Am I crazy for wanting to try this? St Vincent bass fishing

[J Holden]

Okay, ever since I read an old article from the 70's about a wildlife biologist catching and releasing a 18lb bass in St Vincent's freshwater ponds I've had a crazy plan to take a kayak in there. Throw it on the deck of a boat, have someone run me to the mouth of the brackish creek that runs into them early morning and paddle all the way up to the lakes to fish... Anyone ever fished up there? Or in the brackish creeks flowing out of St Vincent for that matter. Mosquito netting will be brought

[TallyFish]

Sounds Kool to me!

[Steve Stinson]

I am not sure you're going to find bass in those ponds. My bet would be redfish. Also, it appears to me that the ponds near the SE corner of the island may not be accessible without dragging your kayak a bit.

Gary Droze from this forum would probably be up for such a trip. I will volunteer my boat to shuttle you guys to the island if it is not too far to run on 12 gal. of fuel.

- Steve Stinson

[MudDucker]

I am pretty sure those ponds got inundated with salt water in some storms since the 70's, but it would be cool for a young man. You can almost throw a rock over from the Indian Pass Campground boat ramp. Just depends on which end of the island you are going to.

[GaryDroze]

Been there, done that. My amazing wife agreed to honeymoon with me just across from St Vincent Island, so we could hike and fish there. That was in 2001. The ponds by then had already turned brackish, and with all the hurricanes and tropical storms since then, I don't think there's an ecosystem on the island that could support largemouth bass. I agree with Steve Stinson's redfish bet. They find a way to be everywhere!

That said, I'm always game for the long shot, especially if it involves arduous trekking.

[crappielimits]

I bet they are still some bass up there. Largemouth are very sustainable in brackish water. Especially if you have any springs up there. Bet there are Gills up there too. Take some pvc and rope to make rollers while dragging your YAK.

[J Holden]

Hmmm, I like catching redfish as much as I like catching bass and they both love topwater and spinnerbaits Sounds like it's probably worth a trip to check out anyway, if only for the scenery. I'm still deployed at the moment but I'll be back for a few weeks in September, think I'll give it a shot then. Gary if you want to join me in the craziness, you're more than welcome! And thank you Steve, I really appreciate the offer. I'll definitely let you know if I need to take you up on that.


This is the route I'm looking at. Depending on how old this data is it looks like you should be able to get in almost all the ponds from that one creek





EDIT-
Looks like lake 4 and 5 are freshwater and FWC stocks them, or has stocked them within the last few years. According to this
http://www.fws.gov/southeast/planning/P ... %20CCP.pdf

[GaryDroze]

Please keep me in the loop. If the trails aren't too sandy, I'm even thinking mountain biking, with an inflatable in the backpack. At the very least, a good story or two should come out of this. And thanks for the ferry offer, Steve!

[kikstand454]

Thats pretty hardcore. What's the rules about camping out there? May want to make that an overnight.

Looks like a total blast!

[doomtrpr_z71]

I want to try it as well

[bpac]

I'd be game to go.

[Ken_80]

I did this last year during mid October. Loaded my yak up on the front of my skiff and went the exact same route you have highlighted. Did not take the first pole (hell should have froze over). Beautiful place in there.