Fly and spin anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict had good action during the past week with tarpon, despite foul weather later in the week. Due to the wind and rain, which started on Wednesday, we fished a wide area to avoid the foul weather. Anglers jumped or landed tarpon in the coastal gulf waters off Sarasota and in upper Charlotte Harbor. We also fished the backcountry of lower Tampa Bay, catching and releasing snook, trout and redfish on top water plugs.
Cliff Ondercin, from Sarasota, FL, and his dad, Dennis Ondercin from Middleburg Heights, OH, fished with me all week long. We fished the coastal gulf waters off Longboat Key on Monday due to thunderstorms lingering off Sarasota. It was a good plan to avoid the weather, but there weren't a lot of tarpon showing on the surface. We free lined a threadfin behind the boat as we drifted and searched for schools of tarpon. We jumped one tarpon on the threadfin and also had a hookup with a nice 'cuda.
Tuesday was hot! The weather cleared and we found a laid up, hungry school of tarpon at first light. Cliff connected twice on a black and purple bunny fly. Dennis followed up by jumping one on a live crab. They got several more bites and a couple more hookups with a DOA Swimming Mullet before we let them move on. Although we had trouble keeping one hooked, they were really biting! A wall of rain, wind and lightning greeted us on Wednesday morning before we even had a chance to fish. We waited it out for more than an hour, but conditions deteriorated even more, so we headed for the dock.
Since the gulf was like a washing machine on Thursday, we headed for the more protected waters of lower Tampa Bay. We spent several hours in the morning and only saw a few single tarpon. Cliff caught an almost legal gag grouper blind casting for tarpon over hard bottom with a DOA Swimming Mullet, before we headed for the backcountry. They salvaged the day by catching a "slam", which included a 25" red, several nice trout and several snook on a MirrOlure She Dog and a CAL jig with a shad tail. Again a threatening thunderstorm chased us to the dock!
Friday was the best day yet. Still on a tarpon mission, we headed for upper Charlotte Harbor to fish canals for juvenile tarpon in the 20 to 30-pound class. Although there weren't a lot of fish, it proved to be a good choice as the fish bit like dogs! Cliff was on fire, landing 4 out of 7 tarpon jumped and getting several more bites. He used a pearl DOA TerrorEyz fished slowly along the bottom with medium spinning tackle. This is finesse fishing that requires casting accuracy and patience, but the payoff is big.
We are heading toward a new moon next weekend, which should cause tarpon to be happy. When we ever get out of this miserable weather pattern, big tarpon should be ready to feed along the beaches.

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

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