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Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
October 22, 2001
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
Being a Fishing Guide is not always “strawberries and cream”, but for the most part it is. Unlike a “charter boat”, being a guide means taking “fishing friends” onto the waters that you know and sharing not only the information that you have about a body of water, but also sharing the experience of fishing. The enjoyment that I get from sharing that experience is far more than the joy of just catching fish and I would like to thank each and all of our “Clients-Friends” for sharing your time on the water with us.
Date fished: 10/21/01 – Weather: Cloudy and warm – Water Temps: 78 surface – Time: Daylight till 2:15PM
Areas fished: Open water areas of the Stick Marsh – Baits used: Various top water, spinner baits, soft jerk baits, and soft floating baits.
Jack Goldsmith and I left the ramp and headed west on the Stick Marsh looking for open water. There is a goodly amount of open water on the Marsh and fishing these areas has been producing some good catches. Starting in the NW corner of the Marsh we worked through several areas with only moderate success. Most of our success came on top water but we did get a couple of pretty good bass on spinner baits also. By 10:00AM we had worked through the areas of there twice. My assumption at this point was either they wanted something we weren’t throwing, or even more likely, the fish that we have had in this area lately had moved slightly. I based the assumption of movement on the fact that when the bait was hit it was hit with fury.
Working our way southward towards the Farm but still well within the Stick Marsh we continued to come across occasional hits but nothing grouped up at all. About 11:30 the many storms that were hitting everywhere but the Stick Marsh threatened and the wind picked up considerably. I set the boat up in an area that would give us a fairly good drift on a long grass line. The rain that hit wouldn’t dampen anything, but the wind was kicking pretty well. My second or third cast on this drift with a chug bug just disappeared after the first pop and the back of this “giant bass” gave this gal the appearance of a bass that would go well over 8 pounds. That was the last glimpse of her as she surged into a mass of hydrilla and my retrieval only produced about 3 pounds of long green weed for my efforts. By the time I had cleared the bait the wind already had blown us all the way to the west wall. Idling back eastward our eyes and ears told us all we would need to know for some major excitement over the next 2 hours.
To our right, (southward) were several areas where the mats of hydrilla were isolated, and areas within the mats were not as dense. We noted several good bass chasing bait in and around these mats. Jack put on a white frog and the catching and excitement of seeing those massive hits was on. The mats were dense enough that for every fish hooked we had to take the boat right into the mess to get the fish out.
Again, for us, the bite throughout the day was top water, top water, and more top water. Persistence and thoroughness was key to finding the fish. The paths that the fish would have followed were fairly obvious and following those paths led to fish. Keeping your eyes and ears open when fishing can pay off big time, so be alert. Storms were finally really starting threatening at 2:00 so we left the Stick Marsh with good memories of another great day on the water. See you on the water real soon. Be careful, enjoy the day for the experience, and say hi as you go by.
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