Sarasota Fishing Report
August 21, 2026

The inshore bite around Sarasota has stayed productive this week, with redfish, snook, and trout making up most of the action. Redfish have been especially good, with some quality fish showing up in the mix.

It has been unusually hot and humid over the last week, even by August standards. Getting out earlier has been the better play before the heat really settles in for the afternoon.

We’ve continued to fish mainly with live whitebait, and there hasn’t been much reason to change. There’s plenty of bait around, and we should start seeing larger schools push into our area over the next few weeks. That usually helps keep the inshore fishing active as we move toward September.

The weather ahead is looking better for fishing, with lighter winds and calmer seas in the forecast. That should give us more flexibility to work both the inshore water and nearshore areas when conditions allow.

For now, we’ll keep following the bait and working the areas holding fish. With redfish, snook, and trout all cooperating and improving conditions ahead, we should have some good opportunities going into the next week.