St. Marks 3/8/06

Post by **tin can** » March 8th, 2006, 10:04 pm

Headed to the lighthouse this morning. During the drive I kept looking at the tree tops. I kept thinking "They aren't moving". I kept looking for signs of wind all the way. Even on the refuge road, a bit of a ripple on the pools was about it. Then I rounded the 90 degree bend by the rest rooms. The palm trees were bent pretty good. Launched any way. Idled out of the canal to be greeted by a stiff southeast wind. Ran east to a favorite shallow flats area. Water temp was down to 57 degrees. Started a drift in 3' of water. Caught the first fish in less than 2' of water 18" trout, in the box. Within 45 minutes I had caught 15 keepers between 16" and 19". All were caught on a jerk bait. Kept 4, hoping to find one over 20". About noon, I moved into a creek. Caught 6 more keepers, and had my one over 20 on, and blew it. Fished quite a bit of the creek, looking for reds. Threw a spinnerbait, spoon and a jig. Had 1 good red ona jig, but it buried up in the bottom, and got off. That was the only red of the day. Headed back out to the flats around 4:00. The water temp had risen to 62 degrees. Had a few trout roll up on a jerk bait, but wouldn't take it. So I switched to a Catch 2000. Caught 2 more keepers. Moved to a deep hole in a creek that is known to hold redfish on occasion. Today it was full of 15" trout. Caught 15 on a jig fished slow on the bottom. By this time the sun was slowly sinking. Ran in, and back on the trailer at 6:45.

The wind blew all day. It never warmed up enough for me to take my wind pants or jacket off. When I fished these places last week the water was around 65 degrees. I suppose all of this wind has cooled the water back down. The water was near clear every place I fished today. No problem seeing the bottom in 5' when the sun was high.

If, out of all this, I were to offer 1 tip, it would be FISH SLOW. Almost every fish I caught today hit when the bait was sitting still. Even the jigs.

Oh, somewhere along the way I managed to catch 2 flounder. One was 13", the other was 18". Both caught on a jig.

Total for the day:

Somewhere around 40 trout, 2 flounder.

Post by **rocket** » March 8th, 2006, 10:08 pm

Dang boy...that's putting a hurtin' on 'em!
Looks like the wind didn't have any affect on you.

Post by **Eerman** » March 8th, 2006, 10:12 pm

You da man no matter what your partner in crime says about ya.

pennfish · Post by **pennfish** » March 8th, 2006, 10:24 pm

Good deal John, thats the way to spend the day

Post by **Perch Jerker** » March 8th, 2006, 10:39 pm

Great report.

Post by **RodBow** » March 8th, 2006, 11:01 pm

Oo-hoo! sounds like it's cranking up

Post by **rx fisher** » March 8th, 2006, 11:10 pm

Great day on the water, Thanks for the report.
I'll be trying again soon.

Post by **Reel Slow** » March 9th, 2006, 7:08 am

WTG TC

Post by **mjsigns** » March 9th, 2006, 8:02 am

We got to get you into a cheap digital camera just for fishing trips !
The words just can't fully describe the "feel" of the experience.

Good Report TC

Post by **Chalk** » March 9th, 2006, 8:14 am

Hope you fished in a new area....

Nice catch

dstockwell · Post by **dstockwell** » March 9th, 2006, 8:15 am

WTG

Post by **Redfin** » March 9th, 2006, 8:47 am

flounder!

sweet outing

Post by **qoutrage** » March 9th, 2006, 9:03 am

Way to go T/C. Nice report for sure.

Littoral · Post by **Littoral** » March 9th, 2006, 9:19 am

Thanks! Nice job, shallow & slow

.

Post by **wevans** » March 9th, 2006, 9:26 am

Alright, that does it

I'm gonna fish Saint Marks this weekend

nice catch on a rough day TC