Tarpon season has shifted into high gear in Sarasota this week. New Pass is loaded, snook are pre-spawn and chewing, and the grass flats are still giving up trout at dawn.
Tarpon in the Passes
New Pass and Big Sarasota Pass are both holding solid schools of tarpon this week. Fish are rolling on the surface at dawn and dusk and lighting up on live crabs drifted through the cuts on the outgoing tide. Some boats are also doing well sight-casting to laid-up fish along the beach in calm water just south of Lido Key. The best window is the last hour of outgoing into the slack — let the boat drift quietly and listen for rolls.
Snook Pre-Spawn
Snook have moved out of the back bays and onto the flats and into the passes ahead of the spawn. Live pinfish or whitebait drifted along the seawalls inside the passes is producing slot fish steadily. The dock lights along the Intracoastal from Siesta Key north to St. Armand’s are firing at night — slow-rolled live shrimp or a DOA Shrimp on a slow retrieve is murder.
Trout and Redfish
Spotted seatrout are still on the grass flats off Bird Key, Stephens Point, and Roberts Bay at first light. Topwater plugs the first hour of light, then soft plastics on a jighead. Redfish are scattered on shallow flats — sight-casting at low tide around the islands in Roberts Bay is the play. Tailing fish are showing on calm mornings.
Specific Spots This Week
New Pass is the headline tarpon spot — fish are rolling through the cut on the falling tide and stacking in the deeper holes just inside Lido Key. Big Sarasota Pass at the south end has been a second-tier producer, best at first light. For snook, the seawalls along the Intracoastal from Stickney Point south through Roberts Bay have been fishing well at night — work dock lights with live shrimp on a slow drift. Daytime snook are tucked into the mangroves along the back side of Siesta Key. The grass flats off Stephens Point at first light are still producing trout on topwater — the bite has been best on the lower stages of an outgoing tide.
Conditions and Outlook
Water temp 77–79°F. Approaching new moon Saturday — fish the dawn and dusk windows hard. Light easterly winds Wednesday through Friday. Tides are soft this week but the moving water at the passes is the place to be.
Local Intel This Week
New Pass on the outgoing tide is THE spot this week for tarpon — the cut south of the rocks specifically. Big Sarasota Pass has produced fish on the falling tide as well. For snook, the seawalls inside the passes on a high incoming are loaded; live pinfish or whitebait pitched tight to the structure. Roberts Bay back of Bird Key for tailing redfish at low tide on calm mornings. Florida saltwater license required, snook closed June 1 through August 31. Tight lines.