Sarasota Bay & Nearby Areas

West Central

July 2007

Anglers aboard the Reelin & Chillin have been catching several species including Trout, Redfish, Sheepshead, Mackerel, and Bluefish. We have been really burning the shrimp because there are pinfish everywhere and seems it takes ten shrimp just to catch a targeted species. Sounds like a good time to use lures, shiners, or cut bait. Here are a few fish stories from the Reelin & Chillin during the last couple of weeks.

Jim Mee, son Kyle, Jimmy Wren, and Mark Jank all went out for a full day of fishing with the last part of the day being a fun cruise with the ladies aboard. As far as the fishing it was mostly a day of feeding the small fish - we just couldn't seem to find any decent sized fish. Lots of small pinfish and sheepshead kept steeling bait, a few ladyfish tightened our lines for some fun jumping action. Mark saved the day just at the end with a nice redfish caught off of structure in Sarasota Bay. We didn't break any records but all anglers had a good time including Kyle who for being such a young angler was a fantastic caster and his attention never wavered for the entire eight hour trip.

Dave Ries with wife Valerie, and daughters Amanda and Michelle had a fun trip Friday morning - it was actually cool out making for a great trip. The day started out with again lots of small fish biting in between the larger ones. Michelle broke the ice with a nice in slot redfish then Valerie picked up a second one. Amanda hooked a couple reds but they won the battle, however she did slay the mangrove snapper catching several. Last but not least we have to give Dave the most credit catching I believe the smallest redfish I have ever seen on a hook, anybody can catch a big hungry red but when the bait is not much smaller than the fish it takes a skilled angler to snag the fish - nice catch Dave.

Bait used on these trips was live shrimp, and the Billy Bay Halo artificial shrimp. I used a number four MUTU Owner Circle hook for most species and when using shrimp I would free line or sometimes use a small split shot to keep the bait in the target area. At times when there was grass and or rough vegetation on the bottom I would use a Billy Bay Aggravator popping cork to keep the bait from getting hung up or just to make it look natural drifting with the current. A twenty-pound test fluorocarbon leader was tied to my ten pound test mono with a surgeons knot. An Okuma V-30 spinning reel mounted on a St. Croix Tide-master fast action rod made for great light tackle action