JULY 2005

Submitted 7/28/2005

Every time I sit down to write a report something interrupts my train of thought, ergo no report. Personally I am playing with a bit of cancer, which I have to admit is a bit disturbing, so much of our fishing trips have been handled by Scott. I have been able to get out there a few times, plus we have been doing some partial days on salt water.

Back on the 16th I took Steve Levi and his father out for a 1/2 day AM trip. It was a slow day of picking at them with most of what we found coming on Carolina rigs worked in the NE area of the Farm. Two large fish got away that day. The first came of a stump which lies along a swale in the NE of the farm, and the second came of another stump at the intersection of the center NS and EW ditches. Both hit C-rigged worms. The first slipped the hook and the second hung herself on wood eventually breaking off. Not a bad day, just a bit slow and a bit warm.

Scott took the kids out for a bit of saltwater and they had a ball. These guys are getting quite versatile and caught tons of fish with some real arm pullers making their day.

Bri Maldonado with a nice 7 pound Jack Crevalle

Back at the Marsh Scott had Glenn Harrison and crew out for another day and they had a tremendous day. This time the option was shiners and the area fished was the spillway. Although water flow was less the bass were still anxious to play so the guys had a great time.

Joe Johns led the day with this beauty.

Yesterday was another day on the salt for Scott, his wife, and his niece. Nina to all that know her was just off the mark for Florida record, with her catch of a huge lady fish. A lady fish is one of the game fish you will find on flats, and although not what we were seeking they do put up a tremendous fight. Nicknamed the poor man's tarpon, they actually are part of the same family and the aerials this fish does are something to see.

On the baited line Scott noticed some activity - Could it be a tarpon or red? No, instead a rather common pesky fellow from the Florida waters - a young long nose shark.

Quite a fighter, this little guy. If you look at Scott's hands you can see the amount of pressure it took to hold it. A more common live bait hitter on the flats are black tip sharks, but none today.

The heat is here as it is for the rest of the country and the fishing has slowed as could be expected on the Marsh. However, it is a day to day situation. Expect that the fish will be in the deeper water during the heat of the day, but early Am they will still be on the top. As you move from crank bait and top water baits in the AM, get out the C-rigs and slow down for the rest of the day. The majority of the fish are on the Farm side. We have looked in several places on the Marsh side and had little to show for our efforts. Limited fish were caught at Twin Palms, and we saw absolutely nothing in the NW corner.

See you out there.

Submitted 7/15/05

Tim returned for day two and three and both days were smashing success stories with catches that went well over 100 fish per day with the majority of the fish 4-pounds or better. Tim has one more day to return later this month to attempt to have an even better day. A combination of shiners and artificial contributed to his success, with about equal results for both types of baits.

With extremes in water levels due to the almost constant afternoon rains and the passing of Dennis, the spillway and other water flow structures continue to be open. Putting the baits in the right spot has made major differences as the bite has been very much limited. The bass are not hitting just anywhere in the current, nor have they been hitting shiners just because you have them.

The highlight of the week's trips however was yesterday. Scott had Bill O'Keefe and his nephew Daniel Dwyer. This was Dan's first trip to the Marsh, and with just starting to bass fish, hopes were high for a successful trip to keep up the interest. There was no limit to the success in both quantity and size as Daniel hauled in bass after bass up to 7-pounds.

I had out my grandson Chris, and granddaughter Caitlyn, and we were set up in another area of current working C-rigged baits. The first major event was a break off by Chris of something of size, but never seeing the fish we had no idea just how big, or even if it was in fact a bass. The answer was given as we left for the day. Hugh Crumpler flagged me down on the way out and showed us Chris's rig which he had removed from a 25" gal they had caught. The point of interest here was that Hugh and client were fishing a fair distance away from us, a good 500 yards away, and they caught this fish within minutes of the break off from Chris.

The second highlight of our short day out there was when my grand daughter Caitlyn hooked into what would be her big fish for the day, and the biggest that she has caught to date totally on her own. She handled the fish like a pro, never getting over excited, applying just the right amount of control without horsing the fish. Her reward for doing everything right was this 8-pound gal.

It was a struggle for her to hold but she managed. Chris helped for the second photo and you can certainly tell by the smiles that they were having a great time. Caitlyn was using a Carolina rigged lizard with 3/8 oz. weight, a #4 Gammy offset U-bend. The rod and reel were Shimano, and the line, Power Pro. She's becoming quite the fisher gal! At 9-years old she did quite a job. In just three hours including the fish above we boated 28 bass on Carolina rigs.

July, as we had thought has been a super month. Rains and Dennis have kept the water flowing and the bass very active in areas of current. The temperatures have been a tad warm, but with the catch rate no one has noticed. Late afternoon storms have been good to us and held off allowing full day trips to complete. There has been some minor showers with only one day having the sky open up an let loose a soaking experience.

The grader has been out more often and although some areas of the road are rough, most of it is in fairly good shape. The rains have kept the dust down more than usual which helps greatly with the boat cleanup. With the heat levels up don't forget the fluids and the sunscreen protection.

Submitted July 9th, 2005

Nine days of the month have gone by already with our nation's greatest holiday right in the middle of it. The 4th is one of the few days during the year that we don't fish.

Back on the first I had out Steve Levi and friend Jim for a 1/2 day AM trip and we did okay. We didn't find anything bigger than 5-pounds, but we found about 35 willing bass to play with, with some top water action to accentuate the fun. Some of you may know Jim as he represents B.A.S.S. on some of the east coast areas, and previously was with Zoom Baits.

On the 2nd and 3rd Scott took Sue Laferty and Bill Loges out. With artificial baits they worked several areas of the Marsh/Farm and managed about 80 bass for the two days on the water. I had out my oldest son, grandson Chris, and my daughter-in-law's father Bob on the 3rd, fishing until 10:30. We managed 30 that morning with 6-pounds topping the day for Bob.

Scott had out Mike Rogers and Danny and fished the spillway area with a combination of shiners and artificial. Big fish was a 7.25-pound fish caught on a C-rig for the 2 days, and the fellows caught over 200 bass for their outings.

Scott had out Marc Marine, his father Tony, and Eric Dovale on the 7th. They opted to give the shiners a try in the spillway area and put over 60 bass in the boat with a 8.5-pound lady the big fish for the day.

Weather: Conditions for the last few days have been very warm as it is for most of the country. We had some breeze for most of the time which helped to make it a bit nicer on the water, and there has been cloud cover, but very little rain. Late day storms have held off so we have been able to get in full days. Have plenty of fluid and sunscreen protection when you come. Rain gear is a must-have anytime out here: ponchos don't make good rain gear. Also remember eye protection.

Road conditions are fair although the trucks that have been hauling in dirt to repair the west wall of the Marsh/Farm have made some deeper ruts. Common sense and reduced speed however make passage a non-problem issue.

Areas that we have found fish: Spillway - although it is flowing, Garcia and the Marsh are at equal levels and the current is not producing the artificial bite that it normally does. Over the last 9 days the spillway and the pipes have been open. Shiners however, both in the spillway and out from the spillway have been doing very well, and have been producing the best bite.

Pump house - Although the pumps have been running daily and there has been some current, this has not been a producing area. The current has not been sufficient to get the bass excited and banging the c-rigs. Minimal catches have come from this area.

Intersections - we have marked a considerable number of fish at the center intersection, but getting the bass to hit has been a difficult chore. If the shad come through it's bonanza time, but as soon as they depart the lunch bell stops ringing and the bass get pretty tight lipped. We have checked the other intersections and have nothing much to report on either of them.

The north end of the center ditch has seen some top water action but it is not sustained. It is widely sporadic at best, and when the shad leave so it seems do the bass. There is a swale that runs east to west along the north end of the ditches and we have had some success there with a rattle trap. This bite has been on and off from day to day and you need to cover quite a distance when it is on.

Point of the divider levee had some top water activity in the early morning but this has waned as the water levels increased. Presently the lake is quite high with adjacent areas of water being at equal height, so the current is quite a bit reduced. Prior to the increase we saw a lot of top water activity in several areas but this has dropped off in the last week quite a bit. You can bet that with the rain coming from the effects of hurricane Dennis will increase water levels on all areas over the next few days.

I haven't spent much time checking areas on the Marsh side, but what I have checked hasn't produced anything of significance. Twin Palms will yield some fish with best results coming directly next to wood. Weightless Senkos pitched to visible timber will produce anywhere on the Marsh, but with the high water, finding visible wood is not easy. The same is holding true for the south end of the Farm.

With the upcoming burst of new water that should occur as a result of Dennis I would expect to see all areas increase in production. The inflow will be carrying new food from runoff which should get the bait more active, and we should experience somewhat of a cool-down in water temperatures.

See you out there. Have a great day on the water.