Kayak Fishing St. Mark's

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Gauppinho
Posts: 7
Joined: February 24th, 2014, 11:54 pm

Kayak Fishing St. Mark's

Post by Gauppinho »

Going kayak fishing with a friend this weekend. We'll either go to the Wakulla Beach flats or try St. Mark's for the first time. If we go to St. Mark's I'm guessing we should head East from the lighthouse towards Sand Cove and Big Cove? Any tips on paddling and fishing this area? Also does anyone know if it's ok to put in at the very end of the lighthouse road to avoid dealing with traffic on the boat ramp and the added distance of paddling around the point? Thanks in advance.
Gauppinho
Posts: 7
Joined: February 24th, 2014, 11:54 pm

Re: Kayak Fishing St. Mark's

Post by Gauppinho »

Well we didn't end up going to St. Mark's, but if anyone is interested there is a nice article on the area in the latest Florida Sportsman.

We mostly fished the Shell Point and Oyster Bay areas both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a nice day out but only 4 keepers between the both of us - 3 Spanish Mackerel and 1 Trout. Sunday the water seemed to be murkier and we only caught 1 keeper Trout although I had something a decent size break me off on the oyster bar. My buddy caught 1 undersize redfish and he also caught a remora which I had not seen happen before. We saw way more small baitfish than last time that seemed to be attracting a lot of Pelicans and birds to start diving on the water but we couldn't seem to find any fish trailing them. We also saw a couple of dolphin rounding up some fish and making a huge commotion and also managed to see a bald eagle strolling along on an oyster bar but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch him before he started to fly off. Here are some pics:

The dolphins hunting near Smith Island:
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Moonrise on the flats:
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Funky plant? (Anyone know what this is?):
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Double hookup:
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Drifting over the bar:
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Another Spanish:
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Bald Eagle in flight:
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Saturday's catch:
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Slough
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Re: Kayak Fishing St. Mark's

Post by Slough »

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GaryDroze
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Re: Kayak Fishing St. Mark's

Post by GaryDroze »

That "plant" photo looks like a seashell egg casing.

Kayak launch from the lighthouse saves you a good 10 minutes of paddling from the ramp if you are heading east towards Sand Cove or Big Cove. Both areas can produce, especially at higher tides. The low negative tides that I like for wading pretty much wash out those coves, so check your tide charts!
fishfalcon
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Re: Kayak Fishing St. Mark's

Post by fishfalcon »

Congrats on your trip. I fished the same area with my son Thursday and Friday. Thursday I fished the rising tide for 4 hours with 2 short trout, 2 short spanish, a gafftop, and a gar. I was tired of sitting and decided to walk along the bar towing my yak. I saw some nervous water and in 15 minutes landed a 22" trout, 19" trout, and 4 good spanish. The bite died and I paddled in. My son saw my fish and decided to go out himself. He had a new rod and a spoon. I paddled back out to check on him an hour later and he was in the spanish. We probably caught 60+ between us plus I picked up 2 more trout. Friday morning was tough again, but we caught close to 30 spanish that afternoon that were all released. I caught a good trout that I kept. I also picked a bonus red that evening at dusk. Now that spring break is over, Shield's called to say my boat is ready. :smt011 I may stick with the yak.
Gauppinho
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Joined: February 24th, 2014, 11:54 pm

Re: Kayak Fishing St. Mark's

Post by Gauppinho »

GaryDroze wrote:That "plant" photo looks like a seashell egg casing.

Kayak launch from the lighthouse saves you a good 10 minutes of paddling from the ramp if you are heading east towards Sand Cove or Big Cove. Both areas can produce, especially at higher tides. The low negative tides that I like for wading pretty much wash out those coves, so check your tide charts!
Thanks for the tips Gary. The couple charters I've been on out of that area all headed East over to Cobb Rocks and Grey Mare but I don't see how I could easily get out there in a kayak but it sounds like there are some good areas closer to the launch.
fishfalcon wrote:Congrats on your trip. I fished the same area with my son Thursday and Friday. Thursday I fished the rising tide for 4 hours with 2 short trout, 2 short spanish, a gafftop, and a gar. I was tired of sitting and decided to walk along the bar towing my yak. I saw some nervous water and in 15 minutes landed a 22" trout, 19" trout, and 4 good spanish. The bite died and I paddled in. My son saw my fish and decided to go out himself. He had a new rod and a spoon. I paddled back out to check on him an hour later and he was in the spanish. We probably caught 60+ between us plus I picked up 2 more trout. Friday morning was tough again, but we caught close to 30 spanish that afternoon that were all released. I caught a good trout that I kept. I also picked a bonus red that evening at dusk. Now that spring break is over, Shield's called to say my boat is ready. :smt011 I may stick with the yak.
Sounds like an awesome time. There were quite a few people wading out on the bars after kayaking or boating out there. I guess I should grab a kayak anchor and some type of watershoes so I can do the same. The wind and currents were pushing us along and off the bar pretty quickly at times. I had a double hookup on Spanish but I couldn't seem to find them again after I boated those two. I caught everything on a D.O.A. shrimp and some frozen shrimp I was drifting behind me while fishing the along the bars.

I'm headed to Apalachicola this weekend for the antique boat show and festival. I will be bringing my kayak and want to either try the river mouth around Apalachicola or head over to the Indian Pass and Cape San Blas area. I'd really love to hook into a big bull red or a cobia.
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