Morning bite good in Sarasota!

Fishing was very good this week, especially early in the morning. The tides were high mid-morning, and speckled trout, pompano, and Spanish mackerel were caught as the tide was peaking. Live shrimp and pilchards caught most of the fish, along with gold Cotee jigs and green Bomber pompano jigs. The flats near Big Pass continue to be the most reliable for me. On Tuesday I had a client cancel on short notice due to a family emergency, so I used the day to explore the Myakka River in the state park. Fly fishing was good with bluegill to 8" hit small baitfish patterns. The water was low and cloudy. Wednesday morning I took out Suzy and Marvin Nelson from Avon, Co. We had steady action on pompano, trout, mackerel, ladyfish and jacks using live shrimp near Bird Key. We finished up catching mangrove snapper and a snook in Phillippi Creek. On Thursday CB's had arranged a corporate trip for the fine folks at Columbia. I had 3 novice anglers who landed 5 keeper trout and a mackerel near the Ringling Bridge on shrimp. On Friday I met Sarasota residents Martha and Brian Heard at Centennial Park. We caught pompano in the Yacht Club Channel along with trout, mackerel, ladyfish, and jacks. Action slowed and a toss of the cast net resulted in several dozen large pilchards. We ran up to the Moorings and caught several nice trout and a bonnethead shark before calling it a morning. On Saturday morning the bite was very good early for Kevin Kinnally and his son Mike from Boxford, Ma. Speckled trout to 20", mackerel and bluefish to 3 lbs, jacks, ladyfish, and sea bass were caught on the deep grass near Bird Key on shrimp and pilchards.