Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
September 19, 2005
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
I would like to address a rumor that Jim Porter is attempting to spread on
his page:
Two major guides are
limiting their services
due to medical issues, so
guides may be in short
supply this next year!!
The above post on Mr. Porter's web
page was brought to my attention by a client that happened to contact Mr. Porter
in reference to it's claim. He was advised that one of the guide services he was
referring to, although he did say that he wouldn't mention names, would probably
not be working this season due to a brush with cancer. Since I am the only guide
out there that I know of that had such a brush, I would like to inform everyone
that his assumptions are the furthest from the reality.
Further, the other guide that he
referred to in his e-mail to my client was Hugh Crumpler, and although I cannot
speak for Mr. Crumpler, I seriously doubt that it is his intention to be
curtailing his business for any medical issues.
September dealt us a case of "deja
vu" with hurricane Katrina first cutting a swath across the southern reaches of
Florida, and then Ophelia meandering its way northward just off the coast.
However, there was a bit of a silver lining to these storms on the Marsh as St
John's in preparations to handle the reputed heavy rains that we were supposed
to get, opened the inflow gate at the south end of the Farm. This current gave
us several good early morning bites.
So far this month, early morning bite
has been just about the only bite we have seen. Since our trips take place from
dawn through the next 8-hours, it is rare that we see this lake in the late
parts of the day. I can only guess that the late bite might have been as good as
the early bite.
If you were out there early on and in
the spillway area of the Farm you probably did quite well until the sun got up
in the and the heat turned on.
After resetting the date several times for
Ophelia's presence Scott finally had the weather to get out friend and client
Jim Tso and his guests, and sent me the following report.
9/10/2005 I spent the day fishing
with returning client Jim Tso of Sebastian, FL and his friend Boyd Post of
Virginia. We left the ramp at 6:15am and headed straight for the spillway. It
did not take long and the action started. Carolina rigged Senko type baits in
dark colors produced very well early in the morning for us. The bite was
strong until the sun started to warm things up. We were still able to catch
fish but not like we did very early in the morning. We called it a day at 2:30
after catching between 35 and 40 bass up to 7.75lbs.
9/11/2005 Today Jim stayed home
and treated Boyd and his wife Joanne to a day of bass fishing. We left the
ramp at 6:15 and were the second boat in the spill way. Today proved to be a
repeat of yesterday with the bass biting early and then shutting off as soon
as it got hot. We still managed to catch a few bass after they shut down, but
nothing like early in the morning. All the bass were caught on Carolina rigged
Senkos, but we did see bass caught on rattle traps and Shiners. We had a great
time and called it a day at 2:30 after catching over 30 bass.
As the month comes to a close the devastated areas of the
Gulf Coast are at the top of our list of concern and attention. Ophelia has
moved away as we sit and watch what could be Rita moving into the Keys within
the next couple of days. Temperatures are still hovering in the low 90's, but
this is going to break any day now as the highs start working our way bring
the cool fall weather with them. Grass is starting to grow in many areas of
the Farm and although you need electronics to see it, if you find it you will
find fish. It is but a short time before the fish start migrating their way
southward for the ritual of spawn.
See you on the water. Say hi if you get the chance.
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