question about navigating waters around St. Marks

[mbweimar]

So as some of you know, I just upgraded from a 14 ft Jon boat to a 17 ft mod V. The majority of fishing I did from the 14 ft was around the mouth of the St. Marks and east river. Occasionally I would make runs to Stony Bayou but only when the weather was nice. Now that I have a more capable boat I'm wanting to venture out a little more. I was thinking about heading west from the St Marks tomorrow to do an little exploring. Are there any hazards I need to be aware of before heading out? I'm not brave enough to head east yet, as I don't have a fish finder installed yet, but I do have a good hand held GPS.

[Jumptrout51]

Several SHALLOW areas.
Run accordingly.

[Harmsway]

I don't have a fish finder installed yet, but I do have a good hand held GPS.

You'll be alright with a GPS. Safest route to west flats is to go out the channel all the way to the 'tripod' and round the west spoil pile to the south. Having rounded the spoil pile you can come back north toward shore with little concern for rocks. But like JT said, there are some shallow spots especially at low tide.

Fishin' is the mission.

[bman]

If your handheld has charts your golden... lots of easy to fish water to the west until you get to the Ock.
Heck run out the st marks reef and see whats there!

[Mook!]

I'd say there are some deep spots. The rest is one giant shallow spot. Without a depth finder I wouldn't push up much closer to shore than the old pylons outside of a fast idle until you're familiar. There are a couple of safe paths through here and there but lots of black muddy bottom which can make the water appear deeper than it is and really clog up a motor if you hit it with any speed. Good for fishing, bad for travel. On a flood tide you can push up to the grass line no sweat but look out for the oyster bars exiting the Pass. Also once you get to the goose bay area there are rocks here and there south of Patty's Island and a super shallow mud flat on its southeast side from the currents going in and out of the bay, and once you get west of that, oyster bars all over and around shell point. And one final warning - those old channel markers around the old shell point hotel/marina are a big fat lie, and the current ones up spring creek can get you if you're not paying attention - couple of places in that channel you got oyster bars about 5-10 feet east of green channel markers, or in other words, a 5 foot wide channel with extremely hazardous edges. Most if not all of those will be indicated on any chart with navionics, blue chart etc, but that's another really good fishing area you want to avoid outside of fast idle until you have a sounder and plenty of time to go slow. Good luck!

[mjsigns]

Good to hear you up-graded to a bigger boat. Concerning going west, I have only had limited success in that area. If you watch the tide, you can make it over to Live Oak Island there is a channel over there that definitely holds fish, but you have to traverse 4.2 miles of the St. Marks river delta. Even on a high tide it is skinny in most parts (where I've seen reds tailing). If you need a depth finder, I have an old one that is serviceable that you might want. I'd let it go for cheap. Send me a pm if you want it.

Personally, I always tried the west side first, and 10 out of 10 times I'd end up making that traditional eastern run down to the rock garden.

[Harmsway]

Are there any hazards I need to be aware of before heading out?

Here an old thread on rocks . . .
http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpBB3/vi ... 152#p57152
Fishin' is the mission.

[mbweimar]

Thanks for all the info guys. I didn't get a chance to go out yesterday, and with 2-3 foot seas I think I'll stay in today too.