Spent Fri, Sat. and Sun. mornings fishing the Bay. The fishing was great, but the catchin' was pretty slow. Have to blame it on the lack of a tide, there was very little water movement. Prepared myself for large crowds at Presnell's, especially Sat. and Sun. However, It really seemed like any other weekend or even a weekday. Eckley commented that it was pretty slow for Memorial day weekend.
Friday-- Got on the water about 6:45 a.m., headed down between Black's Island and the south end of the bay. The wind was blowing pretty hard and it made topwater fishing tough. Chased some small redfish around with a Capt. Mikes gold spoon but couldn't get any takers. Switched to trout and was able to land 2 keepers (17"-18") and a slew of shorts. Caught trout in 4'- 6' of water on neon mercury SWA under a C/T. Back at the hill by 12:00.
Saturday-- Much calmer this morning, headed down in the bottom of the bay, chased the redfish again. No luck. I'm thinking their spooked pretty easy in that clear, skinny water. Back to the trout. In 4'-6' water was able to land 8 keepers (17"-27") and a good many shorts, all on jigs. Fished topwater a good bit , but the trout were short striking the bait and never could hook up. Of the keepers, 2 - 23" , 1- 24", and 1 - 27" were caught on pink 1/4 oz. jigs with neon mercury SWA fished on the bottom slow without a cork. Back at the hill by 11:30.
Sunday-- Pretty calm this morning. Started out with topwater baits, but had to switch to jigs again. Only able to boat 2 keepers (17"-18") and a few shorts. Seemed pretty slow. Would have liked to have stuck around to find out, but had to pull out by 9:30 to keep from getting in dutch with the wife.
Overall, it was slow but I figured it would be when I checked the tide tables. The bay was as pretty as ever. Saw some awesome sunrises and more turtles than you could count. Can't wait till next time.
Oh yea. I released 1 of the 23", the 24", and the 27", so go get'em boys.
St. Joe Bay 5/28 - 5/30
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
- Chalk
- Moderator
- Posts: 11996
- Joined: March 9th, 2002, 8:00 pm
- Location: 30° 13' N, 85° 40' W
- Contact:
Re: St. Joe Bay 5/28 - 5/30
birddog wrote:Oh yea. I released 1 of the 23", the 24", and the 27", so go get'em boys.

WTG Birddog....

