 |
Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
May 7, 2001
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
The drive to the Stick Marsh is 6.5 miles long down a straight but bumpy dirt road. Most people arriving at the Stick Marsh for the first time hardly notice its length or the bumps however as the anticipation of great fishing occupies their minds. The parking area is a pleasant surprise in that it is fully paved with an additional area in a flat open field for the excess vehicles if needed. There is a men’s and ladies facility, (no running water), two covered picnic areas, a fishing pier, and two ramps for launching of boats. There are sandy areas both sides of the launch for easy beaching of the boats. From here your fishing adventure is about to begin.
A short ride westward from the ramp brings you to a cut through a row of palm trees that will take you into the Stick Marsh. The most common comment I hear at this point is: “I thought this place was a small lake”. However the fact that most newcomers are faced with is Stick Marsh/Farm 13 is actually a pretty good-sized lake. Incidentally, Stick Marsh/Farm 13 is one lake with a separating dike that runs from east to west for about ¾ of its width. It is necessary to travel around this structure to go from the Stick Marsh area to Farm 13 area. Stick Marsh/Farm 13 is 10.5 square miles approximately and just about every square foot, (all 291,852,000 of them), look extremely fishy.
However, looks can be and are deceiving even on this great fishery. Although fish can be gotten just about anywhere on the Stick Marsh at different times of the year there are only a few areas that will consistently produce the quantity and quality of fish that this place is famous for. When water levels are up these areas are almost faceless. With present conditions they are accessible but difficult to fish and if the wind plays against you they are almost impossible to fish by any but the very experienced angler. A good map will assist you in finding these areas and can be gotten by e-mailing Hugh Crumpler at [email protected] . A better way to learn about these areas is by getting a guide to show you the where and how to of these areas. However, with a map, once you have these areas located the baits that are presently working are spinner baits, plastics lightly weighted, and buzz baits. The areas, Twin Palms, (the middle of Stick Marsh), the Palms, (northwest corner of Stick Marsh), and the middle south area of Stick Marsh are holding lots of fish and big fish. Also while working on Stick Marsh watch for newly emerging grasses. If the weather gets tough< (wind), then it’s time to head to Farm 13.
If there is hydrilla, (it is everywhere), then on most areas of Farm 13 you will find bass. There are a few areas that are not on the top ten choices however and they are the shoreline areas. The bass on Farm 13 tend to hold pretty close to structure and that means out here the old irrigation ditches and roadbeds. Again, a good map is a great value when fishing Farm 13. Even better, as stated above a guide that can show you the where and how is an outstanding approach to learning about this area. Remember that a solid grass line is or can be structure.
26 April Scott had out Bill Maggs and party and fished the Stick Marsh. Using spinner baits and worms they managed 36 bass with the bass of the day weighing in at 10.5 pounds. On the 25th of April Scott and I headed out at 9:00 am and quit at 3:00. Fishing the Twin Palms area of Stick Marsh using plastics mostly we landed 55 bass with the largest being about 5 pounds. The key was laying the plastic in the middle of heavy wood and waiting for the bass to pick it up. On the 28th of April Scott had a ½ day trip with Bill Jackson again in the same vicinity. Mostly spinner baits produced 17 bass for the trip.
On the 1st of this month I had a ½ day AM trip with John Foster. Fishing the Twin Palms area in a stiff wind we only managed a few bass. Heading back out for a trip with Jack Goldsmith we fished until 7 PM on Farm 13. Working primarily spinner baits in and around the heavy hydrilla beds on the north end of Farm 13 produced a good number of bass with the biggest being about 5 pounds. Again on the 2nd Jack, Scott and I headed out. Starting up in the Stick Marsh and then heading back to Farm 13 as the wind increased we caught approximately 30 bass to 4.5 pounds. Friday the 4th presented us with the heaviest winds since last Thursday. Scott had out Paul Schweigert and his wife and I had out Ron Moore. We started on Stick Marsh but quickly sought some refuge from the 25+ MPH winds. Finding running water, (the Farm had some gates open), salvaged the blustery day with about 30 bass being caught.
Saturday the 5th the wind continued to howl. Mark Destefano and his Uncle were out for me and we spent most of the day working grass lines on Farm 13. The bait of choice was buzz bait and they worked all day long. I lost count of the bass that came aboard but the big bass of the day was a 12.5-pound beauty. Last bass of the day hit Mark’s buzz bait at the edge of the boat and weighing in at about 5.5 pounds made a fitting end to a very successful day on Farm 13. Yesterday I had out Steve Falkner and friend and again the operative word for the conditions was windy. However, grass lines, spinner baits and locating clean water made for a great day on Farm 13. We tried for the buzz bait bite of Saturdays trip but it just wasn’t to be. Plastics produced some bass in the same area on the north of Farm 13 but I felt we could do better. Heading to the south end of the Farm was found to be a wise decision and with spinner baits, (chartreuse with gold blades mostly), produced an excellent day for us. The biggest bass hooked unfortunately didn’t make it to the boat for photos but we did get several in the 4-6 pound range.
Spinner baits, buzz baits, plastics, grass and clean water are the patterns for the Farm and those same baits in the thickest of sticks are the patterns for Stick Marsh. Take your time, be careful and have a great day fishing. See you out there.
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
