BigBendFishing.Net

got down at our usual noonish time on friday hoping for a friday thru monday trip. however, the weather wouldn't let it happen. pretty rough out there on friday afternoon, but still nice to be out for the first trip to the big bend for 2010. didn't take long to get the first red of 2010 in the boat and it was a slob as well as the one after it. both were 26.5 inch reds and very very fat which has been a pretty rare thing for me around econfina. most of the reds seem to either be rats or the "good eatin kind" from 20 to 25 inches. we never did find any trout in shallow but managed 7 reds for the afternoon before trying to find some trout. ended up with 8 trout and only one keeper around 4 feet of water.

saturday was looking to be nice, however, the predicted east wind had kicked in overnight and blew it dry. we didn't head out until around 10:30 and even then passed 5 or 6 boats sitting/anchoring/stuck at the mouth. made it out and quickly started catching trout in 6 to 8 feet of water. lots and lots of shorts but started deep and followed them in the with the tide finishing the day with 7 keepers. we must have caught 35 to 40 as we stopped counting at 25. the typical 14.5 to 14.75. headed for reds and picked up 7 more including 3 perfect eatin 22 inchers. tried to finish off some trout and as if someone flipped a switch on the last of the outgoing, not another bite. saturday afternoon turned out to be gorgeous and especially after all the airboaters and other folks were gone and all of the rudeness was out of the way. i don't think i can ever remember so many rude fisherman in one place. airboats coming within 25 yards of us and then beaching it 100 yards from where we were fishing, other fisherman, running in front and then having two or three more boats fall in with them after seening a bunch of people fishing the same area. i was simply amazed by this considering there weren't very many boats out at all for a nice spring saturday.

we had planned to fish sunday and monday morning before heading home, but the wind was blowing about 30 sunday morning and a big wad of rain was coming in from the south. glad we decided to come back as we hit the monsoon at aucilla and were glad we made the right decision. no pictures since i left my camera down there. but there will hopefully be a bunch after next wknds trip.

Thanks for the report....when my partner and I got out around 9:45 there were some boats milling around in the channel near the mouth.
I chose not to slow down and join them as none were fishing. I throw a small wake when its "hammer down and jackplate high" so I hope they
understand. Otherwise, I do agree about the airboats running the shoreline. The "gathering of boats" is a group of folks from the upper
campground who had rather talk on radio and smell each other's exhaust than do anything else.
"....where you at?
"..you remember where I hit that rock 9 years ago"
"...is that you coming toward me"
"....is that you right by me"
"....I'll be there in a few minutes"
"...you see me up and running"
It's entertaining I guess!

i saw your truck at the ramp rht, but never did see you outside.

i do the same at low tide. i send the jackplate up and let it fly. if they get mad because they are sitting in the middle of a navigable waterway, then so be it. but i also wish not to join them and add another boat to the party at the mouth waiting on the tide to come in. hope to see you out this weekend.

Glad you got after 'em. Thanks for the report.

I was out there Saturday in a Gheenoe. We had to stay on the sides, as I have never seen so many boaters absoutely blowing past people in the river. One guy passed another boater in the middle of the river WIDE OPEN and literally could not have been more than 3 feet away when he passed him, both heading for the landing on Saturday night. The other boat caught some waves and did some serious rocking. I thought for sure there was going to be a nasty confrontation at the landing.

dwayne,
it is a tough situation when someone is stopped in the middle of the river and you are coming up behind them on anything other than a real high tide. anyone that has ever seen the econ dry on a super low tide knows what is at the bottom of that river. if you stop anywhere along the river, you are taking a huge risk that you are about to have the foot taken off of your motor by what lies below. also, it is so narrow, you have to get by folks to avoid other boats coming around the bends from the opposite direction. i saw a wreck a couple of years back where two boats collided in a bend. it was not a pretty site. i would never run past someone wide open, but i will not stop and sit my motor down on those rocks either.

Believe me, I understand. The incident I am talking about was over and beyond what was necessary. I have been out there many times, and most of the boaters out there are very courteous. This weekend just seemed a little over the top.