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Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
June 21, 2001
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
To watch a bass come out of a group of sticks to inhale top water bait five feet off those sticks is the ultimate adrenaline trip. If you are fishing where most of the fish are located at this time than your chances of seeing just that are outstanding.
Clean water is one of the major keys at this time and the bigger fish are coming on top water baits. Sticks fill in another of the keys to finding bass. Non-matted hydrilla is another important key, and persistence in areas such as this will pay off. Sticks only need be in the area, as they do seem to be a key to holding bass in the vicinity, however the bass are not necessarily holding right in the sticks. We have found many of the bass well off the sticks in open water.
Most of the clean water areas will be found on the south end of the Stick Marsh. They are not in the same place every day so if you worked it today and go back tomorrow and it’s not there start fanning out to find them. Rain, wind and current will move the water about.
Baits that have been successful for us over the last few days are, in no particular order: soft jerk baits (Zoom flukes), floating worms (banana and bubble gum), chug bugs, pop’r baits, spooks, and Texas rigged worms (tequila sunrise). I am sure that many others would have worked also. My personal preference is the fluke. I rig it with a small swivel, 4-6 inch leader and than hook. I also have found that moving the fluke at a rapid walk is producing better than a slow presentation. The floating worms have worked better being walked more slowly. Chug bugs have worked while being walked, sitting still, and being slowly popped. Mix up your presentation until you find what works best for you.
The area of Twin Palms, which was holding tremendous number of bass, has rather quickly filled in with hydrilla and filamentous algae. The bass seem to shy away from areas such as this. The alga is an oxygen thief and also a pain in the neck with any bait that you may try to present. Also the areas west of Twin Palms have become overwhelmed with hydrilla and algae. We are experiencing explosive hydrilla grown on much of Stick Marsh and Farm 13. Until the rains become more consistent, and the Farm no longer needs water for irrigation we can expect little relief in the way of herbicide treatments.
Areas of the Farm that we found some fish: Directly south of the end of the separation dike in the open areas around the hydrilla; East of the center N/S ditch and south of the E/W ditch, and in the SE area. In every case, the cleaner the water, the more fish we found. Again, top water seemed to be the best presentation.
Last Saturday the heat was on early and we only had limited success on the Marsh. Heat blew us off a little early but Dominick Gulli and his son will be back to hopefully catch the big one later this year. Sunday was family day: I actually didn’t have to do anything except for “Honey-do’s” on Father’s Day. Monday was bookwork and then back on the water Tuesday with my best client and good friend Jack Goldsmith. Jack didn’t snag too many sticks and didn’t hook me even once. We caught 20+ bass using all of the above information and had a great day on the water. Thunderstorms chased us off at about 2:00 and Jack headed off for an afternoons snooze. Wednesday Jack and I headed out to the Farm and tried the areas mentioned above and then headed back to the Sticks. Found the clean water and we found fish. Scott was out with Mac Hall and his son Tony and worked the Stick Marsh all day.
The heat is on every day now and the sun is strong. Take plenty of liquid and use a good sun block. Leave the lake if a thunderstorm threatens. Don’t wait until the last moment because there is no running on the Stick Marsh without jeopardizing both boat and body. If you are caught out on the Farm and the run looks bad remember that the shed on the middle-west shore is there. If it looks bad returning to the ramp, remember that you can go to the end of the east wall ditch and beach the boat there. After the storm you can make the run around.
The next four days will be spent with a filming crew from Outdoor Life Network. The show, which will include a good bit of footage on the Marsh and Farm, some fishing, and a lot of facts, will be aired at a future date and we will keep you posted on the outcome.
See you out there.
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