St. Marks May 22-24

Use this area to post inshore fishing reports from the area. Please try to include relevant information such as:
Location, date, time, water conditions, weather conditions, baits, techniques, species caught, etc.
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Bartman
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Joined: April 12th, 2009, 2:18 pm

St. Marks May 22-24

Post by Bartman »

Bullet and I decided to ignore the weather forecast (once again) and head down to Shell Island Fish Camp and try our luck. The last time we ignored the weather forecast was 8 weeks ago when the EPIC Storm came through. We ended up fishing from the banks. My wife is convinced that we are idiots. How do you explain this to someone who does not fish?

Left Dothan at lunch on Friday and drove thru rain all the way. Not raining in St. Marks but wind was blowing pretty hard. Had the boat in the water by 4:00, picked up two dozen shrimp and made our way to East River. Fished two hours and caught 2 trout (15 & 17), one sheepshead, couple of ladyfish and several catfish. Too rough to go into the bay for bait.

Left the dock @ 7:20 Saturday morning. Winds 15-20 out of the ESE. Made our way south of the light house and caught some pretty good bait. Almost fell in a couple of time while casting, it was rough. Went to some oyster bars near west flats to fish the incoming tide. After about 30 minutes the fish arrived. I caught two reds (26 & 26.5) on consecutive casts. Bullet landed 3 trout (19, 21 & 22). Did all of this in about 45 minutes. About this time I noticed my boat moving past me. With two anchors it still would not hold with the wind and tide moving in the same direction. We figured with two trout over 20 and two reds we would take it in and take a break.

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Photo of morning catch.

Cleaned fish, took a break and then headed out to East River to catch falling tide. Afternoon was slow, except catfish. Finished with one flounder and one 22" trout.

Sunday left dock at 7:10. Weather was overcast but wind had died down to around 10. Got bait and headed to West Bar. Turned on about 1 hour after tide change. I got another red (22) and Bullet continued to dominate the trout (22 & 23). Stayed on the west side for falling tide. I lost one red after about 4 minutes of fighting (came back with a hook) but did land one more red (24) and Bullet finally got in on the red fish action with a nice 26".

Not a bad weekend and it did not rain on us at all.
Jumptrout51
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Re: St. Marks May 22-24

Post by Jumptrout51 »

:thumbup: Good trip.
WHOSE FISH IS IT?
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FinsNGrins
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Re: St. Marks May 22-24

Post by FinsNGrins »

That one trout looks pretty fat from some shrimp
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Bartman
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Re: St. Marks May 22-24

Post by Bartman »

Fat trout actually had just eaten an 8" mullet.
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whitebc
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Re: St. Marks May 22-24

Post by whitebc »

Nice lookin fishes!! :beer: :beer:
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Aquamaholic
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Location: Tallamahassee

Re: St. Marks May 22-24

Post by Aquamaholic »

Were you guys wading?

I think I saw you on Sunday we were working a bar a little further West of you. We could only come up with 1 or 2 Trout in the slot and a bunch of short Trout and Reds.
The snot cats were THICK!

Still a good day on the water, glad yall found em.
Bartman
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Re: St. Marks May 22-24

Post by Bartman »

Yes we were wading. Did you guys show up around 1:00? By the way, we caught plenty of snot cats as well.
georgiasportsman
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Re: St. Marks May 22-24

Post by georgiasportsman »

Not bad! Sounds like you traded quality for quantity (other than the cats). Glad you were able to stay dry! That is one fat trout!!!
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Aquamaholic
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Re: St. Marks May 22-24

Post by Aquamaholic »

We were out there all morning just moving around, we "drifted" the flats (hard to call it a drift when the wind is pushing you so fast) then worked a few bars and came back out on the flat probably around 1 or so. We were in the white flats boat with poling/casting platforms.

You guys had the right idea, I was just a little weary of getting out in that murky water.

:beer: :beer:
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