James Gibson Charters LLC
Sarasota Bay Fishing Report
Keep up with our monthly fishing reports, newsletters and other updates!
August 2023
It's HOT! Water temperatures are in the mid to high 90's in some places and the fish can feel it. Cut bait has been the secret weapon lately due to these crazy water temperatures. The mangrove Snapper and Snook fishing continues to stay strong in the passes. But, what stole the show this month were the Redfish. We had a-lot of fun targeting schools of Redfish along the grass flats and mangrove islands in Sarasota Bay.
July 2023
We are deep into our Summer fishing season in Sarasota, Fl. The Snapper fishing is as good as it gets in Sarasota Bay, New Pass and Big Pass. The Snook fishing continues to provide a great entertainment in our passes as well. We are still having good luck targeting Redfish along mangrove islands in Sarasota Bay. With water temperatures in the low 90's, cut bait has been the ticket here. The Trout fishing has also provided good action in Sarasota Bay. They key here has been finding healthy seagrass in the 6-4 ft range that is holding bait fish.
June 2023
The Summer fishing season has been falling right into place. Tarpon fishing continues to stay hot along the beaches and the passes have really started to heat up on a good outgoing tide. The snook fishing continues to stay strong in the passes and along the beaches. What seemed to steal the show this month was the Redfish. Our customers enjoyed targeting large Redfish on the structure in the passes as well as smaller schooling redfish along the shallow mangrove island in Sarasota Bay.
May 2023
It is officially Summer break in Sarasota, Florida. Water temperatures are really starting to get hot and so is the fishing! By the end of the month Tarpon Season is in full swing. We have been targeting these bucket list fish at first light along Longboat Key, Lido Key and Siesta Key. The Snook fishing is also a hot bite along the beaches as well as in Big Pass and New Pass. Our customers are also enjoying the occasional school of Jack Caravelle that are following the bait schools in the passes. Last but not least, we have begun to find some really nice sized Trout along the shallow grass flats near our passes, Big Pass and New Pass.
April 2023
April is one of, if not my favorite time of year to fish in Sarasota Bay. Water temperatures are in the high 70's and the fish are fired up! The Trout fishing has been as good as it gets! Customers have been having no issues catching multiple trout over 20'. The key here has been finding the healthy grass-flats in 3-6ft of water that are not being overfished. Our customers have also been finding schools of Redfish around structure in Big Pass and New Pass. Big schools of Jack Caravelle have made their way out of the creeks and have been providing customers with more than enough drag screaming action. Last but obviously not least, the Snook fishing continues to steal the show as we have begun to find big numbers of Snook along the beaches of Siesta Key, Lido Key and Longboat Key!
March 2023
Spring Break in Sarasota is in full swing and things are really starting to warm up. The snook fishing has been as good as it gets in Sarasota Bay while they make their way out of our rivers and creeks and stage up along our grass flats, oyster bars and mangrove islands. We have also been finding schools of redfish in these areas. The sheepshead fishing has slowly fizzled out as water temperatures rose, but we were able to find a few more in the beginning of the month. The trout fishing has also improved with the higher water temperatures, our customers have had success targeting Trout, Bluefish and Mackerel along our shallow grass flats in 3-6ft of water.
February 2023
February was all about the change of seasons in Sarasota, Fl. We started off the month with cold winter conditions forcing us to fish in the backcountry of Siesta Key, Roberts Bay and Little Sarasota Bay. Our anglers had success targeting Snook, Redfish and Trout along the oyster bars and mud holes around the Phillipi Creek area. As we moved closer to the end of the month it began to feel like Spring Break in Sarasota. Water temperatures began to rise, the Snook and Jacks made their way out of the creeks and bait moved into the bay. Our anglers ended the month having success in Sarasota Bay targeting Mackerel and Trout along the deeper grass flats.
January 2023
January was mostly filled with cold winter conditions with water temperatures in the high 50's to low 60's. Our customers enjoyed targeting Sheepshead and Mangrove Snapper along the docks and rock in Big Pass, New Pass, Sarasota Bay and Roberts Bay. Towards the end of January we began to see signs of Spring Break in Sarasota, Florida. Water temperatures started to climb up to 64-66 degrees and the Speckled Sea Trout Fishing really improved. Customers had the best luck targeting Trout, Snook, Ladyfish and Jacks in the deeper areas of water with darker bottom along our grass flats in Sarasota Bay. January proved to be a great month to target fish for the dinner table.
December 2022
It is officially Winter in Sarasota Florida and the water is cold! We ended the month with water temperatures in the 50's in some places. With these cold water temperatures our customers enjoyed targeting Sheepshead, Snappers and Grunts on our nearshore reefs. On our warmer days we focused on fishing the docks and rocks in areas that the water was warmer in Sarasota Bay and were able to find luck targeting Redfish and Snook! We also have found a few Pompano as well as schools of big Jack Crevalle in our back country creeks.
November 2022
It is starting to feel like winter here in Sarasota, Florida. Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Lido Key and Anna Maria are filling up with our Northern friends and we are ready for a great Holiday season! The nearshore fishing has really taken off this month as the Cobia, Kingfish and Triple tail have started showing up. We have been having great success targeting these hard fighting fish on calm days around 6-8 miles off of Lido and Longboat Key. The inshore fishing has also been strong with our water temperatures in Sarasota Bay hovering in the low 70's. This has really fired up our Snook and Redfish! We have enjoyed targeting Snook, Redfish, Trout and Jacks along our shallow Grass Flats, Oyster Bars and Mangrove Islands. The key has been finding the areas with dark or muddy bottom.
October 2022
It is officially fall in Sarasota, Florida and we are enjoying the cooler temperatures. We have experienced our first cold front of the year and our water temperatures got as low as 64 degrees in some places. By the end of October our water temperatures have climbed back up to a comfortable 70 - 78 degrees and the fish are loving it! During the cold front our customers enjoyed targeting Snook in creeks while they were finding the warmer water. Before and after the cold front we targeted schools of Redfish on our shallow grass flats, while water temperatures were low we had good luck targeting Redfish along structure and dock lines. Once our water temperatures warmed up the Trout, Mackerel and Bluefish fishing in Sarasota Bay really took off! Winter is just around the corner and we are enjoying our fall fishing while it lasts!
September 2022
We are at the end of Summer here in Sarasota, Florida and are starting to enjoy signs of Fall. Our customers have enjoyed targeting Snook along our mangrove islands and dock lines. It has been all about finding the shade and ambush points. The Trout fishing has been on fire in Sarasota Bay. The key here has been finding big schools of bait that the Trout are feeding on. Our customers have also enjoyed the Spanish Mackerel that could not resist busting up the large schools of bait. As we got deeper into September, the Redfish fishing stated to improve. Customers had the best luck targeting schools of 10-15 fish cruising shallow grass flats and mangrove islands. We are excited to see how the Redfish fishing continues to improve in October!
August 2022
Summer is slowly coming to an end here in Sarasota, Florida and we are excited to be seeing signs of Fall. Our Trout Fishing has been fantastic in Sarasota Bay along our deeper grass flats with tons of action from other by catch, Jacks, Lady Fish, Mangrove Snapper and Triple Tail. We have also started to find small schools of Redfish along our shallower grass flats and mangrove islands. The Snook fishing in Sarasota seems to always be good as our customers have enjoyed catching Snook in both our passes ( New Pass, Big Pass) and along our mangrove islands and oysters bars on the higher tides.
July 2022
We are deep into summer here in Sarasota, Florida and it is hot! We have been beating the heat by starting our morning trips a little early and making plenty of pit stops to cool off in the water. Our customers enjoyed targeting Snook, Mangrove Snapper and Jacks in our passes along Siesta Key, Lido Beach and Longboat Key as well as along the beaches. We have also been getting lucky targeting Trout and Blue Fish in Sarasota Bay along our deeper grass flats. The key has been finding the cooler water and schools of bait fish.
June 2022
Summer fishing has been in full swing during the month of June here in Sarasota, Florida. It is summer vacation, kids are out of school and we have been busy as ever! Our customers continue to enjoy targeting Snook, Trout and Redfish in our passes and along our beaches. A highlight for June has been our Mangrove Snapper fishing, they have really started to steal the show with their wonderful table fare. Our Summer Tarpon migration is still going strong with large numbers of Tarpon congregating during the outgoing tides in the passes along Siesta Key, Lido Key and Longboat Key!
May 2022
The month of May has been a transitional month as we slowly transitioned from the end of Spring to the beginning of Summer fishing in Sarasota, Florida. Our customers have continued to target Snook, Redfish and Trout inshore along our shallow grass flats, mangrove islands and oyster bars. As we have moved into Summer Break we have also started to find Snook and Redfish in our passes and along the beaches of Siesta Key, Lido Key and Long Boat Key. Although, the real highlight of May has to be the beginning of our Summer Tarpon migration. These bucket list fish have shown up in big numbers this year and our customers have enjoyed targeting them along the beaches.
April 2022
It has been Spring fishing at its finest during the month of April. With water temperatures sitting between the high 70 degrees to low 80 degrees, the Snook, Redfish and Trout fishing has been as good it gets in Sarasota Bay. Customers have enjoyed targeting these Florida game fish along our shallow grass flats and oyster bars. We have been having numerous picturesque days with multiple inshore slams with plenty of quality fish to go around. With the water temperatures continuing to rise we are starting to find more and more snook in the passes and are looking forward to what Summer time has to offer.
March 2022
The sheepshead spawn has been in full effect during the month of March and customers have enjoyed targeting these delicious fish along the rock jetties inshore and any substantial structure nearshore. Water temperatures have also started to rise, marking the beginning of Spring in Sarasota Bay creating one of my favorite times of the year to fish. Inshore Charters have been staying busy targeting Trout, Snook, Redfish, Jacks and Mackerel along our shallow grass flats, mangrove islands and oyster bars.
February 2022
Its officially winter here in Sarasota, Florida. The water temperatures are hovering at a shivering high 50's - low 60's making a lot of our game fish, like snook, redfish and trout a little bit on the lethargic side. With these frigid water temperatures fish have started to key in on shrimp and other crustaceans. Our customers have been staying busy fishing deepwater docks and rocks targeting sheepshead, snapper, blackdrum and redfish. We have also been having success targeting jacks and snook in creeks and residential canals with shrimp and artificial DOA Shrimp and other crustacean profiles.
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