Capt. Rick Grassett Sarasota

Anglers fishing with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had some action catching and releasing snook and Spanish mackerel in Sarasota Bay and the coastal gulf on flies during the past week.

I did some scouting in the coastal gulf on Thursday and had fast action catching and releasing Spanish mackerel on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. Sharks in the 50 to 60-lb class also showed up in the fray. One ate a mackerel that I had on and another ate my #4 size fly right next to the boat. I fought the shark to the boat in about 20-minutes on an 8-wt fly rod before it finally chewed through my 40-lb fluorocarbon leader!

Juan Manuel Castro Page and sons, Juan Manuel and Santiago, from Chile, fished with me on Friday. We fished lighted docks before dawn and they caught and released a few snook on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. We fished the coastal gulf after that where they had good action catching and releasing Spanish mackerel on a variety of glass minnow fly patterns. The boys also got in on some of the action, stripping the fly and hooking their own fish!

There should be good action with trout and more on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay. Look for action with Spanish mackerel, false albacore (little tunny) and tripletail in the coastal gulf to take off in the coming weeks. Fishing lighted docks and bridges in the ICW for snook with flies and DOA Lures should also be a good option. You may find juvenile tarpon, trout or reds mixed with snook in dock lights. You should also find juvenile tarpon in canals and creeks and adult tarpon in upper Charlotte Harbor and some areas of Sarasota and Tampa Bay.

Tight Lines,