Saturday, August 25, 2012

Sarasota Fishing Report 8-2012

Sarasota, FL Fishing Report
by Capt. Rick Grassett
8/25/2012


After being away for a couple of weeks on a family vacation and hosting a group of clients on my annual trip to Crane Meadow Lodge in Twin Bridges, Montana, it’s good to be back home in Sarasota. As beautiful as it is in many other places, returning to the paradise we live in makes the end of a fishing trip or vacation easier to accept. Late summer is typically a slower time of the year with great fishing!

Catch and release snook around lighted docks and bridges, trout and reds on the flats, false albacore (little tunny) in the coastal gulf and late season tarpon are some of the options available now. This time of year I often fish for snook or tarpon around lighted docks and bridges before dawn and then move to shallow flats for reds and trout in the “witching hour”, the first hour of daylight. When heat starts to affect fishing, usually before noon, it’s time to head for home. False albacore will usually start to become plentiful along beaches or in the Tampa Bay ship channel as bait becomes thick. There may be a few tarpon left in the coastal gulf, although you’ll find more in upper Charlotte Harbor right now. Large fish may be feeding in baitfish or ladyfish schools in open water and you might find juvenile tarpon to about 40-pounds in creeks and canals. It’s not the clear water, sight fishing that we enjoy along our beaches, but they show up there to eat!

I scouted Sarasota Bay early on Friday and found good conditions. Except for some floating grass, the water was clear and not too warm (85 degrees) for that time of day. I also found good conditions in the coastal gulf and saw lots of bait schools in a tide line close to passes.

I caught and released a few trout on CAL jigs with jerk worms and located some reds along the west side of the bay. The key to finding reds is often finding mullet schools. Reds like to embed themselves in large schools of mullet to feed on baitfish and crustaceans being spooked by the mullet, although it may still require a lot of blind casting to catch them.

Tropical storm/Hurricane Isaac will more than likely affect our weather early next week. However, conditions should improve by the middle of the week and depending on how much rain we get, fishing should rebound quickly. Catch and release snook before dawn and then moving to the flats for trout and reds in Sarasota Bay should be a good option. Tarpon in upper Charlotte Harbor may also be a good option and often an influx of water can make that even better.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Rick Grassett
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Orvis- Endorsed Outfitter Guide
CB’s Saltwater Outfitters-2011 Orvis Outfitter of the Year
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com






Catch and release snook around lighted docks and bridges on flies or CAL jigs with shad tails or jerk worms should be a good option now. Dan Bolin, from TX, caught and released this one on a Grassett Snook Minnow fly while fishing with Capt. Rick Grassett in early August.
apalachicola redfish

Kathy Jansen's Birthday Fish! Caught this morning with Capt. Jr.

I'm going to make this short & sweet. The weather is supposed to be great this weekend and the redfish bite is ON! Put those together and you get a successful fishing trip to brag about before any inclement weather hits us here. We can hook you up with an inshore or offshore trip and I can even find you a place to stay at the last minute. Check out our fishing reports on the website or go to the Robinson Brothers Facebook page to keep up with the action.

Planning a Fall Fishing trip? It's not too early to make your reservations, especially for larger groups. It's nearly time for me to get started on booking for 2013 as well so be sure to get your "wants" in! Tommy Robinson is in Key West and has the last couple of weekends in September open if business or pleasure takes you even farther south.

Ever had to eat your words? I swore up and down for years & years that I was never going to get into the vacation rental business. Heck, I can hardly stand to clean my own toilets, much less those in a rental house. Well, get out the salt shaker cause I've already got 5 places to manage here in Apalachicola. There's everything from Jr's Riverfront Houseboat to a stand alone Studio apartment with a few Upscale Condos thrown in for good measure and they are all within walking distance of Apalachicola's shops, restaurants & the riverfront. View the Vacation Rentals on the Robinson Real Estate website or email me for links to the VRBO listings.

Well, I've got to go take photos of a house for someone in Ohio - hope to hear from y'all soon!

Kathy Robinson
Robinson Brothers Guide Service
850-653-8896
http://www.FloridaRedfish.com

Ft Lauderdale Charter Fishing 8-2012

Fort Lauderdale deep sea fishing has been good for the first half of August. Anglers fishing with my crew aboard the Reel Work have kept buisy catching good numbers of speedy, fun to catch bonito. Kingmackerel, blackfin tuna, mahi-mahi, and an occasional wahoo have rounded out the catch while trolling. Baracuda and snapper have kept our anglers happy when we droped a line on local wrecks and reefs.

July 31st- Bonito are making up the majority of the fish anglers aboard the Reel Work are catching. Kingmackerel, tuna and a few wahoo rounded out todays catch.

Aug. 7th- There are plenty of bonitobiting. Our anglers also caught a few kingmackerel, blackfin tuna while trolling. Local wrecks and reefs are producing a few hard fighting baracuda and some nice snapper.

Aug. 15th- Bonito are still making up the majority of the fish we are catching. The kingmackerel, (kingfish), were biting better today. We also caught a few blackfin tuna, some mahi-mahi and a couple of wahoo. Overall the fishing remains good and I don't expect that to change over the next few months.

Reel Work Sport Fishing Charters
301 Seabreeze Blvd.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
954-522-9399
1-877-524-9377