Late season tarpon action continues to be good. Although we had a couple of slow days, tarpon got aggressive as we approached the new moon of July 30th. Fly anglers fishing the coastal gulf off Sarasota with me on my Action Craft flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, jumped 5 tarpon and landed 2 during the past couple of days.
We had quite a few shots at tarpon and several follows on Monday and Tuesday. My brother, Kirk Grassett from Middletown, DE, and friend Nick Delle Donne, from Lancaster, PA, fished with me from Thursday through Saturday. Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key, joined us to fish in his Hells Bay skiff on Thursday (2 boats). We were left with a big swell and tough conditions from a tropical wave that passed through on Wednesday, but despite that Nick jumped and landed a 90-lb tarpon on a fly with Rusty that day.
We fished Sarasota Bay in the morning on Friday and Saturday and caught and released trout to 17”, a bluefish and a pompano on Clouser and Nick’s Motion Minnow flies. Tarpon action heated up those days as the numbers of fish bumped up and they got aggressive. Kirk and Nick each jumped a tarpon on Friday and Nick fought his fish for about 40 minutes before the hook pulled close to the boat. The action reached a peak on Saturday as we jumped 3 fish and landed 2 of them, each about 75-lbs. We battled tough conditions late in the day as a stiff sea breeze blew against a strong outgoing tide and made it very rough. Kirk jumped and landed a fish late in the day that almost broke us off while he cleared his fly line. The fly line grabbed a zinger pinned to his shirt, almost ripping his shirt off and then wrapped around his foot. After making it past those hurdles, he battled the fish in rough seas. Despite all that, the fish was alongside the boat and DNA sampled within about 30 minutes. A memorable fish!
Although tarpon numbers are dwindling, they are aggressive. We averaged a dozen or more shots a day at the end of the week and if you got the fly in the right spot they ate it! Tarpon will thin in the coastal gulf as we head into August, but they’ll move to inside waters where you may catch them around bridges or find them feeding in bait schools in deeper areas. Action should also be good on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay for trout, blues and more.
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
Kirk Grassett, from Midletown, DE, jumped this tarpon on a fly in the coastal gulf off Sarasota while fishing with his brother, Capt. Rick Grassett.
Nick Delle Donne, from Lancaster, PA, "bows to the king" while fishing the coastal gulf off Sarasota with Capt. Rick Grassett.
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