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Sarasota Saltwater Report Updated October 18, 2009

Finally some cooler weather is coming our way! As we see the Gulf water temperature drop, we should see the fishing improve. When the water temperature is in the low seventies, I think that is the best for all around fishing. For now, we have some seatrout, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, Jacks, ladyfish, and an occasional flounder in the shallow water on the Middle Ground grass flats. Live pilchards, shrimp and the DOA artificial 3" shrimp are some of the baits that have been working well.

The best methods of fishing the grass have been free-line or popping cork and drifting or anchoring or a little of both. I like the Eagle Claw 202, Size 4/0, Gold Aberdeen hook for fishing with live bait on the flats. About
3 or 4 feet of 30 pound test clear mono leader on 10 to 12 pound test line and you have a very good grass-flats rig. Of course ultra-light and fly also will work well, but you may need to upgrade your skill level.

We have had some slow days fishing lately, but on the whole, the summer was good inshore and offshore. More than I can say for the economy.

We should see the King mackerel start offshore this month and the pompano and blue action should pickup on the bay. Things start to happen when the weather starts to change.

Enjoy & Protect
My Website: http//www.sarasota-fla-fishing.com

Enjoy and Protect Capt. Bob Smith
sarasotafishing@verizon.net
2529 Temple Street, Sarasota, FL 34239
Phone: (941) 366-2159,
Cell: (941) 350-8583, Fax: (941) 362-4040
 

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I got serious about bass fishing the first minute I did it. After more than fifty years of serious bass fishing alot of experience and information has come my way. Alot of it through tought times and tough doings. Alot of it through the pure pleasure of pursuiting my favoritest pastime to its fullest. In the late 1960's bass fishing began to take leaps and bounds in popularity and in the sharing of information. Competition began! Not only did competition begin on the water but in the boating industry, tackle industry and clothing industry.

Those "jump suits" Ray Scott tried to put us all in are another story. My first bass boat was a pair of sneekers I used to wade the streams of Missouri in. Then came those 20" john boats that floated the streams. And one day we got a three horse to push that thing up a shoal. WOW! That was a treat back then. I guarantee you it was alot better than pulling a 20' john boat up a shoal. Later a 5 hp, then a ten, one day a hundred, and so on. Well, boats grew and finally trailers did.

I remember the first time I saw a Wonder State Trailer. Here was a trailer with a huge frame, giant 14 inch wheels and bearings you could lube from the outside. No need to take the wheel apart to lube the bearings. And.... YES!!! You DROVE, I say again...You DROVE the boat on the trailer. It was in the early 70's that I saw this trailer. If you were someone you had one of theese. That trailer set the prototype of design for other trailer manufacturers to follow. While Wonder State Trailers fell by the way side and is no longer manufacturing trailers, their original concept of a solid frame, large wheels, and a drive on platform remains the standard of trailer manufacturing.

Over all the years I have been in the public eye, or out dealing with the public I can't possibly imagine how many times I have been asked about bass boats. You know every one has an opinion and every one has a favorite. I do not remember ever answering a trailer question. The wrong trailer, or an improper trailer can lead to a world of problems. Most trailers are well made and will do the job. You can go to any boat dealer and select the boat of your choice. But, guess what, unless you special order a boat you get what ever trailer is under the boat. That should get you to thinking. Not that it is usually a problem. But there are some things to consider.

I have two bass boats now. So, I have two trailers. One boat is a 20 foot...all boat.... boat. And the other is a little shy of 18 feet with lots of back and a pointed front. Not as much weight. But, a well built boat. Each comes with the manufacturers trailer. Each trailer made to fit the boat it is under. Each trailer was manufactured by the boat manufacturer. There are trailer companies that manufacturer trailers for several different boat manufacturers.

I know your boat is important. One dealer can reduce the price of a boat package by short changing you on a trailer. You pay less and get less. Does it make a difference. Yes. A trailer is important. Think of a boat trailer as a frame. You would not put a subcompact frame under a pick-up truck body.

What to look for in a trailer. Things I have found in my years of pain and gain to be of importance. Does the trailer have enough guts to hold up the boat? Is the freame strong enough? Is the frame treated for the kind of water you will put your boat into? There is only one trailer tire to put on a boat trailer. If you go any where or do any towing, at all, the only trailer tire you should allow on your boat trailer is a Goodyear Marathon Trailer Radial!!!! These tires carry 50 lbs of pressure. I have NEVER had a problem with one. Some manufacturers put tires that look pretty on the trailer. Well.....my tire is supposed to hold my boat. It needs to be the best.

Was the trailer made with my boat brand and model in mind? If so, that is AWESOME! If not, look for another trailer. Does the trailer offer any kind of protection for occupants in a vehicle in the event the vehicle has a head on? Or if the boat is hit from the rear? Boats have been known to come through the back window of vehicles in head on collisions or in the event the boat is hit in the rear. What kind of protection is awailable? If the front eye of the boat is BELOW the front roller and the hook to the winch hooks on to the bow eye below the roller you are set. If not, there are chains and ties available that go from the trailer frame to the bow eye of the boat. Back tie downs are essential and valubale but, not very helpful in a collission. Back tie downs are designed to hold the boat on the trailer as it travels down the road- basically- to keep the boat from bouncing on the trailer.

Brakes!!! Essential!!! I HIGHLY reccommend disc brakes. They are easier to maintain and easier to take care of. They also work better and work longer. Years ago Chevrolet had an advertisement on television with a Chevy Luv Truck towing a railroad car. AWESOME display of power. Well...... they never showed you the truck trying to stop that railroad car. Think of your tow vehicle as the Luv Truck and the railroad car as your boat. What is the relationship of weight to weight? Your tow vehicle better be way more than what it is towing. Brakes help on the trailer, but, there is a limit. A four wheel drive goes great in the snow and ice, but, it stops the same as a two wheel drive. The best vehicles have four wheel disc brakes- most of the stopping power comes from the front brakes- front brakes on almost all vehicles are disc brakes- why not disc brakes on the trailer that carries your prized possession?

Look over the photo carefully. You will note that the axle and tires are gone. Where did they go? The trailer owner never found them. This trailer dissentigrated from under the boat. The owner had gone off to buy a new trailer while the pieces of the old trailer and boat laid on the road waiting for his return. Oh, they had to gather the pieces of the old trailer and put them by the boat that was dropped on the road.

Legendary Professiona Angler and Guide, Hugh Crumpler, takes his clients out catching in Stick Marsh and Farm 13, Florida. Hugh' website, www.HughCrumpler.Com offers guide service, photos, lake maps and more.

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Jacksonville Fishing Report Updated October 1, 2009

Ahoy there Anglers,

CREEKS:
Redfish are doing well in the creeks now. We have had some really high tides this past month. I don't like the higher tides. Sure you can go hunting for some tailing reds in the flooded grass but when they come back out of the grass they're so full of fiddlers and crabs that it's hard to get them to bite. Even our low tides have been higher than normal and when that happens the creeks that normally go dry still have water in them and the reds are still not as concentrated in the shallows where they normally are. Maybe this month will be better. Jacks are still around and using top waters on these guys are a blast.
Sheepshead are still in the creeks here and there and our best luck on them is at high tide sight fishing at them when we see their tails out of the water. We actually caught one last week that went about 11 pounds in the creeks.
Spotted trout are biting pretty good but there are a lot of shorts still and the flounder are biting a little better when you can find a patch of them. Some days they're good and some days you can't find one. This has been a terrible flounder year.


RIVERS:
Bull reds in the St. Johns make a fun day on the water. These guys can really bend a rod. Be sure to revive these fish as we want them to spawn this winter and bring us more and more of these great fighting fish. You can catch them on cut blue crabs, mullet, cut croakers or one of their favorites, live pogies.
Yellow mouth trout are in a lot of locations in the rivers now but there are quite a few small ones also. Some days that's all you catch are the small ones but there are some real nice-sized ones around too. Same with the whiting.
Spotted trout along the rock banks and grass edges with structure. Bomber Long-A's, MirrOlures and Skitterwalks are working good and of course live shrimp on slip-float rigs are a favorite among anglers.
A few black drum are still in the rivers from the St. Johns to Nassau River. Quartered up blue crab or dead shrimp will get them into your boat.
There are some nice sized Mangrove snapper in the rivers this year. Great tasting fish. They'll eat dead shrimp, live shrimp and live mud minnows.
Believe it or not, there are sheepshead already biting this year in the river. A lot of small ones but some real nice ones too. We caught 16 one day and boated 33 on another.
A few flounder here and there in the rivers. Live mullet or Gulp shrimp will get you hooked up. I like the 3" Gulp in the Natural color.
Croakers are all over the river but they're still small East of downtown Jax. If you want the larger Virginia croakers now then just go South of Jax. They're catching good numbers of them around Marker 18 down towards Doctor's Lake. They're be here anytime now. They are every year. That's why I'm almost completely booked up for October and am booking for November trips too. Every year during the October, November and December the flounder, sheepshead, black drum and big croaker feast I work 6 days a week.


JETTIES:
Sheepshead are already biting out at the rocks and I hope that's a very good sign for this year's season. Usually I start targeting the sheepshead in the river in September and then at the jetties in October but we've actually been catching them in the rivers and creeks back in July and August and they're some real nice ones at the jetties already. Hard fighting fish. Loads of fun. You'll have to catch a bunch of blennys while sheepshead fishing but that's normal for this time of the year.
Bull redfish are about everywhere out at the rocks. Please be sure they can swim off. Vent them if needed.
Along with the bull reds the black drum are still out there but the numbers have slowed down. I think it's because of the warmer water again. In mentioning the water temperatures, you'll also have to contend with a few sharks at the rocks. Not many though. They're slowly leaving.
I haven't seen any ringtail porgies but I'm sure they're there by now. Black margates are being caught along with the sheepshead and they're good to eat also. They look like a cross between a black drum and a sheepshead.
Whiting should be out in the sand outside the jetties. I just haven't been targeting them but they should be there right now. Small to medium croakers out there also. On the incoming tides the mullet are going out toward the ocean and when you see thousands of them you'll see the tarpon and big jacks just tearing them up. We had two tarpon almost come into the boat
a few days ago. One hit the boat scattering the mullet and the mullet came into my boat. The larger jacks are pinning the mullet up against the South tip of the rocks on the outgoing tides.
MILL COVE:
Spotted trout and redfish are the best fish going on in the Cove now. There are a few flounder but not many has made it in the Cove this year. Yellow mouth and a few small whiting in there also.
Tarpon are still around in there though.

SURF:
Whiting and a couple of pompano here and there mixed in are biting in the surf. There are a few reports of some real nice black drum to 12 pounds in the surf along with a few redfish.

Take care, be careful and be sure to bring your trash back to the boat ramps. There's always a trash can or dumpster back at the boat ramps. Please don't let plastic bags, and paper blow out of your boats. Our waterways need all the help we can give them.

Captain Vic Tison, USCG Licensed
P. O. Box 122
Jacksonville, Florida 32219
Phone Number: (904) 765-4936
or pager (904) 636-4987
VIC2FISH@aol.com
 

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