Sarasota, Rick Grassett

Anglers fishing with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action catching and releasing snook in the ICW and tripletail in the coastal gulf on flies during the past week. After a brief flurry of action last week in the coastal gulf with false albacore (little tunny),    those fish temporarily moved on.

I fished the coastal gulf on a trip last Sunday. With the albies not there, rough water and poor visibility, conditions weren’t good for tripletail either. Pete Pedersen, from MA, fished the ICW with me before daylight on Tuesday morning. With a strong outgoing tide, snook were on a bite and he had good action catching and releasing numerous snook on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. I scouted the coastal gulf later in the week with good conditions and found tripletail plentiful and caught and released several on my Grassett Flats Bunny fly.

Fishing dock lights in the evening or before dawn, which is the coolest time of day, is still a good option for catch and release snook fishing. This is also a great time of year to fish the coastal gulf for false albacore, tripletail, Spanish mackerel and more. 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,