Fishing Report 08/08/2007 – Capt. Terry Frankford
Anglers aboard the Reelin & Chillin Charters have been catching many species this week including Redfish, Trout, Pompano, Ladyfish, Sheepshead, and Mangrove Snapper to name a few. Trout are really starting to come back in the north Sarasota Bay area and Redfish are still around structure like docks and mangroves. Snapper are also hanging around structure and on grass flats in water between four to six feet.
Here are a few fish stories to enjoy from anglers aboard the Reelin & Chillin this week.
Kim Bastin and family Kim, Julie, and Jami all had great action with Ladyfish, Trout, and best of all Pompano. Three Pompano were landed that provided fantastic light tackle action - 10lb test line and a Pompano equals a great battle for the angler. Also, Pompano are super on the table so these anglers completed the day with fun and food.
Chris Autiello, son Zach, daughter Gabby, and Chris Giordano had a slow start with a great end on a morning charter. Starting out we did manage a few Trout and Ladyfish, however they were few and far between. We kept moving around to different grass flats hoping to find a little faster paced action with no luck. I decided to move to structure in mid Sarasota Bay and it paided off. Before we new it we had four Reds in the livewell all caught in the last hour of the charter.
David Potts, wife Ann, and daughters Gill, and Jess had some great action on the grass flats. All enjoyed catching Trout and Ladyfish using corks with a live shrimp underneath. Then we headed to some docks and David picked up a nice Redfish that he decided to release and a few Mangrove Snapper were also caught and released.
Eric Moore, wife Vanessa, daughter Erica, and sons, Eric, Bryce, and Braden all had an action packed day on the flats and around structure. All anglers caught and released plenty of Trout, Ladyfish, and Jacks with Eric Sr. landing a Jack that went around five plus pounds. This made for a great fight even though Eric was NY Giants 1988 first round draft pick and retired from the Miami Dolphis in 1995 you still need finesse to catch a fish this big on light tackle. Then later in the afternoon Eric Sr. also caught a nice Redfish to complete dinner for the evening.
David Wright, son Chris, friends Fran Schaap, and Daryl Quinn had a good day on the bay. Lots of fish, however not to many keepers. The big event was when Chris flipped a big hand-picked shrimp under a dock and a thirty inch Redfish decided to eat. We had to pull anchor and back away from the dock with the intention of getting into open water to fight the fish. We managed to do so and the Red was caught and release after a quick photo.
Bait used inshore on these trips was live shrimp, free lined or with a Billy Bay Aggravator cork when necessary to keep the bait from getting into the sea grass. At times depending on current or wind conditions when free lining shrimp I would add a split shot sinker to keep the bait in the target zone. I used a number four MUTU Owner Circle hook for most species tied to a twenty-pound test fluorocarbon leader that went to ten pound test line on the reel. An Okuma V-30 spinning reel mounted on a St. Croix Tide-master fast action rod made for great light tackle action.
Tight Lines & Good Times, Capt. Terry Frankford
Reelin & Chillin Charters Inc.
941-228-7802
http://www.charterfishingsarasota.com/
terry.frankford@verizon.net
