BigBendFishing.Net

Launched out of Yates Creek Monday morning about 7:00 am with my wife and youngest son. Great looking morning with no wind and overcast skies. We were the only boat at the ramp. Tide was one hour from being high so we had plenty of water to get out of the creek. The water was stained very dark. No floating grass. The little 14 foot project boat purred like a kitten out of the creek out onto the flats and north to a favorite Redfish hangout up a creek about one quarter mile in a hole about ten foot deep. After we caught plenty of pinfish, my wife hung a 1 1/2 inch live Pin under a Cajun Thunder to start with. My son and I both started with a shiner tail carolina rigged with 1/16 lead on the bottom. After about thirty minutes with no bite we moved to a second spot outside the creek. We anchored up on an oyster bar in about two foot of water. Only two boats in sight way off in the distance. Right off the bat my son caught a 20 inch flounder. After about 10 baby sharks and 5 or so stingrays I finally caught my first redfish, about 18 inches long. A short while later and 10 or so baby sharks later my wife caught her first redfish about 23 inches. 5 or six more baby sharks and 5 or so more stingrays later I caught a trout about 17 inches long. Another 3 or 4 baby sharks and 2 stingrays my son caught his largest redfish ever, a 26 and 1/2 inch fat daddy. We caught four more keeper redfish that we turned loose since we already had our limit. We also caught too many more baby sharks to count and about as many huge stingrays before we decided to call it a day. Just in time too because the rain hit about the time we finished cleaning the fish back at the house.
It was a great day on the water, cool, no wind, no bugs, a nice lunch, and no boat traffic. One note to mention. The Game Warden came up into the flats where we were fishing and checked the closest boat to us which was about 300 yards away. We dug out our license and safety equipment and prepared to be boarded. When they finished with the other boat, the Game Wardens (there were three of them in the boat) got their boat up on plane and cruised right past us with only a friendly wave as they passed by. That was the icing on the cake to finish off a fine day on the water.

Sounds like a great way to spend the holiday. The project boat turned out very nice, CSMarine.

A very fine day on the water!!! Nice fish!

Nice reds, Billy. The way you describe fishing those bars reminds me so much of fishing the long bar east of the Aucilla, the one some of the guys call "the mailbox". We caught all kinds of fish there when they were biting, and some big reds, too.

Oooh Rah. Great report. Were you keeping the sharks for shark kabobs? Glad you were able to catch some of your target species. Sandwich fish are yummy.
Semper Fi
FF

Seems like a fine way to spend the day I hope to do the same soon!

DixieReb wrote:Nice reds, Billy. The way you describe fishing those bars reminds me so much of fishing the long bar east of the Aucilla, the one some of the guys call "the mailbox". We caught all kinds of fish there when they were biting, and some big reds, too.

Reb,
The place we fished is almost identical to the "mailbox." There are three or four such oyster bars like that one where I fished. Chalk and I fished this one we fished on Monday back a few years ago during a tournament. Maybe he remembers it. It was right after I hit another submerged bar close to it because he hollered at me to slow down for the oyster bar, so I came off plane, and hit the oyster bar, because I was going too slow.

No shark kabobs. Dang things were too small. The kabobs would have to be cooked on toothpicks. Believe me, if they would have been a little larger, they would have went home with my son. He would rather eat shark than trout.

I only hollered, "Oyster bar"....you pulled back on the throttle. If I had not said anything...you would have probably slammed into the console being you are just tall enough to see over the steering wheel - I practically saved your life.

Chalk wrote:I only hollered, "Oyster bar"....you pulled back on the throttle. If I had not said anything...you would have probably slammed into the console being you are just tall enough to see over the steering wheel - I practically saved your life.

Your right. Thanks bro!