St. Marks 11/1

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SouthernPointe
Posts: 81
Joined: September 18th, 2019, 2:13 pm

St. Marks 11/1

Post by SouthernPointe »

Got out on the big water for the first time in a couple months. Made it to the fort around 10am. We had intentions of finding some reds. Fished east of the light house with ADL spoons (gold and pink) around some structure with no luck. Water (69-71 degrees) had a good stain but could still see bottom. Grass was floating but I’ve seen worst. Finally decided to fish some creeks when the trolling motor decided to quit. That took a good hour to diagnose and figure out how to manually stow the darn thing.

After the shenanigans, we just drifted with the breezy 10-15 mph N-NE wind in pursuit of trout. We started in 1.5-2’ of water and drifted out to 4’. In doing so, we picked up some nice fat sows in the 21-23” range and 3 in the 18-17 range with a couple shorts mixed in. We used Zman paddle tails in our effort.

All in all, it was fun to be back on the water with a friend (college coach) and also my little fishing buddy (son). My son’s only caveat to going with me is that we had to keep some fish to show mommy. (We usually throw them all back which makes him mad as a hornet.) Doesn’t he look proud?! I pray for man more proud dad moments

With Minn Kota’s awesome customer support and a new battery, I was able to get the trolling motor back working.

Y’all stay safe!

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silverking
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Joined: June 29th, 2003, 6:31 pm
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Re: St. Marks 11/1

Post by silverking »

Thanks for the report. Your First Mate looks like he had a good time. It's hard to convince junior anglers of the importance of release (and nothing wrong with keeping a few slots for the grill/cooker). Perhaps in the future make a point of explaining fish for the future, most spots wins, photo release and possibly doing some tagging to get him more involved?

With the weather shifting to more seasonable, maybe the Big Bend will finally see some better fall action.
"Sun rise and sun sets. Since the beginning, it hasn't changed yet." Little Feat
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SouthernPointe
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Joined: September 18th, 2019, 2:13 pm

Re: St. Marks 11/1

Post by SouthernPointe »

silverking wrote:Thanks for the report. Your First Mate looks like he had a good time. It's hard to convince junior anglers of the importance of release (and nothing wrong with keeping a few slots for the grill/cooker). Perhaps in the future make a point of explaining fish for the future, most spots wins, photo release and possibly doing some tagging to get him more involved?

With the weather shifting to more seasonable, maybe the Big Bend will finally see some better fall action.
Yeah, at four years old it’s hard for them to understand those concepts but I agree there are times to keep and times to release. In the past, we’ve also given our fish to the folks fishing from the docks/beach that are clearly fishing for their next meal. That was also a hard pill to swallow for a little guy.

There are lessons to be learned/taught from every stand point whether it’s learning how to clean a fish, learning to give or learning about conservation. All which are very valuable.

I’ll look into the tagging, that even interest me. Thanks for the idea.


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silverking
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Re: St. Marks 11/1

Post by silverking »

Check out the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Marine Lab. They have a long-standing tagging program and a great team of researchers. Big Bend Gyrene has been using their tags for cobia and they are also doing tripletail and other smaller species.

Good luck with your son's outdoor--and life--education. You've got him on the right path. :thumbup:
"Sun rise and sun sets. Since the beginning, it hasn't changed yet." Little Feat
Big Tim
Posts: 36
Joined: October 7th, 2020, 8:46 am
Location: Dallas, Ga.

Re: St. Marks 11/1

Post by Big Tim »

I finally made it down Sunday late afternoon and went out Monday and Tuesday. From the looks of this report I was in the wrong place at the right time. When I hit the mouth of the St.Marks the wind and waves were way past a chop there were some decent frequent rollers. Turned east into a sustained 15-20 (estimate) lots of wind lots of water. Decided to turn west and get the wind at least partially behind me. Drifted the west flats at warp speed wind sustained with gusts. Picked up a bonnet head, a few shorts and some trash fish. Drifted longer than I should have finally headed back into the river. Tried anchoring off the channel and behind some bars. Picked up a pup red, grunts and then some ladyfish showed up. Rough day I still have a lot to learn about the area. Tuesday weather better ran out to east flats. Made drifts from 2.5' to 8'-9'. I am still timid about getting too shallow at this point. First drift started picking up Spanish at 6'-7' nothing much in less than 5' or greater than 8'. Caught 6 Spanish missed about 4 more. Definitely fun they were hitting like freight trains. No luck on keeper trout. Ran towards Ecofina drifted more Spanish same depth. Still no keeper trout. The flats turned flat early afternoon in absolute stark contrast to the day before. Beautiful day. Ran back to river anchored and fished bars. Same story shorts, grunts, hard heads. Stopped several spots coming in. Anchored off a creek/slough near grass. Caught several various fish, one pup, and two largemouth (2.5 and 4 lbs) right off the grass. Part of the trip was learning the boat and the area so I wasn't too disappointed. All in all I have a lot to figure out but it was great just getting on the water with my fishing buddy.
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SouthernPointe
Posts: 81
Joined: September 18th, 2019, 2:13 pm

Re: St. Marks 11/1

Post by SouthernPointe »

Big Tim wrote:I finally made it down Sunday late afternoon and went out Monday and Tuesday. From the looks of this report I was in the wrong place at the right time. When I hit the mouth of the St.Marks the wind and waves were way past a chop there were some decent frequent rollers. Turned east into a sustained 15-20 (estimate) lots of wind lots of water. Decided to turn west and get the wind at least partially behind me. Drifted the west flats at warp speed wind sustained with gusts. Picked up a bonnet head, a few shorts and some trash fish. Drifted longer than I should have finally headed back into the river. Tried anchoring off the channel and behind some bars. Picked up a pup red, grunts and then some ladyfish showed up. Rough day I still have a lot to learn about the area. Tuesday weather better ran out to east flats. Made drifts from 2.5' to 8'-9'. I am still timid about getting too shallow at this point. First drift started picking up Spanish at 6'-7' nothing much in less than 5' or greater than 8'. Caught 6 Spanish missed about 4 more. Definitely fun they were hitting like freight trains. No luck on keeper trout. Ran towards Ecofina drifted more Spanish same depth. Still no keeper trout. The flats turned flat early afternoon in absolute stark contrast to the day before. Beautiful day. Ran back to river anchored and fished bars. Same story shorts, grunts, hard heads. Stopped several spots coming in. Anchored off a creek/slough near grass. Caught several various fish, one pup, and two largemouth (2.5 and 4 lbs) right off the grass. Part of the trip was learning the boat and the area so I wasn't too disappointed. All in all I have a lot to figure out but it was great just getting on the water with my fishing buddy.
That’s what it’s all about! Great report. What bait are you using?


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geofish
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Joined: July 23rd, 2016, 8:18 pm

Re: St. Marks 11/1

Post by geofish »

My son & I made it out Wednesday. Fished oyster bar cuts not far from the river mouth and picked up a few trout, one keeper plus a flounder. Winds died down and we took some pinfish for a ride to Rotary reef. One baby grouper and we lost maybe a 32-33 inch cobia at boatside, and then a calm ride in. All in all a great day Florida fishing before he had to drive back to his North Dakota AFB.
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SouthernPointe
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Re: St. Marks 11/1

Post by SouthernPointe »

geofish wrote:My son & I made it out Wednesday. Fished oyster bar cuts not far from the river mouth and picked up a few trout, one keeper plus a flounder. Winds died down and we took some pinfish for a ride to Rotary reef. One baby grouper and we lost maybe a 32-33 inch cobia at boatside, and then a calm ride in. All in all a great day Florida fishing before he had to drive back to his North Dakota AFB.
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Awesome catch! Flounder is my favorite! Glad you were able to spend some quality time with your son. I applaud his service and sacrifice.


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Big Tim
Posts: 36
Joined: October 7th, 2020, 8:46 am
Location: Dallas, Ga.

Re: St. Marks 11/1

Post by Big Tim »

Hey SP sorry I am just getting back in the house. We used live shrimp (drifting loose line and under popping corks), gulp 3" shrimp various colors with jig heads, jerk baits and spoons. Got some action on most of the above but of course everything was hitting live shrimp. The Spanish were mostly live shrimp and spoons. Hope that helps.
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