BigBendFishing.Net

I know over the last several months the rain and storms have been hard on the gulf, but are the waters around steinhatchee and Keaton starting to clear up any at all? I have a trip planned the second week in October and I hate to fish muddy water. How long does it normally take to cear up? I live in KY and I dont get to see the changes of water clarity that much. Thanks in advance for any info.

I was in Steinhatchee a week ago, water still VERY dark, I was in the grass line approx 2 1/2' deep and could not see bottom even with some nice polarized glasses. We had another significant series of thunderstorms yesterday that dumped a good amount of rain in the area so I doubt it will be much clearer by mid-October Water is standing all over the place north/east of Steinhatchee so still draining to the gulf.. I happened to be on the way to Perry during the storms yesterday and water was pooling all over the place, ground is so saturated it just runs off.

I was at Keaton on Saturday and water was more clear there but still not great. I could see some bottom at 4'.

When I cleaned fish on Saturday my cutting board looked like it had dirt on it after I skinned the fillets and this was after rinsing the fish prior to filleting. The fillet itself looked fine but I assume the amount of fine debris in the water has somehow coated or lodged in the scales? The fish are very dark in color almost a bronze or copper color. Water temps have cooled off nicely mid-70's so the fish should be getting into a fall pattern.

As far as dirty and clear water, to me its better to fish dirty water than very clear water. One of our best trips out of Keaton was north of Spring Warrior in some coffee colored water. We landed some nice fish, about 8 over the 20" limit and many more keepers. When we tried closer to Spring Warrior and Keaton in the clear water we caught some fish but nothing compared to that coffee colored water.

I have heard some reports of clearer water around pepper fish and north of dallus creek. Can anyone verify this? Thanks

I was there over the past weekend and the water was still stained. I fished all over Dallus creek out to the sand bar and just beyond.. all the same. I could see bottom at 3 ft but it was hard to see any deeper. My buddies went further up past Keaton and said the water was clearer, but that is all hear say. I caught 8 (over 19") nice specs and 2 (21") reds in a day and a half of fishing.. so they are still hitting. Caught a few shorts and some C-jacks.. also a few cats.. It was a fun trip. Good luck