St. Marks / Wakulla 2008.01.20-21
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 9:29 pm
Had to think a minute 'bout where to put this one. Decided since we set out planning on huntin reds agian, I'd put it here. Got out around 6:30 - 7:00 Sunday. Had to put in at shields cause there wasn't enough water at the fort to get mojo's boat off the trailer with the wheels on the edge of the concrete. It's the least water I've ever seen. Wind was ripping just like the previous day, maybe even worse. It was also a little bit cold out. The weather drove us up the Wakulla lookin for any place with warmer water and maybe some kind of flow or creek. Asked everyone we passed on the river if they got anything, only had one boat out of about a dozen tell us they caught anything at all, and I'm pretty sure they were crappie fishing.
We ended up going clear up near the 98 bridge where we saw some reds last weekend. I got the first fish of the day on a 7" curt-tail Mookbait, and the second fish 2 casts later on the same rig.
Lots of fish around there but none of the saltwater type we like so much, so we worked our way down the river, hoping some of our favorite spots between the fort and lighthouse would be accessible. They weren't - I'd estimate the predicted +2.6 high tide turned out to be more like -0.5 or so at the highest all day.
We were forced to fish where we could find water, which limited the choices horribly. went up and down St Marks and Wakulla all day having to move slow since there was no water anywhere and all sorts of new hazards popped up here and there. We couldn't resist the urge to check out the river mouth around high tide; the oyster bars looked like mountains from the low water, and by the way there is (was?) a whole tree laid up on Spray Bar - we saw it floting down river last weekend and it moved maybe half a mile that day. We saw it Saturday and Sunday high and dry on Spray Bar this weekend. Beware if you should head out toward the west sandbar across from the bird rack, as I imagine it will continue to head south as soon as there's wnough water to get it off that bar.
Anyway, wind and lack of water made it another bad day. Close to sunset we fished around the shallow area across from Shell Island and I popped a couple more bass with a Zara Super Spook Jr. (same one I caught my 30" redfish on last weekend). Ended the day with 4 keeper ... bass?!?!?
Took my boat out again today just for a few hours, more to check on the motor and new tach and whatnot than for fishing. Water was 1.5 - 2 feet higher than yesterday but still somewhat low for good fishing. Winds hadn't let up much and it was gustier today. Didn't spend a whole lot of time with lines in the water. We did go up one creek off the St Marks not far south of the fort and saw a whole bunch of mullet and a few reds, but the tide was going out fast and we didn't want to be stuck up there without a paddle, so we had to leave them. Got some hits on topwater around the graslines near the fort around sunset, but no catches today. Overall, this was the absolute worst fishing 3-day weekend I can remember.
We ended up going clear up near the 98 bridge where we saw some reds last weekend. I got the first fish of the day on a 7" curt-tail Mookbait, and the second fish 2 casts later on the same rig.
Lots of fish around there but none of the saltwater type we like so much, so we worked our way down the river, hoping some of our favorite spots between the fort and lighthouse would be accessible. They weren't - I'd estimate the predicted +2.6 high tide turned out to be more like -0.5 or so at the highest all day.
We were forced to fish where we could find water, which limited the choices horribly. went up and down St Marks and Wakulla all day having to move slow since there was no water anywhere and all sorts of new hazards popped up here and there. We couldn't resist the urge to check out the river mouth around high tide; the oyster bars looked like mountains from the low water, and by the way there is (was?) a whole tree laid up on Spray Bar - we saw it floting down river last weekend and it moved maybe half a mile that day. We saw it Saturday and Sunday high and dry on Spray Bar this weekend. Beware if you should head out toward the west sandbar across from the bird rack, as I imagine it will continue to head south as soon as there's wnough water to get it off that bar.
Anyway, wind and lack of water made it another bad day. Close to sunset we fished around the shallow area across from Shell Island and I popped a couple more bass with a Zara Super Spook Jr. (same one I caught my 30" redfish on last weekend). Ended the day with 4 keeper ... bass?!?!?
Took my boat out again today just for a few hours, more to check on the motor and new tach and whatnot than for fishing. Water was 1.5 - 2 feet higher than yesterday but still somewhat low for good fishing. Winds hadn't let up much and it was gustier today. Didn't spend a whole lot of time with lines in the water. We did go up one creek off the St Marks not far south of the fort and saw a whole bunch of mullet and a few reds, but the tide was going out fast and we didn't want to be stuck up there without a paddle, so we had to leave them. Got some hits on topwater around the graslines near the fort around sunset, but no catches today. Overall, this was the absolute worst fishing 3-day weekend I can remember.
