|
|
FARM 13 / STICK MARSH FISHING REPORTS
SEPTEMBER 2004
AFTER HURRICANE JEANNE – THE DAMAGE AND THE FORECAST
It’s been a week since we raised up in our foxholes and looked to see what Jeanne had left us. It wasn’t a pretty sight. I expect it will be a year before all is back to normal.
The Farm 13/Stick Marsh complex took a direct hit from the powerful north wall of Hurricaqne Jeanne. There was significant damage to some of the dikes, particularly along the west wall. The floating dock at the ramp is a tangled mess and the shelter building on the levee of the big divider canal is just gone. The good news with these issues is that they are all fixable and the dikes were not breached.
There were other impacts on the impoundment, which may result in changes we will see in the coming fishing season. These we will discuss a bit so everyone will understand and approach the fishing prepared for them.
First, all the billions of gallons of run-off water coming into, and passing through, the impoundment will flush it out. This will basically ‘clean’ it out. The same thing happened four years ago, exactly when the impoundment was undergoing a major decline in water quality. Some of you may remember the spring conditions when the grass started to die in vast quantities and the water took on the look of pea soup. The heavy summer rains that followed that spring decline rejuvenated the impoundment and made it even better than ever.
The grass is gone --- GONE. Farm 13 had quite an abundance of visible, as well as sub-surface, vegetation covering nearly all its bottom. The huge waves whipped up by the sustained 100 MPH+ winds probably were so large that the bottom may have been exposed between the swells. Whatever the case, the grass has been ripped from the bottom and can now be found somewhere down the St. Johns River basin or the C-54 canal. Some large decaying grass mats are moving about the open water with the winds and currents.
But, this is actually GOOD news. Mother Nature has allowed the impoundment to start over in the hydrilla and milfoil grasses, plus avoid the need for the introduction of more and more herbicides for vegetation control. And, the grass will emerge again. These types of grasses propagate from pieces that break away from a bed, drift to another area, and take root. There are a LOT of pieces floating around now and they will gradually start new grass colonies in a lot of new places.
So, we can expect the fishing to be different through the next 6-12 months from what we were used to. Places where we continually caught all the giant bass over submerged grass are now barren. The grass is gone, and so the baitfish -- and so the bass. But, they are only gone from those locations. They are still in the impoundment and ready for the angler to try his luck.
The little grass that was in the Stick Marsh side is also gone and some of the submerged brush appears to have been thinned at bit in places. However, a lot of it is still there, so fishing methods will probably be the same on that side. Drifting shiners and working soft jerk baits will be the key methods.
There were few, if any, perimeter palm trees blown down. That is remarkable. Conversely, there are few dead trees left standing. A few managed to stand, but most that we used for reference points in years past are now somewhere else. The same holds true for many of the loose snags that were lodged at various locations and provided reference. The stormed moved them to other locations, while depositing many others around the impoundment. One significant reference point that withstood the storm is the big log at the north end of the center north/south canal in Farm 13. It remains and can be seen even with today’s high water. But, there is now a another large log lodged about 100 feet due west of it, making for a double hazard for the unknowing.
The levee that divided the Farm 13 from the Stick Marsh was eroded to the point that you can get a small boat through various openings in it at the present water levels. The old shack that stood on that levee is gone literally to the four winds (no pun intended), leaving only the foundation blocks to attest to its previous location.
My wife, Dot, and I checked the impoundment on 1 October. The water, at that time, was in very poor condition. Waters coming out of the farming areas through the gate by the ramp were foul smelling and rancid due to dead cattle and rotting vegetables/fruits in the farms. The waters coming in from the Farm 13 gates was a bit muddy and carried a great amount of grass and other trash. If you cast into the water, the lure and line were immediately fouled with debris. We looked over the entire Farm 13 and Stick Marsh sides and found no evidence of a fish kill in the impoundment (there did appear to be a small one in the canal that separates the ramp road from the farms to the south). Of course, the best quality water was that furthermost from those discharge gates, those being the west and south ends of Farm 13.
I went back 4 October and the changes were very much evident. The foul odor of the water was nearly gone, except around the rotting carcasses of the six dead gators I saw. The water was starting to clear in the Stick Marsh and was actually fairly clean in portions of Farm 13. The inflows at the discharge gates were still strong and still too trashy to fish.
After looking the place over for a couple of hours, I decided to try and find fish. Since the grass is gone from the entire bottom, the only logical cover left was wood and the only structure of significance was the submerged canals and their levees. We tried the
canals first.
The canal levees were easy to fish with most any lure. We used a Rat-L-Trap and a Carolina rigged RIPPIN’ STICK. This produced one small bass of 10 inches and we snagged him in the tail!!
Moving to the SW section of Farm 13, we tried the Trap and a spinnerbait around the stumps and wood remains we could see. Nothing responded. We switched to a shallow crank plug and presented it with a steady retrieve and then a stop-and-go, trying to bump the wood. This got us two bluegill. Well, we thought, at least something is alive down there.
Finally, we rigged our soft jerk bait (RIPPIN’ STICK, 4-inch in Junebug) and started to cast it to the visible wood. We just let it sink on a slack line. I am elated to report that this caught us 10, or so, bass. I am a bit embarrassed to say none were over 1-3/4 pounds. BUT, it does say we may have found a starting point.
There were a lot of strikes on the jerk bait that we simply missed a hookup. Then, we caught a crappie on it. Then, we took out the PERFECT Jig. With their grass hidey-holes gone, the crappie were also using wood. They, too, were small, so we went to another location of wood. There we found a lot of good papermouths and they were very aggressive. Mixed in with them we the big bluegills and shellcrackers the impoundment is famous for.
In summation, I believe the Farm 13/Stick Marsh impoundment is going to storm back and be as good, or better, than ever. The indications are all there and the fishing is al;ready picking back up. But, it is obviously going to be somewhat different fishing. The wonderful grass patterns will no longer exist, but the anglers who understand and adaopt will find just as many fish as in years past. I would also expect to see a LOT more surface schooling action, in that the poor baitfish have few places to hide now that their grass in non-existent. One thing to be sure and watch for is where new grass may be starting to root and grow. You’ll know when that bight green growth comes up wrapped around a lure!!
Next: We are betting the Stick Marsh returns with new World-class fishing. Stay tuned and you’ll know about it first right here on www.stickmarsh.com.
24 September 2004 (the day before Hurricane Jeanne)
I guess some things are meant to be bad. Like this summer – we had to evacuate flooding rivers, mudslides and collapsed mountains twice while in North Carolina (courtesy of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan). Then, with no power and no facilitates left there, we headed home to Florida. When we crossed the GA/FL state line, what did we see? A whole mass of black clouds and rain to the south. Seems as though Hurricane Ivan had spun off a remnant to send back at us again. Three days of heavy rain later, Ivan finally left and went to bother TX.
As we are looking around at the damage to our FL home from Frances, we noted Hurricane Jeanne had been in a holding pattern, running around in circles out in the Atlantic waiting on us to get back. Suddenly, here she came. 108 MPH sustained winds for 4 hours and gust to 120 – yep, Jeanne was quite a Bitch, to say the least. And, we didn’t get the worst of her bad attitude, by far. The folks to our south, who got a direct hit from Frances, also got it head on from Jeanne.
Seven days later, we still sit here without power. But, we have water and ice and lots of comforts that many others will not see for months to come. Happy, we are not; very thankful, we are.
But, let me tell you about the day BEFORE Jeanne came calling!
The first wispy clouds of Jeanne’s far-reaching outer bands were just beginning to show up and the winds whistled at 20-25 knots. Their North-to-South, counterclockwise movement across the blue skies foretold that it would only be 24-36 hours before the calm turned to chaos. With the water and supplies already in place and the windows all boarded, all we could do was wait. We really needed something to pass the time. Hum, why not just go fishing? Sounded a bit crazy at first. Then, I called my buddy Wayne Winters. He, too, thought it was a crazy idea. Something like “Only an idiot would try to fish now.”
So, we decided to just let it all hang out and go do it.
We were the only boat on the impoundment. The water was 2 feet high and running strong through the Farm and the Stick Marsh. All the gates from the farms and surrounding areas were wind open, as the rain drainage from Charley and Frances was still trying to find the St. Johns River. The C-54 canal gate, leading out to the salt water estuary, was wide open, as they attempted to keep the impoundment from getting to high and harming the bordering dikes. And, the water was all clear and clean.
There were a lot of those big brown floaters out on the water. We dodged them fine and went to the gate along the east side of the Farm 13 side. It was flowing well. Wayne wanted crappie, so we tossed the little PERFECT Jig into the eddies to the sides of the gate. Within a short time, we had Wayne’s 25 fishing limit.
Then, it was off to the big gate in the SE corner of the Farm. It was running like Niagara Falls. On top of that, the three pipes next to the gate were open and running. I have only seen that happen 3 times in the 14 years I have fished the Stick Marsh/Farm 13 impoundment. And, the water was running clean, with no grass or trash in it.
To make a long afternoon short, I will say that Wayne and I sat in two places (west side of the gate and the point between the gate and the pipes) and caught an easy 200 bass (that’s not a misprint – 200) in 6 hours. We only missed catching a bass on a half dozen casts and only 3-4 were less than 3 pounds. The average fish was 3-5 pounds, with possibly 20% being 5 pounds and up. Wayne had his largest bass ever probably 6-7 times, with an 8 lb. 9 oz. finally being ‘top dog’. This fishing was like the ‘old days’ before anyone knew about the moving water locations.
It was one of those fine days that make the hardships a bit easier to take.
Next up: AFTER HURRICANE JEANNE – THE DAMAGE AND THE FORECAST
Today's Weather for
the Stick Marsh Area
Past Stick Marsh 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!!
|
|
