St. Joe Bay 5-11-2004

[Tom Keels]

Greetings from the Cape!

Wil and I put the boat in the water about 7 yesterday and headed south in the bay. Winds have been blowing out of the ESE pretty hard all week, and today was no different.

Set up a drift to the west of Blacks Island and started throwing top dogs. We immediately started getting hits and follows, but no takers. The fish weren't taking them off the top. So I switched to a chart catch 2000 and the first cast got a 19" trout. Several misses and umpteen ladyfish later I decided to switch to a spitting image. Wil threw a CT the rest of the day with no hits. I ended up with one more trout about 22-23" that fought like a red the whole fight.

After redrifting a couple of times I moved to some deeper grass and tied on a pinfish colored catch 2000. Spied some movement on the edge of the grass and pitched it over to it. Watched the fish turn and inhale the bait, never feeling a thing. Turned out to be a 3# blue and a fun fight. I invited him back for lunch. I didn't keep any of the trout. Did see several sharks and one cobia, but didn't get a good shot at him.

We were back at the house at 10:15. Not a stellar day, but for 3 hours of fishing, wasn't too bad. A couple of observations this year. The grass is not as thick as in previous years. It looks as if it just sprouted a couple of weeks ago. Also, lots of bait and LOTS of rays. More than I remember.

Water is very clear in places and dingy in others. The dingy water apparently is from big schools of rays moving through the area. Water temp in the afternoon on Monday was 77.5 at the ramp at eagle harbor. Tuesday morning it was 69. In the south end of the bay, it was 73.

Hope to see some of you guys Friday and Saturday.

[Scott7138]

Good report Tom. I am heading down this Saturday with the lady. I will be putting in at Presnells. Did you see alot of LY's around and are there any Reds at the head of the bay yet? I will be in a white Nitro bass boat 170TF. Hope to see you and meet you. Hope to be putting in around 9:30 or sooner. Also give the SE corner of Blacks a try. About 400 yds or more. I have good luck there this year.

[Tom Keels]

Did you see alot of LY's around and are there any Reds at the head of the bay yet?

There are plenty of LY's in the bay. Seems like I saw the most up around SJ Marina along the seawall. I'm sure the reds are there. I was going to go back there to my spot but we got a late start and there were already a couple of boats back there. Plus it was low tide and would have been a shallow approach.

Also give the SE corner of Blacks a try. About 400 yds or more. I have good luck there this year.

Maybe I did......

We have the NFGFC tournament Saturday. If you want to come by the weigh-in at 3 at eagle harbor, feel free.

[Littoral]

Tom, I mentioned in another thread that I thought the grass wasn't as thick in our area. I spend most of my time around the FSU lab & for this date it looks as if it just sprouted a couple of weeks ago.

[Old Dog]

Glad to see that report Tom. Just west of PSJ (Panama City area) the grass is also slow to come back this year. (Cooler than normal winter/spring)?

I was thinking about heading to SJ Bay next weekend but may hold off another couple weeks now.
od