St. Marks 4/20
Posted: April 21st, 2008, 11:02 am
My fishing partner was a little late to the house but he showed up, we loaded the boat and headed off into the dark around 6:15. Then he tells me he forgot his sunglasses in his truck. We spin around and backtrack to grab them. Drving down CCSE we see the Keels mobile headed in the same direction.
Get to the LH ramp and put-in. We ran East on my 'traditional' route approximately half way to the Aucilla. It was a lake out there. Beautiful with no wind.
First drift is in 5'. Wind is very light from the NW. I bag a 20in trout foulhooked in the back on a chrome/blue She Dog. I thought it was going to be a big jack. Partner starts fishing a redfin. He brings a couple more barely legal trout to the boat. We release the barely legal ones and we decide to head in shallower.
Second drift in about 3', not much going on except shorts. Wind is from the WNW. Sun is rising, topwater is producing fewer hits. Tide is dead low. We decide to idle North to even shallower water while the tide is dead. We idle up to about 2.5 feet.
Third drift, wind from the W. I switch to a Bite-A-Bait, partner is still on the redfin. I put two 17" trout in the box. Partner is having a hard time with shorts. We also start collecting pinfish for cobia fishing later. Reposition the drift once with the TM. The wind is now from the SW. I switch to a mirrolure, couple shorts released and then a fat 21" trout into the box. Partner switches to a soft plastic jerkbait - he puts a 16" trout in the box. I have a couple monster hits on the Bite-A-Bait which don't hook up. Partner gets cut off by a spanish. Tide is ripping in and we decide to go redfishing.
Redfishing. Both of us are throwing gold spoons. Into creek #1. One puppy red. Tide is RIPPING into the creek. Have to use the big motor to get out. On the outside. Limegreen grass points, same gold spoon, another pup red cought and released. Into creek #2 - partner gets a nice slot redfish on his spoon. Wind at this point is whipping from the SW.
Idle out to deeper water, going to look for a cobe. Decide the wind is too much. Dump the pinfish and head for the ramp. Ramp is a zoo but we load up and head home.
Stringer at the house was 21, 20, 17, 17 and 16. We released at least 3 that were 15.0000001. We also released a slot red. Not a bad day. The only issue that came up as far as tackle was a problem with my partner's spoon. No rods or reels damaged in any way during the making of this fishing report. Nice to get out there after the dubious weather the past few weekends.
Get to the LH ramp and put-in. We ran East on my 'traditional' route approximately half way to the Aucilla. It was a lake out there. Beautiful with no wind.
First drift is in 5'. Wind is very light from the NW. I bag a 20in trout foulhooked in the back on a chrome/blue She Dog. I thought it was going to be a big jack. Partner starts fishing a redfin. He brings a couple more barely legal trout to the boat. We release the barely legal ones and we decide to head in shallower.
Second drift in about 3', not much going on except shorts. Wind is from the WNW. Sun is rising, topwater is producing fewer hits. Tide is dead low. We decide to idle North to even shallower water while the tide is dead. We idle up to about 2.5 feet.
Third drift, wind from the W. I switch to a Bite-A-Bait, partner is still on the redfin. I put two 17" trout in the box. Partner is having a hard time with shorts. We also start collecting pinfish for cobia fishing later. Reposition the drift once with the TM. The wind is now from the SW. I switch to a mirrolure, couple shorts released and then a fat 21" trout into the box. Partner switches to a soft plastic jerkbait - he puts a 16" trout in the box. I have a couple monster hits on the Bite-A-Bait which don't hook up. Partner gets cut off by a spanish. Tide is ripping in and we decide to go redfishing.
Redfishing. Both of us are throwing gold spoons. Into creek #1. One puppy red. Tide is RIPPING into the creek. Have to use the big motor to get out. On the outside. Limegreen grass points, same gold spoon, another pup red cought and released. Into creek #2 - partner gets a nice slot redfish on his spoon. Wind at this point is whipping from the SW.
Idle out to deeper water, going to look for a cobe. Decide the wind is too much. Dump the pinfish and head for the ramp. Ramp is a zoo but we load up and head home.
Stringer at the house was 21, 20, 17, 17 and 16. We released at least 3 that were 15.0000001. We also released a slot red. Not a bad day. The only issue that came up as far as tackle was a problem with my partner's spoon. No rods or reels damaged in any way during the making of this fishing report. Nice to get out there after the dubious weather the past few weekends.
