St. Marks 3/8/06
Posted: March 8th, 2006, 10:04 pm
Headed to the lighthouse this morning. During the drive I kept looking at the tree tops. I kept thinking "They aren't moving". I kept looking for signs of wind all the way. Even on the refuge road, a bit of a ripple on the pools was about it. Then I rounded the 90 degree bend by the rest rooms. The palm trees were bent pretty good. Launched any way. Idled out of the canal to be greeted by a stiff southeast wind. Ran east to a favorite shallow flats area. Water temp was down to 57 degrees. Started a drift in 3' of water. Caught the first fish in less than 2' of water 18" trout, in the box. Within 45 minutes I had caught 15 keepers between 16" and 19". All were caught on a jerk bait. Kept 4, hoping to find one over 20". About noon, I moved into a creek. Caught 6 more keepers, and had my one over 20 on, and blew it. Fished quite a bit of the creek, looking for reds. Threw a spinnerbait, spoon and a jig. Had 1 good red ona jig, but it buried up in the bottom, and got off. That was the only red of the day. Headed back out to the flats around 4:00. The water temp had risen to 62 degrees. Had a few trout roll up on a jerk bait, but wouldn't take it. So I switched to a Catch 2000. Caught 2 more keepers. Moved to a deep hole in a creek that is known to hold redfish on occasion. Today it was full of 15" trout. Caught 15 on a jig fished slow on the bottom. By this time the sun was slowly sinking. Ran in, and back on the trailer at 6:45.
The wind blew all day. It never warmed up enough for me to take my wind pants or jacket off. When I fished these places last week the water was around 65 degrees. I suppose all of this wind has cooled the water back down. The water was near clear every place I fished today. No problem seeing the bottom in 5' when the sun was high.
If, out of all this, I were to offer 1 tip, it would be FISH SLOW. Almost every fish I caught today hit when the bait was sitting still. Even the jigs.
Oh, somewhere along the way I managed to catch 2 flounder. One was 13", the other was 18". Both caught on a jig.
Total for the day:
Somewhere around 40 trout, 2 flounder.
The wind blew all day. It never warmed up enough for me to take my wind pants or jacket off. When I fished these places last week the water was around 65 degrees. I suppose all of this wind has cooled the water back down. The water was near clear every place I fished today. No problem seeing the bottom in 5' when the sun was high.
If, out of all this, I were to offer 1 tip, it would be FISH SLOW. Almost every fish I caught today hit when the bait was sitting still. Even the jigs.
Oh, somewhere along the way I managed to catch 2 flounder. One was 13", the other was 18". Both caught on a jig.
Total for the day:
Somewhere around 40 trout, 2 flounder.
sweet outing
I'm gonna fish Saint Marks this weekend