Good Action on Sarasota Bay Flats and Coastal Gulf

Anglers fishing with me, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action catching and releasing trout and bluefish in Sarasota Bay and tripletail, Spanish mackerel and false albacore (little tunny) in the coastal gulf on flies, CAL jigs with shad tails, jerk worms and DOA Shrimp during the past week. As anticipated, with the water temperature down to the mid 70's, action turned on in the coastal gulf. Marshall Dinerman and a guest, both from Atlanta, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday, 10/23. We worked deep grass flats on the east side of the bay and they had steady action catching and releasing trout on DOA Deadly Combos. {%image_id=56408%} Fly anglers Ken Babineau, from Sarasota, and Mike Mcadaragh, from Longboat Key, fished the coastal gulf with me on Friday, 10/27. It was still breezy following a front earlier in the week, but they had numerous sight casting opportunities at tripletail, hooking a couple and catching and releasing one. Although the fish were small, it is still fun to sight cast to them since it requires pinpoint casting accuracy in sometimes challenging conditions. Hal Lutz, from Parrish, FL and Jeb Mulock, from Bradenton, also got in on the action with tripletail on Saturday, 10/28 with Hal catching and releasing his first tripletail on a fly. They also had some action catching and releasing Spanish mackerel and had a couple of shots at false albacore (little tunny) that were blitzing glass minnow schools. {%image_id=56409%} {%image_id=56410%} {%image_id=56411%} Fly anglers Jim Collins, from Bradenton, FL and Dave Graham, from Evergreen, CO, fished with me on Tuesday and Thursday, 10/31 and 11/2. We worked deep grass flats on the east side of Sarasota Bay on Tuesday and they had steady action catching and releasing numerous trout and several nice bluefish on Ultra Hair Clouser flies. We fished the coastal gulf on Thursday and it was on fire! They had great action catching and releasing Spanish mackerel and 7 or 8 albies on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. Although you usually have to work hard for them, the fish stayed up all day long, blitzing glass minnow schools and giving us steady action. Jim's last fish of the day was a 12-pounder that took him deep into his backing, around a crab trap float and around the boat several times! {%image_id=56412%} {%image_id=56413%} Massimo Giardina and Tatiana Migliaretti, from Switzerland, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Wednesday morning, 11/1. They had good action catching and releasing trout on CAL jigs with shad tails and 4" jerk worms and Ultra Hair Clouser flies in the morning. We fished the coastal gulf in the afternoon and they had good action catching and releasing numerous Spanish mackerel and a couple of nice albies on CAL jigs with shad tails and Ultra Hair Clouser flies. They finished the day with a 5-lb tripletail on a 2.75" DOA Shrimp! This should be just the start of good action with Spanish mackerel, albies, tripletail and cobia in the coastal gulf. There should also be good action with trout and more on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay. Shallow water action for snook, trout and reds is improving due to cooler water. Fishing lighted docks and bridges in the ICW for snook with flies and DOA Lures should also be a good option. Tight Lines, Capt. Rick Grassett FFI Certified Fly Casting Instructor Orvis-Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide at CB's Saltwater Outfitters Orvis Outfitter of the Year-2011