Captain Favorite's Fishing Forum: July 22, 2013

Kirk Grassett, from Middletown, DE, holds an injured osprey on the deck of Capt. Rick Grassett's boat. The bird was found struggling on the surface in the coastal gulf and transported to the beach where it was picked up by Save Our Seabirds.

Anglers fishing with me on my Action Craft flats skiff the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, had good action fly fishing for tarpon in the coastal gulf. Fly anglers jumped two tarpon, had several other eats and numerous shots at tarpon with a fly in the coastal gulf during the past week. We also fished Pine Island Sound one afternoon and caught and released a big red on a fly.

Jerry Poslusny and Jay Peck, both from the Rochester, N.Y. area fished Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with me. Conditions were tough a good portion of the week with a lot of clouds and some rain. However there were enough windows of good visibility to get them numerous shots at tarpon each day. They jumped two fish and had three other eats on Deceiver and Grassett Tarpon Bunny flies.

My brother Kirk Grassett, from Middletown, Del., came down to fish a few days later in the week. Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key, Fla. joined us on Thursday and we came across an osprey struggling and flopping on the surface as we ran in the coastal gulf. As we got closer to investigate, we could see that the bird was near collapse from exhaustion. It showed no fear and allowed Kirk to cover its head with a towel and lift it onto the deck of my boat. We took the bird to the beach and it was too exhausted to either fly or jump off the deck, so Kirk lifted him off the bow and sat him on the beach. The bird appeared to have an injured wing and was very waterlogged, so Rusty contacted Save Our Seabirds who came out to the scene to rescue the bird. A follow up call reported that the bird was recovering at the bird hospital. We only had a few shots at tarpon that day due to heavy clouds and fish deep in the water column but we had a dozen or more good shots on Friday.

Kirk and I were the guests of our friend Capt. Rick DePaiva, from Ft. Myers, Fla., to fish Pine Island Sound on Saturday. Capt. Rick knows his fishery well and since conditions were good for reds to tail on shallow grass flats late in the day, we planned to be there at that time. We had some shots at tailing reds and Kirk caught and released a very nice, upper slot red on my Grassett Flats Minnow fly. Due to the dark, tannic water that is prevalent in that area this time of year, colors on the fish were vivid!

Tarpon fishing in the coastal gulf should be good next week depending on conditions. Beat the heat by catch and release snook fishing before daylight in the ICW and then look for reds and big trout in shallow water early in the day. Fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay for trout, blues, Spanish mackerel and more should also be a good option.

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

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