Port St. Joe Bay 4/24-4/26

LUCKYDAWG · Post by **LUCKYDAWG** » April 27th, 2003, 10:57 pm

Well just back and unloaded from 3 days of hard fishing at Port St. Joe/Cape Sand Blas. I knew by Tues. evening that the weather was iffy at best but I had 2 crew members that had worked very hard at getting a kitchen pass so off we went Thursday am.. We put in at Presnell's when we arrived @4pm. Fished Blacks Island and west 1/2 way to PSJ.. A few shorts, a few ladys and some awesome wind kicking 15-20 steady. @ 7pm we hit Indian Pass for a few cold ones and I made the decision that Fri. am would be a wash but let's hope for a afternoon evening session. We got hit pretty hard Fri. am but the storms passed and @3:30pm we put in at the state park on Cape Sand Blas. 20+ winds pushed us around and we managed 2 trout and lots of blues. Sat. am lots of sunshine but more wind. Launched from the state park and worked our way towards the tip of the cape. NOthing. No fish at all. No bait fish no lady's no reds no trout. Around 11:30 the crew was hungry so we bee lined for PSJ Marina. While we were eating on the deck looking out on the Bay I saw 300+ birds feeding hard. We pulled out of the MArina and put on the Mackerel rigs. For the next 2.5 hours we trolled a ledge and put more Spanish in the Mako than I ever had before. We were catching them 2-3 at a time and had 1 rig that got 4 one time. All legal size with an occasional 18-20 inch thrown in. No other boats around but at times I'm sure we looked like 3 monkeys ----ing a football especially when we pulled in 2-3 at a time with each rod and other times like 12 year olds at a fair. Lost count @70 fish. We would have stayed all day but we were fighting 2-3 ft. swells and needed a break. Shot back over to the Cape side to get out of the wind and find smoother water only to practice our casting some more and then called it quits @6. Pulled the boat back to Scipio Creek Marina Sun. am and headed north. But wouldn't you know it as we crossed the bridge the App. Bay looked like a bath tub just calling our name.....but not as loud as the woman on the other end of my phone. Oh well that's how it goes.
Folks if your reading this and have never been in PSJ Bay with your boat or someone elses, it has some of the most beautiful water you'll ever find. I thought several times I could very well be in the keys or bahamas to find water like this. No oyster beds but the water does get skinny especially on the SE end around the islands.
Great trip in all but the only thing I regret is that for the 2.5 hours we played with the Spanish my family wasn't there to catch them all, though it was mighty rough and we would have never been able to do it had they been with me.

BirdDawg

Post by **tin can** » April 28th, 2003, 6:01 am

Hate to hear the weather ruined most of your trip. But it does sound like ya kinda worked on the spanish, at least for a little while.

Littoral · Post by **Littoral** » April 28th, 2003, 8:59 am

I've been chasing fish in that Bay a lot the last 5 years and it can be a real puzzle. The Spanish are a regular where you got em'. Bull reds have been running the sea wall for the last month. I work the Bay area with my kayak and I got drug around by a redfish for about 45 minutes (40"). The trout are behind schedule. I've seen very little bait. I'm guessing everything is 2-3 weeks behind right now. Easter weekend the Spanish were not there so I paddled west to the rubble area between the mill and the bridge and had a silly time with (~10) 20-25" redfish. The spot is a little short on aesthetics so I think it's overlooked a lot.

LUCKYDAWG · Post by **LUCKYDAWG** » April 28th, 2003, 11:47 am

Littoral, I believe that rubble area is where we were. Right in front of the old mill they are tearing down.

Tin Can don't get me wrong my trip wasn't ruined. You cann't go wrong when 3 good friends get together. Yea the fishing sucked for the most part but just get me on the boat and I'm a happy Dawg.

BirdDawg