Saltmarsh Creeks

Post by **birddog** » November 15th, 2006, 1:13 pm

Fish the creek mouths and deeper holes for trout east or west out of the St. Marks river. Look for reds in the creeks and on the nearshore flats. Fish with whatever you have confidence in. Reds and trout ain't very picky right now. Good luck.

Tennessee · Post by **Tennessee** » November 15th, 2006, 2:06 pm

Thanks for the information, I was thinking of primarily fishing gold spoons, spinner baits, and gulp. We are taking my dads 17 foot aluminum boat so we can get really shallow or in the creeks should we need to. I think we are going to primarily target Reds, hope'n to get a big'n

Post by **wevans** » November 15th, 2006, 2:34 pm

Just remember that there are ROCKS all over the place to the East

Tennessee · Post by **Tennessee** » November 15th, 2006, 2:47 pm

Yes, the rocks scare me, what about Big West Bayou, West Goose, Walker Creek, and South of the Shell marina are those areas safe?

Ty one on · Post by **Ty one on** » November 15th, 2006, 3:30 pm

Tenn.

Going East / West is divided by the St. Marks Lighthouse.

If you travel to the east you should be safe for about a mile and a half from the rocks.

If you travel to the west rocks should not be a problem. However there are more oyster bars and some shallow water into Wakulla Beach and southwest of Shell Point. Good news is there will be a risen tide during the daytime hours this weekend.

When you are saying south of "Shell Marina" are you referring to Shell Island Marina of Shell Point Marina?

Post by **Sawbones** » November 15th, 2006, 3:59 pm

Most all the creeks are holding fish now. Watch the tides closely so you don't get stranded upstream. This time of year the north winds can greatly affect the tides, sometimes even cancelling the high tide all together. A good gps chartplotter with map source or other similar nautical softwear is a definite plus for finding your way out of a creek system and for navigating the river should the fog roll in. Go slow, be careful, and have fun!

Tennessee · Post by **Tennessee** » November 15th, 2006, 4:29 pm

Yes Ty one on we are staying at the motel there, thanks for refering that place to me. Going to fish St. Marks Friday and Sunday morning, we may go fish the Apalachicola drains on saturday. Sawbones, we have GPS there is no way I would be caught in an unfamiliar area without one. The fog, when we were at Stienhatchee in December, we would not have got to fish the bay where we caught fish the previous day had we not had GPS because of the fog. That place was amazing, we did not catch big trout but I would guess we caught over a 100 trout each day we were there in the 12 to 18 inch range.

Post by **Sawbones** » November 15th, 2006, 4:40 pm

There's something about St Marks where the fog will roll in out of nowhere on an otherwise bluebird clear day.

One other note, if your ranger has a tubular steel trailer like most of them do, sell it now and get an aluminum or at least a galvanized one. No matter how diligent you are in flushing and risning, it will rust from the inside out once it contacts salt water. Been there, done that.

Post by **boggob** » November 16th, 2006, 9:41 am

Tates Hell: http://www.fl-dof.com/state_forests/sf_ ... eshell.pdf
I have had some luck in Cash Creek recently. Most all of the camp sites require a permit from the office in Carrabelle due them having only one site per campground, for the most part. The only thing is that now, I believe, some of the camp sites are reserved for the rest of the season as "hunt camps." I really liked "Loop Road" site over on the Crooked River, or was it the Ochlockonee? However, I did my camping at Rake Creek.

Tennessee · Post by **Tennessee** » November 21st, 2006, 11:15 am

Had a great time at St. Marks this weekend.

Tennessee · Post by **Tennessee** » November 21st, 2006, 11:58 am

Everyone I talked to at St. Marks was very nice. Especially the folks a Shell point Marina where we stayed. Friday we started out just below the marina di not do much good althout my dad did catch a few small fish. Moved out west of marker 26 at noon and my dad caught a 22 inch red and a nice keeper trout along with a few small reds. Myself I stuck with a spoon and did not do much ggod a few small trout and a catfish

Pretty much I was spanked by the old man. After high tide nither of us had much luck. Saturday we traveled up to Apalachicola to fish the drains, I used a chatter bait to catch a nice keeper trout and a couple of flounder. I was getting crowded so we went to the Island and filled the cooler with jumbo shrimp and scallops and headed back to St. Marks. Put in at 2:30 and went east of marker 26, boated a few trout but it was to rough of an area for me. We went west of marker 26 and fished the bars west and toward the river channel to the east. When we werre almost to the river channel we began to catch fish, but it was almost dark. I had a new penny shrimp as a trailer behind a chatterbait and the trout were tearing it up. My dad was still jiging a new penny and catching fish as well. He boated a 20 inch red and a few small ones. We were almost limited out on trout and I told my dad one last throw, what was supose to be my last cast landed myself a 26 inch red. First and only one of the whole trip although I lost one just as big a couple of throws latter. We did not fair as well as some of the others that were fishing with guides at the camp but we had just as much fun. Thanks to all those who helped me plan this trip with my dad, can"t wait to go back the last week of December.

Post by **reel therapy** » November 21st, 2006, 12:44 pm

Sounds like an awesome weekend, Tennessee!

Good for you guys.

Post by **tin can** » November 21st, 2006, 7:10 pm

Sounds like you did well.