First Time At St. Marks. Any suggestions?

[Will In The Wild]

Me and some buddies are headed down the St. Marks this weekend. We have always fished around Keaton and Steinhatchee,but wanted to try something a little different. Any suggestions for this time of year?

[Steve Stinson]

Fishing has been tough up here with all the rain we've had. I would have probably stayed around Keaton and Steinhatchee.

That being said, go East out of the river for about 3 miles and keep working toward the East. If you have some of the public rock piles in your gps, draw a line from just outside Black Rock to Peter's Rock. Until you find your way around better, idle inside that line.
Clean water has been tough to find, especially once the tide begins to rise. Rising tide has been bringing a lot of dark water and floating grass with it. If you can find clean water and work a topwater more than 10 feet without hanging grass keep working that area.
Some of the fish have been out deeper lately in 6 - 10 feet of water.

Good luck. - Steve

[fishinfool]

With the conditions Steve mentioned and with the water temps very near 90 degrees, the fish are usually deeper, 6-10 feet. Sometimes you will find fish busting glass minnows. If so try to match the hatch. A small silver spoon pulled just under the minnows will draw a strike. A light jig with a shrimp lure bounced slow on the bottom can get some interest also. Natural or chartreuse colors are pretty effective.
There will be a lot of chunking and winding until you find fish, but when you do stick with them.

Good luck and tight lines.

[Srbenda]

I've had some success with white jerkbaits and white paddletails in 8' to 10' of water.
East of the lighthouse is definitely better than west.

[Will In The Wild]

Thank you for the replies. This is very helpful. We may go to the hatch this time but we will definitely be checking out St. Marks soon.