Imagination Bassin Company Information

Our last report of February ends with a bang as Mike Hammer of Green Pond, NJ realizes his goal for fishing on the Stick Marsh. Mike and I left the ramp at daylight and went to the SW area of the Farm. The wind was moderate and I immediately went to a spot that I had found some fish the other day. Sure enough, I was still marking, and although they weren't biting yet, I knew it was just a matter of time.

The weatherman had predicted winds of 10-20 out of the SE, but mother nature had them on hold first thing. However it was long before the wind came up and on the horizon we were watching the rain that the weatherman said we had zero chance of getting. It finally made its way to the Farm, but luckily we were on the up side of it and only experienced a few minutes of it. The wind then stopped completely and we had a immediate increase in air temperatures of over 10 degrees. Picking up the drift anchors that I had deployed we returned to where I wanted to fish.

Five minutes later up came the wind again, except it wasn't 10-20, but rather 25 solid out of the east. This forced our move to the east side of the Farm on the south end as I set up for a long drift westward. For the balance of the day we picked fish here and there on Senkos, #164 purple/w large blue flakes. With 20 minutes left in the day I set up for one more drift. As previously Mike picked a couple more on the drift. With a few minutes left I cleared the decks. As Mike made his last cast for the day I told him to make it a good one, and started pulling in the drift anchor. I heard the line twang on the hook set and turned to see Mike with rod bent in half battling a fish to the boat. She swirled one time but never broke water and she came rather readily. As he got to the side of the boat I lipped her into the boat pushing away grass that she was buried in, and it was then that we realized that Mike did what he came for.

This 11.25 pound lady was landed at 2:59 PM and was caught on the Purple/w large blue flake Senko. Mike cast all day for this beauty and I would have to say it was certainly worth it.

Mike has two more days with me to see if he can better his best fish of his life and we are certainly rooting for his success.

See you on the water. Say hi if you get the chance. We have 31 trips booked for March but with two boats that still leaves with quite a few openings. Give us a call if your thinking of some last minute plans.

Over the last 10 days Scott and I have done a combined 16 trips on the Marsh. During that 10 days we have had three high pressure cold fronts come barreling through Florida combined with rain and high winds. Rain falls were adequate enough to get St John's Water Management to open the SE spillway to lower waters south of the Farm. Presently we have a high hanging right over us with winds blowing 25 MPH and gusting. Through it all we have had some good days, some fair days, and some not so good days.

However, all of our customers came to fish, and fish they did no matter what mother nature threw at them. They all fished like pros, never letting a skinny bite, wind, or rain, dampen their enthusiasm.

Big fish honors went to Mike Packard on day one of his trip. This 10 pound bass came on a Senko in the south end of the Farm. Fishing with Scott they worked the south central area of the Farm using the Senkos ahead of the boat in a stiff SW wind.

Scott followed up with this 8 pound bass, again on a Senko, late in the day.

We use the Senko weightless, and color choices are all in the dark ranges. Most of what we have on board are in the watermelon varieties. The key to success with this bait is to work it slow keeping it in constant contact with the bottom. The fish are either down in the grass or holding tight to the grass and if you don't go slow you are not going to catch them.

One of the 2 day trips was with friend and client Tommy Anderson and his friend Tony, We found a real good rattletrap bite on day two on the Stick Marsh and Tony landed this 7 pound bass early on in the day. Tommy missed what would have been his second monster bass on the last cast of the day as a big gal slammed his rattletrap and headed for home with it.

Tommy's first trip netted him this giant bass. Note the apparent weather. It was close to 90 with no wind that day. This trip we dealt with wind on one day and cool temperatures both days.

Previously in one of my reports we dealt with how to measure a fish as published by the Florida Game and Fish. However, measuring in no way can be as accurate as weighing the fish, and we carry Boga Grips on both boats. All fish photographed are weighed, measured if the client wants to get a replica made, and then released for the next fisherman that has the luck to find her.

Sometimes we leave the water feeling as if we blew it. Although this is fishing and the fish will do as they wish we really feel bad if the fish just won't bite. My last trip was a mega-disaster with the customer catching only one fish. We fished in several locations on both the Farm and the Marsh and my client just couldn't get bit. It wasn't a case of missed bites, it was the case of no bites. I don't know, but I suspect someone put the whammy on him. However through it all George Pelletier, my client, maintained high spirits and never stopped casting. Thanks George for all your good humor. You turned what could have been a bad trip into a grand trip and I look forward to your return in June.

Things are perking along at the Marsh. Some of the renewal of the population has taken place over the last few days. Fishing has been predominantly located in the south end of the Farm. There have been some fish located in the NW area of the Marsh, but for the most part that population consists of young fish. There have been three consistent baits: Shiners, Senkos, and rattletraps. The fisherman population is at its normal February high and the parking lot is jammed. However, a lot of these are Crappie fishermen. The Crappie fishing is experiencing the same slowness as the bass because they have spawned also.

From here on out it gets more and more exciting as the days go by. The big females will go from resting to feeding and the frenzy will begin. There will be many that didn't spawn that will be ready for the spring spawn and they will be fattening up also. We should see a progression of fish moving northward through the farm as they school back up on their hunt for food.

Bill and Brenda Thomas of Lutherville, Maryland joined us for day two on the 8th and faced winds N20-25 with Gusts to 30. Temperature low 40’s with a high in the upper 50’s. We free lined the shiners in the spillway underneath the Hyacinth. Went through 4 dozen shiners by 1:00pm and caught 20+ Bass. Largest fish weighed 6lbs and they a couple other over 5lbs.

Mark Kirchner from Orlando and his sister Lee from Palm Bay, Florida came out on the 9th with us and the weather was a lot better. Light Winds and Temperature’s in the mid 70’s made for a much more comfortable fishing day. Mark fishes with us several times a year and brings his sister for her birthday. Happy birthday Lee. They opted for 7 dozen shiners and they were all used by 3:00pm. Lee caught 18 bass up to 4+pounds and Mark caught 5 Bass up to 4 pounds. Slow trolling the shiners in the South end of the Farm was the most productive.

Arthur Dechane of Fellsmere, Florida wanted to get his youngsters out for a ½ day on the 10th so we fished form 12:00-5:00pm. There was very little breeze and temps in the mid to upper 70’s. We went through 4 dozen shiners and they boated 20+ Bass. Scott Dechane started the day out with a 7.8lbs beauty and also caught the biggest of the day weighing 8lbs.

Shara Dechane put on a good show catching quite a few fish between 5 and 6lbs. Arthur’s kids definitely showed dad how to catch the big ones with Arthur’s biggest Bass only weighing 3lbs. Well, that's why we take them fishing; so they can get the most and the biggest.

On the 11th Christian Brand and his friend Sam from Fenton, Mo. came prepared to fish and fish they did. However, they weren't prepared for the gnats and the lack of bite from the bass. We finally retreated to the Stick Marsh to get away from the gnats, but didn't find the fish biting any better. Harvey Stern and his son Darren from British Columbia, Canada were out with Scott and basically the report from Scott was ditto. I think between the two boats we netted about 30 fish. Harvey and his son are out there right now as I write this report and phone conversations indicate much better results today.

On the 12th Christian and Sam opted for shiners. Conditions were good and the fishing was 180 degrees from the day before. Their fish were caught both in the south end of the Farm in the in spillway area in the SE of the Farm.

I had out Chuck Slater of Glen Burnie, Maryland and although size never reared her beautiful head into the picture we caught a lot of fish on artificial. Working a Chug Bug in the morning brought fish up to 4.5 pounds into the boat and left one unknown swimming off with Chuck's bug. Unfortunately he didn't see her before she broke off but she didn't leave it at that. About an hour later this ornery critter came crashing out of the water in an attempt to shake the bug and revealed all of her 9+ pounds of glory. Oh well, Chuck will be back soon and perhaps will get the chance to retrieve his bug.

Baits to bring: Plastics and lots of them. We are having great success with Senkos and recommend them highly. Spinner baits; I expect these to start working any day now. Rattletraps: I caught three today in short order on a crawdad colored trap and this is an excellent post-spawn bait. Top water baits: Chug Bugs or similar and buzz baits will be a staple as we get further into the post spawn. Remember the shad will spawn and be a lot more plentiful in the coming weeks. Tackle for rigging: C-rig materials and weights for T-rigs. Keep the swivels small and have a minimum 3.8 oz. for the C-rigs.

Weather to expect. For the remainder of February expect the unexpected. Winds will play a major factor as fronts roll in. There should be very little rain but there always is a chance so don't leave the rain gear home. Bring sun protection because there will be plenty of it. Also, it is the time for mosquito repellant. Don't forget it as the bite is little but the disease could be serious. Don't forget to get a fishing license!

See you on the water. Stop and say hi if you get the chance.

One of the most common questions we hear: "don't you get tired of fishing the same lake day in and day out?"

My answer is an unequivocal no! The Stick Marsh/Farm 13 is a lake that changes constantly as hydrilla comes and goes and water levels change from day to day and week to week. In addition, Scott and I simply love to fish. If we are on vacation you will find us fishing. If we have a day off and no other work to do you will find us fishing. Oh well, someone has to do it and it might as well be us.

Today Bill Thomas and his wife Brenda braved the early morning rains, and ignored the predictions of high winds as they set forth on their fishing adventure with Scott. Brenda arrived at midnight last night and they headed north from West Palm for the Hampton Inn in Vero. However the Hampton didn't hold their reservation and by the time they had worked out alternate plans with the help of Scott it was after 2AM. But come daylight they were headed off for Farm 13 with dreams of a lunker bass from this world famous producing lake. As has been the case for the last month or more the south end of the lake produced bass after bass and included the following fish.

The last week has presented us with some interesting weather and some interesting fishing on the Marsh. I have to honestly say we have had no banner days, and a couple of downright stinky days. The biggest fish we have seen in the last week just nudged the Boga Grip over 8 pounds, although we did see a couple that might have done better that didn't make it to the boat.

The finish out of January was a big disappointment for a 1/2 day trip with Bo Walsack from Marlboro, NJ and his Father, and then another 1/2 day trip for Bo and his wife Joyce. Both trips were AM trips and with what seemed to be relatively good weather we expected the fish to cooperate fully. However, the bass seemed to have other plans and the catch was extremely lean for the trip. It's not often that we see swings of this nature but if we told you that every trip out here is spectacular we would be shading reality.

Our next trips proved to be a little better with regulars John Marchi of Vandalia, Ohio and friends. Our trip to the Farm was interesting as we traveled in a magical mist of pea soup fog. It's good to know where you are going, and we hit the south shore exactly where we wanted to be. The fish were still buried deep and we did manage to have at least an acceptable day, but still not what I consider to be a typical Stick Marsh outing. All four guys are involved with some area of the PGA so golf jokes were coming now and again. I thought I might fall overboard a couple of times I was laughing so hard. We fished both the Farm and the Marsh side and the one thing of note was the fish we found moving into the Marsh. John, his wife Debbie, and friends will be back on the 17th, and John is coming with vengeance in mind. Based on John's previous trips here they will be looking for that 50+ day and I am sure that the Marsh/Farm will accommodate that expectation.

On all of the above trips most of our time was spent on the Farm side and our primary baits were Senkos, rattletraps, and spinner baits. We have worked the south end primarily east of the center N/S ditch over submerged hydrilla and stumps. As you move away from the south end to the north you get into hydrilla that is just below the surface and most of that is covered with filamentous algae. However the break line where the hydrilla drops to a level 3.5 feet below the surface is well defined and there are fish all along that line. The one thing you do have to tolerate there is the hydrilla gnats and blind mosquitoes. Fortunately neither bite but they can get quite thick and make things very uncomfortable.

My last trip out there was with Tammy and Chris Wooley from Paducah, Ky. As with the trip with Marchi group the fog was like pea soup and hung until almost 11. It was a bit cooler and there was a breeze that made it downright chilly, but unlike the trip with John the fish were biting throughout the morning. We started the day at Twin Palms in the middle of the Marsh but moved to the NW corner shortly after starting at that proved to be the right area for the AM. Quickly Tammy landed the first fish of the day and then to make sure that Chris new how, she did it again on the next cast. Chris shortly followed up with his first of the day and the battle was on.

This had to be one of my most memorable days on the water. Tammy and Chris: thanks for a fantastic day.

We were rid of the fog yesterday and Scott and I headed into the outback for some exploring. We will be soon offering wilderness fishing at its finest and are testing waters and equipment whenever we get the chance. We have finally settled on a craft: an inflatable that will carry guide plus one. This has been an interesting exploration for us as we have tested several different craft before settling on the inflatable. The boat needed to carry two comfortably and have the ability to be a stable platform when standing. It needed to be light enough to be easily carried some distance. We will be announcing soon some possibilities for fantastic fishing where most never even venture.

The moon is full, the temperatures are right and as I write this report I would imagine a lot of fish are busy at the Marsh increasing the population. Look for the fishing to become super as the ladies finish their exhausting work and hit the lanes for food. I would expect the action to get fast and furious. Also look for the annual migrations to the spring spawning grounds as those ladies move in and start checking the nests the bucks have been preparing for them. If you have any questions about where, when, or how, give me or Scott a call. We will gladly help you with whatever we can to make your fishing day a better one.

See you on the water. By the way: when hiring a guide it is good practice to get references and that includes getting them about me. http://www.imaginationbassin.com/Coments.htm