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Fishing Report: Fly and spin anglers had fast action with snook around lighted docks in Little Sarasota and Blackburn Bays during the past couple of weeks. Snook attacked shrimp and glass minnows along shadow lines before daylight and went on surface feeding frenzies at dawn. In addition, several juvenile tarpon in the 10-pound class were jumped on flies and one landed on a DOA shrimp. The occasional jack in the 5-pound class also kept things interesting.
Jon and Jake Wyman, from Bradenton, FL, fished Little Sarasota Bay with me during the first week of August. The action wasn’t fast, but was steady. We worked docks and sand bars before dusk with CAL jigs and DOA Deadly combos. After dark we fished lighted docks with CAL jigs with shad tails and DOA shrimp. They caught and released a dozen snook to 23” and a couple of jacks.
Fly anglers Jim and Scott Hutchins, both from Sarasota, FL, fished the same area with me on a pre dawn snook trip later in the week. The action was similar although there wasn’t anything happening on the flats after daylight. They caught and released 6 or 8 snook on Grassett’s Grass Minnow flies.
One of the best trips of the week was with Denise Bruner, from Tampa, FL. Denise, an accomplished fly angler and a member of the Tampa Bay Fly Fishers, had purchased a trip with me at her fly fishing club’s annual fund raising banquet. We went with the same game plan, a pre dawn start, and it paid off. The tide was getting better as the week passed and the fishing got better, too. Denise caught and released about 20 snook to 24”, a nice jack and some mangrove snapper. We used my Grass Minnow fly and String Beans before daylight and poppers at dawn. The action was equally split between sub surface action in the dark and top water action at dawn. In addition, juvenile tarpon aggressively busted shrimp and glass minnows at dawn, but they ignored our flies. They fed for about 15 minutes and abruptly quit.
Tim McNamee, Matt Coulter and Zack Adkins, all from Winter Haven, FL, fished the same area with me on Monday. The guys, who will all be freshmen college football players reporting to classes and practice in a week or so, were out for some fun before they get down to the grind. They caught and released 7 or 8 snook to 27” and a 28” tarpon on DOA shrimp and CAL jigs with shad tails.
Capt. Bill Miller, from Tampa, FL joined me on Tuesday morning to film a segment of his successful TV show, “Hooked On Fishing”, on the Brighthouse cable network. It’s nice when the fish bite with cameras and outdoor writers on board-and they did! We caught and released about 20 snook and jumped 3 tarpon, mostly on my Grass Minnow fly. We also filmed a couple of segments on fly line stripping baskets and the basic fly cast. The segment aired on Brighthouse Channel 47 on Thursday evening.
Carey and Danny Broughton crossed the big pond from the U.K. and fished with me on Thursday morning. When I pitched the idea to them to start at 3 AM they said-perfect, we’re still on U.K. time which is 6-hours ahead of you! The action started slow and finished strong. They caught and released a dozen snook to 24” and a 5-pound jack. They used CAL jigs with shad tails and DOA shrimp before daylight. Several of the fish were caught on a MirrOlure She Pup while fishing seawalls and a mangrove shoreline at dawn.
I fished Sarasota Bay on Saturday morning with Andy Cotton, from Sarasota, FL, and his dad, Jim Cotton, from Bradenton, FL. We found crystal clear water and lots of baitfish from Big Pass all the way to Long Bar. We caught and released a pair of snook to 25”, several jacks and a nice mangrove snapper on DOA Deadly Combos and DOA shrimp near Big Pass. We also found several schools of reds in north Sarasota Bay but couldn’t get them to eat anything.
Next week’s tides will improve toward the end of the week as we head toward a full moon on the 19th. Snook fishing before daylight will be one of the best options and reds should come on strong, since we are at the time of the year when they are schooling. Tarpon in upper Charlotte Harbor should also be good.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett 
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