Fishing Mashes Sands This Weekend - Clueless

[scag]

As the title says, i'll be fishing the Mashes Sands area with a friend this weekend from my Kayak. I'm mainly a fresh water angler, so to be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to in-shore salt water. I've used a cork with gulp shrimp on a jig head before with limited success (one small redfish in two days). Would love to give live bait a shot, but I don't know what to use, how to rig it, where to buy or catch it, etc.

Any suggestions for this weekend? Thanks in advance!

[Salty Gator]

If you are a freshwater fisherman, you probably have what you need in the tackle box. Gold spoons(Johnson or adl), jerk baits, topwater plugs, subsurface plugs, crank baits, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits work well. I bet a big ol worm would work(ive pulled some big white senco shapes worms out of a redfish belly). For live bait, you can buy shrimp most places. I think AMS sells bull minnows. You will pass it on the way. Freeline or small jighead thru the nose works well. Hit the eddies in the oyster bars when the water is moving. Good luck post a report. Also check out FCKA for more yak info than can use.

[leonreno]

I don't know the mashes sands area well, but one thing to keep in mind is all the freshwater coming out of the rivers has the water pretty messed up. You will probably need to find the clearest water (or really, the least dirty) you can. Right now most trout fishing is best in deeper waters 5 - 12 feet. The best luck I have read about is near Lanark, where there are not close by rivers, so its a little clearer.

[Badbagger]

We fished Mashes Sands on Thursday. Since you're yaking it, I'd put in at Bald Bald State Park and fish that Oyster bar that's basically right there, Water quality sux but there are some fish there.

[scag]

Its been a little while since the original post, but I figured better late than never....

We hit the water by about 7AM fishing the Ochlockonee bay side of Mashes Sands Rd. As suggested, I brought some of my fresh water gear...I started by throwing a little 3.5" top water plug called the "spittin' image" on a medium action Skeet Reese "topwater/Jerkbait" rod. Within 5 casts I landed this one about 20ft from the grass line. After that, I had no bites for about another 2 hours before we went in. I went back and forth between that first rig and another with gulp 3' minnow on a 1/4 jig head. I'm happy I got at least one, but kind of surprised I didn't get a bite or even see any fish after that.

[silverking]

It's been a challenging summer with all the freshwater run-off. At least you found a nice fish. I have a buddy who loves the Swimmin' Image for redfish.

Is your Native a 12 or 14.5, Scag? I've got a 14.5 Solo and am curious about the 12's performance. Mine is very stable and able to surf the chop, but 12 would be a little more manageable and a few pounds lighter. If it's a 12, wondering how it tracks and the stability? Thanks for any input and feel free to PM me if you prefer.

Nice inaugural trip and keep at 'em.

[scag]

Its actually a 14.5 tandem that I have setup for solo. I love it though and i'm really glad I opted for the longer boat because I assume it tracks better and paddles faster.

[silverking]

Thanks for the reply. I like my 14.5 also, just curious about the 12. Guess I'll keep this one for awhile more. It's caught me a lot of fish this last year.