St Marks river 2/19

[nolegolferpimp]

Went out this morning with, we put "killjoys cherry" in after cast netting for a few throws from the dock at the fort. The tide was coming in and the wind was a steady 10mph breeze, not too much chop but a strong current. We ran down the river, and fished one of the first western side creeks, the one with the 2 holes in the mouth and a submerged pile, didnt see anything on the finder, we probably got there too late or too early, so we shot out of there and headed to the oyster bars between oliver bayou and litte west bayou. We drifted the 1/4 mile long bar starting from the southern end because of the northern running current. Nailed a peanut 15.2" trout immediately, on the first drift. I've had good luck nailing solo reds on this spot before. We drifted current side twice and the back side once. We saw a school of sand trout on the back side of the bar, but there was too much detritus in the water, every cast was wasted because a little grass would get on the lure's treble hooks. Tried to find the structure around buoy 25, but couldnt locate it on the bottom reader? Anyone know where it is? Anyways, I decided because of the wind and detritus that we would head back up river to look for solo giants. Saw a few bait balls on the finder, and checked the drop off by the southern east side "idle speed sign" at the convergence and didnt see anything home. We headed back into the st marks branch and set up a drift/troll onto a series of 4 holes. I told the front man, get ready to hook up with something, theres 4 holes over here, and 1 out of 4 holes produce, so you're guaranteed to hook up with something so be ready. He hooks up with a upper slot red on his 1st or 2nd cast. The reds dont seem to fight too much in this colder weather, theyre more like dragging an anchor back to the boat. He got him boatside with too much fight and let him turn his head, and he got off! No biggie, I can find a red any day of the week if I want, but we were still a little dissapointed. The run up river broke a battery cable, and my bilge wire, and with rain rolling in we decided it was best not to be in an aluminum boat. We fished the point for 30 more minutes, I decided to try to cheat the last 15 minutes and tossed a hand line into the channel with mullet and shrimp in a chum bag to try and call the upriver fish to the rocks on the point, but the rain really picked up and we decided to call it. Talked to couple roughnecks coming in and they had been upriver by the first bend by the power plant since 9am, they caught a 21" peanut red, and 3-4 18 inch trout, and possibly an undersized mangrove snapper lol. I'll be out again this week, probably gonna go to Econfina, because I want to limit out on gators, and upper slot reds. If anyone knows where that structure is by buoy 25, that would be awesome. I think its in the channel, but i didnt feel like circling with the bottom reader in chop.

[Gulf Coast]

probably gonna go to Econfina, because I want to limit out on gators, and upper slot reds...

sounds like you don't need help

[nolegolferpimp]

no, but i would love to find that structure around buoy 25! Econfina is like shooting fish in a barrel. Most creeks barely get worked over there. Love that place, just a little longer of a drive. I've got even better spots than econfina, but theyre a little further away.

[Jhults11]

I've got even better spots than econfina, but theyre a little further away....a bit confident are we? And the structure you are referring to is probably around bouy 17....that spot has the deepest drop offs and biggest structure I have seen in the whole river

[nolegolferpimp]

There's supposedly a wreck by 17, but I can never find it. And two people have told me about structure around 25, but I havent taken too much time to find it, and I've yet to locate it. Supposedly theres tons of BSB, rock bass, sheepshead and snapper there when its warmer. Thanks for the pointer, ill check out 17, I need to spend more time down river. I've mapped out most of the upper river, its taken a ton of time, and I have been skunked many times at st marks, but I'm getting it down. St Marks is extremely wide water, but I'm finally learning how the schools move, and there stopping grounds. Still got a long ways to go, but I'm getting better. I spent 12 hours on sunday just trolling and marking holes and ruts, and hidden channels, hardly did any fishing, but itll pay off in the future.

[SHOWBOAT]

sounds like you guys have it figured out. Hope to see you in Keaton for the next tournament

[mastercaster]

Post a picture of your boat so us "donkeys" know to avoid you.

Oh, and paragraphs are our friend.

[nolegolferpimp]

sorry, I'm not trying to offend anyone Mastercaster. I'm referring to the people who sit 3-4 boats within 50 yds of each other on the turns at St marks, up river. People who park in the middle of the narrowest channels at Econfina (forcing you into the rocks), folks that blast music and drink all day and wonder why they dont catch fish, people that blame the fish for not wanting to eat a live bait (youre not near fish bud, thats your problem), people come off plane, and end up waking you 3 times worse(either idle by, or stay on plane), and those that have fished for years and still dont understand how the tides work. I was at econfina a week ago, and a boat had been in a creek all morning fishing a low dirty tide and they wondered why they couldnt catch anything. The weekend brings out the donks, it is what is. If you do these things, youre a donkey it is what it is.

[MuleTrainGA]

Take some pictures when ya go to Econfina next time... These people(and me) like pictures for proof of "Gator trout and upper slot reds.

Not that any "confident" fisherman would lie about such a thing...

[slowroller]

Ya'll were in the donkey hole yesterday! Pic of my bag, my partner had 2 reds and 2 fat trout,also.We only got to fish 2 hrs.Better luck for you next time!

st.Marks 2-19.jpg (847.1 KiB) Viewed 4029 times

Trout,20-24 Red 26.99

[rockyg]

Roughnecks and Donkeys.......man some of you guys must look rough. lol

Luckily I am a clear water flats guy and all of us are pretty.

[mpa_72001]

Better get used to people stacked up in the rivers in the winter time they do it in the aucilla river too its where the fish are.It is what it is!!

[nolegolferpimp]

yeah I'm getting used to it. The worst is when there's 2 on the edge and they move towards the center of the channel as you come by. What the hell are you supposed to do?. I dont take pics of these fish I catch up here. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I fish for pelagics down south, those fish are worth pics and I dont line fish for them. I hop in the water with a bluewater gun, shoot what I want, and get ready to fight off bull sharks for my fish. I mainly just enjoy exploring and being on the water up here. If I always wanted results I wouldnt be fishing st Marks. It's too pressured, and can be difficult locating the schools. If I was strictly results oriented, I would fish closest to the deeper waters like near alligator point/ochlocknee bay, or econfina. I favor a short drive over anything. I fish 4-5 days a week, and the costs really add up over a month if youre driving an hour each way. Econfina creeks are full of 20"+ trout and big reds. If you go to oyster creek, youre guaranteed to limit out at the right tide on upper slot reds, and big trout. The first creek on the right in oyster creek has a hole in front of the oyster bar in the first turn. Its a guarantee to have a red or two, and that's just in the first creek. Oyster creek has a ton of creeks that I've yet to fully explore. You really dont even need to leave the river, the creeks on the econfina will limit you out fast at the right tide.

[tallykenjsbetterhalf]

I believe that the structure at 17 are limerock ledges, but in a certain spot around 17. Lots of folks fish that bouy and there are black bass there. We've had luck there, but I think it is a bit over fished, so it's hard to get a legal black bass there, but they are fun to catch. Can catch them all day there in the right weather, but not many that are legal. We don't keep them at the legal limit and tend to only keep them at 12+ inches. Can't wait for spring. Haven't been able to check our stone crab traps because of the weather. Hopefully we can check them soon.

[kgarner1]

Overfished is an under statement that used to be a "honey hole" a few years back and the only person you would see there was an elderly gentleman in a jon boat, I made sure to fish that area for short periods as to not draw attention ha! In the day the RB were HUGE and by the thousands! I had top stop fishing the area earlier this winter due to one day my son and I pulled up to find 6 boats within a 100 yards it was almost like grouper fishing on a small reef! What happened????