St. Marks 10-10
Posted: October 11th, 2003, 7:59 am
After being an avid fan of this site for the last 6 months, I feel obligated to share my few and far between fishing experiences with a group of people that I have learned so much from. Fishing in the big bend is definitely a different animal and I thank ya'll for this forum.
Equipment
258V Stratos Boat - 70 HP
Road and Reels - Cheap Cyclone reel and 9 foot rod bought from Kmart with 20lb XT line and Okuma reel and 9 foot rod bought from West Marine with the original 10lb test.
Bait - 2 dozen shrimp
Fishing Style - Bottom Fishing
Fishing Depth - 6 to 8 feet
Conditions - Overcast, water clarity - barely saw bottom in 2', very light grass floating
Let the Fort 7:15 AM. I was the third boat to leave on what looked to be a very dreary rainy day. Attempted to get to Stoney Bayou but the low tide at 8:55 am didn't cooperate. Since I have only been out in St. Marks 4 times, I was very cautious about going east out of the channel. So I was going very slow. I ended up somewhere around 1/2 mile south of Black Rock. There is a free standing pole in the water.
Attempted to drop anchor, but my deck mate was an out of town novice and since I wasn't confident in the spot, we let the anchor slow down our drift. We drifted west, it appeared the bird rack was still slightly south of us.
My partner continued to get hits, mostly pin fish type. I didn't mind because I wanted to catch some and take them to the bird rack and see what would hit it. Suddenly (9AM), I feel something tugging ever so slightly and I start reeling but it didn't cooperate. I loosened the drag because I have lost more fish in North Florida than I care to share. Let him run, reeled, run again, and finally brought it to the boat. My partner got the net and he scooped a 25 inch pompano. Wow. That was fun! I am using the Kmart pole.
Shortyly after the same thing happens again, except the drag was too tight and I loosened it and the open face reel spooled and the line got tangled. I felt it finally get off and I am pissed.
My partner is feeding pin fish and changing tackle every 5 minutes because the 10lb factory test line is breaking very oftern.
Not feeling up to par because of sinus pain, I am half-hearted fishing and once again, a nice tug and I begin to reel. It spools again, but it is tangled at the spool and I continue to try to wind it, but the handle breaks and I try to pull the line in by hand. No luck. I feel the fish come off and I am very upset.
My partner is pissed because his 10lb test continues to break. We call it a day about 10 AM. It begins to drizzle and we make our jaunt back to the Fort. 35 mph and the rain slapping you in the face is no fun.
Totals for the day:
1 nice pompano
3 grunts
1 lizard fish
We probably fished less than 1 hr, but kept having activity. After we got back to Tallahassee, I went to Oshman's and bought a Shimano bait cast reel along with Shakespere Intrepid 3000. Once I start fishing more I will upgrade my equipment. But it is definitely an upgrade from what I had. The moral of my report is: You get what you pay for and it is nothing worse and embarrasing than having equipment that doesn't work when you need it.
But I am hooked and looked forward to going out again with the proper equiment!
Equipment
258V Stratos Boat - 70 HP
Road and Reels - Cheap Cyclone reel and 9 foot rod bought from Kmart with 20lb XT line and Okuma reel and 9 foot rod bought from West Marine with the original 10lb test.
Bait - 2 dozen shrimp
Fishing Style - Bottom Fishing
Fishing Depth - 6 to 8 feet
Conditions - Overcast, water clarity - barely saw bottom in 2', very light grass floating
Let the Fort 7:15 AM. I was the third boat to leave on what looked to be a very dreary rainy day. Attempted to get to Stoney Bayou but the low tide at 8:55 am didn't cooperate. Since I have only been out in St. Marks 4 times, I was very cautious about going east out of the channel. So I was going very slow. I ended up somewhere around 1/2 mile south of Black Rock. There is a free standing pole in the water.
Attempted to drop anchor, but my deck mate was an out of town novice and since I wasn't confident in the spot, we let the anchor slow down our drift. We drifted west, it appeared the bird rack was still slightly south of us.
My partner continued to get hits, mostly pin fish type. I didn't mind because I wanted to catch some and take them to the bird rack and see what would hit it. Suddenly (9AM), I feel something tugging ever so slightly and I start reeling but it didn't cooperate. I loosened the drag because I have lost more fish in North Florida than I care to share. Let him run, reeled, run again, and finally brought it to the boat. My partner got the net and he scooped a 25 inch pompano. Wow. That was fun! I am using the Kmart pole.
Shortyly after the same thing happens again, except the drag was too tight and I loosened it and the open face reel spooled and the line got tangled. I felt it finally get off and I am pissed.
My partner is feeding pin fish and changing tackle every 5 minutes because the 10lb factory test line is breaking very oftern.
Not feeling up to par because of sinus pain, I am half-hearted fishing and once again, a nice tug and I begin to reel. It spools again, but it is tangled at the spool and I continue to try to wind it, but the handle breaks and I try to pull the line in by hand. No luck. I feel the fish come off and I am very upset.
My partner is pissed because his 10lb test continues to break. We call it a day about 10 AM. It begins to drizzle and we make our jaunt back to the Fort. 35 mph and the rain slapping you in the face is no fun.
Totals for the day:
1 nice pompano
3 grunts
1 lizard fish
We probably fished less than 1 hr, but kept having activity. After we got back to Tallahassee, I went to Oshman's and bought a Shimano bait cast reel along with Shakespere Intrepid 3000. Once I start fishing more I will upgrade my equipment. But it is definitely an upgrade from what I had. The moral of my report is: You get what you pay for and it is nothing worse and embarrasing than having equipment that doesn't work when you need it.
But I am hooked and looked forward to going out again with the proper equiment!
Not a bad report for the first one 
While ya lost a lot of fish 
ya did get a lot of action 
I shure wish I could get a Pomp ta hit my rig, but I've never fished for them and just can't quite figure them out 
Have a goodun 