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Against all better judgement my wife and I decided to brave the fierce wind, and heavy seas in my little fourteen foot skiff for a chance at a few specks. We arrived at the ramp to be greeted by 15 mph winds and a dead low tide. After a lot of pushing and shoving we got the boat off the trailer, and with the trolling motor managed to get out of the creek. We headed south to a spot with five foot of 63 degree, slightly stained water with a nice broken bottom. We caught 15 or 20 pinfish then started in with our favorite bait, cut shinner tails rigged texas style with 1/16 ounce lead. First cast started with a nice 21 inch trout. We fished for two and a half hours with out even cranking the motor or repositioning the boat. One Trout after another, sometimes two at a time until we were done with our ten fish limit. Our only problem was finding enough Trout small enough to make a limit. Many, many twenty to twenty-five inch fish. We were back home at Keaton cleaning fish in less than three hours after we left that morning. A nice fish and grits supper and prepared to go again the next morning.

Saturday morning we arrived at the ramp at about 9:00 am, again to a dead low tide. After about an hour wait, we finally got enough water to get the boat launched and out of the creek. The day was sunny and calm to start with. Great day on the water. We ran back to the same place as we were Friday. Same results. One fish after another in quick time, and at times two at a time. This time not even two hours into the trip and we had another limit. We also caught a nice Blue Fish that made for one of those stories that you talk about around the camp. My wife was reeling in a little six inch sea bass when a very large Blue grabbed it. He could only swallow it about half way, but he hung on to it. He never touched the hook. Just as I got the net under him, he bit the bass into and he and the half of the bass fell into the net.

Total for two days. Twenty Trout with four over 20 inches, two Blue Fish, two spanish Mackerel, and one shark, and yes, we do eat them. We fished less than six hours total for two days. We fished with cut pinfish rigged texas style, tight linned on the bottom. Best fishing trip in a while with my favorite fishing buddy, my wife of forty years.

sounds like you had a good day. Heard from some people that didn't have that kinda luck, guess they should have been cutting their pins.

We talked to a few other folks that fished those same days around Keaton who had pretty poor luck.

That is a great report. Fish n grits, yum. I'm curious about your bait. You cut the tail off the pinfish and rig it Texas style? Is great like rigging a bass worm Texas style? Do you use a worm hook and rig it weedless? You also said y'all tight lined them. Are the baits sitting on the bottom in the grass? I don't really fish for trout, but I've heard folks talking about using tails. Thanks

CSM, you can do it like no other! If you and the McPloops ever got together, NO fish could hide!

Thanks for the good report.

Looks like two days of great fishing, good job, it was diff worth fighting that wind:)


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Great report, sounds like two great days. I'm also curious about how you fished those shiner tails. Any details would be greatly appreciated. Never seen it done that way.

When I say Texas rigged, I mean just like you would rig a plastic worm. Using a 3/0 tru-turn hook on about twelve inches of twenty pound Florocarbon leader with a 1/16 ounce bullet lead. I cut the head off the Pinfish, then split it length wise. That gives you two baits. Fish it just like fishing a plastic worm for Bass on the bottom, never letting it sit still. I learned this from my Grandfather who was a commercial fisherman all his life on the St. Marks Flats, and the Aucilla River. That's all the old timmers used to use. It's called "Shinner Tails." When I was a kid folks fished the flats with long cane poles and used shinner tails for bait. They fished out of home made wooden boats with 18hp or 25hp motors. This was what the guides used.

Thanks, very interesting. Was your grandad fishing for trout? My pa in law ( in his early 70's now) said when he was a kid they would drift the flats with long cane poles w salted mullet for bait. He said they were mostly targeting Spanish macs though. Thanks again for the info

My uncle and aunt who started me as a child fishing out of Lanark campgrounds used salted mullet on poles and on bottom. We had a big bowl on the deck with rock salt mixed in with the cut mullet.
The salt kept the mullet firm.

Fantastic report, thanks. Shiner tails and stingray grubs were the baits of choice at Aucila in the early 70's...