Saltwater Fishing Report for Sarasota, Florida.

Goliath grouper Surely this weekend, not many of us got out to fish but we have had some of the best fishing of the year until the rain came. We had plenty of kingfish action about a half mile SW of M-7. Many were short but we also caught some nice twenty and twenty-five pounders. In with the kings were Spanish mackerel to five pounds, little-tunny, barracuda and some nice sharks. Free lining and drifting with live pilchards worked best but live shrimp also worked. We found plenty of bait on M-5 and then moved off to M-7 to fish. The M reefs themselves had plenty of snapper on them, but the Goliath grouper can be a problem in getting your snapper up to the boat. If you did not want to make the run out to the "M" reef, the "I" reefs had plenty of Spanish mackerel on them. We had no problem getting our limit of mackerel on live shrimp on the "I" reefs. I did not use steel leader here, just 40# monofilament leader and a 3/0 hook. The smallest shrimp produced fish as well as larger shrimp. Free line the shrimp. If you go too deep, the jacks will get it. The snook action was good on the bay. Fishing along the rocks at the mouth of the passes produced plenty of snook. Tarpon action had good days and slow days and most of the action was well south of Big Pass. Enjoy and Protect