Good bite in Sarasota despite the weather and red tide.

Weather was definitely an issue in Sarasota this week, as we had two separate fronts move through, bringing wind and rain. On the couple of days that it was fishable, the bite was good up in the north bay. The flats out in front of Buttonwood Harbor were good as was the east side near Bowles Creek. Red/gold shiner and glow/chartreuse Bass Assassin Sea Shad baits caught speckled trout, bluefish, and ladyfish for clients this week. Unfortunately, a pretty severe batch of red time moved in New Pass and shut down the flats nearby. Sarasota resident Bill Kish treated his girlfriend and her daughter and son-in-law to a charter on Thursday, just ahead of the approaching front. We checked out a few spots around the Middlegrounds, but the red tide had shut it down. Water quality improved as we worked our way north, doing well on a lot of speckled trout at Buttonwood Harbor, with a few ladyfish and bluefish mixed in. The breeze was out of the northeast and freshening, so we ran over to the east side out in front of Bowles Creek and found a bunch of birds working and breaking fish. For an hour or so it was virtually a ladyfish on every cast to finish up the trip.