Great redfish fishing in early spring

Winter fishing in Sarasota, Fl has arrived and we’re beginning to see traditional winter trends settling in. Cold air from semi-regular cold fronts has dropped water temperatures and fish have responded accordingly. Anglers fishing with Captain Brian Boehm on Quiet Waters fishing trips have covered a lot of water in the Sarasota, FL area. We’re using conventional spinning tackle as well as fly rods. We’ve run trips down as far south as the Nokomis area and as far north as lower Tampa Bay. We’ve focused a lot of our efforts in Sarasota Bay, Little Sarasota Bay, Palma Sola, and Cortez. Redfish, snook, and seatrout have been the main species targeted, but we have also had success on tripletail, bluefish, and other species. With the cooler temperatures, snook fishing has been best in the evening after water temperatures have had time to warm. Dock lights have been a great place to catch snook on both flies and small artificial baits. Most anglers know that the dock lights are the best place to consistently target snook. Snook have been most active when tidal currents have been strongest at night. Fly anglers have done well using extremely small flies that mimic freshly hatched fry. Larger offerings have been largely ignored by snook as they are keying in on smaller baits. Anglers using spinning tackle did best using extremely small shrimp imitation lures. Small 2” naturally colored shrimp lures seemed to be the most effective. Seasonal negative tides have really concentrated fish in small areas in shallow water on early mornings. Shallow water flats have been a great place to be for sight fishing. Redfish have been cruising and even tailing during low water tides. We’ve found most of our redfish cruising over grass and sand. In clear water, anglers had to be on their game to present flies to these fish. We’ve used small crab patterns, baitfish patterns, classic bend-backs, and creature flies to fool our redfish this winter. Sarasota Bay, Cortez, and lower Tampa Bay have been the best locations for us when targeting redfish. Speckled Seatrout have been in a variety of places so far this winter. Larger seatrout have been on the shallow flats – often times together with larger groups of similar sized seatrout. These fish have been wary and will spook easily if not approached with stealth when sight fishing. EP baitfish patterns, especially those resembling pinfish, have worked will on these fish. Bunny flies with a little weight and an EP brush collar have also been effective on these larger seatrout in shallow water. In deeper water, we’re finding class-size seatrout in bunches. It may take a little time to find them, but once you do, the bite is pretty much automatic. We’re also finding bluefish and other fun species mixed in with the seatrout in these areas. We’ve spent some time in the Gulf along the beach and have found some success there on days when sea conditions are suitable. We’ve found mainly pompano and seatrout along the beach with the occasional jack and ladyfish. Out a little bit farther, we have found just enough tripletail to keep things interesting. Going forward, we will have more cool weather and cold front fishing to look forward to. Sight fishing for redfish will continue to be one of the best winter activities for both fly anglers and conventional tackle anglers. For snook, dock light trips in the evening will continue to be the best way to target this awesome sport fish throughout the winter. Thanks for reading, Capt. Brian Boehm

Anglers fishing the flats in the Sarasota, FL area experienced consistently warm weather in October. Even with our extended warm weather, flats fishing throughout our area was exceptional in October. Anglers fishing with Quiet Waters, spent time fishing the flats of lower Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Little Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, and Pine Island. Water on the flats was still significantly cooler than the steamy summer temperatures we had been experiencing and snook, seatrout and redfish responded favorably. As of this writing, there was still no sign of false albicore in our coastal Gulf, but area anglers were still doing well nearshore fishing crab trap pots for tripletail using live shrimp, DOA shrimp, and fly patterns mimicking shrimp. Snook Snook fishing around Sarasota in October was exceptional. We had success using artificial lures and flies when targeting snook. On windy days we focused our attention on wind blown points with a good mixture of seagrass and sandy potholes in 1 – 4 feet of water. Snook were also very active on the leeward side of islands in areas that had good depth, uneven mangrove shorelines (points & coves) and the presence of baitfish. The best artificial baits were Mirrolure Mirrodines XLs, weedless soft plastic jerk baits, and paddletails on jig heads. At night, we found success on dock lights with the same baits. Dock lights in areas with good tidal flow provided the best fishing action. Dock lights where the snook are facing in the same direction (up current) gives the angler an opportunity to catch multiple fish. Seatrout Seatrout fishing remained consistent in our area. We began seeing larger seatrout in shallow water later in the day towards the end of October. DOA shrimp, soft plastics on jigs, jerk shads, and mirrodine XLs were great baits to use throughout the month. Clouser minnows and deceivers on clear sink tip lines provided the best action for fly fishing anglers. Covering water using the mirrodine XL is a great way to locate larger seatrout. Once you locate them, you can pick the area apart with slower moving baits at greater depths. Anglers found gator trout near oyster bars at creek mouths in close proximity to grass flats. Due to seatrout’s soft mouths, it’s very easy to pull the bait out of larger gator trout’s mouth. Loosening the drag on your reel, applying consistent pressure, and gently easing these large seatrout into the net is the best way to increase the odds of landing a quality fish. Redfish Redfish were spread out across the flats throughout the month. We did find smaller redfish grouped up in close proximity to each other on productive flats, but the larger redfish were more spread out. Covering a lot of water was the best way to locate larger redfish. The mirrolure mirrodine XL and spoons produced the best in these scenarios. Larger and lightly weighted clousers, and shrimp patterns worked best for fly anglers. Less than ideal water clarity reduced the opportunity for sight fishing redfish in October. In areas that had good water clarity, redfish tended to spook very easily. Long casts with artificial baits on spinning tackle outperformed flies throughout the month. However, dedicated fly anglers understand that additional work and patience is necessary when pursuing redfish on the fly. In areas where redfish are present, wading is often the best method to get close enough to deliver a fly to wary redfish. Looking Ahead We should start experiencing consistent cold fronts in November. The cooling water temperatures should provide good action in the nearshore Gulf for false albicore when sea conditions are good. Albies are a fantastic species to target while fly fishing. Small minnow patterns on a sturdy hook will get the job done. These fish are capable of lightening fast runs and are known for getting into your fly backing in seconds. Flats fishing can be great in November. We may begin to see the reemergence of larger redfish on the flats throughout the month. See you on the water soon! Captain Brian Quiet Waters Fishing **hidden content** Guide at CB’s Saltwater Outfitters Sarasota, FL