Siesta Key Fishing Report

Welcome to our new fishing report brought to you by: Captain Jim Klopfer! Just mention www.siestakey.com and Jim will take great care of you! **941-371-1390**

: Sarasota Fishing Report Capt Jim Klopfer Adventure Charters out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters 10/20/2012

Fishing remained excellent in Sarasota Bay near Big Pass and in Robert’s Bay. Bait is plentiful and easy to catch, so I have been loading up and chumming with very good results. The deep flats near Big Pass continue to produce good numbers of Spanish mackerel, along with speckled trout, jack crevelle, bluefish, ladyfish, gag grouper, sea bass, mangrove snapper, and other species. The docks and mangrove shorelines in Robert’s Bay are producing increasing numbers of snook along with big jacks and redfish.

On Sunday morning Cody Miller and his girlfriend Jennifer Vogel from Tampa, FL went out to do a little spin and fly fishing. We started off ot Marker # 5 catching speckled trout, jacks, and ladyfish on live baitfish and jigs. We moved over to a flat near the Ringling Bridge and got into some Spanish mackerel to 2 1/2 pounds. The breeze picked up so we moved into the Yacht Club Channel and Cody caught a nice mackerel on a chartreuse/white Clouser and Jennifer caught several speckled trout using a white Crystal Minnow. We ran out on the beach but nothing was happening so we called it a morning.

Fly fisherman David Morgan from Chevy Chase MD went out with me on Monday morning. We started out catching ladyfish, jacks, and a bluefish on D.T. specials at Marker # 5. David wanted to try for snook, so we hit some bars and mangrove shorelines, but no luck. We fished up back catching ladyfish and then ran into a school of jacks on the way back in.

Kirk Horn and his dad Bob from Columbus, OH had a very good trip. I loaded up on bait and hit a deep edge near Bird Key. We basically caught fish steadily for 2 1/2 hours at that spot, landing Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, speckled trout to 16″, silver trout to 12″, mangrove snapper, and ladyfish on free lined bait. With a half hour to go, we decided to try for something else and fished a canal on the east side of Siesta Key. The move paid off with a snook, a pair of jacks to 5 pounds, and a 16″ flounder.

Diane and Gordon Skeel from Clinton, IL did very well on the flats near Bird Key. Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, speckled trout to 19″, jack crevelle, gag grouper, mangrove snapper, and ladyfish kept the rods bent using live pilchards. We decided to try for snook since I had some really big pilchards left in the well and it paid off. Diane caught a 22″ snook on her second cast and they both landed another half dozen along with a jack fishing in Robert’s Bay.

Sarasota resident Bonnie Czepiel and her brother Dan caught bluefish, spanish mackerel, speckled trout, jacks, snapper, and ladyfish at Marker #5 using free lined pilchards. Dan had a 5″ shark eat a bait right at the boat before it took off and cut the line.

Bill Schmidt and Ewell Eubanks from The Villiages in north Florida had a terrific trip. Bait was a little hard to get, and I did not get a lot, but it was enough. I anchored up near Bird Key and they caught 40 Spanish mackerel along with a few trout, ladyfish, jacks, and snapper. The macks ate just about every bait as soon as it hit the water. With an hour to go we decided to go snook fishing. Bill caught a red and a pair of snook to complete his “inshore slam” and Ewell caught several decent snook.

Fishing continues to be good on the deep grass flats in Sarasota Bay, particularly on the north end of Siesta Key near Big Pass. Bait is thick on the bars and shallow grass. Clients caught speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jacks, snapper and more using flies and live bait fish. Spanish mackerel are out on the beach but the false albacore action has slowed. Snook, snapper, and jacks hit big pilchards on the east side of Siesta Key in Robert’s Bay.

Nancy and Chuck Reynolds had a very good morning charter on Monday. We caught a couple of fish on Gulp! Shrimp but it really wasn’t going on, so I caught bait and we spent the next several hours catching a fish on almost every cast. Speckled trout to 21″, a couple dozen Spanish mackerel to 2 1/2 pounds, ladyfish, gag grouper, black sea bass, jack crevelle, mangrove snapper, silver trout, and catfish hit free lined pilchards and threadfins near the Ringling Bridge. We spent the last hour fishing docks and structure in Robert’s bay where Nancy caught her first snook and several mangrove snapper to 14″ while Chuck completed the “boat slam” with a small redfish and the largest fish of the day, and eight pound jack crevelle.

Dan Vukmere and his Wife Sheila from Pittsburg, PA did some fly fishing on Tuesday. It was breezy and the weather was questionable, but we decided to give it a try. We started off working a bar that was loaded with bait near Siesta Key. Dan caught a redfish and a couple of small trout on a chartreuse/white Clouser then hooked and landed a 23 1/2″ fat speckled trout! It was too windy to drift so we just moved from spot to spot and Dan caught Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jack crevelle, snapper, and trout on a white D.T. Special and that same Clouser. We finished up in Phillippi Creek with a pair of 12″ snapper. Dan did all of the fishing while Sheila enjoyed the day on the water, in all he caught 40 to 50 fish on fly. Great morning!!

I had another great fly fishing trip later on in the week. David Morgan who lives in MD and has a house on Bird Key caught 30+ fish using a #4 white Crystal Minnow and a #1/0 D.T. Special style fly. We started by sitting it out as a squall moved through. We left his dock at 8:30 and the skies were still ominous looking. David caught speckled trout, jack crevelle, and ladyfish casting the Crystal Minnow into schools of bait on the edge of a bar near Siesta Key on the outgoing tide. A brief rain shower passed by and after that the skies were clear. The tide turned to come in and we moved to a grass flat near Bird Key and David caught a half dozen Spanish mackerel to 3 pounds, more trout, ladyfish, mangrove snappers, and jacks on the D.T. Special.

Capt Jim Klopfer (941) 371-1390 captklopfer@comcast.net www.FishingSiestaKey.com

January 17, 2011

Happy New year! I had the privlege of personally going out with Captain John over the weekend. I have never worked with a Captain that was so interested in making sure you caught fish and had a great time! Honestly, he is not satisfied until you are, and that is a rare treat. He put us on so many fish that it was unbelievable. They were not biting as much as one would like, but we had our opportunities and capitalized when we could. Here is Kade holding an over slot Redfish…we were crying when we had to throw him back! Call Captain John for your next inshore adventure, you will not be disappointed!

May 10th, 2010

It has started out as a great month, in one 4 hour trips we did over a dozen snook, throw some redfish and spotted seatrout in the pot with it. All the capt. agree non of us have ever seen the amount of small sharks in the bay right now, they do not want anything to do with people, but provide a great fight on light tackle. We are getting kings off the beach, the schools of jacks are comin in, pound for pound, one of the hardest inshore fighters around. Spotted sea trout over 4 pounds are nothing big, some trout have been over 7 pounds. sheepshead, Pompano, Spanish Macks so big they look like small kings. And do not even get me started about the TARPON, weee doggy, Here comes the silver kings, just put new line on my tarpon rigs, nothing like 300 yards of 50 pound line screaming off a reel and a 100 plus pound fish jumping wildly… But also we get the Big jacks, 15 ,20 pounders on the beach, mix some 15 pound bonitas and you have a party. Just add something for them to eat.. Getting so excited talking about whats going on, if I was not in my pajamas and it being dark, I would go fishing…. Heck with it, the fish do not care what I am wearing and the boat is already hooked up!…… Gone fishing……

February 5th, 2010-

People it is comin on strong, after that horrible cold weather. Here is what we did in the last 2 days. Redfish to 10 lbs. Flounder of the perfect plate size, spotted seatrout to 4 pounds, black drum and sheepshead up to 5 lbs. Have turned on, and provide both great action and some drag ripping, tough fights. Most of the fish other then the trout are comin off deeper water docks. And it is only going to get better as the water warms up.

Well keep only what you need, gently handle and release the rest. Good fishing to you, Capt John if you would like to book a great trip, call me at 941-544-8357.

January 5th, 2010

Man I am excited, It has been so good fishing, alot of pompano, spotted sea trout, redfish, sheephead, a few spanish macks, alot of flounder. And all inside the bay. I had 6 yr olds reeling in slot redfish to 26 inches. Obcourse we were helping to hold the rod. But at times not sure who was going to win. And got to see so many new expressions during the struggle and strain,lol.. January is a great month for fishing and as far as fishing so far, it has been alot hotter then the weather. Never take chances, but if you can get in the bay safely, boy_and_red2 GO, find the protected areas from the wind. Work your presentation slow on the sand bottom and never pass up a deeper water dock in protected areas.. Where to start for the rest of the month forcast, ahh. One of my table favorites is Spotted Sea Trout. Yep, it opens this month the first of January. After it’s south Florida Nov and Dec closure. Here are two of my favorite ways to catch them. I like deeper sand areas close to grass beds or oyster bars . A shrimp on a 1/8oz jig head casted next to the grass. if no responce in a minute or two. Start bouncing the jig across the bottom. If after 3 or 4 cast into a area with no responce. time to move. But this method works very well slow swimmed or even behind the boat drifting over deeper grass. My second favorite is a 1/8 to a 1/4 oz 4″ curly tail grub. White, dark green and rootbeer are the 3 colors I use the most. Working these jigs over grass beds in 4 to 6 feet works for me. You can cover alot of area looking for the aggressive fish and areas holding them. Will cast then give a small twitch and reel slow between letting thye jig drop a foot or so. The closer to the top of the grass the better.

For my second fish, I was requested to talk alittle about my pompano techs by one of my readers. I like heavier, Picture32-300x228 to keep it on the bottom. I believe the fish response to the sound of the jig head bouncing in the sand. So 1/4 to 3/8 oz small white or yellow, no bigger then a inch long. A piece of shrimp on the hook gives it alittle smell attraction. In water less then 5 feet a shrimp under a small float over the sand, for you Fly fisherman a white fly is great. I have taken great pompano with a white fly. the fly was less then a foot under the water so watching these fish hit the fly was incredible. The speed they hit it, is something and they always hit it from the side never from behind. I have also taken pomps fishing for trout in the same locations( deeper sand areas by grass, 3 to 7 feet). I locate pomp many times by running at a slow speed across the sand, they will jump behind or beside the boat rotate sideways in the air and skip once or twice on their side before disappearing. When I see this I will make a mental note, and about 30 mins later drift the area casting the jig. Very productive technique. Well keep only what you need, gently handle and release the rest. This way they are around when you come back. Good fishing to you, Capt John Dixon, www.saltwaterguide.com , (941) 544-8357