Wind and rain following a strong front last Sunday affected fishing early last week. We had 25-30 mph winds on Monday and by Tuesday morning, water temperatures had dropped from the mid 70's to the high 50's. Brrrr! Hopefully, this is our last blast of cold weather for the season. Needless to say, fishing was negatively affected by the front.
Fly angler, John Wolfstaetter from New York City, and his dad, Paul Wolfstaetter from Valley Stream, NY, fished with me on Sunday and Tuesday. John caught and released a small red on a chartreuse/white Clouser fly in Turtle Bay at Charlotte Harbor on Sunday. Despite the approaching front, fish did not bite well. I changed our game plan for Tuesday and we headed north to Terra Ceia Bay in lower Tampa Bay. Although we had shots at lots of reds with jigs and flies during the afternoon, they weren't interested in eating. They caught and released several trout late in the afternoon just to bend the rod.
Fly angler, Mike Perez from Richmond, IN, fished Charlotte Harbor with guests from Lafayette, IN on Monday, where they caught jacks and ladyfish on Cotee jigs with grubs in Bull Bay. Jeff Hanna, also from Richmond, IN, joined Mike on Thursday. Except for a large red that Mike hooked early on a weedless-rigged CAL jerk worm they still had lock jaw. They had lots of shots at reds with flies in Turtle Bay during the afternoon, but no takers. They caught and released small trout and jack crevalle on Clouser flies in the backcountry and landed a couple of 18" trout at Cape Haze.
One of the best trips of the week was in Sarasota Bay with Tom Kosturik, from Park Ridge, IL, on Wednesday. Tom caught 3 reds to 26" and 2 snook to 24" on CAL jigs with shad tails and Exude slugs near Buttonwood Harbor. Although not the biggest fish, the most exciting was a red was sight-fished on top of a sand bar in a foot of water!
Long time friend and client, Pat Campbell from Toronto, OH, joined me for a trip in Sarasota Bay on Saturday. We began to catch nice trout in shallow water near Buttonwood Harbor, so we stuck with it. We caught and released about 15 trout, most of which were between 18"-22". We caught trout on the edge of a bar on CAL jigs with shad tails and jerk worms and in deeper water on an Enrico Puglisi Everglades Special fly. The largest trout, including a 4-pounder, were caught with flies. We also caught and released a pair of reds on CAL jigs with shad tails to finish the day.
Next weeks tides will improve as we head toward the full moon. I look for a good bite with reds in the morning and a good snook bite in the afternoon and evening with the strong outgoing tide.

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

Return to Reports Page>>>

o

oo

o