Good areas for a novice "captain"

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jonastio
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Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by jonastio »

I know this is primarily a fishing forum, but I can't imagine folks here aren't familiar with good general boating areas around Tallahassee.

I've got a 19' I/O open cabin runabout. I've been on Lake Talquin, the Wakulla River, and the Flint River. I broke the skeg in both Talquin and Flint, so I have been cured of wanting to explore Lakes Seminole or Talquin (lots of underwater stumps in the reservoirs). Flint, each of the 3 significant strikes were in the middle of the river in 15'-20' of water and it seemed like a boulder or something, so going North on Flint from Bainbridge makes me anxious. Wakulla River is fine because visibility is decent and I've just got to remember to clear the grass out from around the propeller. The limestone shelf and how hard it is to find areas that aren't shallow due to the density of the grass makes navigation interesting.

The broken skeg on two out of 3 trips has made each trip average out to be rather expensive (in all the time growing up on my dad's bayliner, he NEVER had to fix the skeg) and has made it pretty apparent that I'm a novice at boating regardless of the amount of time I've been on a boat and not operating it. this 19' Chaparral is built more for low/no wake locations, so I don't think spending much time in the gulf near the shore is a very smart idea until I gain significantly more experience at the wheel.

What are good locations within a couple hours of town to take the family exploring on the water, that would also allow me to gain experience? I've spent plenty of time going over guidelines, rules/laws, and suggestions and I'm no stranger to being attentive on the water, but reading only gets someone so far. Any suggestions would be helpful.

I remember spending a lot of time on the Apalachicola and Ochlocknee Rivers, but it seems to be hard to find a good boat ramp for something that isn't a flat-bottom fishing boat. Any suggestions for ramps would be super helpful as well.
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SHOWBOAT
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by SHOWBOAT »

Honestly the boat is more limiting than anything you’re doing. If you want to play in rivers, shallow southern lakes or on the flats, then I would consider a boat swap for something that drafts shallower.
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jonastio
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by jonastio »

I completely agree with you, but this is the family boat and if this is what I've got to use at this time then it's what I'm going to use. My options right now are to either use this boat or to have no boat.
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geofish
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by geofish »

Launch at the Fort in St Marks and run out to the lighthouse or even a bit further. Stay within the channel markers and you should be fine. There are some sharp turns, and if you miss a marker you could end up on an oyster bar, so I'd follow another boat the first few times or use the Navionics app on a phone or tablet
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Juan
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by Juan »

I second geofish's advice. Go slow, stay in the channel and tilt the lower unit up as far as you safely can... but no matter what precautions you take, if you spend enough time on the water you're going to hit something again sooner or later. :-D
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ugadawg
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by ugadawg »

If you go out of St. Marks, once you get out on the flats if you turn east you will see a line of buoys marking the National Wildlife Refuge. I would not go inside of those buoys with your luck. I'd also get a Sea Tow membership just to be safe.
ropeman
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by ropeman »

The St Marks is a great river for exploring. You could safely cruise from the Newport Bridge all the way to the sandbar in that boat as long as you stay in the channel and watch for manatees. As mentioned get the Navionics app on a phone or tablet and watch the channel markers. With it being 19' you probably don't want to run offshore too far, but you could launch in Carrabelle and run out to Dog Island. On a calm day you could run from the Lighthouse or Panacea to the Ochlocknee Shoals. Ochlocknee River St Park is another good spot, but the ramp in the park would be a little tight for that boat.
Last edited by ropeman on March 17th, 2021, 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
silverking
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by silverking »

Lots of areas in the Big Bend that don't require a shallow draft craft to enjoy. As others have mentioned, launching at Shields Marina or the fort ramp will put you in deep water regardless of tides. Stay in the channel and you can head out to the network of artificial reefs, natural bottom and even the sand bar. Similar situation with ramps on the Carrabelle River. Grouper, snapper, mackerel, black sea bass and cobia are all possibilities.

Check out the charts/waypoints on this site and invest in a good chart plotter with navigation software. Take it easy and enjoy. If you decide you want to get shallower as you learn Apalachee Bay nearshore, you can always pick up a jon boat for the flats/creeks.
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Greenbone
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by Greenbone »

Most of us have certainly felt your pain-$$$. Lanark area and Carrabelle river out to the bay is mostly sand and grass bottom . Area is well marked, and about 1 ½ hours south of Tallahassee. Any new areas, one should be cautious, go slow and be safe until you are familiar with the waters .
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procraftwes
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by procraftwes »

I'd launch at the fort and explore around that area. Follow everyone else and/or stay in the channel. If you go up the St marks there's a couple of obvious logs to avoid(about halfway to the 98 bridge)..

The wakulla is my favorite and I don't go up the st marks past the 3rd of 4th bend past the 98 bridge(the rope swing) anymore. Cost me a lower unit and always seem to almost hit something up there. If the tide is really low I just idle up the Wakulla so I don't hit bottom.. Even though it's limestone there's a thick layer of mud if you hit bottom that is a nice buffer.. Hitting the bottom of the wakulla is unlikely to do damage even with an I/O..

Unfortunately with an I/O hitting bottom does alot more damage than an outboard.. Other than trimming it as much as possible(to limit the angle of impact) there's not much you can do other than sticking to deep marked water.. Can't go wrong launching at the fort and going out to the lighthouse and out to the sandbar(A couple miles out your boat will handle it just fine on most days).. Jon boats go out there regularly.
jonastio
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by jonastio »

I do like the Shields marina because of the services there. I remember my dad refusing to use it because there was no way he was going to pay to use a ramp, so we used to launch at the fort. I do appreciate the input, and I'm pretty familiar with channel markers (feels a lot like trail markers during my days as a scout), but I don't really plan on doing any bay boating until I get comfortable enough with speed and angle of approach of wake or waves. That's my biggest issue is trying to not ramp off a wake or bounce the bow too much.
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by doomtrpr_z71 »

You'll be fine in a 19ft boat putting in at the fort, my previous boat was a 17ft fish n ski and I've been all over the big bend in it. You do need to get a chart plotter though and put the points in for the marked rocks. Since when has the fort ramp been free?
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by silverking »

The fort ramp isn't free. City of St. Marks owns and maintains it. You can get an annual pass, but TANSTFL

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doomtrpr_z71
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by doomtrpr_z71 »

silverking wrote:The fort ramp isn't free. City of St. Marks owns and maintains it. You can get an annual pass, but TANSTFL

There Ain't No Such Thing As a Free Lunch! Image
That's why I didn't understand the issue he had with paying to put in at shields, the only time I've fished st mark's for free was during covid.

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jonastio
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Re: Good areas for a novice "captain"

Post by jonastio »

It has been at least a decade since I had been on the St. Marks and Wakulla river with my folks.
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