Anglers fishing with me on the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with tarpon, trout and snook recently. Tarpon are still fairly plentiful and are a good option; particularly fly fishing for them in shallow water. In addition, we also caught a few bluefish and Spanish mackerel while fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay.
Justin and Melissa Jones, from TX, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Sunday, July 19th. We fished deep grass flats near Buttonwood Harbor where they caught and released trout on DOA Deadly Combos and CAL jigs with shad tails. My friend Capt. Bryon Chamberlin, from Land O’Lakes, FL, tarpon fished with me on Monday, July 20th. We fished shallow water near Siesta and Lido Keys and had excellent action. Tarpon were plentiful and we probably had more than 30 shots at fish, 6 bites, 4 jumped and one of them landed. A great day!
My friend, Steve Gibson from Sarasota, FL, tarpon fished with me the next day but the tarpon weren’t as aggressive. We had almost as many shots with a fly but no bites. Nick Coote and his son, George, both from near London, England fished with me on Tuesday. We spent half of our trip fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay near Buttonwood Harbor where they caught and released trout to 22”, bluefish and a Spanish mackerel on Clouser flies, DOA Deadly Combos and CAL jigs. Once we had good sunlight, we headed for the gulf to try our hand at tarpon. They had a couple of shots, but no takers.
The action continued on Thursday when my son-in-law, Capt. Andy Cotton joined me to tarpon fish. Andy put a fish in the air with a traditional style tarpon fly (chartreuse grizzly with an olive collar) and we had more than 20 shots. Alfredo Hernandez and his friend, Santiago, both from Miami, FL, tarpon fished with me on Friday. We snook fished around lighted docks on Siesta Key for an hour or so before dawn and they caught and released 4 or 5 snook before we headed for the gulf. Alfredo jumped a tarpon on a threadfin off Siesta Key, but that was the only action we had. Fly angler, Al Cuneo from Ellenton, FL, tarpon fished with me on Saturday. We had more than a dozen good shots but no bites. We had a hard follow but the fish ran out of water and spooked off the boat before he had a chance to eat.
The action continued into this week. I was off on Monday and planned to do some errands and office work but conditions were too good for me stay home. With an afternoon appointment to work around, I only had a couple of hours to spare but it was worth it. I had more than 20 shots at tarpon off Siesta, Lido and Longboat Keys and landed one on a black Deceiver. My friends Capt. Rick Depaiva and David McCleaf, both from Ft. Myers, joined me to fish on Tuesday. We had great conditions and more than 30 shots at tarpon with a fly in shallow water. David had the hot hand that day with 2 hook ups, one on a black Deceiver and the other on a black and red Tarpon Rat fly. One came unbuttoned right away, but the other fish gave us 5 jumps and a 10 minute battle before the leader somehow broke with the fish close to the boat.
I was the guest of friend and client Hal Lutz, from Parrish, FL, on Wednesday. The day started off great with good conditions and we had 6 or 8 good shots. Then the clouds rolled in and ruined our visibility. We stuck it out, even though the shots we were getting were not good ones. I got lucky when I jumped a fish that showed up right at our transom and flared off the boat. I made a cast to where the fish was headed with a black and red Tarpon Rat fly and hooked up. A knot came up and snagged a finger as I was clearing line and broke the fish off on a jump. Oh well!
Tarpon are starting to thin a little, but this action should continue for another week or two, possibly longer. After that, tarpon will move to inside waters where you may get a shot at them around bridges or on deep grass flats. Snook before dawn and reds, trout and more on shallow grass flats early in the day will also be good options.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com
Capt. Rick Grassett with a tarpon caught and released off Siesta Key on a black Deceiver fly. Capt. Bryon Chamberlin photo.
George Coote, from the UK, with a nice trout caught and released on a DOA Deadly Combo while fishing Sarasota Bay with Capt. Rick Grassett.
David McCleaf, from Ft. Myers, FL, jumps a nice tarpon on a black Deceiver fly off Siesta Key while fishing with Capt. Rick Grassett. Capt. Rick DePaiva photo.
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