|
|
FARM 13 / STICK MARSH FISHING REPORT
JUNE 2002
June 28, 2002
I left Fla. for summer vacation on 19 Jun. And, true to my luck, the rains started in earnest (and on the Marsh!!). My luck is sorta like 'Someday my ship will come in, and I will surely be at the airport.' But, Sunny Wells and all the guides and anglers who frequent the Marsh are having a ball. ALL gates are open (verified with the water management folks and the area farm managers) and running. That means the exit gate at coordinates A-15 is open. That means that the opening in the trees at the ramp should be the ONLY place you need to fish (if you can get in line). OK, I am missing out on it. BUT, I am in NC in the mountains and the daytime temp is 70 and the nights are 50. That's tough. There is a trout farm at my door with 800,000 rainbows in it (need I say more).
In two days, I will be posting on the NC page about lakes Fontana, Glenville and Bear Creek. Clear and deep, but LOTS of fish. Yep, the old 'back of the feeder creek' trick and the 'end of the treetop on the blowdowns' tactic. Smallies on the rockslides and ledges. They key ingredient - 'depth'. Got to go to 20-35 feet with light tackle and small lures. Drop-shotting is a killer. Dang, fish are dumb.
But, back to the Marsh -- go look at the map on my web site and mark these coordinates for moving water situations: Obviously, ANY gate that is flowing into the marsh is good/great; the key is to fish BEHIND the blowout hole in front of the gate; fish the back lip of that hole; C-rigs and crank plugs that hit bottom; hang on. G-1, G-4 and G-14 are those locations. At G-14, face the gate with the boat at the side of the concrete fishing pier and fish the left (ramp) side with a diving crank plug and a C-rig. Then, toss the C-rig to the opposite side corner to the right of the gate and bring it back across the center of the pool, in front the gate. Use a small worm for best effect. Forget that 10 inch stuff, if you want quantities of fish. The opening in the trees at the ramp is a killer if that water is running. Note where that E/W canal trace went and fish it with a C-rig. When you feel the rough edges, hang on. Big fish time. The corner closest to the ramp is the best. Look for the 'stairsteps' it makes as it falls from the palm trees on the bank into the 12 foot water. It goes to 4 feet, then 8 feet and then 12. Guess what 8 feet holds. Just work it and you will find the sweet spots (or =, watch Randy!!). That end of the levee that divides the Marsh from the Farm (coordinates C-8) is the best kept secret around. Anchor at the end of the levee (right against it is OK. Look due west and work a rat-L-Trap and a C-rig 180 degrees, from due south to due north. If the water is moving via the gate's discharges, the bass will be there. Likewise, that inside corner at G-9 is really loaded at times. The opening to the rim canal at coordinates G-12 gets current input from 2 directions -- the gate at the parking lot (G-14) and the flow coming via the rim canal from the farm 13 side. DO NOT neglect that north corner of that opening.
In the meanwhile, I shall continue to try and figure out these deep, clear water bass, while wearing a light jacket to ward off the chill. Watch the NC report page for some interesting similarities between Fla and the NC bass families.
June 7, 2002
 Been in the NC mountains for 3 weeks chasing smallies and (excuse me) trout. Will be posting the NC page soon.
Back in Fla for a couple of weeks and it is hot and rain - rain- rain. But, the rain is keeping water levels up. Just had to check that Stick Marsh fishing yesterday afternoon. Storms (1.5 inches of rain in Palm Bay) only allowed a couple of hours at it, but the fish are still where they were 3 weeks ago (see the past reports on this site and my report diary on my stickmarsh.com site for details and pics). Plus, a few other places have gotten ripe now (IMPORTANT DATA TO COME ON THIS). The Marsh is only a few inches below what is considered normal high pool and is quite safe to run. We did spot a lot of floaters, which is probably a result of the rain raising the water level recently. Water conditions are excellent now. Most of the crud is gone and all the water we saw looked fine. A VERY significant note - the grass has actually died off a LOT during the past 2 months. Normally, the on-set of hot weather means a grass bloom explosion. But, the opposite happened. I would suppose the poor water conditions of March and April were from the dying grass. We just did not realize it. Whatever the case, the thin grass on the submerged levees of the Farm side canals make for easy lure passage and great fishing. Many of the levee tops can be addressed with Traps, shallow crank plugs and soft plastics with ease. The hot item to note is that whereever you find a decent growth of grass, the bass will be CONCENTRATED on it. It is the only cover, so there they are. Like the old days when the Marsh was first developing. Just working down the levees produced fish for us yesterday at 6-7 minute intervals. But, when we felt decent grass growth with the lures, we stopped and worked the area. Usually, we caught multiple fish in and around the thicker grass patch. The northern half of the 2nd canal in from the east bank (approximately coordinates F6, F7 on my web site map) were still holding good fish, both in quantity and quality. Dot foxed me with a 7.1, as usual (see picture and note the good old rain). She is tough with that plastic worm!!! We saw a number of surface chasers, but did not try any topwater. The surface action may have been due to the totally dark overcast in between the storms. That always brings them out of the grass and up to the top. The noted action makes topwater worth trying, just to see.
Today's Weather for
the Stick Marsh Area
Past Fishing Reports
Farm 13/Stick Marsh Information Guide
Email questions to jporter@jimporter.org.
|
Recommended sites by The Fishin' Tipster |
A common question that we get: "Is there somewhere close to get bait and tackle?" This is where we get our bait.
Pete and Tina Heinz / 9 South Mulberry St. / Fellsmere, FL 32948 / 772-571-9855
Get your site listed here
Let us help you drive more targeted traffic to your site.
|
Rank our Site
©Copyright 2001-07 All rights reserved by Jim Porter, any reproduction, quotation or other use of this site or its elements is prohibited without the express written permission of Jim Porter
|
|
FROGG TOGGS RAIN GEAR
THE BEST PRICES AVAILABLE!!
|
|
