BigBendFishing.Net

Hey all,

I was surprised I've seen no posts on the St. George Island old bridge. My roommate and I have gone out there 4 times since July the 4th and done some moderate fishing. The MOST catches we've had have been Sail Cats, which we generally toss back, but at least we're catching something. We've brought in a couple of Cobia, 3 trout, and a shark a piece each time. I go out there with my grouper rod, it's a bit of overkill but I keep hoping for that 2 hour fight with a 10' hammerhead, if I get it I have no idea what I'll do, but I want the fight. It's set up fairly nice, there are holes drilled in the bridge for dropping a rod holder, and there's almost a mile of bridge on either side. My roommate just got his first grouper rod so we're going out Saturday afternoon in the hopes that the fish are running away from the storms looking for a protected area. So far we've used LY's and cigar minnows both cut and whole and had moderate luck. Rumor has it you can catch some kingfish on plugs, but I have yet to succeed at that. I've seen some guys bring in ladyfish and bluefish out there as well. So if you are a poor bastard like myself with no boat, it's a close by place for some relaxing fishing. You won't get the grouper style action, but take a heavy duty set and a light tackle set and when you're not catching big things at least the light tackle will allow you to bring up cat after cat after cat, but be sure to keep an eye on your big tackle while doing it.

Drayno

Nothing wrong with that. And, it's good information. Catch um up.

Sounds like you guys are having a great time. I used to be in the same boat, no money, and stuck wade fishing, bridge or pier fishing. Some of my first memories of family fishing were from a bridge in St. Petersburgh. We fished as a family, and I'll never forget those days.

Keep on trying. I used to catch sheepheads consistently under the SGI bridge at the causeway. Round up some fiddlers on low tide and see if you can get some sheephead around the pilings. They are great fighters, and good eating too.

Keep on Fishing!

It was WINDY, that's really windy. Despite the fairly heavy chop for protected waters, and the insane wind we had a really good afternoon / night. It started fairly calm for about the first 15 minutes, no real bites. I was using live pinfish my best friend was using cut LY's. All of a sudden his pole went crazy and he yanked up a 24" bluefish, it put up a medium fight and was a lot of fun for him to catch, his first REAL saltwater fish. Shortly after I pulled up about 3 sail-cats back to back, tossed them back, didn't see much point in keeping them. Shortly after I yanked those up, he cast his baitcaster right as his Penn Senator went crazy. I dropped my pole and went after his while he reeled in his smaller pole. I knew from the minute I grabbed the pole it was not going to be a fight I was winning. As I started to reel in the drag was letting line out and it was all the way up. Then jumping about 3 feet out of the water was a very sexy Tarpon. Just as my best friend and I uttered "Holey Shi" the Tarpon came off the hook and made his get-away. Even though we would have loved to have the un-heard of story of pulling a tarpon up off a pier we were thrilled just to have seen one, a first for both of us. The next few hours were cat after cat after cat. He yanked up a 26" black tip that we tossed back. Around 9:45 PM I hooked either a VERY large jumping shark or another Tarpon. It was a very short fight and it took my 98# wire leader right off my 80# braided test. The next hour was slow but I ended the night bringing up another 28" black tip. The only keeper of the trip was the blue fish, but we had a hell of a good time. I may not have a boat or ready access to one, but I LOVE to the St. George Island pier I'll fish it all day before I'll go out to St. Marks to wade again.

Drayno

Wow! A tarpon. I've never had a tarpon on, that I know of.

It doesn't matter what you catch, as long as you get your string stretched.

WOW Drayno!!

Tarpon! Ive only seen two or three, but none recently. Sounds like your bluefish was 7-8 pounds. Thats enough to feed a couple of people.

Sounds like you all are getting the best of both worlds, great fishing without the expense of a boat! What are the bridge fishing fees?

Keep us informed on what is going on down there. Sounds like the long awaited bridge/pier is beginning to pay for itself.

MJ

Fun report! It's great you got out there and did it in the face of all that wind and weather talk. Pier fishing is fun and it is nice to hear we have it nearby! And a tarpon !

As of right now the bridge fishing fees are around $60 a trip. That's 20 in gass for round trip, about 20 in cut and live bait, then there's the $20 in obsessive fishing gear before going out. Once there it's 100% free. There's no charge for going out on the bridge. That may change, there's talk of adding restrooms and a cleanup crew. With an addition of those I'm sure they'll start charging a little to go out there. The really great thing is there is not a set of hours. People obsessing over sharks usually show up around 9:30 at night and stay until passed dawn. I don't know if that will change once they have all that stuff installed. It may remain free if people keep being considerate about spent line and garbage, which so far they have been. So it's free except for the stuff we always buy when we go out. I reccommed hitting a restroom before you go out especially at night because all the area stores close around 9. Other than that have a good time.

Drayno

Its that "$20 in obsessive fishing gear" that will get you every time. Good stuff drayno, keep having fun.

I wish I could get by for $20 on obsessive fishing gear.

Hey Drayno, Nice report. You're a prime canidate for a kayak to fish out of. When you get one you'll find it hard to figure out how you could possibly not had one sooner. Awesome access to prime sites, very comfortable and safe, super cheap, maintence free, great for fishing. I feel like I'm cheating with mine.

Lottoral, I know this question has been asked before, but what kayak do you have?

Pungo sit-in. I posted a pic back in time. Great boat.
http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpbb/vie ... r&start=15

Thanks.