St. Joe 4/15 - 4/17
Posted: April 22nd, 2005, 3:55 pm
Took the camper and a buddy of mine down for the weekend. Stayed at Presnells with visions of trout and redfish dancing in my head. Woke up to a cool Friday morning and one keeper in the first hour. Went south of Blacks Island as the north wind began to blow, 15- 20 with gusts to 25. We did not exactly drift, it was more like trolling. Fished ALL day with not much to show except 7 keepers and about 15 shorts. The ratio of keepers to shorts was not that bad, just not that many. Told my buddy that the next day would be better. After we got back and dug in our neighbors came in with a nice limit of Spanish. Buddy decided he wanted to give that a try so we did the next morning before the wind picked up. Thought we were onto something as we put about 5 iin the boat in about 30 min. Then the wind picked up and they seemed to stop biting. So back south of Blacks we go. And we fished HARD with only 2 more keepr trout in the box. Lost one good red on top water and jig as he hit my top water and broke off my buddies jig as he set the hook 
Now I am starting to question my knowledge of the bay and my ability. Told my buddy forget the spanish, I wwas determined to get a Red on this trip. So back to the SW corner of the bay we go in some REAL skinny water. Fishing hard for about an hour and half with nothing to show but a couple of short trout. Then the Red ghost appeared chasing my white grub under a CT. Told my buddy, "It was on". Gave him a few feet of run and set the hook. This is where the story takes a turn for the worse. Bad spot in the line I guess, but the fat lady sung quick on that one. 
Finished up the morning trolling for Spanish and could only put one more in the boat. I asked Eckley if the front had affected the fishing and he said it had a big impact on the fishing that weekend. Anyway, it was nice to be on the water and not at work wondering what the rest of the world was doing 
Here is the catch for the weekend
Now I am starting to question my knowledge of the bay and my ability. Told my buddy forget the spanish, I wwas determined to get a Red on this trip. So back to the SW corner of the bay we go in some REAL skinny water. Fishing hard for about an hour and half with nothing to show but a couple of short trout. Then the Red ghost appeared chasing my white grub under a CT. Told my buddy, "It was on". Gave him a few feet of run and set the hook. This is where the story takes a turn for the worse. Bad spot in the line I guess, but the fat lady sung quick on that one. Finished up the morning trolling for Spanish and could only put one more in the boat. I asked Eckley if the front had affected the fishing and he said it had a big impact on the fishing that weekend. Anyway, it was nice to be on the water and not at work wondering what the rest of the world was doing Here is the catch for the weekend
