Sarasota, Rick Grassett

Fly anglers fishing with me, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action with tarpon during the past week. With the weather in a normal pattern of an east breeze in the morning, an afternoon sea breeze and plenty of sun, fly anglers had numerous shots at tarpon each day, jumping several and catching and releasing a couple.

I had a real treat earlier in the week when Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key and I had an opportunity to fish the backcountry of Pine Island Sound for juvenile tarpon with our friend, Capt. Joe Harley of Snooktown Charters out of Matlacha, FL (www.snooktown.com or 239-443-7412). We had great action jumping numerous tarpon in the 15 to 30-pound class and leadering a couple of them on 8-wt fly tackle. Great fun and a change of pace from beach tarpon fishing. These fish usually jump higher and more often than their larger brethren! I also fished with Rusty back in Sarasota on Wednesday. We had numerous shots at tarpon and Rusty hooked up, getting numerous jumps and runs during a 20-minute fight before the hook pulled.

Hal Lutz, from Parrish, FL and Jeb Mulock, from Bradenton, FL, fished with me on Thursday and Friday. Hal was the first to score when he hooked up on Thursday and fought his fish to the boat. Jeb hooked up twice on Friday, jumping one tarpon and fighting the fish for about 30-minutes before we had an unexpected break off. He immediately hooked up again fighting the second tarpon through several jumps and runs before it was leadered. Great job!

Tarpon fishing should be good next week as we head towards a full moon. Tarpon are getting in a good mood now as many fish are post spawn and becoming more aggressive. Snook season remains closed on the west coast of Florida until Sep 1st, so please handle them gently and release them quickly. Fishing lighted docks and bridges in the ICW for snook with flies and DOA Lures continues to be a good option. This is also a good time frame to sight fish for snook in the surf.

Tight Lines,