snookfinaddict

Capt. Rick Grassett’s Montana Fly Fishing Trip Report for 8/7/2018

I hosted a group of friends and clients on a fly fishing trip in southwest Montana last week, so I don’t have a Sarasota report. This is an annual trip for me and was my 17th year fishing in Montana. We fished the Beaverhead, Big Hole and Madison Rivers, a couple of lakes and a spring creek. We caught and released numerous brown and rainbow trout, brookies and a few cutthroat trout during the week. We used streamers, dry flies and nymph rigs on 3 through 6-weight fly tackle. The dry fly action was with a variety of grasshopper patterns, sometimes with a nymph dropper, or with a smaller dry fly and a few other bugs.

Lynn Skipper, from Apollo Beach, FL and I traveled to Bozeman on Sunday, 7/29 and made the 2-1/2 hour drive to the lodge. Marshall Dinerman, from Atlanta, Denton Kent, from VA and Steve Coburn, from WI, met up with us at the airport. Mike Perez and Stewart Lavelle met up with us at the lodge after fishing a few days on the Missouri before the rest of the group arrived. We stayed at the Medicine Lodge, a 90,000 acre working ranch near the Beaverhead River outside of Dillon, a short way from Clark Canyon Reservoir. Equipped with an industrial size kitchen and a large dining room with ranch style seating and bar counters along the kitchen for extra room, it was a great place for our group. The chef, Annie, spoiled us with hearty Montana meals and desserts!

We fished with guide Dave King, owner of King Outfitters (406) 596-0209 in Dillon, and his excellent group of guides; Dan, Mark, Eli, Tyler and Tommy. I’ve fished with these guides for many years since I started fishing Montana. They work hard, do a great job and know their fishery well. We floated the Beaverhead, Big Hole and Madison rivers and had good action with browns and rainbows to more than 20” on streamers, dry/dropper and nymph rigs. We also did some still water fishing on a couple of lakes and had great action walking a spring creek, catching and releasing brookies, browns and rainbows on dry flies with 3 and 4-weight fly tackle.

One of the best things about fly fishing in southwest Montana is the variety. The fishing there is by either floating or wading. The weather and scenery were outstanding with temperatures ranging from a very comfortable high 40’s in the morning to the mid 80’s in the afternoon with low humidity, a welcome relief from southwest Florida’s heat and humidity in August! In addition to beautiful valleys surrounded by rugged mountains, the wildlife is amazing! We saw whitetail deer, moose, pronghorn antelope, coyotes, hawks, eagles, ducks, geese and sand hill cranes.

Back in Sarasota red tide has become more of an issue, affecting the coastal gulf up to Anna Maria Island and getting into Sarasota Bay close to passes. Red tide is patchy and changes from day to day and even tide to tide, so there are areas that are unaffected and fish can still usually be caught in those areas. Catch and release snook fishing around dock lights and bridges and trout, blues and more on deep grass flats should be good options if the water is clean in those areas. There should be some tarpon in upper Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. Juvenile tarpon in canals and creeks may also be a good option, if you can find them. You might also find them in a few places mixed with snook in dock lights. Our natural resources are under constant pressure, especially now with red tide affecting our fishery; please limit your kill, don’t kill your limit!

Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
IFFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Orvis-Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide at CB’s Saltwater Outfitters
Orvis Outfitter of the Year-2011
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
www.snookfin-addict.com, www.snookfinaddict.com and www.flyfishingflorida.us
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
(941) 923-7799

 

Capt. Rick Grassett’s Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge, South Andros, Bahamas Fishing Report for 11/19/2017

I hosted a group of friends and clients at Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge in South Andros, Bahamas during the past week. Stewart Lavelle from Sarasota, FL, Kirk Grassett, from Middletown, DE and I drove from Sarasota to Ft. Lauderdale last Saturday where we met up with John and DJ, from NY and Mike, from TX and traveled to Congotown, South Andros on Watermakers Air.

We fished hand-picked tides on the quarter phase of the moon, low tide in the morning progressing to slightly later each day throughout the week and it paid off. Bill Howard, the resident owner/operator, does a great job making things run smoothly during our stay at the lodge. We dined on a variety of excellent authentic Bahamian dishes including fresh fish, lobster and conch. One of the best things about Mars Bay Lodge, the southernmost lodge on South Andros, is fishing the vast sand flats and scattered mangrove keys to the south.

We mostly waded and fished everything from large schools of bonefish to cruising or tailing singles and doubles. Despite tough conditions due to a stalled front early in the week, clouds, wind and some rain, we still had action with bonefish including some 4 and 5-lb fish. Larger bonefish were in the 6 to 7-pound class and several were close to double digits. Top producing flies during the week were Ververka’s Mantis Shrimp and Gotchas. Like fishing anywhere, there were some great days and some slower days, but overall it was a great trip to a great lodge!

Back home in Sarasota, tripletail, Spanish mackerel and false albacore in the coastal gulf should be good options now depending on conditions. Look for bait schools, diving birds or breaking fish to find albies and mackerel. Look for reds and big trout mixed with mullet schools on shallow flats. Trout, blues, Spanish mackerel, flounder and more should also be good options on deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay.

Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
FFI Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Orvis-Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide at CB’s Saltwater Outfitters
Orvis Outfitter of the Year-2011
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
www.snookfin-addict.com, www.snookfinaddict.com and www.flyfishingflorida.us
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
(941) 923-7799

Capt. Rick Grassett’s Southwest, Montana trip, Aug 6-12, 2017

I’ll again be hosting a group of fly anglers in southwest, Montana. The dates for this year’s trip are Sun, Aug 6 through Sat, Aug 12, 2017. Fishing days would be Mon-Fri, Aug 7-11. The area has a lot of variety, either wading or floating the Ruby, Beaverhead, Jefferson, Madison and Big Hole Rivers, as well as several spring creeks and a high mountain lake, for mainly brown and rainbow trout. A couple of the spots also have some brookies, cutthroat and grayling. We use mostly 4 and 5-wt rods and you can choose to wade or float on any given day. The wading is not that tough.

Airfare, gratuities for guides and staff and fishing license (about $50 per person) are not included and incidentals along the way (baggage handlers, etc). Food, lodging, guided fishing and alcohol are included. Contact Capt. Rick Grassett at (941) 923-7799 or snookfin@aol.com to make a reservation or for more info.

 

 Capt. Rick Grassett’s Mars Bay Bonefish Lodge trip, Oct  30-Nov 6, 2018

I’ll be hosting a group of fly anglers in the Bahamas again this year. I have from Oct 30-Nov 6 reserved at Mars Bay Lodge (www.bahamasbonefish.com). Fall is the time for fewer Dr. flies (they still have no seeums) and bigger bonefish. This lodge has a couple of advantages; being at the end of the road on south Andros, they are 10-miles closer to fishing areas to the south and west. That could mean an extra hour of fishing each day or almost an extra day over the week. There is also a wadeable flat in front of the lodge that often fishes well for those that can’t get enough on the boat!

The resident owner/operator/manager, Bill Howard, has been running the lodge, which holds only 8 anglers, since 2002. It is competitively priced compared to other lodges on south Andros. Fishing is from flats skiffs (2 anglers per skiff) or wading and it is double occupancy in the rooms. It’s best to sign up with another angler , but if you don’t have a fishing partner you can sign up as a single and I’ll try to pair you with another angler to fish. I’ll be available during the week to fish with anyone that may need help. Guides are rotated daily throughout the week, anglers can stay with the same fishing partner or rotate fishing partners during the week.

I’ve bonefished a lot of places and I think fishing is better in south Andros than any of those other locations. Vast flats and creeks with very light fishing pressure and ideal habitat, set this area apart from many other places. It is also safe and easy to get to from Florida or other places in the US. Once everyone is confirmed, I’ll lead you through the process of booking your air travel if you need help. If you’re planning to travel from Florida, that will be most urgent to get booked since there are very limited seats available from Ft. Lauderdale to our final destination in Congotown. Don’t do anything with air travel until discussing with me, since there are several options and it can get complicated.

-Cost is $4550 per angler for 7 nights/6 days of fishing 
-A 50% deposit is due within 14 days of making your reservation and the remaining 50% balance is due 90 days out
-Any deposit/balance is non refundable within 90 days of the trip.
-Trip insurance is strongly recommended (about $200) This will cover you for many different reasons (health, job, death or serious injury in family) if you have to cancel at the last minute.

Air fare is not included. I have used Watermakers Air out of Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport for the past several years and it is very easy. One of the biggest issues with traveling to the Bahamas is booking the air travel on a timely basis once commited. For those traveling from Florida, we’ll drive a couple of cars to Ft. Lauderdale and will travel together as a group from there. I will provide all info needed to book your flight and everyone will make their own air reservations. Cost with Watermaker’s Air is approximately $635.

If traveling from destinations outside Florida, you can get there via Nassau on many major airlines and take a 20 minute flight to Congotown with Western Air, a larger approx 50-seat turbo prop plane, and meet up with the group at the lodge. You’ll need to arrive in Nassau early in the day, preferably by noon or early afternoon, for the mid afternoon flight. Cost for the Western Air flight is about $150 round trip in addition to the cost of your flight to Nassau.

The only other costs are gratuities for guides, staff, kids that help around the dock, taxi driver and incidentals along the way (baggage handlers, etc). Food, lodging, guided fishing and alcohol (except in the boat) are included. Contact Capt. Rick Grassett at (941) 923-7799 or snookfin@aol.com to make a reservation or for more info.

Capt. Rick Grassett’s Hopedale, LA Fishing Report for 12/4/2016

I was on a road trip to New Orleans to fly fish for reds with several friends during the past week, so I don’t have a Sarasota report. Mike Perez, Jon Yenari and I drove from Sarasota to Louisiana on Wednesday and met up with my brother Kirk Grassett, from DE, Steve Silverio, from PA and Brad Barrett, from IN, to fly fish the Biloxi marsh out of Hopedale, LA. This was our 4th trip to fish the area. We stayed at Dogwood Lodge, a retired 100’Coast Guard buoy tender, converted into a floating lodge that sleeps 12. It was very convenient to step off the guide boats at the end of the day onto the ship.

We fished Thursday through Saturday with Capts. Al Keller, Travis Huckeba and Cody Cash Miller. A front had passed through on Wednesday and fish were hunkered down, making them tough to find. However the guides know the area well, so they were still able to find some fish. Despite challenging conditions, there were several big reds and a big black drum were caught and released on flies. The flies we used were heavily weighted with a large profile, 4” to 5” long.

It was very windy and overcast on Saturday as another front approached. However several reds in the 20-lb class and numerous trout were caught and released on jigs fished under a clacker float with spinning tackle. Sunday was rained out with a squall line passing through that morning.

 

Back in Sarasota, trout, blues and more on deep grass flats and snook, reds and larger trout in skinny water should be good options. Night snook fishing around lighted docks and bridges in the ICW with flies and DOA Lures should also be a good option. There may be some action in the coastal gulf with false albacore (little tunny) as the water cools down and baitfish school up along the beaches. Tripletail should also be a good option depending on conditions.

Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
IFFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Orvis-Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide at CB’s Saltwater Outfitters
Orvis Outfitter of the Year-2011
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
www.snookfin-addict.com, www.snookfinaddict.com and www.flyfishingflorida.us
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
(941) 923-7799