St Johns River Fishing Report, February 9, 2016
Capt. Tom Van Horn
February 11, 2016
Indian River Lagoon - Saltwater Fishing Report
St Johns River Fishing Report, February 9, 2016
By Captain Tom Van Horn
On those windy February days in Central Florida when weather conditions make offshore and inshore saltwater fishing a no-go, and you still looking for a location to stretch a line, consider freshwater fishing on the St Johns River and its connecting waterways.
On the St Johns River in Geneva (CS Lee Park), the Lake Harney water level gauge (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=02234000) is showing the increased in water levels resulting from recent rains have begun to stabilize, but the water levels still remain above the banks on the main river and connecting creeks.
Currently, we are in the middle of our American shad spawning run, which has shown improvement over the last several weeks with some anglers reporting catches in the double digits. Averaging in the two to three pound range, anglers are getting their best results trolling or casting small Road Runner spinner baits in the deeper bends of the river and on fly in the same areas. Last week I received the best reports of shad landings from Lake Harney south to SR 528. This section of the river can be very challenging to boaters as the river is elevated above its banks and the deeper channels no longer apparent, so if you are not familiar with the area, please operate your boat with caution.
As for the speckled perch (black crappie) bite, crappie fishing in the river run and the three big lakes of Harney, Jussep and Monroe all reported good catches as the crappie moving up on the edges to spawn during new moon. As the new moon passes, the crappie should move away from the edges into deeper water, but remain in the river runs in anticipation of the full moon spawn around February 22nd.
We are also seeing the arrival of genuine stripers to the area which is always a welcome surprise, as well as a good number of sunshine bass mixed in. Both the stripers and sunshine bass have been feeding in the same areas of the American shad, so don't be surprised if you tie into one of these speedsters while shad fishing.
Lastly, the channel catfish are moving out of the big lakes into the river channels and creeks, following the rising water levels and increased current. Try fishing in the deeper bends of the river with fresh cut bait or shrimp, and step up your tackle size as these hard pulling fish can range 20-pound size or higher.
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