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Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
January 6, 2005
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
Fishing in our area has been one that needs an intimate knowledge of
available cover and structure on Stick Marsh/Farm 13. There are times that you
only need to follow the other boats to be on the fish, but such is not the case
at this time. Wind, fronts, and lack of hydrilla have all combined to alter a
few things, but that does not mean that the fish aren't there. They are and they
will bite if you and the fish are located in the same place.
If you are fishing with shiners I think you all know where to head, but the
competition for casting spots is going to be strong. In order to find yourself
in the right place you need to launch earlier and this can open up a can of
worms for safe navigation. Those that are out there all the time have a pretty
good idea where the floaters, (those insidious hidden logs), are and can hence
avoid them even when it is dark. Those that aren't out there all that much run a
very heavy risk of doing damage to the boat if a log is encountered. If you are
making your annual visit here it might be cost effective to get with one of the
guides for a day to figure out what is going on here.
There are days when wind becomes a problem for the artificial anglers. Last
year it was a case of put out some wind socks for drift control and work the
grass areas. The socks work great for a somewhat random drift, but when your
drift needs to be absolutely held to a path that is only 8 feet wide they don't
work as well. The fishing right now demands that kind of control as the fish are
going to be found by those that work the ditch edges on Farm 13. Two things are
need to be successful at this type of fishing. Excellent electronics so that you
can maintain the boat in the ditch, and patience because the bass have been
moving about. Where you find them today may not even be close to them tomorrow
so you need the patience to hunt them down. An excellent search method has been
the Carolina rig which of course calls for slow fishing. The rattletrap has
worked to some extent, but not as efficiently.
The water is clearing gradually as the days over the last week continually
improved. However by mid-morning the wind has come up with occasional gusts to
the high teens and if you are sitting out in the middle of the Farm or the Marsh
this makes for a bit of difficult fishing. If you get here and the wind does
kick up you do have alternatives, and I can assure you the guides have an ace or
two in the hole if this occurs.
We have, over the last couple of days, been giving ourselves a refresher
course on just such locations and the results have been extremely good.
Yesterday's foray with Scott, Don Willis and myself resulted in over 40 bass in
the boat.
Senkos were the producer today and they produced quantity and quality.
Everyone got in on the act with some really nice fish. As you can see, the
wind was down but with the vegetation around us the wind was never a factor
throughout the day.
No shiners, no spillway, no heavy competition were all factors that
contributed to a great day on the water. Don't get me wrong; if you are looking
to fish shiners on the Marsh then you best be where the action is, but if you
want to fish artificial bait and the weather or conditions throw a curve your
way we do have alternatives.
Give us a call; we have openings yet in January and would be glad to show you
the Marsh, or if need be or wanted other good locations as well. See you on the
water.
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