Belated fishing report - St. Marks

[Ted in Tallahassee]

Been a while so I need to update. Been out a few times over the past couple of months, been pretty successful with getting a slot red without too much difficulty, and I think it was December 30 (or was it 21?) that I ran into a nutty giant trout hole around the bars near the lighthouse area, where 1 out of 3 casts seemed to yield a nice big trout. Naturally that was a day I was alone and I had to stop at 5. I HATE throwing 17+" trout back! Feels unnatural. No reds in that area, I had to venture much farther for the token redfish, a mere 20"-er. But they do taste so much better than trout.

In the weeks before that I think I had fairly bad days, I couldn't hardly buy a trout bite, and I didn't even catch so much as a bluehead catfish. Soon one of thoise days, as dusk and my need to head in was not far off, I buzzed out into the St. Marks river channel, about halfway between the lighthouse and the Bird Rack, and I was standing on the tiny front deck of my 15' jonboat throwing & dog-walking a big topwater Heddon One Knocker in bone and something hit at it, with a HUGE swirl and boil--it wasn't a crashing hit but more of a small splash with huge boil; I thought maybe a turtle had surfaced just as my plug at his head and he freaked out and dove. But a few seconds later it happened again--same small splash/huge boil, so I knew SOMETHING was interested in my plug. And right as the plug was right up by the boat, my eyes straining to see through the reflection from the overcast late afternoon sky into the dark water, I about lost control of my sphincter when a big amorphous white thing came into view from the depths and saw that white was the white underside of the pug snout of a HUGE bull shark. It was apparently interested (or irritated) enough in the odd clacking of the plug to want to bump it with his nose and figure it out rather than just outright eat it. Suddenly my little jon boat felt very small and I felt very alone and far away from civilization and humanity. It was "Check please," hook the rear treble on the third rod guide, plop it into a rod holder, sat down and cranked the motor and headed in, trying hard to unsee the pug-face and cold black vacuous eye that for an instant seemed to catch my own and see into my soul. Because I really want to go scalloping this July.

So the last trip out was just yesterday. Basically I went for the sole reason of checking my stone crab traps, as it had been 3 weeks since I dropped 'em. Usually by then all of the bait will have been eaten/disintegrated, and the crabs will be starting to eye one another whistling "Timothy." But it's been SO cold, when I opened up each trap I was greeted with what looked more like a five day state of fish carcass rot. Runny, gooey, unclean, putrific, slimy rotting fish carcasses. And - NO - crabs. Not one. Not even a calico crab, a hermit crab, toadfish or remora, or a starfish clinging to the outside of the trap. However, this year, there is no shortage of barnacles. They're covered with them. I think there's more barnacles on my traps right now than there was at the end of last season. Four months to go still! And yes, I clean them all off in the off season.

The other highlights of fishing I suppose would have to include the HUGE gator laying on the bottom of Horn's creek. I hooked my GoPro on my fishing rod and dropped it around--and on--him, and got some neat shots. I'll try to post them later. Wife is yelling at me to go to the store to buy food for the kid's lunch tomorrow so have so sign off now.

[fly n fish]

What is so painful about releasing a 17" trout that makes you "hate" it?

[procraftwes]

Nice report and I get the tone of the report about tossing back the 17" trout.

Limiting out is a killer day.

I noticed that jim bob's with his barely running rotting bathtub show up by the dozens when they only have to idle over to the trout hole in the river. That and they seem to want to share an anchor and cast in my boat is making me sour on winter fishing.

[Hit-n-Miss]

Great report. Thanks for posting. Yeah I hate throwing back nice fish too after limiting. But sometimes you’re having too much fun catching.


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[Greenbone]

Thanks for the fish'n report Ted. Mums the crab---

[Ted in Tallahassee]

Mum to the end! Crabs are nothing but sea-insects! Only good for redfish food!