouper on a chartreuse/olive Ultra Hair Clouser fly at the Grouper Hole on the west side of Gasparilla Sound. Conditions were a little better on Saturday when Nick Reding joined me for another trip in Sarasota Bay. We started at 10:30 AM and the water temperature was in the mid 50’s. We saw quite a few reds in north Sarasota Bay and caught one red and a trout. The water temperature warmed back up to the low 60’s by Sunday afternoon. With several warm days in the forecast, fishing should return to normal within a few days. Although our inshore water cools quickly due to its shallow depth, it also warms just as fast. This week’s tides are favorable for tailing reds in Gasparilla Sound or reds in potholes in Sarasota Bay. Trout and bluefish should also be good options on deep grass flats. Tight Lines, Fishing Report from Captain Pete Greenan - January 6th Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 12/17 through 12/25/2007 Fly angler Jeff Miller and his son, Reed, from St. Petersburg, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me a couple of days on Dec. 19 and 20. They caught a variety of fish, including trout ladyfish and bluefish, on deep grass flats with Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad tails and jerk worms. The action got better toward the end of the week. Fly angler Mark Eddy, from CO, fished with me on Friday morning and had similar action with Clouser flies fished on an intermediate sink tip fly line. Sarasota winter resident, Tom Lamb, his daughter, Diane and granddaughter, Katherine, joined me for an afternoon trip on Friday. They had steady action with trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and flounder on CAL jigs with a variety of tails and DOA Deadly Combos. Katherine had the hot hand that day landing several quality fish including a large Spanish mackerel. Longtime friends and customers, John Collins from CA, his brother-in-law Greg Weatherby and nephew, Peter Weatherby, both from RI, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Saturday. They had steady action most of the day on deep grass flats on the west side of Sarasota Bay with trout, bluefish and large Spanish mackerel caught on Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad tails and jerk worms. We caught some of the largest Spanish mackerel that I have seen in Sarasota Bay in a quite a while. One of the fish weighed 5-pounds on a Boga Grip before being released and we estimated another, much larger one, at 7 or 8-pounds. The action continued this week as David Farbman, from MI, and his dad, Burt Farbman, from Sarasota joined me for a trip in Sarasota Bay on Monday morning, Christmas Eve day. They had steady action near Bishop Point with trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and a pompano. Most fish were caught on CAL jigs with a variety of plastic tails and DOA Deadly Combos. I gave Dave some hands on, basic fly casting instruction and he was able to catch a couple of trout with a fly in addition to many that they both caught with spinning tackle. I‘d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year! Hopefully you got to spend some quality time with family and friends. Negative low tides later this week are favorable for reds in potholes or tailing in backcountry areas of Gasparilla Sound. In addition, trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and more should be found on deep grass flats of Gasparilla Sound and Sarasota Bay. Capt. Pete Greenan's Fishing Report -
18 Dec. 2007
Walt Poxon, from MN, and his brother and sister-in-law Bill and Sue Poxon, from Sarasota, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday, Dec. 10th. We had steady action with large ladyfish, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on CAL jigs with shad tails, DOA Deadly Combos and MirrOlure Top Dog, Jrs. The next day, 970 WFLA’s Capt. Mel Berman, fished the same area with me. We had fast action at Stephens Point and near Buttonwood Harbor with trout, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on jigs and Ultra Hair Clouser flies. I was the guest of my friend, Capt. Rick DePaiva from Ft. Myers, FL, on Thursday. Capt. Rick is an expert at locating and fishing tailing reds in Pine Island Sound. We had near perfect conditions and the reds obliged us by waving their tails all day long. Although everything was right, the reds had other ideas. They proved to be very challenging, ignoring most of our fly presentations. Rick’s friend, David McCleaf, caught and released a nice red with a weedless-rigged DOA shrimp and I caught and released a nice trout on one of Capt. Rick’s Kwan flies. If you want to fish that area, Capt. Rick can be reached at www.saltwaterflyfishing.org. One of the best trips of the week was with fly angler Justin Bunting and his girlfriend, Sarah, from CO and Sarah’s dad, Duke Doster, from IN. We had fast action for a couple of hours in Big Pass with bluefish and large ladyfish on Ultra Hair Clouser flies and Diamond jigs. We then headed for the coastal gulf to hunt for little tunny and Spanish mackerel. We found fast action at the Silvertooth reef off Lido Beach, where they caught and released a little tunny on a Diamond jig, a king mackerel on a fly and a couple of Spanish mackerel on flies and jigs. The next stop was Stephens Point and the sand bar along the east side of Sarasota Bay where they caught and released trout to 20” and more bluefish and ladyfish. A great day! On Saturday, my son-in-law, Capt. Andy Cotton and I did some scouting in Sarasota. We had fast action with bluefish, Spanish mackerel, trout and pompano on Ultra Hair Clouser flies near Bishops Point. Fishing will be challenging for a few days early next week due to a strong front that moved through our area Sunday morning. It will be cool and windy for a couple of days and fish will move due to the drop in water temperature. By the middle of the week it should warm back up and fishing will improve. Tides will also improve as we head toward a full moon next weekend. Steve Gibson's Fishing Report - Dec. 15, 2007 Al White should buy a Lotto ticket. The personable professional saltwater fishing guide had the trip of a lifetime on Dec. 14 when he accompanied me on kayak fishing trip in The Everglades. On the way down Interstate 75, I told Al, “The spot we’re going to usually doesn’t yield too many oscars. But it’s loaded with Mayan cichlids and bluegill.” Normally, I catch 2-3 oscars per trip. I caught that many in the first minute. Oscars seemingly had run the large Mayan cichlids out of the canal and taken up residence on every available bit of structure. We started out using No. 10 poppers, but the topwater bite was off a little bit. I switched to my Myakka Minnow on a No. 12 hook and caught a hefty oscar on my first cast. The action continued hot throughout the day. Al, who was the guest speaker at one of the MCFF meetings in the summer, and I combined for 60-70 oscars, 30 Mayan cichlids (all small), 30 bluegill, 20 stumpknocker, a largemouth bass and two gar. The largest oscar went an estimated 1.5 pounds. The smallest was right at a pound. They were aggressive throughout the day and just pounced on the Myakka Minnows. We were using 3- and 4-weight fly rods, floating lines and 6-pound test leaders. Al agreed that if we had used lighted leaders, we would have had a tough time getting the oscars away from the structure. “They’re diggers,” said Al. “Their first instinct is to head back into the structure and it’s hell keeping them out of it.” If nice weather continues, we look for great fishing throughout the area. We’re experiencing excellent weather, with daily highs in the 80s. Best local action has been taking place in Sarasota Bay. Greg Sanchez of Massachusetts joined my on a recent outing can caught a load of spotted seatrout and Spanish mackerel. Capt. Rick Grassett of the Snook Fin-Addict advised me the day prior that there had been redfish and snook on the edge of the sand bar from Whitfield Avenue south at low tide. Since we were supposed to have a negative low tide, I picked that area. Someone forget to tell the reds and snook. I talked with Rick a day later and he told me that he didn’t get any fish along that edge. Neither did the other skippers to whom he talked. So, Greg and I paddled south toward Stephens Point. We caught and released spotted seatrout to 19 inches over deep grass just north of the Ringling Mansion. When that action slowed, we head for the deep grass off Stephens Point. We were the only boats there. I would guest that we caught and released 30 seatrout and a couple of mackerel. We had a number of the speedy mackerel on, but lost them to cut leaders or hooks pulling. All fish were taken on olive-and-white Clouser Deep Minnows and chartreuse-and-white Clousers. We were using 6- and 7-weight fly rods with sinktip lines. There also were some feisty bluefish over the deep grass. We hooked a few, but didn’t land any. Tom Watson of Louisiana joined me for his inaugural saltwater fishing trip in the area. We chose to fish Little Sarasota Bay. That’s where you can usually count on spotted seatrout and ladyfish this time of year. We weren’t disappointed. Tom caught and released a number of fish on jigs and shad tails. Little Sarasota Bay often produces a few pompano this time of year. I’m sure they are there, but we didn’t catch or see any. Little Sarasota Bay is a great place for less-experienced anglers, first-time fly fishers or beginning saltwater enthusiasts. We can usually guarantee bent rods throughout the day. This time last year, I had John Sommers of Wisconsin out. The 71-year-old caught and released 35 spotted seatrout and large ladyfish on fly rod. It was his first saltwater fly fishing trip. Steve Gibson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fly anglers, Steve Koerner from CO, and his cousin, Peter Widmann from CA, fished Sarasota Bay and Little Sarasota Bay with me last Wednesday through Friday. They had fast action with trout and ladyfish on deep grass flats. They also caught and released several bluefish and Spanish mackerel and a pair of snook. We fished Ultra Hair Clouser flies at Stephen’s Point, in Big Pass and near Buttonwood Harbor in Sarasota Bay and near Blackburn Point in Little Sarasota Bay. On a couple of days, they caught and released about 30 fish on flies. We snook fished on Thursday evening in the ICW from Blackburn Point to Albee road and only caught one snook. A slow tide was the likely culprit for the slow snook fishing.
Howard Bensel and his girlfriend, Deb, both from PA, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday. We spent most of our time in Big Pass catching and releasing bluefish and large ladyfish on Diamond jigs and MirrOlure Top Dog, Jrs. They caught and released more than 25 fish, mostly blues, before the action finally slowed. We spent the rest of the trip fishing the west side of the bay where they caught and released several trout, ladyfish and a 3-pound bluefish on DOA Deadly combos. A front pushed through our area on Monday evening, dropping the air temperature into the 50’s. The water temperature will also drop and fish will be on the move for the next couple of days. By the end of the week, temperatures will moderate and the water will warm back up. In the meantime, fishing may be better in the afternoon. Tides will be favorable later in the week and next week for tailing reds in Gasparilla and Pine Island Sounds.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett Boca Grande, Fl. Report by Capt. Pete Greenan Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 11/11 through 11/24/2007
Orvis Fishing Manager, Rich Merlino, of the Royal Oak, MI store, his brother-in-law, Steve and Steve’s dad, Wayne, joined me for a trip in Charlotte Harbor on Monday, November 12th. They caught and released snook, reds and trout on my Flats Minnow and Clouser flies and CAL jigs. CB’s Saltwater Outfitters manager, Mason Tush from Sarasota, FL, and outdoor writer David Brown, from Tampa, FL, joined me for a Sarasota Bay trip the next day. The goal was to get a photo worthy snook and whatever else that came our way. It was a successful trip that included several reds to 26”, a 27 ½” snook, trout and bluefish. Most fish were caught and released with CAL jigs and shad tails or DOA Deadly Combos. The best action was along the east side of Sarasota Bay. A couple of other trips in Sarasota Bay later that week produced trout, bluefish, pompano and ladyfish on jigs and flies. Fly anglers, Harry Davis from Dalton, GA, and Fen Sartorius, from NM, fished Gasparilla Sound in Charlotte Harbor with me on Saturday, November 17th. They had a couple of takes by reds on my Flats Minnow fly. One fish ate a black Flats Minnow fly in Bull Bay and the other one, a tailer, ate a white one. They had shots at about a dozen tailing reds in Gasparilla Sound at the bottom of the tide. This is the time of the year when reds will tail on shallow grass flats of Gasparilla and Pine Island Sounds when conditions are right. We had a few excellent trips in both Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor this week. Eric and Dave Buls, both from IN, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Tuesday. We started off catching and releasing blues, Spanish mackerel and large ladyfish on the New Pass bar with MirrOlure Top Dog, Jr’s and Diamond jigs. We moved into Sarasota Bay later in the morning where they caught and released 4 reds to 26”, about 20 trout to 18”, a 4 ½ -pound pompano and an 18” flounder. All fish were caught on either CAL jigs with plastic tails or DOA Deadly Combos. Along the east side of Sarasota Bay and near Buttonwood Harbor. Joe Larosa, from North Port, FL, fished Gasparilla Sound with me the next day. He started the day off with a pompano, almost as big as the one we caught the day before, and finished the day with 5 reds and an 18” trout. All fish were caught on CAL jigs with shad tails in Gasparilla Sound and Bull Bay. Bill Beauchamp, from Bradenton, FL, and his daughter, Noelle, joined me for a Sarasota Bay trip on Friday. We fished the east side of Sarasota Bay and had good action. They caught and released 3 reds to 26” (including a double), about 15 trout to 18” and a nice bluefish on CAL jigs with shad tails and DOA Deadly Combos. It’s nice to see Sarasota Bay healthy again! Next week’s negative low, two tide days will be perfect for tailing reds in Charlotte Harbor. I also look for flats and coastal gulf action in Sarasota to continue as we head away from today’s full moon. Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 10/15 through 10/21/2007
Keith McClintock and Barry Slee, both from Lake Forest, IL, fished with me the next 3 days. We fished canals in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte for juvenile tarpon on Tuesday and found very few fish. We worked a concentration of tarpon in a spot for more than an hour without a hook up and moved on in search of better action. With a low tide at mid day and not much water moving, we worked the sand bar on the east side of Charlotte Harbor south of Alligator Creek. We caught and released a small cobia and a couple of trout with weedless-rigged CAL shad tails and jerk worms. The next day we fished Sarasota and started in the coastal gulf off Siesta Key. We found a large bait ball being blitzed by little tunny just outside of Big Pass. We hooked up several times with a large white Clouser fly and a MirrOlure Top Dog, Jr. and they disappeared as quickly as they popped up. Later we fished the east side of Sarasota Bay where we caught and released snook, trout, bluefish and jacks on DOA Deadly Combos and CAL jigs with a variety of plastic tails. Barry had to leave on Wednesday evening, but Keith and I fished Charlotte Harbor again on Thursday, but this time in Gasparilla Sound. We started off by locating a nice school of reds and hooking up a couple of times with a MirrOlure Top Dog, Jr. We found the rest of the day tough, catching and releasing a few trout and a 26” snook with CAL jigs and plastic tails and DOA Deadly Combos. Capt. Rick Grassett’s Fishing Report for 10/8 through 10/14/2007 Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key, FL, and I did some scouting in the coastal gulf off Siesta and Lido Keys on Monday. We found a few little tunny early off Siesta Key, but couldn’t get a good shot at them. However, we moved to the close reef off Lido Key and found fast action with Spanish mackerel to more than 3-pounds on Crease and Clouser flies. The next day, I fished Charlotte Harbor with Mason Tush, Brian Reese and Justin Chevas, all from Sarasota, FL. They were enjoying a week’s stay at a condo in the Boca Grande area and a couple of days of guided fishing purchased at last year’s Sarasota CCA Banquet. My donated trip was part of the package. The morning was slow, but the action picked up in the afternoon. They caught and released numerous trout to 21”, a snook and a red to complete a slam on the boat. The best action was with top water plugs, DOA Deadly Combos and weedless-rigged CAL shad and curly tails near Sandfly Key and Whidden Creek. Gordon Bentley, owner of Bentley’s Outfitters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN area, fished with me on Wednesday. We fished the coastal gulf for a couple of hours and found nothing on the surface. Anglers trolling and fishing live bait at a couple of the artificial reefs off Lido were catching king and Spanish mackerel, so the fish were there. We came into Sarasota Bay where we caught and released jacks, ladyfish and trout with Clouser flies. Bill Taylor, from NH, and Rob McDonald, from OK, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Thursday. We stopped off Siesta Key at first light and there were no breaking fish. However, they hooked a pair of king mackerel and a big shark on a MirrOlure Top Dog, Jr. The kings skyrocketed on the plugs, but didn’t stay hooked. The shark ate the plug all the way above 8" of wire! It only lasted about 15 minutes, but it makes me want to go back and cast Crease flies at first light when I have a chance. In Sarasota Bay they caught trout, ladyfish, jacks and sailcats on DOA Deadly Combos. On Saturday, I was one of the participants in Andy Thornal Outfitters, of Winterhaven, FL, Fly Fishing Expo. Capts. Keiland Smith, Dan Malzone, John Kumiski and Tom Van Horn all did presentations on a variety of topics and participated in fly casting clinics. In addition, Capt. Bryon Chamberlin and Capt. Frank Rhodes, Leigh West and Steve Parker, all members of the Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club and George Kremer tied flies throughout the day and also participated in the casting clinics. Orvis rep. Robert Bryant, from NC, and Allen Wyatt, with Andy Thornal Outfitters, were on hand to demo the new Orvis ZG Helios fly rods. Wow! These rods are going to be a hit. It is the lightest fly rod I have ever cast! We had a small front come through this weekend and the air is a little cooler. This should jump start the fishing in the coastal gulf. Flats fishing should continue to get better as the water cools. There is still time to enter the MCFF/CCA “Fall Fly Fishing Challenge” to be held out of Ken Thompson Park on Oct. 27th. Contact me for more info. Tight Lines, Oct. 13, 2007 - Capt. Steve Gibson Dusty sprague and I only got to fish for a day and a half (work comes first!). We were about 2 weeks early for the big browns to start bitting, so we caught mostly rainbows,cutthroats and brooke trout. My sister fished the final day with us, her first time ever fly fishing, and she took honors catching a 22 and 1/2 inch brown. I gathered some info for the club, we rented a mini van for the week, 205.00, guides prices are a full day for 2 people-275.00 and a half day- 175.00. There is no slow season because they pump the water for the dams from the middle of the lakes, so the water stays a constant 44 degrees, fall and spring is ideal because of the spawn. Striper, smallmouth, bass and bluegill. The fish hatchery is first class, they release about 1.7 millon rainbows a year into the 2 rivers, 200,000 cuttthroats and the rest brown trout.
They do have trophy areas on the rivers which means catch and release only, fly, barbless hooks, no live or artificial bait. My 3 day licesnce and trout stamp was 33.00.
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PHOTO: Chub Bortz, from Swiftwater, PA, caught this pompano with an Ultra Hair Clouser fly on an Orvis T-3 8-weight rod with an intermediate line while fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Rick Grassett. 
PHOTO: Fly angler Tom Newman, from Oakton, VA, caught and released this nice trout on a Grassettt's Flats Minnow fly while fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Rick Grassett
Fly angler Tom Newman, from Oakton, VA, got blown out of a trip with me on Wednesday, but we were able to make it up on Saturday due to a cancellation. Tom caught and released bluefish, Spanish mackerel and trout on Ultra Hair Clouser flies and my Flats Minnow fly. He caught and released 6 or 8 blues and a Spanish mackerel in Big Pass and at the Middleground flat. The best action was sight-casting big trout in potholes near Long Bar where Tom caught and released several trout including a 3-pounder and a pair that went over 4-pounds.
Friday: Fished with Dick Tremblay, President of the CT/RI Coastal Fly Fishers. We caught some large trout and ladyfish, jacks etc. Fought a stiff wind all day. Lunch at the Fishery Restaurant, Oysters Rockerfeller were great, as usual. Back to the house for a tall gin and tonic and a Cohiba by 2:00.
PHOTO: Hal Lutz, from Parrish, FL, caught and released this red on a Grassett's Flats Minnow fly while fishing Terra Ceia Bay with Capt. Rick Grassett.
How about those redfish? Rick DePaiva and I, along with photographer David McCleaf, fished Pine Island Sound for tailing redfish. We had at least 50 shots at fish in very shallow water. See attached pix. We used Rick's "MerQuan" pattern and every fish he threw it at chased it down. It is a great pattern, but you'll have to ask him for it. I'm sworn to secrecy. Bob and Tim Barr spin fished Wednesday catching about 75 fish between them. The highlight was the tailing reds in the backcountry of Bull & Turtle Bays. We caught two while sight fishing on plastic jerk baits from DOA.
The redfish will continue to tail through the next cold front. Seatrout will continue to be plentiful unless the cold front puts them down for a couple of days next week. The warm water adn abundant bait will keep the snook active up to the front which is scheduled to pass us Wednesday. The change in weather may bring the pelagic species more into play. Little tunny and Spanish mackerel should show up in big numbers soon. Although I have been predicting that for a while now, it seems the time is right. Of course, you never know for sure. Either way, it'll be great fishing in January. 
Fishing with Rex Gudgel (shown at left), a guide at Unicoi Outfitters in Helen, Ga., last week was very successful. Rex caught snook to 25 inches near Bull Bay, tailing redfish just north of Demere Key in Pine Island Sound and seatrout to 24 inches in potholes west of Pineland, Fl. We used Estaz marabou for the snook, a light tan crab pattern for the tailers and just about anything else for the seatrout. Wade fishing produced the most fish as usual. One of the more rare fly rod catches fell to Rex when he caught a grouper on the grass big enough to take line.
PHOTO: Capt. Andy Cotton, from Sarasota, FL, caught and released this nice pompano on a fly while fishing Sarasota Bay with his father-in-law, Capt. Rick Grassett.
PHOTO: Fly angler Steve Koerner, from Colorado, caught this nice Spanish mackerel on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly while fishing the coastal gulf off Lido Key with Capt. Rick Grassett.
PHOTO: Orvis, Royal Oak, MI store fishing manager, Rich Merlino, caught and released this snook on a white Grassett's Flats Minnow fly while fishing Charlotte Harbor with Capt. Rick Grassett.
PHOTO: Orvis Regional Business Manager, Robert Bryant from Greesboro, NC with a nice Sarasota albie caught on a Clouser fly while fishing off Siesta Key with Capt. Rick Grassett.
Redfish are always a main target in the fall. They are living up to their name and numbers. Most flats have at least a few reds on them and many of the mangrove islands are holding fish. Because the water is still warm, the fish are localized closer to the gulf passes where there is clear tidal water. I am still using bait fish imitations except when sight fishing on the high tide. Then a shrimp or crab imitation works well. On Wednesday, we caught and released two very nice reds near Placida Harbor on Ron Whiteley's Estaz marabou, a favorite baitfish imitation. I'll attach a photo for you.
I went to Miami last weekend and the weekend before. I fished with Alan Zaremba and Steve Gibson in a canal in south Miami for peacock bass. We caught 16 on top water lures and crank baits. Lots of fun. I even caught a Midas cichlid, a bright orange aquarium style fish. It was pretty cool.
On Oct. 12, Tony Saviano of the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers joined us for a day at Lake Manatee. He paddled his new Redfish 14 Angler. Tony caught and released 40 bluegill (most of them as large as his hand) and one small bass.
Trip to Arkansas - from Kevin at Casey Key Anglers
The last day we went with a guide and lost track of fish numbers, there are plenty of wading areas there on the northfolk which is 4.5 miles of fishing waters and on the white about 95 miles of fishing waters. 