Sarasota, Rick Grassett

Anglers fishing with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action catching and releasing snook at night and Spanish mackerel and tripletail in the coastal gulf on flies and trout and flounder on CAL jigs with shad tails in the Terra Ceia area during the past week.

Kirk Grassett, from Middletown, DE and Nick Delle Donne, from Lancaster, PA, snook fished with me in Sarasota recently before heading over to Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge to fly fish for bonefish. We fished before daylight and had good action catching and releasing numerous snook on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. We fished the coastal gulf after daylight and caught and released Spanish mackerel and a tripletail on my Grassett Snook Minnow and Flats Bunny fly.

I also spent a couple of days fishing the Terra Ceia area. Marshall Dinerman and his friend Edwin, both from Atlanta, fished with me one day and Tim Graham, from Nokomis and Pat Redmond, from Sarasota, also fished that area with me another day. We had some action with trout on deep grass flats and flounder in potholes on CAL jigs with shad tails.

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 when conditions are good. The key to success is finding clean water. 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,