Fishing in Sarasota resumes after Irma

Sarasota dodged a bullet as Hurricane Irma skirted by. While we missed the brunt force of the storm, we did receive a bunch of rain and wind. The salinity in Sarasota Bay was very low. However, conditions are returning to normal and fishing has been quite good. Bait is thick in the passes, out on the beach, and in spots throughout the bay. I ran a Siesta Key fishing charter this morning with Fred Swank from Ohio. Fred caught a bunch of fish, including an "inshore slam", which consists of a speckled trout, redfish, and snook in one day. We started off catching jacks and ladyfish in Big Pass using shrimp and Rapala X-Raps. I caught bait and used that to chum up the redfish, snook, and snapper near mangrove shorelines. Chumming on the deep grass at Stephen's Pt produced speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, snapper, jacks, and grouper. {%image_id=55760%}