Updated: Thursday, May 14, 2026 · Next update: Thursday, May 21, 2026
This Sarasota fishing report covers mid-May, when tarpon season shifts into high gear. New Pass loads up with fish, Big Sarasota Pass holds solid schools, snook move into a pre-spawn pattern, and the grass flats still give up trout at dawn. Tarpon are the lead species. The condition to plan around is the approaching Saturday new moon: tides are soft, so fish the dawn and dusk windows hard and focus on the moving water at the passes.
What’s Hitting
Tarpon in both passes light up on live crabs drifted through the cuts on the outgoing tide. On calm days, sight-cast laid-up fish along the beach just south of Lido Key. Snook move out of the back bays onto the flats and into the passes ahead of the spawn, and the seawalls inside the passes give up fish steadily.
Spotted seatrout stay on the grass flats at first light. Redfish scatter on the shallow flats, with tailing fish showing on calm mornings.
Where to Find Them
New Pass is the headline tarpon spot. Fish roll through the cut on the falling tide and stack in the deeper holes just inside Lido Key, especially in the cut south of the rocks. Big Sarasota Pass at the south end is a second-tier producer, best at first light and on the falling tide.
For night snook, work the seawalls along the Intracoastal from Stickney Point south through Roberts Bay, and the dock lights from Siesta Key north to St. Armand’s. Daytime snook tuck into the mangroves along the back side of Siesta Key. Trout sit on the grass flats off Bird Key, Stephens Point and Roberts Bay, and reds roam around the islands in Roberts Bay.
Tides & Conditions
Expect water temperatures of 77–79°F as the moon approaches new on Saturday. Light easterly winds are forecast Wednesday through Friday. Tides are soft, but moving water at the passes is still the place to be. The tarpon window is the last hour of outgoing into the slack. Trout off Stephens Point respond best on the lower stages of an outgoing tide, snook pile onto the pass seawalls on a high incoming, and reds are easiest to sight-fish at low tide.
Tackle & Tactics
- Tarpon: live crabs drifted through the cuts on the outgoing.
- Pass snook: live pinfish or whitebait drifted along the seawalls and pitched tight to the structure.
- Dock-light snook: slow-rolled live shrimp on a slow drift, or a DOA Shrimp on a slow retrieve.
- Trout: topwater plugs for the first hour of light, then soft plastics on a jighead.
- Redfish: sight-cast at low tide around the Roberts Bay islands.
Local Intel This Week
New Pass on the outgoing tide is the tarpon spot this week, specifically the cut south of the rocks, and Big Sarasota Pass produces on the falling tide as well. Ken Thompson Park sits right at New Pass, making it the natural launch for the cut and the Lido Key holes. Turtle Beach Park gives a launch on the south end of Siesta Key for the back side mangroves. Roberts Bay behind Bird Key holds tailing redfish at low tide on calm mornings. Check current FWC and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
Go quiet at the passes. Tarpon roll through the Sarasota cuts at dawn and dusk, and engine noise can put a school down. Shut down up-tide, drift silently through the last hour of the outgoing into the slack, and listen for rolls before you send a live crab back to them.
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