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I have been reading the inshore fishing report for sometime now. I've tried everthing I read in there to catch trout and redfish. I head to Grey Mare Rock and drift from 10ft to 2ft of water. I try the westside too. I use mostly CT with Gulp under them. Is there just good spots and bad spots? How do you find grass when the water is tea colored? Where are those #**$ redfish! I have only caught one. I have a Carolina Skiff and have been fishing the lighthouse area for 3 years now and not a whole lot of improvment. My 15 year old is starting to glare at me funny and I need to step up. I have thought of joining NFGFC. Any suggestions (within reason) would be appreciated. I am praying I learn to become a better fisherman before It becomes the Gulf of Texaco! Very Sad! Thanks

This could turn into a long post but here are a few thoughts...
Get a chart- or a GPS with Blue chart2 and look for drop offs and ledges.
Fish shallower with the CT 5-3 feet.
In 10' try just a strait jig- no float.
If nothing else is working try some live shrimp.

I stay away from the rock garden and catch plenty of trout.

The reds are by the bars and shore line...

And by all means come to the meeting- lots of helpful folks there.

bman wrote: The reds are by the bars and shore line...

What he said... you want reds, get within casting distance of an oyster bar (BUT stay as far away as you can cast) and throw a gold spoon at the bar and retrieve at a pace that keeps the spoon close to the bottom... you'll get your red fo' sho.

The above said, there are some good red spots out of St. Marks, but I prefer Econfina/Hickory Mound area (Aucilla great too but I'm not that brave ). Grassy points by creek mouths with oyster bars running out for them are great targets. I also like to find oyster bars off the grass line in deeper water. The bars off the shoreline are really my favorite red spots... no shortage of them around, but you do need to be pretty darn careful finding them. Another thing on the reds... stealth/silence is your friend. I stop almost 1/4 mile out from each red spot I target, setting up my drift to take me to the bar and will cast towards the bar until I find a school of reds biting and will quickly drop my anchor (as quietly as possible) and then slowly release anchor line as needed to keep inching towards the bar.

Attending meetings is a great idea as would be getting out on a boat with anyone willing to take you out. I was very blessed to find a great friend when I moved here 8 years ago and he showed me more spots/techniques from St. Marks to Econfina than I can count.

Good luck and keep us posted when you get on 'em!

Go to a NFGFC meeting and find someone that will fish with you in their boat or yours.

NFGFC is about sharing this kind of information.....except during tournament week.
Come to the next meeting and tournament and find people willing to help.

When I started salt water fishing. I went to St marks without a Gps and fished as far as I could and see the lighthouse to get back. i was lucky to not hit anything. But even after getting one i still could not catch fish there. I have had much better luck at Ecofina and Keaton beach. Be warned though there are areas you should be careful at Ecofina. I can tell you if you want to go there. I typically have better luck fishing a straight jig over one under a cork. I like the 1/4oz sure ketch in pink or red. The eye attaches at the tip and slides through the grass better than most. A live pinfish under a oval cajun thunder will catch big trout and even cobia. I think the trout have got wise to the gulps and I do better with SWA's. Any time you see an area of spotty bottom mark it on your Gps and you can find it when the water is dirty. Hope this helps.

Get up next to the shore line, use your trolling motor (or wind) to push you along and throw a Gold Johnson Spoon. Some folks like the weedless spoons but I have better luck with the non weedless treble hook model in 1/4 to 1/2 oz.

Have you tried dynamite? ....Seriously, there are many many ways to catch Trout and Reds in our little piece of paradise. If you are proficient at a "walk the dog" presentation, topwater lures can be your best friend for big Trout and Reds. A jerk shad in the "Texsposed" http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/soft_jerkbaits.shtml rig fished slow, slow, slow, can also pay off big. Try bouncing a jig or jerkbait off the bottom when suspended or on top does not work. Just working a narrow part of the water column reduces your opportunities.
Talk to some of the club members. They will help you lots. Send me an email and maybe we can share some info.
FF

Can't go wrong with the gold spoon... Will add that when it's early in the season (March/early April), I like to float a lively shrimp under a cajun thunder close to the oyster bars -- sometimes I hit even bigger numbers doing this than with the spoon. Now that the pins and catfish are getting thicker, I don't have the patience to have the shrimp constantly harassed and prefer to stick to the spoon.

Try holding your mouth different.

j/k I have always been able to catch at least a few trout on a cajun thunder with a new penny gulp on a jig head every time I've been out of St. Marks. Fish it 18 inches under it and toss it out and jerk it few times. If you don't get a hit in 30 seconds pull and toss it out to another area. Now the reds I have not had any luck with them.

Thanks to all that replied. I will definetly try the meetings, they sound really informative. As far a drifting for trout, is grass better? How to you find it? Will it show on depth finder? Is the east flats better for grass? Sorry about all the questions. I really want my son to get into fishing with me and all the help is great!! Thanks again.

On a good incoming or hightide hit the west shoreline of the entrance to stoney bayou. But as the name implies... its littered with stones. Go slow have a lookout up front, you'll be fine in that skiff. I'd recommend a redfish magic spinner bait. That west shoreline has three creek entrances and each can be good just watch the tide as it can get shallow on a low, especially now that we're reaching summer we going to have some big tide swings around the new and full moons. Honestly, I only catch reds at sunset and night around the oyster bars at the mouth of the st. marks, the island in the river holds a few from time to time. Good luck and let me know where you find em at. As far as trout go, if your not catching them around grey mare then...

Tie on a topwater walking plug and fish as shallow as you can (less than 2' of water). If you can't walk the dog or don't know what I mean with that phrase, tie on a chug bug or some other popper. If the tide's high enough, fish the grass line using your trolling motor to work you down the bank.

The club meetings would be helpful as well. First Thursday of the month at Beef O'Brady's on Thomasville Road in Tallahassee. See www.nfgfc.org for more details.

If you really want to speed up the learning curve, book a charter with Captain Ashley Mock (St. Marks to Keaton), Capt. Eric Keyser (St. Marks / Aucilla) or Capt. John Wiley (PSJ). You'll learn more in one day than you could in years fishing on your own. If you do go this route, take a notebook so you can write down the stuff that they tell you.

Casey, do you know roughly how much a charter is? Thanks to you and rainman. I am going to the June 3rd meeting of NFGFC.

I think they all vary in price, but probably between $200-400. Totally worth it considering you'll learn things that would've taken you years to figure out on your own. All of those guys catch fish and will show you how to do it and tell you what "makes" a good area...you won't be disappointed.