Captain Favorite's Fishing Forum: Jan. 20, 2014

Capt. Rick DePaiva, from Ft. Myers, FL, battles a tarpon jumped on a fly while fishing the coastal gulf with Capt. Rick Grassett.

Anglers fishing with me on my Action Craft flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, caught and released trout, blues and trout in Sarasota Bay, trout, flounder and redfish in the Terra Ceia Bay area on CAL jigs with shad tails and snook at night on flies in the ICW near Venice during the past week.

Keith McClintock and Victor Feldman, both from IL, fished the area from Palma Sola Bay to Terra Ceia Bay with me on Monday. They caught and released numerous trout, a couple of flounder and a red on CAL jigs with shad tails, fishing potholes in the morning and shallow grass flats in the afternoon.

Dean Fields, from IN, snook fished with me in the ICW near Venice on Tuesday night. A front passed through that day and we had a cool northwest wind that evening but snook were aggressive. Dean caught and released more than 20 snook and several jacks, ladyfish and trout on my Grassett Snook Minnow fly. Despite an incoming tide that was slowed by the northwest wind, the snook bite was steady.

Cold air pushed in by a strong NW wind caused us to cancel Thursdays’ fly fishing trip. A full moon, high pressure and a sharp drop in water temperature made for some tough conditions. However, by Friday when Marshall Dinerman, his son Michael Dinerman and son-in-law, Alex Medeiros, from Atlanta, GA, fished Sarasota Bay with me, it was sunny and had warmed into the mid 60’s. We fished the west side of the bay and despite water in the high 50’s, we were pleasantly surprised to find Spanish mackerel feeding on the surface. They caught and released numerous Spanish mackerel to 4-pounds, blues to 2-pounds and a couple of trout on DOA Deadly Combos and top water plugs.

I was the instructor for a CB’s Saltwater Outfitters Orvis-Endorsed Fly Fishing School on Saturday. Students learned the basic fly cast, shooting line and roll casting. Topics covered also included leader construction, knots and saltwater fly fishing techniques. The next school will be on Feb 15. Cost for the one day school, which runs from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM, is $150 and includes the use of premium Orvis fly tackle, a textbook and lunch. Contact CB’s Saltwater Outfitters at (941) 349-4400 to sign up.

Fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay for trout, Spanish mackerel, blues and more should continue to be a good option. Catch and released night snook action in the ICW should also be good option during warm ups as long as water temperatures don’t dip below 60 degrees. 

Tight Lines,

Capt. Rick Grassett

FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor

Orvis- Endorsed Outfitter Guide

CB’s Saltwater Outfitters-2011 Orvis Outfitter of the Year

Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.

(941) 923-7799

E-mail snookfin@aol.com