Upper St Marks bassin'

Use this area to post freshwater fishing reports from the area lakes and rivers. Please try to include relevant information such as:
Location, date, time, water conditions, weather conditions, baits, techniques, species caught, etc.

Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels

Post Reply
J Holden
Posts: 138
Joined: February 17th, 2012, 7:16 pm

Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by J Holden »

I live on the St Marks, it been a few years since I've been up to the very end of it, so I decided to head over and do some bass fishing while I was at it. Put in the kayak at a spot maybe 3/4-1mi from where it goes underground. Landed 10 bass in 3 hours, all pretty typical river fish around 12''. Missed a bunch more. One crushed it under a dock set back in a little channel and set to doing jumps that would make a tarpon proud, that fish was way more respectable, probably 3.5-4lb but spit the hook on a jump. With around a quarter mile or so to go I couldn't even make it all the way upriver, the hydrilla and eel grass were in mats feet thick that spanned the entire river- the worst weed choking I've ever seen. Had no idea it had gotten that bad. From that point up it's pretty much unfishable by anything except punching, even the spots where you can see water have solid mats of crap 6" under the surface. It clears up quickly to just scattered mats here and there when you head downriver.

Image

Image

All fish came on a texas rigged zoom speed worm. Tried a buzzbait and chatterbait, no dice on either.
User avatar
Bailey
Posts: 254
Joined: December 11th, 2001, 8:00 pm
Location: Tallahassee

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by Bailey »

Nice report. I've never been that far up river.
User avatar
Gulf Coast
Site Sponsor
Posts: 1914
Joined: February 9th, 2010, 3:25 pm
Location: WOODVILLE/MEDART

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by Gulf Coast »

Maybe everyone shouldn't have bitched about the cows so bad :-D
slowroller
Site Sponsor
Posts: 340
Joined: December 30th, 2008, 3:46 pm
Location: Where the fish are.

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by slowroller »

Gulf Coast wrote:Maybe everyone shouldn't have bitched about the cows so bad :-D
Thats what I was thinking. :thumbup:
User avatar
kikstand454
Posts: 392
Joined: March 28th, 2008, 2:18 pm

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by kikstand454 »

"Put in the kayak at a spot maybe 3/4-1mi from where it goes underground."

Is this a public launch?

Id love to put in here as I haven't explored that far up river either. Sounds like you had a good time....too bad the weeds have choked it out. :/
J Holden
Posts: 138
Joined: February 17th, 2012, 7:16 pm

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by J Holden »

Nope, neighbor's back yard. The farthest upriver public launch is at the bridge in Newport and it's another 5+ miles to the head of the river from there... Very little fishing pressure on the upper end because it's a bitch to get to.

If you had a skinny floating boat and some time on your hands you might be able to get most of the way up the river from the bridge, there's some pontoon boats and Carolina Skiffs sitting at peoples' docks so apparently you can get them up there. I've heard there is a really shallow section a couple miles up from the bridge that is hard to get past but for the most part it seems there's at least 5+ feet in the middle of the river most of the way. Wouldn't even try to make that trip in a kayak, that current was RIPPING down there through the middle.
Last edited by J Holden on October 8th, 2012, 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
bman
Moderator
Posts: 4800
Joined: December 4th, 2005, 9:26 am
Location: Tallahassee
Contact:

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by bman »

The channel follows the west side of the river... I've had a boat up there a number of times with my dad.
We have caught tons of redbreast, stumpknockers and catfish up at the boil. Glorious place.

there are a lot of rock about 3/4 of the way up so be careful with an outboard!
Barry Bevis, Realtor and Owner of BigBendFishing.net
I liked it so much, I bought the company ;-)

http://www.bevisrealty.com
Image
TEAM "Duck Season!"
User avatar
mjsigns
Site Sponsor
Posts: 4918
Joined: June 8th, 2004, 10:14 pm
Location: Tallahassee

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by mjsigns »

:thumbup: :thumbup:
Too much Grass for me :wink:
Time is the most precious commodity we have in life, stay focused.
User avatar
kikstand454
Posts: 392
Joined: March 28th, 2008, 2:18 pm

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by kikstand454 »

Well id be in my kayak.
Thought maybe you could put in at the rise. Maybe ill hitch a ride up stream sometime and drift back down.
Lol.
User avatar
wevans
Site Sponsor
Posts: 12827
Joined: June 12th, 2002, 11:06 am
Location: Sopchoppy

Re: Upper St Marks bassin'

Post by wevans »

I've often wondered how a high velocity fan would push a kayak :-D that may would be the place ta test it :thumbup: :smt004
“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.”
Image
Post Reply