St. Joe Bay

[birddog]

Fished St. Joe bay Saturday. Awesome day on the water for a change. It was a little warm though. Put in at Presnell's and was fishing by 7:15. Got into a big pod of redfish. We were able to boat 6 fish before they disappeared. 2 were in the slot, the other 4 were between 28-30 inches. Caught the reds on a dorky mullet and an equilizer cork and a white headed jig. Grub colors were white with a red tail, neon mercury, and root beer. After the reds moved on spent the rest of the day looking for the trout. Fished 2-4 foot water, 4-6 foot water, and 6-9 foot water. Never found 'em. Did'nt seem to be any pattern to them. Picked up 3 keepers but they were very scattered. Lost 2 keepers at the boat. Caught about 4 throwbacks. 3 keepers were 16", 19", and 24 ". Caught 2 of the keepers on pinfish under a ct cork, and the other keeper on a white grub with a red tail. High tide was at 10:38 a.m. with a 2 foot change, just knew it would be great fishing but it was mighty slow. Thanks to the reds it was a great trip. Can't wait until next time.

[dowawoo]

I live in Ft Walton Beach, and have been to the Port St Joe area alot, but not to fish, I would love to fish it, could you tell me where you put in and give me a ideal where to go..
Went to Cape San Blas last year near the boat ramp, lots of grass is that a good area?
Thank you
Don

[Scott7138]

I always put in at Presnell's Marina. They help you launch and have the tackle and advice as to where to fish. I always start at the head of the bay near the grass islands. Good chance of picking of Reds there. You can mark it by either the radio tower or the fire tower. I like to drift anywhere from 18" to about 4 to 5' of water. This allows me to find a pattern. There will be alot of floating grass probably, so you will need to select your baits accordingly. There is good fishing all along the south side of Blacks Island.

[birddog]

dowawoo,
I have always used Presnell's boat ramp to fish the bay. The people are very helpful there and there is only a $5 launch fee. If you put in there, just follow the pvc channel markers out and run south down to Black's Island. From there to the southern end of the bay is generally good.There is plenty of grass and the water is usually clear, although this weekend it was slightly stained. Most of my success has been on grubs fished under a equilizer cork. Grub colors that seem to work the best are neon mercury, chickenbone, electric chicken, root beer, white with a red tail, and white with a pink tail. Live bait such as pin fish works also, and usually sometime during the day you can hook up with a ling and that will really get the blood flowing. 3 wks ago the trout seem to be in the 6-9 ft. water. Avg. size was about 18 inches. this past weekend was my first trip in 2 years not to get my limit of trout, not sure whats changed. It may have just been time to get skunked. Redfish are generally there but not always in the same place so you have to catch them where you find them. When they are feeding they'll bite just about anything. Have had good success on every lure and grub that I have thrown at them. Good luck.

[CairoTrout]

Birddog: I wish I could go.