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Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
February 27, 2001
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
February fast approaches its end with fishing on the Marsh being as fickle as the weather. Time of day, rising and falling barometer, location, and bait were all important parts of successful catching this last week. However, shiners continued to produce if presented to the right water.
Abe and Red Phillips, brothers from Kansas/Missouri, fished ½ day trips on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, working under some of the toughest weather phenomena that I have seen in a long time. No rain, but plenty of wind and a high barometer made them opt for shiners and Ansin/Garcia on their third morning trip, and the trip had only moderate success. However, as with any fishing trip, the time on the water sure beat working and Red and Abe left with some pretty good memories.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were shiner trips for Scott and resulted in some outstanding catches including lifetime big fish memories for several of our clients. Tuesday Ron Fields brought two friends for his second trip here easily boated over 30 bass. Wednesday Scott had an unusual trip that included Beryl Anthony and his wife Sheila, and Doyle Cloud and his wife Pat. This was as I understand it a birthday trip and the results were fantastic. Sheila landed a 9+ pound bass early on to take the lead away from Beryl who had a 6.5-pound bass. However these leads fell quickly away when near the end of the day Doyle came sweeping in with a 13.2-pound hawg. Needless to say their day was certainly a memorable one. In Beryl own words: “Scott, Thanks for an exciting birthday. Not many but big. Doyle has called all of his friends to tell about his big fish. Great publicity. Sheila thrilled about biggest fish of her life. Pat still mad she did not catch the biggest. Thanks, Beryl” On Thursday Scott took out a returning client, Bo White and two friends and they successfully landed over 25 bass.
Friday I had Mark Lee and his father Fred on an artificial trip and we caught fish all day long. Our first bite came along hydrilla banks in the south end of the Farm using chug bugs. We then switched to spinner baits with silver blades and the bite was steady. As the sun rose we switched to gold blades and caught bass throughout the rest of the day. Mark’s comment throughout the day was how unbelievable the size and bite was. Scott’s clients were Charlie and Sandy Hicks using shiners for bait. Over 30 bass came to the boat but the highlight of the day was when Sandy hauled in a 10.5-pound bass.
Saturday & Sunday we had a bunch of friends from the Pro Bass Network at the Marsh for a mini-rally. Scott took out Bruce and Cheryl Allen and Darryl (spinnerbait more commonly know as) and they fished with shiners. Big fish for the two days was a 9.5-pound caught by Darryl. Cheryl caught her big bass, a beauty that weighed in at 7.5 pounds. I took out Craig and Heather for some artificial fishing. Working the same areas in the south end of the Farm we landed a total of 26 bass for the weekend. However, the thrill came at about 7:30 on Saturday morning when Heather hooked into and landed a bass that weighed in at 11+ pounds. Heather took the lead and kept it for the weekend bets.
The successes we have with shiners for the most part are because we have been free-lining them. That is, as far as the technique that we are using. The rest of the success is location and the biggest single catching factor is location. This bait works just like the rest: if you are not on the fish, you are not going to catch them. We spend a considerable amount of time fishing this lake with artificial baits and because of this we have a pretty good idea where to place them shiners.
Occasionally we can be beat just like anyone else with artificial baits as we are not miracle workers. However, our successes on this lake come from the many hours we spend out here. In my reports I try to give you insight on what to try and where to fish. On the Farm the areas to work are the cover that is related to structure. The structure on the Farm consists of irrigation ditches and roadbeds. The cover on the Farm for the most part is hydrilla. Each irrigation ditch is lined with hydrilla, and on the N/S ditches you will find the roadbeds on the east side of the ditch. On the main E/W ditch the roadbed is on the north side of the ditch. These roadbeds are gravel and in some areas the gravel is more compacted than others. The bass love these spots. The hydrilla that is thick and covered with yellow algae is a poor place to look. However, the bass will still orient to the edges of these areas on the outside of the ditch. The south end, and the southwest end of the Farm have many stumps and if the water levels were up this would be an excellent place to put those baits, but this year you simply can’t get there. If you fish this area on a regular basis and you have lost the fish you found last week try to think of movement of those fish in relation to these structures. You will probably then be able to find that group of fish again in relatively short time. Also of great importance out here is water movement. Watch for the pump house to running, pay attention to the wind, and of course check out the spillway area.
Water levels are a far way from any all time lows, but they are low enough to require caution and common sense. Don’t run on the Marsh, pay attention to roadbeds that line the irrigation canals, the intersections of irrigation canals are extremely shallow, and if you are going to run in the ditches think about the old fence posts that could be floating in there. On the Marsh, the direct line for cut-to-cut is getting more and more difficult. A better route is out past the two trees that are in front of the cut into the Marsh and then a big arc over to the canal. Good luck out there, be safe, and stop and say hi.
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