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Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
April 19, 2001
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
On any lake that I have ever fished the appearance of the lake and the conditions of the lake change constantly, and Stick Marsh/Farm 13 is no exception. Along with those face changes and environmental issues your methods of fishing, choices of baits, and bait presentations need to change also.
Based on the current conditions, wind plays a vital factor in determining where you fish on Stick Marsh/Farm 13. Unlike many lakes that have coves and the like, Stick Marsh/Farm 13 is a wide-open impoundment. The Stick Marsh half of the impoundment is a shallow body of water that is covered over its entirety with stumps and brush. These remnants of the old grove that was there before the flooding create an ideal location for the bass to feed and spawn. Water levels at present make this cover highly visible. If the wind is blowing with any degree of force it will make fishing the hard cover of the Stick Marsh a difficult task at best and very possibly an area of the lake that will damage your equipment or yourself. If you fish the Stick Marsh with the wind at your back, you will probably as so many have, bend the trolling motor shaft, or worse yet, end up falling in the lake. However, when the wind is down fishing the Stick Marsh with the current conditions is best described as a phenomenal experience. Targets in the form of brush and stumps are everywhere and in that cover the bass abound. In most cases it is as simple as put the bait on the target and catch a bass. Bait selection has never been easier: Use a worm, any worm, any color, any size, and rig it with the lightest of weight, or no weight at all. Cast it to the target you have selected and let it sit. Watch the line for movement, lift the bait swiftly when it moves and reel the bass into the boat. If the bite is subtle place your finger in front of the reel with the line over your finger. When you feel the bass pick up the line, pick him up with a swift hook set. Due to current conditions, when you have the bass hooked you need to lift the bass and reel it to the boat as quickly as possible. This is not a time to be tentative or slow with the reel as the bass will surely find the cover if you let it. This is also time for concentration to the task at hand. If you don’t pay attention it is going to cost you tackle. You can keep the bass’s head up by pumping your rod slightly upward as you reel. If you drop the rod while pumping the bass will go down and be gone along with your tackle so the pumping is a lifting action not a line retrieval action. There are several other baits that will supply explosive action on the Stick Marsh. Top water baits such as the chug bug and buzz baits can be worked very successfully in the hard cover. Stick baits jerked in around the brush as well as soft jerk baits will be slammed with gusto at different times of the day. If the wind comes up head for the back end, Farm 13.
As you enter Farm 13 the appearance of the impoundment is totally different. Gone are the stumps and sticks and before you lies what appears to be a wide-open lake with areas of hydrilla. The targets here appear to be the patches of hydrilla that abound. However, Farm 13, unlike the Stick Marsh not only has an abundance of cover but also plenty of structure. The lake has several irrigation canals that criss-cross its area, old roadbeds consisting of gravel, and the hard-packed well-traveled areas that heavy equipment traversed the fields as they prepped them for planting every year. The southern end of this lake is dotted with remnants of trees and brush. There is an irrigation pump and structure located approximately in the middle of the east wall with one of the irrigation ditches running from it all the way to the west wall.
Finding the fish on Farm 13 presents a bit more of a challenge with current conditions than the Stick Marsh. The irrigation ditches are obvious as they are lined on both sides with hydrilla. The ditches themselves present a perfect place for the bass to hide and rest and although there are bass in them they are not the most productive places to fish. However, the adjacent roadbeds to these canals are excellent places for the bass to spawn and feed. The three ditches that run north to south in the center of the lake have roadbeds on the east side of the ditches. Running from east to west along the north end of these ditches is an old culvert and adjacent roadbed, the roadbed being on the north side of the culvert. Target any of these areas and you will find bass. Baits that we are currently using in these areas successfully are top water, worms, (both Texas rigged and Carolina rigged); spinner baits, and rattletraps. Most of the bass found have been on the north end going east to west above the culvert-roadbed, and south of the center east west ditch. Also south of the east west ditch we have had good success with soft jerk baits around the heavier areas of hydrilla. The current conditions have the roadbeds and intersections of the ditches close to the surface so be cautious in their vicinity.
Every year we experience the cream of bass fishing experience. Top water bite takes hold and produces catches that exceed hundred fish days and that time is just around the corner. Shad are present in this lake in huge numbers and the action is already starting to show itself. We are seeing more and more shad busts and May and June are our banner months. Chug bugs and rattletraps account for phenomenal numbers and of course big fish. Last year at this time I know of two guides that had clients that caught in excess of 7000 bass during that period. Are those numbers phenomenal? Not when you consider the population of bass in these waters. Were these bass small? Only if you consider 3 – 15 pound bass small. Multiple bass being caught on one bait becomes a common occurrence during this time!
There are two certainties in our near future on Stick Marsh/Farm 13. The rain is coming and water levels will be coming up. The top water bite is here and getting stronger daily and our clients will be getting lots of bass and their “fish of a lifetime”.
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