St. Marks Fishing
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
St. Marks Fishing
Hello all, I'm new to this forum... Planning on moving to Tallahassee to attend FSU and wanted to get some advice on the local fisheries. I am coming from St.Simons Island,GA. I do a lot of nearshore fishing for kingfish, snapper, and grouper. How far out of St.Marks do you have to go to reach these kinda fish? I've never caught a redfish and I've only caught <25 Specks in my fishing career. I realize that reds and specks are the most popular here but I just wanted to see how transferable my fishing experience will be. Also, what type of boat would I need to reach the snapper and grouper around here? Bay or offshore boat? Should i just give up offshore fishing and get a kayak to catch reds? If you could help me out with seasonal fish here too that would be great. Thanks for any help.
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big bend gyrene
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- Joined: August 8th, 2005, 9:30 am
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Re: St. Marks Fishing
OleFish, let me first speak to the whole area in general... average depths inside the bowl the bay forms fall about 2' a mile, with it shallower to the east (Aucilla /Econfina area) and deeper to the west (Lanark/Carrabelle).
The good news since you like fish that are a bit deeper water species than trout and redfish is that a channel leading out of St. Marks provides greater depths fairly quickly and within 3 miles or so you can snag grouper off St. Marks reef in 22' or so of water, though most will be short. Certain times of the year you can even troll up nice grouper around the channel in closer. Still, for big keeper grouper the reef isn't too reliable (it gets hit hard being right outside of St. Marks) and other spots 10 miles on out to 20 miles are more likely to give you what you want.
Some years kings seem to be easier to catch in 20' to 30' versus deeper waters than others (probably salinity based depending on rain levels) and as I fish out of the east side (Econfina) most often I go out about 10' miles or so before they get fairly regular.
Snapper, red specifically, you best go out of the Carrabelle area and expect to travel out to 60 to 100 foot depths with a run of 15 miles or even more out.
You didn't mention them but cobia are my favorite species to target and depending on structure you fish, you can catch keepers here even in 6' depths off of bird racks, markers, rocky grounds, as well as the deeper reefs in the bay.
Even when we target the species above not unusual to hit trout and redfish spots on the way out / back in (when coming back in, depends on catch stored / have to be careful if have keeper offshore fish on ice and inshore waters are closed).
Good luck,
BBG
The good news since you like fish that are a bit deeper water species than trout and redfish is that a channel leading out of St. Marks provides greater depths fairly quickly and within 3 miles or so you can snag grouper off St. Marks reef in 22' or so of water, though most will be short. Certain times of the year you can even troll up nice grouper around the channel in closer. Still, for big keeper grouper the reef isn't too reliable (it gets hit hard being right outside of St. Marks) and other spots 10 miles on out to 20 miles are more likely to give you what you want.
Some years kings seem to be easier to catch in 20' to 30' versus deeper waters than others (probably salinity based depending on rain levels) and as I fish out of the east side (Econfina) most often I go out about 10' miles or so before they get fairly regular.
Snapper, red specifically, you best go out of the Carrabelle area and expect to travel out to 60 to 100 foot depths with a run of 15 miles or even more out.
You didn't mention them but cobia are my favorite species to target and depending on structure you fish, you can catch keepers here even in 6' depths off of bird racks, markers, rocky grounds, as well as the deeper reefs in the bay.
Even when we target the species above not unusual to hit trout and redfish spots on the way out / back in (when coming back in, depends on catch stored / have to be careful if have keeper offshore fish on ice and inshore waters are closed).
Good luck,
BBG
"The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank GOD for the United States Marine Corps." Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945
@ big bend gyrene
Alright, thanks. What kind of boat would be best? Are the waters usually temperamental? or can you get by with a bay boat? How are the piers along the big bend? What species? Thanks again.
Re: St. Marks Fishing
Bay boat is fine. If you can cross saint simons sound or Jekyll sound you should be fine. Good red/trout fishing, but much different than ssi. No 8' TIDE here. Much more grass & oyster bars. And shallower water. Like gyrene said, further west the deeper it gets quicker. If you haul over to Apalachicola, you can go out Indian pass and hit 80' within 10 miles of the cut. What boat do you currently own? Also Brett at sheilds marina is good to work with.
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Re: St. Marks Fishing
Welcome to the forum OF. The guys above definitely gave you some good advice. A couple more things that could be useful would be to get on google earth and take a look at the rocky areas. If you plan on running a bay boat, you'll need to learn those areas. The rock garden just to the east of the lighthouse has been known to eat lower units lol. The trout will be all over the grass flats east and west of the lighthouse from 1-8 foot, with the most consistent areas being 4 feet or so. Usually the bigger ones will be shallower like 2 feet. The Reds tend to stick closer to creeks, oyster bars, and rock piles. Some great grouper fishing can be found off st marks in 15-30 feet, especially in the fall when the water cools down. As bbg mentioned, cobia fishing can be good as well in those same depths while fishing different reefs and structures. This area is definitely productive if you just put the time in and learn to become a responsible and knowledgable steward of the sea. Good luck with it and we'll see ya on the water.
"Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing it's not the fish they are after." -Henry David Thoreau
Re: St. Marks Fishing
When the cobes start running, get as high as you can and look for rays, typically there's a cobe trailing behind him. You might wanna ask one of these guys who fish s.m alot to go out with you and show you around. There is a lot of rocks East of the lighthouse. A lot!
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