Ochlockonee Bay, Alligator Point, and Bald Point 2018 Fishin

[HighOnTheFlats]

First Post
New-comer here.

After skimming through the forums I figured I would get the ball rolling for this area in 2018. Hopefully we could keep this rolling through the season.

Anyone having any luck?

I have got into the trout and reds a few times this year. Saw a few tarpon yesterday, would be nice!
Hawg-leg mullet are everywhere, whiting and croaker are abundant. Not many pinfish yet from my experiences. Few hard head cats are showing up.

[Salty Gator]

Welcome aboard. Good to know about the tarpon, it’s pretty early for them to be showing up

[silverking]

Welcome to the forum. Glad you're finding a few. There is plenty of good fishing to the west.

Are you certain you saw tarpon? Not impossible, but it would be record-setting to have them show up 2 to 3 months early, especially when the water temps have dropped back into the 60s. The hotter the water, the better tarpon like it.

There are some monster gar out on the flats and they'll often roll.

[HighOnTheFlats]

Welcome to the forum. Glad you're finding a few. There is plenty of good fishing to the west.

Are you certain you saw tarpon? Not impossible, but it would be record-setting to have them show up 2 to 3 months early, especially when the water temps have dropped back into the 60s. The hotter the water, the better tarpon like it.

There are some monster gar out on the flats and they'll often roll.

Thanks y’all for the warm welcoming.

Yes I am sure it was tarpon, and as I would normally concur with you on it being early. But I will have to remind you that this is the warmest February we have ever had. I will add, that they were spotted at the mouth of the bay and moving out. Due to the water temp as you stated, I’m sure.

Tight Lines*

[Salty Gator]

Welcome to the forum. Glad you're finding a few. There is plenty of good fishing to the west.

Are you certain you saw tarpon? Not impossible, but it would be record-setting to have them show up 2 to 3 months early, especially when the water temps have dropped back into the 60s. The hotter the water, the better tarpon like it.

There are some monster gar out on the flats and they'll often roll.

Thanks y’all for the warm welcoming.

Yes I am sure it was tarpon, and as I would normally concur with you on it being early. But I will have to remind you that this is the warmest February we have ever had. I will add, that they were spotted at the mouth of the bay and moving out. Due to the water temp as you stated, I’m sure.

Tight Lines*

The water temp was 75 on the flats where I fished last weekend. Not impossible, but still super early. And don’t mention a warm February on this forum. Folks will call you a hiliary supporting liberal if you even mention the possibility of global warming

[silverking]

I found 76+ degrees on the 17th when I fished out of Lanark. On the flats and creeks of St. Marks on Wednesday, it was 68.6, which is a significant drop. If it gets down to the upper 30s as predicted on Saturday night, it probably won't rise much until another warming trend. The FSU Marine Lab (when it's working) shows 73 degrees this afternoon. But the lab's readings are always 4-5 degrees warmer than my sonar when I'm right off the channel.

Those fish probably came in with the heat wave, hung out in the deeper holes in the bay before hightailing out in advance of the latest cold front. There are several theories about tarpon migration and recent tagging studies show a definite mix. A Gulf sub-population that comes in with increased daylight and warming water is one of those I find has a lot of credence since the South Florida fish/main migration doesn't get really going until June typically.

A handful usually start showing up in mid- to late April and by May are regular visitors. If word gets out about the pod you saw, the carpet-baggers will be flocking in from across the Southeast.

Thanks for the report and update.

[Capt Ron]

Not unusual to see tarpon when water temp get this high. Most of the rivers in NW Florida have resident tarpon that spend the winter in springs and deep holes. Here in the Apalachicola area I can show tarpon all winter! Hard to get them play, but still fun to watch.

[silverking]

Not unusual to see tarpon when water temp get this high. Most of the rivers in NW Florida have resident tarpon that spend the winter in springs and deep holes. Here in the Apalachicola area I can show tarpon all winter! Hard to get them play, but still fun to watch.

There's a voice of experience with a couple more years on the water than me. Hope all is well with you, Capt. Ron!

[HighOnTheFlats]

Man glad to see some REEL people in here. I don’t mind sharing the fishing report for y’all just remember it if I ever drift your way. I know I have unlimited time to fish so I am always in position to get my share before the out of town-era show up. Plus we should all be good sportsman and share the sport of knowledge. *enough soap box*

Tight lines. I know with temps dropping shortly won’t affect much here. But I know I’d take croaker over whiting as bait right now. And that ones on the house.

Fair winds and following seas Pollywogs

[HighOnTheFlats]

Anyone dared to venture out this weekend?

I stayed home and loaded up on carbs for the next fish adventure, but was curious how it was looking?

[Salty Gator]

Anyone dared to venture out this weekend?

I stayed home and loaded up on carbs for the next fish adventure, but was curious how it was looking?

Fished sm yesterday afternoon. It was supposed to lay down, It didn’t. We did find a huge school of reds that we beat up on for a while

[WetBandit]

Can anyone enlighten me on how people approach wade fishing around the Bald Point Oyster bars? I've read about this spot a lot and I went once on a really low tide just to walk around see whats its all about. I thought at the time that it seemed like a better place to be on an incoming tide but I couldn't really decide what features I would expect to catch fish off of.

[HighOnTheFlats]

Can anyone enlighten me on how people approach wade fishing around the Bald Point Oyster bars? I've read about this spot a lot and I went once on a really low tide just to walk around see whats its all about. I thought at the time that it seemed like a better place to be on an incoming tide but I couldn't really decide what features I would expect to catch fish off of.

This is going to come off as being a smart a** (not my intentions), but your just going to have to put in the time and endure the frustrations. Walk until you catch a fish and start trying to pattern them. Think like a fish not a human looking for fish. I say this from my own personal experiences. The people who are the most successful have hours and hours of logged goose eggs.

Tight lines...

[HighOnTheFlats]

Anyone dared to venture out this weekend?

I stayed home and loaded up on carbs for the next fish adventure, but was curious how it was looking?

Fished sm yesterday afternoon. It was supposed to lay down, It didn’t. We did find a huge school of reds that we beat up on for a while

Thank you for fighting the good fight! I stayed in with the kids this weekend. Thought about it a lot though. Ha ha lol

[Williamsdad]

Love to know the general area you found them David. We saw some fish around the R. Garden, Luc sight fished one, then they disappeared. We looked everywhere, pretty slow and cold weekend counting a goose egg at Shell Point on Saturday. Brief period of pleasant in between pretty nasty.