BigBendFishing.Net

Hello everyone! This is my first post and I am using this honor to ask for help. I am a kayak angler relatively new to the area (inside 1 year), I have fished some of St. Marks, Piney Island area, Keaton, and a few other spots.... I am thinking about heading to Hickory Mounds tomorrow but I am afraid of the tide in the morning and if I am wasting my week day off fishing a bad spot for the time of year. Is the season any good there now? Can my car make it down that road while I sail my yak on top? It has been a trying winter for me as well as many I am sure, I just need some trout in the fridge laying under a fresh filet of redfish. Any advice or more productive areas I can head to would be greatly appreciated!

Mikeft30 wrote:Hello everyone! This is my first post and I am using this honor to ask for help. I am a kayak angler relatively new to the area (inside 1 year), I have fished some of St. Marks, Piney Island area, Keaton, and a few other spots.... I am thinking about heading to Hickory Mounds tomorrow but I am afraid of the tide in the morning and if I am wasting my week day off fishing a bad spot for the time of year. Is the season any good there now? Can my car make it down that road while I sail my yak on top? It has been a trying winter for me as well as many I am sure, I just need some trout in the fridge laying under a fresh filet of redfish. Any advise or more productive areas I can head to would be greatly appreciated!

It's possible that Hickory Mounds is closed, it has a tendency to catch damage and be shut down for long periods of time after storms. Someone else here will know for sure but personally I wouldn't risk driving all the way out there without getting confirmation that it's open first. Shouldn't have any trouble with the car, road is fine.

I appreciate the advice, that was my main concern... making that drive to turn around. I'll play it safe tomorrow and hit familiar ground.

I was down there a week or two ago and you can make it down to the impoundment but about halfway down the dike an excavator blocked the road to head back towards the Econfina. Plenty of people out fishing though. Also the road was shit, you don't quite need 4wd but you need some ground clearance and have to be able to ford some water.

its been open like previous comment said with equipment blocking road heading out ecky back way .the equipment is there due to all the washout around the culverts and the road is horrible due to all the rain and logging trucks also other trucks with hunting season going on still .

You can check the status of Hickory Mound, or any other WMA, here. Hickory Mound is in the North Central region

https://myfwc.com/recreation/notices/

When I went out to see it a couple weekends back you could get to it from the Cow Creek Grade entrance, not through the Coker Rd entrance. It was blocked off beyond Bat House Rd. You could reach the boat ramp from the Cow Creek Grade entrance road. I haven't been out there in a couple of weeks and I have NEVER been out there when they had what I considered "good" roads. The road around the impoundment has always been pretty decent but the other roads through and into Hickory Mound has never been particularly good. Not sure how deep some of the ruts are now so no clue on how well your car would do with it. But I wouldn't have been comfortable driving a car down the road when I was out there the last time. I can only imagine that it has not improved since I have been out there.

Guess I spoke too soon about the road... but under "normal" conditions it's usually no problem getting out there with a typical sedan. I've been out there in small Civics, Taurus, Focus, etc.

Hickory Mound roads when ***bad*** can be REALLY BAD!

TRUE story... first fishing trip I made in the big bend shortly after I moved here in 2002 was with forum member Sharkman. He fished primarily out of a kayak and Hickory Mound was a favorite spot.

He offered to take me / teach me the ropes of the area and we took his jeep. Heavy rains in the preceding weeks had the road in rough shape and we got to one LONG puddle (guessing 50+ feet long) and he hesitated in entering it. Asked me if he should gun it or crawl through it, and I think I responded with something along the lines of "Heck if I know?!" End result -- we tried to make it through it and it proved deep enough water got sucked up into the air induction system AND if memory serves even was deep enough that some of the wiring of the jeep got soaked as well. Had to call and get towed out and I remember the jeep was still peeing a steady stream when we got back to town. Almost positive his insurance company made the call to TOTAL the jeep due to damage!

Hickory Mound is a cool place. Its been a few years since Ive been down there but I remember it being REALLY shallow even for a kayak. However, I think I was there during a negative tide.

As for the roads, they werent bad then but I would be willing to bet they are bad now with all of the rain and storms.

It was mentioned earlier but FWC has an informational brochure on Hickory Mound.

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Was down there a few weeks ago.
The east gate is open and the dike is accessable.
The west gate was closed. They were working on a damaged section of the dike.
The road straight in from 98 has been graded and is much better than before.