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FARM 13 / STICK MARSH FISHING REPORT
JUNE 2001
June 25, 2001
As of Monday, 25 June, the water is up about 14 inches. That levels it still about 29 inches below the normal pool we usually see. I ran a 'quick and dirty' check of a number of locations and here's what I found. First, most water is a bit dirty (there was 5 inches of rain on Sat and Sun right over the Marsh). But, grass filters out sediment and trash, so the down wide sides of the grass lines were not bad. We found a school chasing shad on the surface at the north end of the Farm. Caught a quick 2, but they moved too fast with the baitfish and the grass is getting too thick to chase them much. Can't tell where they will go next. The gate on the center east side of the farm was running, but had not been on long. Very dirty - lots of grass and crud coming out. Not even a bite. Should run for 36 hours. By this afternoon, it should have fish (if it continued to run). The big gate in the SE corner of the Farm is closed. I am told it will not be opened until Garcia is up sufficiently (whatever that means). The vegetation all around the basin edge of the SE gate has been sprayed and is dying off. Very messy and slimy. Not good for fish or fishing. Gar and needlefish seemed to love it. Caught 6 decent fish right out in the middle of the basin over the submerged grass clumps. Looking at the E/W canal that runs across the Farm from the center east gate to the hiker's shack on the west side, there are 3 intersections with N/S canals out in the Farm. The first 2 going east to west had fish. Not many, but some. There is a lot of submerged grass hung in the intersections, so use a Trap first and a lightly weighted worm second. Throw up into the mouths of the N/S canals, as well. Had one big fish on here, but one jump and she went back to chasing real minnows. Ran back to the ramp and down the exit canal about half way. Lots of scum floating, but wind was pushing it to the south side. The north side submerged grass has been the place, so that was good. Fish are still there and ready for something slow right across and in the submerged grass 10 feet out from the shore. Did not even go into the wood in the Marsh. But, I suspect a Senko-type approach (slowly falling unweighted plastic something) will do well. Find the thickest wood with abundant grass all around. Fish the holes in the grass only. Be sure the lure sinks on a very slack line. With the rising waters, there are lots of big floaters in the Farm side now. Most are hung in the grass and hard to see. Be danged careful.
As a part of this update, let me address the frustrations of one couple that recently drove many miles to fish the Stick Marsh, with very poor results.
Frustrations with fish happen to many who come to a new body of water, but have had no time on it. Fish are not going to jump into the boat for you. What makes some of us consistent with our catch rates is that we are out there so much. We are able to leverage off the previous day's successes. And, when that starts to dry up, we develop something else. It is certainly an advantage to 1) fish the place often, and 2) KNOW the water (also spelled 'know places that produced well before under similar conditions). I checked my record book, too and I show 1796 bass since Jan 9 2001. That is running behind the yearly average of 4000+, but we haven't fished as much (in 1995, we fished 200 days and had 6000+ fish). For you demographic nuts, the average runs 4.5 to 5 bass per hour. That's really good. But, it has to be factored by the fact that we catch a LOT of fish really fast when we locate schools. That is a key to the Stick Marsh. There are not really THAT many places for them to be. The limited structure makes the movement routes pretty easy to isolate. But, structure is not the real key. The key is the grass. That's the safety zone and food supply for all the small stuff, including baitfish. I have been
watching the population, both mature fish and young of the year from the spawns. While there is a mortality factor associated with the fishing pressure and fish caught, I personally think the population is about as good as it has ever been. The small bass are thick as fleas, too. The problem for anglers is all that grass. The thicker it gets, the harder it is to fish it. But, that's where the fish are -- under all that dark, cool shady cover with all those groceries. We first found those bass in the Marsh side wood cover back in April when Funky and Garry Sale came to fish with us. Within 2 weeks, the word got around and all the guides were in that wood. Then, all the locals and visitors got into it. Did it hurt the fishing to have all that pressure? Not a bit. There is more wood and more fish in there than you can ever imagine. The areas in the wood that were specifically good had a common denominator - they had new emerging grass on the bottom. That was a major factor. Today, if you go to those areas that were so strong 1-3 months ago, you will see them grassed over, for the most part. The areas where you see no grass today were the same ones that were not good back then. Grass - the key to all Stick Marsh fish. (Look at the reports I posted over the past 4-6 weeks about that sorry looking exit canal behind the ramp. Loads of fish in it - some to 8 and 9 lbs. How? The submerged grass line out in the canal.) Grass. Say it until it sinks in -- grass. Lure selection is made using 2 criteria ONLY - 1) depth you want it to operate, and 2) adaptability to the surroundings. Not too may things adapt to the grass well. You must be pretty specific. But, it can be done and done well. Before your next long trip, at least email someone local and ask what would be best. You don't need a guide - just info.
June 20, 2001
Road grading continues. Road was an 8 on a scale of 10 on the 20th. Water level is 39 inches low (from normal pool). Lots of rain, but the ground is like a sponge. Until it gets full, the table will not come up.
Most of the brush and stumps leading from the ramp opening to the rim canal, or outer marsh, are under now and you must exercise due care and idle. Coming out of the opening at the tree line, you will see three openings through the initial patch of grass and stumps past the sump hole. Take the middle one (slightly to your left-front). Go out past the grass 30 yards and start an arc to the left. You can still see the white pipe on the east level at the rim canal, though the grass is fast outgrowing it. The attached photo shows the openings with path marks.
Watch for floaters (big brown ones; loggigators) (see photo to the right). They will eat your lower unit and maybe you, too.
Grass is getting tough to fish in the marsh wooded areas. Floating worm works. Buzz bait works OK, but you spend some time picking your stuff clean. Good school working the surface at the north end of the farm side. Watch for them between the middle N/S canal and the next canal to the east. Canal intersections in the Farm have fish, but there is a LOT of submerged drifting grass that has lodged in the intersections, too. So, you have to fish as though it is 5 feet deep and use small weights for worms. But, the fish are there if no one picked them off ahead of you.
The exit canal behind the ramp continues to produce fish well. The afternoon of the 20th, I spoke to 2 anglers in a Jon boat who has picked 13 off the north side in a few hours. I went down the north and south sides, working that invisible grassline on the main drop and had really good success with numbers on the swimming worm. Only one fish was over 5 lbs, but there were lots in the 2 to 3 lb range. The key is to be 8-10 feet out past the visible grass and let it drop to about 3-4 feet before starting the retrieve. I tried a small Rat-L-Trap, paralleling the grass line and it produced, as well. It may have been real good. But, it was a pain picking grass off the plug, so I went back to the worm pretty quickly.
Be safe. The Farm 13/Stick Marsh is a bit dangerous right now!
June 16, 2001
Man, it's hot. And, I don't mean the fishing all the time. Carry LOT of water in the boat and drink it constantly. Get some good BullFrog sunscreen and bath in it. Wear a wide-brimmed hat to protect head, ears and neck. I wear a straw hat and the air goes right through it. Maximum shade, maximum cooling.
Had Robin Hood (yep, that's the name) from NC out today. Robin owns the Rippler Lure Co. and makes those buzz baits we caught the 15 lb+ Stick Marsh giant on a few years back. He got a bad dose of the Swimming Worm (photo) today and I suspect he now will fish that puppy. We started a bit late in the AM and Robin popped a good fish on a buzz bait on his second cast (photo). But, topwater did not sustain itself for long and we moved to the Swimming Worm. We check a number of locations and found fish at all of them, but not in the numbers or size we were looking for (Robin took honors for the midget of the day; see photo). We stopped at noon (Robin is fair skinned and redheaded; that's tough in this sun and heat). But, we had managed a repeatable 14-15 fish. No giants, but fun.
Looks like the bite out in the wood in the center of the Marsh is easing off. I suspect it is just that the grass is getting heavy and making it harder to present lures, not that the fish have gone anywhere. Wait until we get another quick foot of water (I hope!). Get that grass just under the surface and its going to be great!
Looks like Bass Pro Shops will be handling the Rippler line soon. They are in the BPS stores in NC and SC now, I believe. Both Cabelas and BPS stopped carrying the Danny Joe Floating worm, the one that works so well for the Swimming Worm rig. You can find those lures at www.dannyjoeslures.com. (Thanks, Wayne W.)
The water is only up about 10 inches in the Marsh, but there are some big, brown floaters out there already. Saw one log that was a 10 feet long and 6 inches in diameter. It was lodged in the grass along the center N/S canal of the Farm side. Watch and be careful.
Also, we are getting some SERIOUS storms after 3PM. Don't stay out and get caught by them . When you see them start to build and move, especially when the thunder rolls, get back to the ramp. Remember that you have to idle some of the way back to that ramp. We have already had 6 people killed in Fla by lightening in the past couple of months. 2 were fishermen. Don't be #7. A fish ain't worth having to tow you home with a rainsuit melted to your skin. It's not a pretty sight and it's not healthy for children and other living things.
June 11, 2001
Water is up and still coming as the rains pass through most every afternoon now. Idle to the rim canal carefully. Continue to use the center opening (of the three cuts in the grass you see), go 30 meters past the grass and make a sweeping left-hand arc out and around until you come in
line with the white pole on the levee behind the rim canal opening. WARNING: With all this rising water, a lot of drift on the banks and some that was lodged on the shallow canal levees is starting to float free.
Pay attention, especially when going through a grassy area. The logs and such will become entangled in the grass and present a very low profile. Fishing is so good on the Marsh right now, it is scary. Even my ex-wife could catch a bass now (usually, even the dog hid when she came around). As we have all been saying, the Stick Marsh brush is really good stuff. I am hoping the spinnerbait bite gets as good as the topwater. I hate to
say this, but the Marsh fishing is so good, I have actually gotten a little
tired of it. So, unless I have a party out, I am fishing the Farm side and some other lesser traveled sections trying to find more fish. The north part (above the big E/W divider canal) of that first N/S canal coming out from the east levee (not the rim canal at the levee edge; the one that is 400 meters out) is full of fish, with the majority appearing to be about midway where the grass in thin. There have always been 3-4 schools that seem to roam this canal and the associated roadbed. There is some surface activity on baitfish from them, but the fresh water will cool that down for awhile. The south end of the Farm is heating up again (no pun intended).
There are some open water areas that will actually allow you to go past the
stump lines and nearly to the most southern shoreline. The swimming worm has been best here, but the spinnerbit is also a producer.
Unlike the marsh side, topwater seems a bit 'iffy' here. If you are a bluegill fan, take a small 1/16 oz jig head and put a green Beetle Spin body on it. The body size is the one that comes in the 1/32 oz package Catalpa (BPS catalog, pg 208). Toss it on an ultralight just about anywhere along a canal grass line, let it sink 2 counts and retrieve slow and steady. The big gills, plus an occasionally crappie and bass, will eat it all day long. That jig size and color is the best bluegill and crappie rig I have ever seen. Be safe on the water and watch for those floaters!
My wife keeps telling me to be home early and I just can't do it. I told her I did not hear her say to be home. Now, I have proof as to why. See the photo of my hearing aid!!!
June 7, 2001
Had Rosco Barnard from St. Louis out today, until the lightening told us to use better sense. We took my smaller Javelin, rather than the big STRATOS. The rising water is making stump-jumping the rule of the day again, so the older gear gets used more. We actually had little trouble and only bounced off a couple of stumps.
As we came out of the opening in the trees, Rosco just could not wait and tossed a Devil's Horse along the side of the grass. A 4-pound fish ate it as soon as it touched the water. We idled out into the Marsh and fished the wood for awhile. Topwater was good, but the bigger fish did not cooperate. Moving over to the Farm, we went to the SW corner and fished the canal along the A-3 coordinates. With the water coming up, this was a great place for the swimming worm and the floating worm. We checked the intersections of the center E/W canal with the N/S canals and found fish on all of them. But, there were no schools. Checking the submerged levee along the canal at the F-5, 6 coordinates, we found the fish still readily available on a shallow crank plug and a worm. These are pretty fair fish, running 2.5-3 pounds (see photo). They are moving around some with the baitfish, so watch for breakers. We finished by checking the big gate in the SE corner (coordinates G-1). We only managed 3 on the swimming worm over the submerged grass beds, but did get 6 nice fish off the left concrete wall of the gate. The water is not running, but there are always fish hugging the wall. The mass of hyacinths had shifted across the mouth of the gate to the right side and left the left side open. We tossed the unweighted worm right up against the wall and let it fall on a slack line. This time, the guide got the big fish (well, 6 pounds). I keep telling clients to never let the guide fish. The scoundrel will always catch the big one. But, he insisted, so I fished some (I did let him make the first 4-5 casts, though). Bet he doesn't do it again!!
June 4, 2001
Water continues to rise slightly. Summer storms in the afternoon are now the predominate pattern to contend with.
Good news! The roofed is being graded now . It was graded on the 30 May and again on 5 June. The also dumped a good bit of new dirt on the last section of road before the parking area. It is not packed yet, so it may be slick when it rains. Take care there.
Earlier patterns are still good. There is a slowdown in the wooded areas of the Stick Marsh, it appears. But, that may be more a function of the fishermen contending with the extreme heat that the actual fish. It does appear that a spinnerbait pattern is improving in the sticks and brush of the Marsh. That will be a super way to fish if they get on it really good.
June 2, 2001
Major storms on the 1st of June. Good rain, possibly as much as 2 inches locally. Bad lightening. A bolt killed someone on the beach down in Ft. Lauderdale. Beaches are the absolute WORST places to be when lightening is anywhere possible. That's where most Florida lightening deaths happen.
Tried topwater over in the Farm along the grass lines of the canals. All the new water is making the grass lines look thin, but they are actually just being covered. Things were a bit slow with buzzbaits, so we switched to the floating worm with no weight. All it needed was a slow steady retrieve across the surface to draw some great action. Remember, when fishing this worm method, DO NOT set the hook when you feel the fish suck the worm under or see a blow-up on it. Wait until you feel the fish swimming with the lure and you'll hook each and every one of them.
We worked the center area of the canal that lies approximately along the F-4 through F-7 coordinates. You will find thick grass in the F-4, 5 section, sparse grass in the F-6, 7 section and a zone of relatively thin underwater grass between the F-5 and F-6 coordinates. This area is just right for a shallow crank plug, such as the Cordell CC Shad or similar depth lure. A Rat-L-Trap works well, too. The key is to cast from one side of the submerged canal to the other on a DIAGONAL line. What you want to do it bring the lure up and over the submerged levee on the far side, out across the open canal water and then up and over the levee close to you. You will get fish while hitting the levees on either side and the bigger fish as it comes over that far levee and hits the deeper open water of the canal trace. Once you get a strike, work the area well. Even toss a worm a few times, if need be. The bass along these canals are usually in schools and it is not unusual to catch 20-30 from a 20-yard stretch. The remainder of the canals within the Farm all too thickly covered with grass to use the crank plugs just yet. Wait until the water is up a couple of feet and they can get right. However, it is going to be very hard to toss crank plugs with the topwater going as well as I predict it will!!
May 31, 2001
Water levels remain up and slowly rising. That's good. The bad part is the limbs and stumps are going under and you can no longer see them to navigate. The grass is starting to go under, too. There is some spectacular fishing coming along with the new water!
We went back into the exit canal and found the fish still there (see photo; as you look down the canal, note the dang storms we have been dodging). Even had a catfish, a small crappie and two Goggle-eye try to eat that Swimming Worm, too. Moving back to the hole at the tree opening, we got 4 more to come to the lures quickly. From there, we went over to the rim canal and ran around to the big canal between the Farm and the Marsh. Using the opening in the levee wall at map coordinates D-8, we went out into the sticks and worked over to the C-10 and C-11 areas. There are a LOT of fish in these section, particularly C-11. Work around until you find the larger fish and you should be in the area of a major concentration of 6-9 pound bass. Occasionally, a 10-11 pounder will come out of this area at you. Do NOT shy away from the thicker clusters of wood. These are where the most fish are. And, it will amaze you to find that you will lose few of them. I still don't understand how we are able to consistently get those big bass out of all that wood, but somehow it happens. And, most of the time, I am using 14 pound Fireline and a spinning rod, too. (I guess it's all that clean living!) The most productive lure in this brush is still the slowly sinking worm. But, as we predicted a while back, topwater is starting to come on. It will really get strong for about 30 days after the water comes up a foot, so look for the month of June to be a great month.
May 30, 2001
The road was graded today. See the News Flash on the front page.
Rain! Water is up 5 inches, as of 30 May . Expect another 5 inches rise by 4 June. Get out the biggest buzz baits you can find and watch the grass lines along the farm canal levees. If they don't come to the buzz bait quickly, go to the floating worm and a slow steady retrieve across the top. Gads, this is a great time of year! We went back to the north side exit canal behind the ramp two days ago. After sitting out a couple of frog strangler storms that blasted all the dead fronds off the palms, we finally got to fish for an hour or so. The swimming worm was still the only lure that fit the submerged grass pattern and the inactive fish. But, they will hit that dumb lure rig whether hungry, active or not. All they have to do is still be alive and they eat that slow thing as it creeps by. I did not count the fish, but there were no big ones this time. For 10 minutes, we stopped at the basin just outside the tree opening as we went back to the truck. Of course, we were the only boat on the Stick Marsh, so we didn't block anyone coming in. I think we had five real quick ones there on the same worm rig. Couple of these were 3 lbs. The rising water means the stump fields are much less visible so try to remember where the paths are and go carefully now. Watch for schooling fish, too. Rising water this time of year causes a flurry of shad chasing like you have never seen. Any lure that gets close to the beakers will get a fish. On, yes. For you that can't stand it - the gates HAVE been running a bit. No fishing reports on that are needed. I can't count fish that high. Count on them to be running more by next week. If you plan to come to the Stick Marsh this weekend, 1-3 June, I would advise some re-consideration. I forecast strong storms all 3 days. You MIGHT get in a half day each day.
NOW AVAILABLE: We just finished the first version of the Farm 13/Stick Marsh section which provides history, current conditions, current fishing reports, special information topics, AND an interactive map. The map, a creation of Bryan Hague of Fishing-Hunting.com, allows you to point to a section of the impoundment and have a pop-up window appear with the information about that section.
Today's Weather for
the Stick Marsh Area
Past Fishing Reports
Farm 13/Stick Marsh Information Guide
Email questions to jporter@jimporter.org.
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