Sarasota, Rick Grassett

A fly angler fishing with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action catching and releasing snook around dock lights in Sarasota on a trip during the past week. Randy Ritzenhaler and his daughter Elise, from TX, fished a predawn snook/flats trip with me on Wednesday. He had good action catching and releasing numerous snook on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly before daylight. He also had some action after daylight catching and releasing a couple of mangrove snapper on an Ultra Hair Clouser fly. Elise caught and released a big sailcat on a DOA Deadly Combo that she cast, worked and landed on her own! If you have any interest in learning to fly fish, I do private instruction as well as instructional fly fishing trips.

We saw lots of life in the area that we fished, including mullet, batfish, birds and dolphins. Red tide in the Sarasota area has improved due to an east wind pattern that we’ve been in for a couple of weeks. There are some areas that are unaffected and fish may concentrate in those areas. Red tide is often patchy and can change from day to day and even tide to tide. The key to good fishing now is finding clean water that is unaffected by red tide. Red tide doesn’t do well in fresh water, so areas where salinity is diluted such as creek and river mouths, may be a good option.

CB’s Saltwater Outfitters is having a huge 60% off sale this weekend, Sat and Sun, Sept 8 and 9. Don’t miss it! Also, don’t forget that snook and reds are now catch and release only from portions of Manatee County to Collier County. Full details including exact boundaries can be found at, http://myfwc.com/media/4483041/eo18-38.pdf . This is a great time of year to beat the heat, by fishing dock lights before dawn, which is the coolest time of day. In addition to snook, you may also find juvenile tarpon, trout and reds in the lights as we head into fall. There should also be some tarpon action in areas of upper Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. Our natural resources are under constant pressure from red tides fueled by agricultural and residential runoff, freezes, increasing fishing pressure and habitat loss and degradation, please limit your kill, don’t kill your limit!

Tight Lines,