DAILY FISHING REPORT: Salt-Water Scene and One Hot Spot

By Nick Walter, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Jan. 4–In and around Manatee County, here’s the salt-water scene: Capt. Jack Hartman of Lucky Dawg Charters said he had a nice run of sea trout around Sarasota Bay on Wednesday. It was the first numbers of such trout he had seen anywhere since the latest red tide all but wiped them out. “It’s a nice change,” Hartman said. Bluefish and lady fish were mixed in as well.

Something to try: Think grass flats. Hartman said that grass flats, especially those mixed with pot holes, spotty grass, or grass with sand mixed in, have been gold mines for sea trout, bluefish and lady fish. The ideal grass flats are in 3-to-6 feet of water. Hartman said to use shrimp or quarter-ounce plastic jigs and to drift.

“If you anchor, you’re limiting yourself to lots of various fish,” Hartman said. He added this technique can work from Bradenton down to Venice.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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