JANUARY 2006
 

1/30/2006 George

On again - whoops off again best describes Tom Findlay's big bass. She picked up a 5" watermelon Senko as it swept by a piece of wood and the fight was on, right to the boats edge, but it seemed something was missing! That something caused Tom to miss his fish of a lifetime - the adrenaline rushed when the rod doubled over and the hookset was forgotten. How many times this happens: don't forget to "set the hook". Tom and his daughter Rebecca met me at the ramp for a 1/2 AM trip. With a mix of shiners and artificial bait we made a decent morning of it fishing the back lot of the Marsh.

Scott headed south with Ryan Edwards and his Dad. Ryan is quite the fisherman and has had many trips to the Marsh and other area lakes with us, with a personal best to date of a bass that was 10 pounds 3 ounces. This trip would get him a multitude of good size fish but none that would exceed his "biggun".

Seven pounds was the tops for the day but the numbers caught and several just like this one kept the smiles on this youngster all day long.

This weekend was definitely one to remember. The wind chased the waves into whitecaps and then ebbed, but throughout most of the days the fish kept biting through most of it. Several moves had to be made to adjust for wind direction, but hey that's part of fishing. The cold fronts can be a pain, but with some adjustment they can be for the most part, handled without too much of a problem.

See you on the water. We have some opening so give us a call!

Remember, to get a picture like the one below you need to be here.

Right Mark?!?

Give us a call! Say hi if you pass us out there.

1/28/2006 George

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
E-mail: tina@stickmarshbaittackle.com

Yesterday the wind was a bit strong but it did nothing to blow away the hopes for Mike Gingerich from York, Pa. and his fishing partner Leon Butler. Mike is a returning client who had hopes for a new personal best and in spite of conditions he would give it his all.

First stop was the south end of Farm 13 but the wind would keep Scott from positioning the boat in the better locations.

A move was in order, so with the direction of the wind the option was the back lot, and the decision was made.

Mike achieved his goal with the above fish. Next trip he has to double his personal best. On the Marsh/Farm this is a possibility at any time. Not only do we get them in numbers, but we also get them in size. Any cast placed anywhere can produce a real hog of a bass. The one below came on a random cast with a spinner bait. The cast made was to clear the reel after several casts into the wind. The bite was mere tic right after the bait hit the water and the fight was on.

However, to catch fish like this requires that you be here as this young man was. We still have some openings in February and a few in March. Come on down: Your next thump on the rod could be a relative to the one above!

See you out there. Say hi if you get the chance.

1/25/2006 George

The new day's greeting on the Marsh/Farm can be absolutely awe inspiring. Yesterday's morn was without exception one of those to record in ones list of awesome memories. Captured by Don Willis was this fantastic sunrise.

Monday AM: Scott met multi-time fisherman Jamie Flegler visiting from Ponca City, OK for his first of a two day venture on the Marsh. Working with plastics and spinner bait they were able to tease up 25 bass up to 5 pounds. Plastics used were Senkos, and Lake Fork Tackle's 10" worm and their 5" creature bait. The bite was sporadic during the day with the best bite coming in the AM. The location was the back lot (as it is known) with most fish out in the open and not concentrated in the wood.

Yesterday they headed to the south end of Farm 13. Working in the wooded areas they managed 26 bass up to 5 pounds using plastics. The fish were found to be right against wood and relatively close to the south levee. They check a good deal of the south area including the SW deep to the south. Production areas were found to be best south of the west N/S ditch and the south end of what is known as Pin Ball Alley. The fish were playing cat and mouse as they will in these pre-spawn conditions and there were as many missed as there was caught.

Don Willis and I headed to the back lot throwing Senkos and spinner baits. Leading as the best bait in the AM was the spinner bait: 3/8 ounce white/gold blade, however the Senko took over as the day wore on. The best area was closest to the spillway.

The AM was gorgeous and the wild life was abundant including gators in the water. As the day wore on the west wind brought in more and more cloud cover and the wind increased. One of the things that make fishing enjoyable for me is the surroundings and the accompanying wild life. One of our constant companions out here is the Great Blue Heron, and Don captured this picture of one ready for action.

This gal, although still young was loaded with eggs. She came on a watermelon/black flake Senko that was fished weightless deep in some wood cover.

The spawn is shaping up to be a good one. The fish can be found in the areas I noted above and a major player in these areas is water clarity. The cleaner the water the more likely you are to hook up. Don and I connected with well over 20 that made it to the boat and missed several.

Bookings are coming in pretty steadily now so if your thinking of coming our way you want to make the decision on dates soon to ensure availability. See you out there. Say hi if you get the chance.

1/22/06 George

Two days of fishing artificial bait has produced, (yesterday full day), 42 bass to 9 1/4 pounds, (27 X 17), and today 33 by noon. Although there were no big fish today, the ones we got were fat and sassy.

Yesterday's foray was in the south end of the Farm in the early morning. A Lake Fork 5" Creature Bait T-rigged and weighted with a Lake Fork Mega weight landed this lady at the very start of the day.

As you can see by the picture, the fish have moved in closer to the south levee. The key to success is stay put and work and rework the area. Patience is a serious issue right now, and working the area thoroughly is what will get you the results you are looking for. By late morning yesterday we headed back to the ramp, but then decided to try the back lot before leaving. Not having much success we headed into the NW area of the Stick Marsh. We finished out the day just south of the palms.

This morning we headed to the same area we ended and managed to catch 33 with most of them in the 1 1/2 - 3 pound range.

Plastics led the way however we did manage to catch a few with spinner bait over the two days.

See you out there. If you are looking for a guide check us out as we are looking for some clients to fill in the upcoming periods.

1/20/06 George

This morning I checked the weather: 10-15 MPH winds and 0% chance of rain was the call, yet it was raining lightly as I read the forecast. As I drove to pick Scott up the sky was looking pretty bleak.

At the lake there was only a slight breeze, but the overcast was fairly heavy with occasional rain drops falling on our heads. We headed to the SW area of the Farm and counted 11 boats in the area.

We worked the area with several baits: T-rigged Lake Fork 10" junebug worm; T-rigged weightless 5" watermelon/red Senko, 1/2 ounce Lake Fork Tungsten Jig, junebug with a junebug frog; rattle trap in chrome/blue; Terminator 3/8 ounce white/white w/gold Oklahoma spinner bait; T-rigged 5' Lake Fork creature bait w/1/8th ounce Lake Fork mega weight. One hit and nothing to the boat had us headed eastward.

Next area to survey was the middle south area of the Farm:

Scott - 12-Lb. 5 Oz. - 28 X 20 - Lake Fork 5" Creature Bait w/1/8th oz.  Lake Fork Mega Weight

This area is obviously based on the picture holding fish of outstanding quality.

Same fish: different profile

We barely got the photo of this gal when the wind increased dramatically due to an incoming storm so we called it a day. The Lake Fork tackle performed as advertised!  Tomorrow we will be back, and hopefully find more of these ladies willing to play. It's tough work, but someone has to do it. See you out there.
 

1/18/06 Scott

As the weather goes in the rest of the country, so goes the weather down here. From a beautiful day in the 70's with winds calm we find ourselves the next day with temperatures in the 30's - low 40's and winds blowing in excess of 20 MPH. For the fisherman wanting to work the lake with artificial bait this makes for a difficult scenario.

Tim Snyder arrived on the 16th to a better weather pattern, but with the previous two days of blustery cold weather they looked to doing a mixed bait day. Temperatures in the AM were quite cool, (low 40's), but predicted to warm up nicely, and the wind was expected to be in the 10-15 MPH range.

We started in the back lot where we had had some pretty good success, but by late morning the bites had been sparse.

It was time for a change of scenery and I could think of no better place than an area in the SW of the Farm that had produced well for me previously.

It was as if someone threw a switch. Over the balance of the day we seldom sat idle for more than 5 minutes, and in between bites on the live bait we were able to catch some on Senkos. All and all it turned into a very successful day. A couple of real big gals were on but didn't make it to the boat, however of all the fish making it to the boat only a couple were smaller than the one in the picture above.

It was our hope to get back into the same area yesterday and work with some artificial but the fickle weather did it again. The wind warnings were out for even the lakes so we opted to do a bit of boat maintenance.

See you out there.
Scott

1/15/06

Saturday the wind blew and it blew strongly. The only bait choice that made sense for John Culmer and his John who had traveled all the way from Stafford, VA was to give it shot with shiners. In addition, along with the frontal passage bringing the wind came much cooler temperatures. However, the bass were biting and the day turned out not so bad after all.

John Jr. with one that helped make the wind seem less and the air a bit warmer.

John Sr. holding a 7.5 pound lady which was the big fish for the day.

John Sr. with an almost duplicate to his big fish.

Day two for the Culmers was supposed to be less windy, but during the night the temperatures dropped and they were greeted with 34 degrees at the ramp. Returning to the area that they worked yesterday was a chilling event but spirits and anticipation were high as they prepared to haul them in.

The Marsh did one of her twists and the cooling temperatures had a drastic effect on the bite. By days end only one in the boat and the fingers were just starting to get warm. John will be back later this year when weather is more predictable.

See you out there. Have a great day and say hi if you see us out there.

1/13/06

There's no question that the fish catching is becoming a steadier event. This last week has seen several big fish caught on both artificial baits and live bait.

Don Dassel and his son David fished shiners and had some pretty decent fish in their two days of fishing.

10+ pounds was the goal and the goal was achieved on day two. In addition several in the 7+ category were caught.

Don Willis and I spent a day on Kenansville to see how the spawn conditions were progressing and we managed some nice fish over there also..

See you out there. Bring plenty of plastics for the artificial bite. As evidenced by other reports the south end of the Farm worked slowly with plastics is doing well.

1/9/06

Yesterday's fishing was what you could call slow without exaggeration. The day prior opening temperatures were 33 at the ramp, but it did warm up into the 60's. Yesterday's opening temperatures were in the low 40's but it was t-shirt time by noon as the temperatures rose into the 70's. Water temperatures started at 54.7 which was a 10 degree drop over the end of last week and they rose into the 58 range by day's end.

Working with shiners in the south, southwest areas of the farm didn't produce a lot but it did produce some nice fish.

Jack holds his 10 1/4 pound lady for the picture session.

Plenty of fish were marked in the area, and plenty of shiners were mouthed. The bass would follow the shiner for a short distance, bite them, but wouldn't take them down.

See you out there.