BigBendFishing.Net

Hey all! Sounds like those that have gotten out have had decent luck with trout and reds recently.

My father is coming into town and I'm trying to figure out how to best maximize his fishing experience. I'm usually limited to a pier or my kayak as I don't have a boat, but those options have their limitations when trying to impress a guest.

So, I'm looking for your thoughts on renting a boat/pontoon vs taking a charter. I'm most familiar with St. Marks and Ochlockonee Bay so I'm thinking we'll stick around that area.

For boat rental, it seems a good option would be Shields Marina and then boating down to the fort/shell beds (assuming they let you take the boats that far). A downfall here is the boats need to be back by 5, and I've always had decent luck with the sunset bite.

For charters, if we go this route, I'm thinking we would want to do a little something more offshore where we can catch snapper/grouper/etc. I've gotten him on a few inshore fish before and it seems like if you're making the investment you might as well catch something that you won't ever see off the end of the pier. Obvious downfall here being the cost, but if it's a good experience I can definitely pony up for it.


Sorry for the long post - really just trying to put an old guy on some good fishing, and want his odds to be better than what they would be on a pier!

Thanks in advance for the input. Cheers!

If you can't impress someone fishing from your kayak, consider getting a Kayak guide. You'll learn a lot and you won't have this problem next year. I'd recommend the guys at TNT. Billy or Rob should be able to put you on more fish than you fishing by yourselves.

Impressing someone from kayak fishing is not the issue - he recently had shoulder surgery so that's ruled out. I asked about tips and recommendations for renting vs. charter.

When is he coming into town? This makes a big play into it...

Talk to Capt Mike and team at St Marks Outfitters at (850) 510-7919 for getting setup with a guide out of the St Marks area. You're guaranteed to catch some quality fish with these guys.

Otherwise, Shell Island Fish Camp, at (850) 925-6226, will get you out with a rental boat and you can take that out to the west flats and oyster bars around the mouth and do well with Trout and Redfish right now - but you may be limited to time constraints.

Thanks for the helpful response galantnole! I will check both of those out. We have a full day this Saturday, that's when we'd be looking to rent or charter. Cheers!

You'll be hard pressed to find an available captain for Saturday.

We have two major tournaments out of our area - the North Florida Gulf Fishing Club, November Tournament out of St Marks Outfitters. As well as The Redfish Challenge Tournament put on by Fishing For The Brave out of St Marks - this is one of the major 5 inshore tournaments of the region, a lot of guides and captains will be fishing the Champions League part of it.

Either way, get on it ASAP before things are booked up.

Good luck and keep us updated!

Shields Marina will be your best best with the on-going tournaments. Galantnole is right, as the guides I'd recommend are probably all committed to the tournaments. Shields has a 17 Mako CC that would be perfect. They are not too restrictive with the boundary, so you'd be able to hit prime spots on either the East or West Flats.

The weather looks to be a factor with an approaching front, but live shrimp under a popping cork would even the odds. If it's not too rough, the nearshore opportunities with Spanish macks, jacks and bluefish is going off right now. Fast action, multiple bites and whizzing drags. If you do that, take some casting spoons and wire leader/heavy mono with you.

Good luck and enjoy the time with your dad. Wish I still had the chance to fish with mine.

To add to what Silverking said above - If you end up with more family members who want to go, Shields will also rent you a pontoon boat. You can take them all the way down the river and out onto the flats and fish wherever you like. When my son was younger, we rented one and took a bunch of his friends out flats fishing on his birthday. All of us had a great time, and the boat worked perfectly.