Sarasota Fishing Report
August 28, 2026

Late August can produce some really good tarpon fishing around Sarasota, and the last several trips were a good example of it. We fished multiple days with different groups of clients and had excellent tarpon action. The summer crowds have thinned out, but there are still plenty of opportunities to put quality fish alongside the boat. We were able to stay on them and had a great run of late-season tarpon fishing. When we weren’t targeting tarpon, we shifted inshore and found redfish and snook. That gave us plenty of options throughout the trips instead of having to rely on one type of fishing all day. Weather has been pretty typical for late August here in Southwest Florida. We adjusted where and how we fished as conditions changed and kept finding fish. Soft plastics and jigs produced on the inshore side, while live ladyfish were the bait of choice when targeting tarpon. The best part is that we’re not looking at the end of the tarpon fishing. September and October can get even better as we move deeper into the late-season pattern. There are fewer boats on the water than during the peak summer migration, and we’ll continue targeting tarpon as long as the fish and conditions cooperate.