Fishing
Ivan be gone, bring back the good fishing
By Capt. Mike Heistand
Back-to-back storm threats have kept most fishing captains close to home in the past week, but there is some good news out there.
Backwater guides are finding good catches of redfish and snook, plus mangrove snapper. The shark action is also good.
Capt. Thom Smith at Angler's Repair on Cortez Road said he was able to get out a couple of days and caught redfish to 26 inches, trout to 26 inches, mangrove snapper to 26 inches, with bait-of-choice being either small shiners, tiny pinfish or artificials. His best action came from the Longbar Point-Sisters Key area of Sarasota Bay, he added.
>Derek Olson at the Rod & Reel Pier said things were slow but there were a few catches of redfish, grouper, snook and flounder, with the flatties running to 19 inches.
Cliff Alcorn at the Anna Maria City Pier said the catch there included a few sharks and some baby mackerel. "The water is chewed up due to the runoff," he said, but added that the fishing should get better as the storms passed.
Capt. Rick Gross on Fishy Business out of Catchers Marina in Holmes Beach said
Capt. Tom Chaya on the Dolphin Dreams in Holmes Beach out of Catchers said the weather has been "pretty dirty," but he's been fishing in Anna Maria Sound and catching redfish to 16 inches and snook to 28, with most of the linesiders in the 24-inch range. "There was nobody out there," Capt. Tom said, "and it was really peaceful."
Good luck and good fishing.
Capt. Mike Heistand is a 20-year-plus fishing guide. Call him at 723-1107 to provide a fishing report. Prints and digital images of your catch are also welcome and may be dropped off at The Islander, 5404 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, or e-mailed to news@islander.org. Please include identification for persons in the picture along with information on the catch and a name and phone number for more information. Snapshots may be retrieved once they appear in the paper. |
