Night fishing on the Flats..(A Retrospective)
Posted: August 8th, 2007, 6:02 pm
Many many moons ago (22 years ago during my drinking days) before the advent of GPS me and my old fishing partner used to put in at the lighthouse and go out on the flats in his old john boat and try to fish all night. We used to take a case of 
in the cooler, some live shrimps, electric bobbers with "lights" in them, and plenty chips and snacks to eat. We'd go out just inside the steak line, drop the anchor, and throw live baits. We sat far enough off-shore that insects were not a problem. I must say it was very very quiet and peaceful. Most of the time we were the only boat on the water with the exception of an occasional barge rolling in and out of the St. Marks. We caught all variety's of fish, flounder, trout, lady fish, catfish, sharks, rock bass, puffer fish, sting rays, needle fish, pinfish and other fish we couldn't identify. It was fun, but we really didn't know what we were doing, we were just having fun being kids. When the sun would finally made it's appearance, we'd head back into town with boat in tow. I remember one time on the way home I fell asleep 
at the wheel in Woodville, so we pulled off on a side road and slept for an hour or two.
On another over-nighter, the Marine patrol made a "surprise" visit while we were 3/4 asleep
around 3:30am. Partner got a warning ticket for expired registration, no navigation lights and a couple other minor infractions, no visual signals, ect..
It was fun back then, but I would be hard pressed to stay out all night again. It plays heck with my internal clock. The fishing was best right at sunset, and right prior to sunrise.
in the cooler, some live shrimps, electric bobbers with "lights" in them, and plenty chips and snacks to eat. We'd go out just inside the steak line, drop the anchor, and throw live baits. We sat far enough off-shore that insects were not a problem. I must say it was very very quiet and peaceful. Most of the time we were the only boat on the water with the exception of an occasional barge rolling in and out of the St. Marks. We caught all variety's of fish, flounder, trout, lady fish, catfish, sharks, rock bass, puffer fish, sting rays, needle fish, pinfish and other fish we couldn't identify. It was fun, but we really didn't know what we were doing, we were just having fun being kids. When the sun would finally made it's appearance, we'd head back into town with boat in tow. I remember one time on the way home I fell asleep at the wheel in Woodville, so we pulled off on a side road and slept for an hour or two. On another over-nighter, the Marine patrol made a "surprise" visit while we were 3/4 asleep
around 3:30am. Partner got a warning ticket for expired registration, no navigation lights and a couple other minor infractions, no visual signals, ect.. It was fun back then, but I would be hard pressed to stay out all night again. It plays heck with my internal clock. The fishing was best right at sunset, and right prior to sunrise.