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Sarasota, FL Fishing Report for 11/25 through 12/2/2001

Reds on a fly! Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict experienced good weather and great fishing during the past week. Fly anglers caught and released redfish, bluefish and large ladyfish. Spin anglers were also hot with reds, snook, trout, bluefish, jack crevalle and ladyfish. Despite patches of red tide to the north and south of us, fishing has been dependable and may have even concentrated fish in some areas.

Ed Zawadski and Fred Murrell, both from Bradenton, FL, fished Sarasota Bay with me on Monday. The best action was at the Middleground flat, where they caught and released numerous bluefish to 3-pounds and large ladyfish on Cotee jigs with grubs. We spent some time in the gulf hunting for tripletail, Spanish mackerel and little tunny, but found nothing. A night snook trip on Monday evening was very slow. Only one snook and a couple of ladyfish were caught and released on an Enrico Puglisi Bay Anchovy fly. We fished lighted docks around Siesta Key to avoid red tide in the Venice area.

Fly angler, Capt. Scott Hopkins from West Grove, PA, took time out from a family vacation to fish with me on Wednesday. Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key, FL, also joined us for the day. We waded a flat near the south end of Longboat Key and caught and released 4 reds to 30". Scott achieved his goal of catching his first redfish on a fly. We used olive over white Clousers on #4 hooks to fish the shallow grass. We also caught several bluefish and ladyfish on Ultra Hair Clousers and Crease flies at the Middleground flat.

Mister Twister (Slimy Slugs and Exude RT Slugs) held an outdoor writer/guide fishing outing on Siesta Key on Thursday and Friday. The event was organized by Mr. Twister sales manager, Barry Stockhaus, and hosted by Aledia Tush of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key. The Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce and various resorts on Siesta Key also provided food and lodging. It was a great event with lots of catching!

Capt. Mel Berman, host of The Capt. Mel Show on 970 WFLA in Tampa, FL, fished with me on Thursday. We fished Longboat Key, the Middleground flat and the Ringling flat to catch and release 3 reds to 24", numerous bluefish to 4-pounds, trout and ladyfish. Exude RT Slugs in the Baby Bass color were the top producing bait for the day.

Florida Sportsman magazine associate editor, Frank Bolin, fished with me on Friday. We fished Little Sarasota Bay and caught several rat reds and snook to 27" on Baby Bass Exude RT slugs. The last fish of the day was the 27" snook, which Frank needed for photos. Mission accomplished!

I fished the same area on Saturday with Fred and Carol Stratton, from Uxbridge, MA. The fishing was slower, but they managed to catch a slam with several trout, snook and a redfish. They also caught and released jacks and ladyfish on Exude slugs and CAL jigs with shad tails.

Red tide is south of us in the Venice area and north of us in north Sarasota Bay. Predator fish seem to be concentrating in areas that are unaffected by the red tide. Hopefully it will dissipate soon. The good news is that there are plenty of places to fish that are unaffected by red tide and fish have been aggressive.

Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.snookfin-addict.com

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