Hello All!!!

[kat]

Just regestired with the site and thought I would say Hey....Just to tell you about myself for when I start asking stupid questions you will have an understanding why.
I live a little South of Tally and after a 20 year absence from fishing I am trying to get back into it. I grew up with my dad teaching me fishing (30 years ago) on the Appalachie River using Zebco's and Bream Busters. And I have found alot of equipment has changed. Just purchased a 16.5 Bass Tracker and have started buying tackle hear and there. One of the first things I bought was a Eagle Claw Fly Rod, which I used to love. But after cruising the forums I might should have went with another brand. Got a couple of Bream Busters, a couple of Spinning reels set up for Catfish and Bass and a Baitcasting reel which I have found out has a STEEP learning curve but I wont give up on it.
I have taken the boat out on the Big river a couple times and on Lake Mystic and had some fun. But what brought me to this site was a Google search of Wakulla River and it seems there is alot of knowledge here about it. Pictures I have seen of the river are breathtaking and need some info before I head that way.
1= I looked on Google maps for boat landing but didnt know the best one to drop off into. Any advice??
2= From pictures it seems the water is very clear, what kind of rigging would I need??
3= Would this be a great place to try out my fly rod??...

Thanx for any help and hope to learn from everyone...

[Salty Gator]

Welcome aboard. I don't fish that area so can't help, but there are some on here that know that river like the back of their hand and will be glad to help. I do have a buddy that tore up the brim last weekend on the (upper) ochlockonee. He said they would only hit fly poppers. Good luck

[kikstand454]

Hi, welcome!

Wakulla river can be daunting at times- but its mostly because of boat traffic.....the fish are fairly easy to figure out. The water is pretty clear- from gin clear to well water clear...lol. and so natural colored presentations are the way to go. I have caught plenty of bream there throwing the old black beetle spin.....but I'm more of a bass fisherman. For bass in the wakulla, a good starting point is a watermelon t-rigged lizard, a small white or clear/shad spinner bait ( willow leaf blades or a tandem with the willow being the big blade) a hollow frog or horny toad and if you're going to try for some of the Suwanee bass- a 3/8 or 1/2 oz jig in a PB&J color and a matching craw trailer works well on deep timber.

Small crankbaits and a snagless sally #4 in yellow will kill there too. There are a few ramps on the wakulla- a hard to use one on 61 at the fence ( upper bridge) a fairly nice one on 98 ( lower bridge) , one at the park in St marks and the ramp at the fort in st marks. Also shell island fishcamp in St marks.

Bass are everywhere in the river...but fishing for them south of 98 is completely different than north. The water gets shallower and dirtier the close to the ocean you get.

Hope that helps a little.



PS- to learn the baitcaster with the least amount of headache do this: stretch out some line for the length of a realistic cast in the area your practicing. Now, lay a piece of tape across your spool and reel it up. Now a backlash will not get any deeper than that 30yds or so and you don't have to respool everytime you have a "professional overrun".
Follow whatever directions you have researched for casting..... and search "backlash trick" on youtube to see how to get backlashes out without the insanity. It works 90% of the time or more. I only throw baitcasters anymore - even in the salt.


Good luck!

[bpac]

Welcome!

[zload]

Not sure if this was the video you referenced but this one is something I've never seen... and I'm a professional at making birdnests...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDI5kwR5zjc

[kat]

Thanks for the advice on the water and boat ramps....I didnt mention before but my wife is going to be my fishing partner from time to time and she is more of a nature buff than I am and I know she would love the Wakulla for pictures..
Some of the lures mentioned I will have to use Google to know what your talking about but if I have any questions Ill sure ask

I have seen the video links of the backlash "thumb trick"....that seems to work pretty well...

When you were talking about frog lures Im assuming there are alot of pads/weeds to fish on....so I would assume it would be safe to have some braided line for this??....but what I have researched is with the braid it doesnt work well in clearer water....so maybe use Floro line??...I rigged one of my spinning reels with flora and it was a mess......it kept spooling off.....so I re rigged with mono...

[fishinfool]

Mono is much easier to manage on a baitcaster. Braid for spinning reels. Floro for super clear water or leader material.
That being said, I remember the days when black braided Dacron was the primary line used on "thumb buster" baitcasters, and we still caught fish.
When choosing a mono for bait caster reels pick one that has low memory. That way it is less likely to coil coming off the spool. I like the Sufix lines. The Seige seems to work well for my mono needs and it has a fairly high abrasion resistance.

[kikstand454]

Not sure if this was the video you referenced but this one is something I've never seen... and I'm a professional at making birdnests...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDI5kwR5zjc

Yup... that's the technique. Works like charm. Its something everyone throwing or waiting to throw a baitcaster should learn.

Op -re braid: in reference to wakulla river, I wouldn't specifically line a reel with braid just to throw frogs or toads on the river. If you HAVE said set up already, by all means use it. But braid isn't needed in terms of grass there in the river. Don't get me wrong, the grass can top out pretty thick in spots and there's even some opportunities to flip/punch if you felt inclined. But the grass matting is based in eel grass and most of the time pulling a fish from it isn't very difficult. So- your favorite mono or Co-poly ( I use yozuri hybrid.. ) is just fine. So is flour if thats what you have rigged up.
Your feelings on using braid in such clear water being a personal decision- I can only say that I have fished bass tournements there and picked up my frog or toad rod and caught plenty of fish on braid. I think in that situation- fishing a moving lure in heavy cover- it is less relevent than say....slowly moving a t-rig in open water, where the fish has time to inspect your presentation. Ymmv.

Casting braid on a BC can be tricky, but no more so than any other technique. Just like everything, the more you do it, the easier it is. I don't use braid a LOT- but one of my longest casting combos is my frog rod. It can be done. However - the only other two BC i have braid on are flipping rods that require no casting at all.....

[kat]

Yes Mono is on all my rods now until I can get the hang of this bait caster. Like I have said I have had to start from scratch since I haven't fished in years. And it seems I will be needing more rods in the future to have on hand for certain types of environment...this will be a slow process

[Ebryant]

Be sure your trailer is galvanized or aluminum before launching in tidal waters. Good luck the Wakulla is a great river.