St Marks 12/24
Posted: December 26th, 2021, 2:18 am
Got to the ramp around 7:15 am on a decent outgoing tide. It sure was a chilly ride out to the lighthouse, and I was glad I brought my thermos of coffee. I decided to head east and beat the outgoing tide to get into a few creeks. I threw mirrolures at the first spot which produced about a dozen trout. Most were average size of 16 in however one was a nice 25 inch trout that was probably around 4 pounds. I meant to move, but after catching the big trout I decided to stay at that spot and maybe move into a creek. As the tide continued to move out I saw several redfish moving around me but could not get them to bite. Most were only of average size however I saw two that probably were around 30 inches although I can't say for sure. Around 10:30 I noticed that the tide was so low that there was no way I was getting up on plane to get out of there. I was still catching fish in this small channel so I was content. Around 11:00 I noticed tailing fish just out of casting distance. I put on my light waders, grabbed a couple of live shrimp and put them in my pocket. I put my power pole down, jumped out of the boat and eased closer to the tailing fish. I hooked a live shrimp onto a 3/16 oz jig head and casted it on the other side of the school moving it closer to them slowly. Instantly I had a nice hookup, although the familiar head shake of a redfish was missing. To my amazement I pulled in about a four or five pound Sheephead. I was too far from the boat to take him back so I released him. I casted again and caught another sheephead. He was smaller but still a nice size. I had two more shrimp and made two more casts. I caught one other sheephead and lost one on another good bite. I was amazed since I never had saw tailing Sheephead. I waded back to the boat to get more shrimp and decided just to go back into the creek. I knew it would be around 3:00 before I could get out. Fishing with a few more mirrolures and some soft plastics I managed about a dozen more trout and finally caught three reds. Around 3:15 I idled out of the creek watching for rocks till I got to deeper water, and headed back to the ramp. It was a fun day. My total fish count was probably two dozen trout, including a nice 25-incher and a few at 21 to 22. I also landed three red fish average size was 22 to 24 inches, and three Sheephead.Water quality was a b+, water temperature was a little cooler than it had been last time , 64°. Wind a c. I sure saw some big rocks. I idled everywhere so I didn't hit anything. I did have one bump on the prop at idle speed but it didn't do any damage. I released all my fish to swim away. Maybe next time if I catch sheephead I will keep one or two, and I'm hoping for one more trip before New Year's Day. Happy holidays to everyone.