Chopski Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Heading up to Sarasota next weekend so seeing if anyone has some insider info for that area. Bought a map for that area so have some "spots" I'm gonna check out but trying to shorten the learning curve. Also, arti or live work best? Where to find the latter if that's the case, also. Thanks in advance! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linesider 159 Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Live is almost always better for numbers, but i prefer artificial. Try palma sola bay, whale key, coon key flats, long bar, the moorings, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipTide Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Incoming tide-North side of Long Bar-Drift. Outgoing tide-South side of LB-anchor. Drifting and shrimp or arti's will work. All really depends on what they're eating that day. Good luck finding white bait at the moment. They're here but not in the usual spots on a day to day basis. Have to hit one of the makers outside of New P***. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopski Posted April 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Thanks for the help guys. I've fished Tampa Bay area a couple times and haven't quite figured out the flats fishing compared to the mangrove fishing I usually do in the everglades but love being out on that flat over clear water with gr***, feels like I'm in an aquarium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipTide Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 As your not from this area, Long Bar is at the north end of Sarasota bay. It starts out on the NE side and extends all the way west to the No Wake zone, almost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linesider 159 Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Add sister key to your list as well. Forgot that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdsnook Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Ouch!....you guys are telling all my secret spots.... :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linesider 159 Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 The rule is chopski has to report back with whatever he finds! :content: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopski Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 I'll be giving a report back for sure and hopefully some videos if I pick up a gopro like I want to before I head up there! I really appreciate the help guys, hopefully gonna make it an enjoyable fishing trip and not an eco tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipTide Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Ouch!....you guys are telling all my secret spots.... :confused: Long Bar is No Secret. Fished it on Tuesday and seemed that just about every angler in the county was up there. Produced 3 nice fat 20" trout. Caught, safely released into the fryer and now in the public sanitary system. Been here 38yr.'s and is the only place I know of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdsnook Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Rip...I was talking about Sisters......if you know where the holes are...some of the best snook/red fishing in the bay... I am coming down on the 22nd for a long weekend....I'll have a report.....staying at the RAMADA on 41 by the airport....99 bucks a night with the slip.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captbill296 Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 Fished Sarasota last week. Water is warming up nicely. Low 70's in the gulf and mid 70's in the bay. Caught some Snook around the docks and a King in the Gulf at M5. Be careful going out New P***. The buoys have been removed so follow the beach south until you get into 5-6 ft. Big P*** is better. Check Sarasota Yacht Club web site for more details as that p*** is not marked properly at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipTide Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 It's almost all sand bar now. Word from Sea Tow is they, government??? are going to be scheduling to have New P*** dredged out soon. A lot of offshore boats getting hung up and grounded there right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipTide Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Well, took Chopski and a friend of his out fishing our area. Day started out slow but fired up once we found where the fishies were hiding. Caught trout and snook. Sighted some reds but they were spooky. At one spot, As God and my fellow anglers can confirm, I hooked up on the biggest snook I have ever hooked. It was like a freight train. It attempted to come out of the water and do it's head shaking ordeal but the critter was so m***ive only about 3/8th's of the fish came out of the water due to it being so FAT. This fish was every bit of 48"+ and had to weigh at least 35 lbs. Girth was as large as a basket ball, maybe larger. Once I "thought" it was done fighting I got the mean ole battle axe up along side of the boat. The battle axe decides she's not having anything to do with us and breaks camp again. Full Steam Ahead!!! Then she turns and GILLS my line in a split second. ?#*@&*/*(#!? Grrrrrrrrrrrr That's all I thought about for the rest of the trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonV Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 I'm with ya John, same thing happened to me Wednesday, not a monster snook like yours, however well into the 30"+ range. Lost it the same way you did and what happens?? I forget about all the really nice trout and smaller snook we did catch, just want to talk about "the big one that got away"!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipTide Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 My leader lines will be increased in the future to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Troy Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Up your leader too much and you may well not even get a chance to break one off. Big snook most likely have been caught and released more than once. And, heck yes they are leader shy. Why do you think many of the biggest ones are caught at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipTide Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 The water quality was pretty dirty. It was caught trolling. Sneak attack from behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurem Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Good job, Riptide!! I think I can say that most of us have been there before and it is frustrating to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipTide Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Think I'm going to start using my Go Pro for more than just SCUBA diving. That dang fish is still on my mind. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopski Posted April 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 Yup just like riptide said got into some fish on Thursday and lost a monster snook! Went out Friday looking for reds. Finally found one inside sister's first thing in the morning mixed in with tons of mullet on top water! Spent the rest of the day spot hopping looking for more spot tails with no luck. Started Saturday back at sister's looking for more reds with no luck. Wind was blowing that day easily 25+ and seas in the bay had to be 3-4' at least on the west side of the bay. Water was dirtier than previous two days. Started heading towards a marina by long boat p*** for hopefully some bait when we p***ed Capt Ron who was selling white bait out of a pontoon boat just south of the p***. Got some white bait and headed into Palma Sola trying to get out of the wind. Made it to the SE area of the bay where we saw a few guys wading and maybe spooked a couple reds (hard to tell with the wind). Drifted that area for a bit not producing anything and made the move back towards longboat p*** where we saw some docks that looked fishy. Posted up on a dock near the p*** and lost two fish in the pilings and pulled a 20" trout. Bite slowed and moved to another dock that didn't get any hits so made the move towards button wood and posted up on some mangroves and found some snook feeding on small bait fish. Saw some slot snook feeding but only managed to pull some just under slot snook and lose a few in the mangroves. Did see a tarpon roll in that area too. Talking to Capt Ron and some other guys around the boat ramp word is the reds were north a bit towards Palma and Terra and what not. Stayed at the Virage which is a nice hotel and has a hose bib on the SE corner of the building just bring your own hose. Only managed to find one sandbar the whole trip when I wasn't paying attention to my GPS as I went to get on a plane so I'll call that a win! All in all had a blast just can't figure out them west central reds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh B Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 Chopski - Don't feel bad, the reds are being tough this spring. Not sure how or why, but just not seeing the numbers of fish we generally do. I know their normal hiding spots pretty well and have been struggling to find any good numbers of fish. Tampa Bay, north of the skyway has been much more consistent the last 2-3 months. Glad you enjoyed your trip and found some fish. Josh B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linesider 159 Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 Chopski - Don't feel bad, the reds are being tough this spring. Not sure how or why, but just not seeing the numbers of fish we generally do. I know their normal hiding spots pretty well and have been struggling to find any good numbers of fish. Tampa Bay, north of the skyway has been much more consistent the last 2-3 months.Glad you enjoyed your trip and found some fish. Josh B. North of gandy has been strange last 8 months as well. You can really get into them, or you can go across the whole flat and not run into a single fish. Very spotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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