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Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
May 4, 2004
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
Submitted by George: 5/2/04
There isn't much to say about the above. It came out of the SW corner of Lake
Washington as did the one below.
We had never been to Lake Washington so on the 29th we decided to give it a try.
Lake Washington is located in Melbourne with the ramp located at the end of Lake
Washington road. They have a fair 2 lane ramp and limited parking for trailers.
One big plus is they have real water flowing bathrooms at the park.
For more information about the park and ramps:
Lake Washington Park: 6000 Lake
Washington Road, Melbourne. Boat ramps, airboat
launch, St. Johns River access from Lake Washington, restrooms, pavilion, picnic
tables, playground, fishing pier.
Reservations: (321) 255-4307.
Not knowing anything about the lake we asked some of the guys putting in and
they suggested that we fish the north and west shores. Another suggestion was to
fish the canal that heads out of the south end of the lake down towards route
192. As we headed out we decided to see the south end of the lake first to have
a look around. The lake is a big shallow oval without much in the way of cover
from what we could see however we did find some wood and lily pads in the SW
corner. The SW corner appeared to be a large flat of about 2.5 feet of water so
we felt that if we found the break to deeper water we might find some decent
fish. (we never got to it but the west shore appeared to be more of the same and
worth looking at) We worked with spinner baits, top water, and Senkos. The
Senkos paid off with the fish above. With the wind blowing hard out of the east
and the clouds moving in quickly we opted for an early departure so we didn't
get to fish all that much of the lake.
This is a lake where getting some local knowledge before launching would be
well advised.
Breaking into the month Scott had out Bobbi Tolbert and his friend from Dora,
Alabama. There first day out they had over 40 bass including about 15 early in
the morning on top water baits. Their catch consisted of some nice bass up to 6
pounds with a couple that didn't make it too the boat that were probably bigger.
Most of the fish caught came from the south end of the Farm between the center
and west N/S ditch and most came on dark Senkos. There 2nd day wasn't as good
with the same area producing less fish and smaller fish.
I had out Walt Wilson from Littleton, Colorado and his son Ollie who lives
now in Boynton Beach, Florida for an interesting day of mixed catch. Walt is an
aficionado of light tackle and spent the day throwing smaller baits that drew
catches of bream and bass. It could have proved very interesting if he had hit a
bigger bass as the light line would have made landing anything of size quite
difficult with all the weed that is in the south end of the Farm. He did manage
bass up to about 2.5 pounds however. We also managed a few on top water as the
guys threw small torpedoes early on.
My next day started with returning customer Jeff Jacobs and his brother Jack.
They arrived a bit late because of some messed up travel caused by the airline.
Lost luggage and such made the start of their trip a bit tough but they were
raring to go. We headed back to the south end of the Farm but missed the limited
top water bit. I moved away from the matted areas early on and went to the south
end of the west N/S ditch and we spent most of the day right there. Senkos
proved again to be the best producer and we landed fish throughout the day up to
5 pounds. We managed a respectable day of 35 plus bass but the big gal was yet
to come.
Yesterday we started again in the area between the center and west N/S ditch
on the south edge of the mat. Not finding much that wanted to play with top
water I moved to the north side of the mat and our first good fish hit a chug
bug.
Unfortunately she was the last fish to hit top water. We managed a couple more
out of this area and then went back to the south end of the west ditch where we
had been yesterday, but today the bite just wasn't there. With the wind blowing
from the SE, I set up a drift that carried us from the end of the center
N/S ditch and we hit fish immediately. However the wind was going to be
unfriendly and we couldn't get the same drift twice. For that matter, the wind
was moving about so erratically we couldn't even get a complete drift without
changing directions several times over a matter of 15 minutes.
I moved us eastward and set up a drift to fish the area between the center
and east N/S ditches. By this time the wind was blowing from the SW and each
drift was producing fish. As early afternoon progress the wind moved back to the
SE and by 2:00 it was coming directly out of the east. We noted a pretty good
thunderstorm building out to the east which was probably the cause of the
complete wind change. The change was going to work to our benefit and it wasn't
long before Jack set the hook on a fast charging lady.
Measuring 26 X16.5 and weighing 9 pounds on the nose, this gal gave Jack quite a
run for his money as she skimmed over the shallow submerged mat. As she got
close to the boat she surged down into the grass but Jack kept his cool and used
his rod to pull her up and out. After pictures and weighing she was released and
with a powerful flip of her tail disappeared down into the mat.
At 2:30 with thunder and lightening spitting out of the storm to the east we
headed for the ramp Safety is a key issue out here and lightening is not one of
nature's phenomenon to play with. Jeff, Jack, and I will be back out there today
to see if we can better that 9 pound mark, and I for one think we can.
See you out there. We have openings so if you have the chance we have the
equipment. Give us a call. You just might get that fish of a lifetime. At the
very least we will have a good day on the water.
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