steinhatchee River

[ddb]

I'm planning on fishing the steinhatchee river the next couple of days, thinking the trout will be seeking warmer water. I've got quite a bit of experience fishing the flats, but never fished the river. Would anyone be willing to share some real basic tips on what to use, where to look, etc?
Thanks.

[JC_UF_ITK]

Most people fish the channel and flats off the channel from the mouth to the start of the "slow speed" zone. Jigheads with plastics and/or shrimp have worked well for me in the past.

[2true]

Go up in the river and look for the boats with GA on the side.

[Harmsway]

They were thick in the river mid-Dec last cold snap. Hitting any sinking lure retrieved slowly. They seemed to like white w red head and rootbeer w chartreuse tail. I heard they moved back out of the river during recent warm spell, but this current cold snap should stack them back up ub the river (but I don't have a report). Most fish were 14.5 inches.

[zload]

Go up in the river and look for the boats with GA on the side.

Its easy to find...

The "Suicide Hole" is closer in to Sea Hag, not sure they are there yet based on the Sea Hag reports. This last cold snap may have moved them on in.

[ddb]

We weren't able to make it down Friday due to an electronics issue, but we did make it Saturday. The number of boats and the fishing etiquette (or lack of) lived up to expectations. We had to sort through a number of shorts, but we did manage to bring home enough for a few meals. It was a fun experience for a change, but I think I prefer to have the space the flats offer. The trout were a lot more scattered than I had thought they would be and seamed to be on the move a lot more than expected given the temps. We picked up several that were up on the edges, well out of the channel. We had good luck on small plastics, live shrimp, and a red-white catch 2000. Water temperatures in the river started out around 51 and picked up to 54. Thanks to all that offered help.

[Perch Jerker]

Thanks for the report.

[FUTCHCAIRO]

I HAVE ALWAYS HAD GREAT SUCCESS USING THE MIRRO-LURE 5224 SLOW SINKING PLUG, TROLLED VERY SLOW FROM THE BOAT RAMP OUT TO THE MOUTH. LAST TIME I WENT WE CAUGHT THE LIMIT IN 3 HOURS, AIR TEMP. WAS 34 WATER TEM WAS 50 AND WARMED UP TO 56, MOON WAS FIRST QUARTER, NO WIND DEAD CALM. THE PLUG WAS BLUE BACK WITH SILVER REFLECTIVE SIDES.
PA
SEMPER FI

[ddb]

I'll have to give the trolling a try some time. I'm afraid the number of boats may have made it quite difficult on Saturday. I was surprised to find a number of fish fairly high in the water column. I guess I was expecting them to be hunkered down deep.