Sarasota is fishing the textbook late-May pattern. Tarpon are working the beaches from Lido down to Venice, snook are stacked at Big Pass and New Pass on the moving tides, and trout fishing on the deeper grass has held up nicely. Light easterly winds most of the week kept the Gulf flat enough for offshore runs.
Beach Tarpon — Peak Window
The Sarasota beach tarpon bite is at its annual peak. Schools of fish ranging from 60 to 150 pounds are pushing north along the beach from Casey Key through Lido in roughly 12-25 feet of water. Sight casting from a flats skiff or center console is the productive technique — run the beach until you find a string of fish, intercept ahead, and pitch a crab, threadfin, or DOA Bait Buster ahead of the lead fish.
The early window from first light through about 10 AM has been the most productive. Calm seas are mandatory — once the breeze comes up the fish push deeper and the sight game is over. Best results have come on the lower tide stages when the fish push up into the wash to feed.
Big Pass and New Pass at the inlet mouths are also holding tarpon on the outgoing tide. Live mullet or crabs on circle hooks fished from anchored positions in the channel produce solid hookups in the morning windows.
Inshore — Snook in the Passes, Trout on the Grass
Snook have stacked at Big Pass and New Pass for the late-spring/early-summer spawning aggregation. Fish are tight to the rocks and channel edges on the moving tides. Live pilchards or mullet on a 1/0 circle hook with 30 lb fluoro is the standard rig. The Lyons Bay and Crescent Beach areas are also holding schools.
The night dock-light bite continues to produce numbers of slot snook through the Sarasota Bay shoreline. Light tackle (10 lb braid, 20 lb fluoro) with small white DOA Shrimp or live shrimp is the high-percentage approach.
Seatrout fishing on the deeper grass flats in 4-6 feet of water has been productive. Look for clean grass with sand pockets in Roberts Bay and Little Sarasota Bay. Live shrimp under a popping cork is producing limits when fish are located.
Offshore — Kingfish, Grouper Opener
The kingfish bite has held up well on the artificial reefs and the natural bottom 10-20 miles offshore. Slow-trolled blue runners and threadfin on stingers in the 30-50 foot depth range are producing fish in the 20-40 lb class.
Gag and red grouper season opens June 1 in Gulf federal waters (verify NOAA dates) — the offshore fleet is gearing up for the heavy bottom fishing pressure that follows. Mangrove and lane snapper continue to dominate the patch-reef bite.
A few cobia continue to be sight-cast on the buoys and the deeper reefs.
What’s Ahead
The new moon is June 5 — expect a strong tarpon push and active bite cycles. Red snapper, gag, and red grouper all open in Gulf federal waters June 1. Water temperatures are climbing into the upper 80s. The afternoon thunderstorm pattern is beginning to establish.
For this weekend: dawn beach tarpon on the lower tides, snook in the passes on the outgoing, offshore grouper preparation runs.
Tight lines.