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Fishing Report: Charlotte Harbor, FL & Crane Meadow Lodge, MT Fishing Report for 7/17 through 7/30/2005
Anglers on the Snook Fin-Addict caught and released a few quality fish during the week of 7/17. We fished Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound and scouted some new water for tarpon, reds, snook and trout.
Capt. Clark Wright, from Venice, FL, invited me to fish with him in upper Charlotte Harbor on Monday. I caught and released an estimated 40-pound tarpon on DOA Swimming Mullet while casting to single rolling fish and following it up with a blind cast or two. The tarpon were not showing well and weren’t real plentiful, but they were hungry.
The following day, fly angler Bill King from Osprey, FL, fished Gasparilla Sound with me. We tried to launch the boat in Sarasota that morning, but dead fish at the boat ramp made us reconsider and head south. With only a 2-tide day peaking out at 3.1’ in the middle of the morning, I knew it would be tough. Bill managed a couple of snook while fishing lighted docks along Little Gasparilla Island before daylight and trout on deep grass flats later in the morning. We pounded mangrove shorelines with a variety of flies, but the fish were probably buried in the bushes.
Rusty Chinnis, from Longboat Key, FL, and I fished Pine Island Sound on Thursday with good results. We were mainly on a scouting mission and we found some snook and reds along the west side of Pine Island near Mason and Regla Islands. We managed a slam, consisting of several snook and trout and a redfish. Most fish were caught on my Flat’s Minnow fly. With a big tide all we could do was throw as deep into the mangroves as possible and try to get the fish to come out. We fished one area where we had several sight-fishing opportunities at reds, but no takers. Although we didn’t catch a lot of fish, any day that you can slam, particularly with a fly, is a good day!
Last Saturday, I headed for one of the most beautiful places that I fish, Crane Meadow Lodge, MT, to spend the week fly fishing with a group of friends, many of whom are also clients. Several members of the group, Dick Walden, his son, Rich Walden, and son-in-law, Dave Ralls, all came from Arizona in Dick’s airplane. The rest of the group, Nick Reding, Bob Reynolds and Bob Harness came from St. Louis, Dennis Kinley from New Jersey, Mike Perez from Richmond, IN, Pat Campbell from Toronto, OH and I met in Minneapolis for the final leg of the flight into Bozeman.
The trip got off to a rough start when we had an 8-hour delay in Minneapolis due to mechanical problems with 2 airplanes. The following day, Bob Reynolds from St. Louis, MO, broke his leg while walking on uneven ground in tall grass. An x-ray confirmed the break, but that didn’t keep Bob from fishing several of the ponds on the Kennedy Ranch for the next couple of days. I’ve heard that bad things come in three’s-well, the last thing was an earthquake of 5.6 magnitude that rumbled through on Tuesday evening. Having never experienced an earthquake, I didn’t know what the sound was that preceded the quake but then everything began to shake. Several items fell off the wall at the lodge, but at the home of a couple of the guides, which was very close to the epicenter about 10 miles from the lodge, they had lots of things falling off the walls and an entertainment center almost toppled over.
Given all those things, we had a great trip. The weather was delightful with lows in the 40’s, highs in the 80’s and low humidity. The biggest fish of the trip were brown and rainbow trout to about 24” with many other fish in the 18”-20” class. Of course, there were lots of smaller fish too, but on a 4 or 5-wt. fly rod in fast water, they’re all fun. Most of the anglers in the group caught several quality fish in addition to numerous smaller trout each day.
Mike Perez had a trout estimated at 27” right to the net one day when the hook pulled. My biggest fish of the trip was a 23” brown caught in the sloughs on the Kennedy Ranch. We fished the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Madison, Ruby and Jefferson Rivers, Mill Creek and Stone Creek (spring creeks that flow to the Ruby and Beaverhead rivers respectively). There was more water in many of the rivers than in previous years, which made floating the rivers easier. I had good float trips on the Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers and I also had a good day wading Mill Creek.
One of the best things about this trip is the variety of fishing that is available there. On any given day you may wade, float or do a combination of each. If you are looking for a western trout fishing trip that has it all, you should check out Crane Meadow Lodge. Their website, www.cranemeadow.com, has all the info about the lodge. To view photos from the trip, you can go to the Destination Fishing Trips page of either of my websites, www.snookfin-addict.com and www.flyfishingflorida.net.
Although it was nice to have cool mountain air for a week, I’m looking forward to getting back on the water here at home. Snook fishing before daylight in the morning, reds on the flats or juvenile tarpon should all be good options during August. One of the keys to success will be to beat the heat. Red tide seems to be easing up in the Sarasota area and even when red tide is present, there are usually areas where you can find fish.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799 
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