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Stick Marsh & Farm 13
Capt. George Welcome
July 17, 2000
Stick Marsh-Farm 13 - Freshwater Fishing Report
Date Fished: Week of 7/9/2000
Water Temperature: 89
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet
Another week has sailed by with enough bass caught to make any fisherman one happy fellow.
The spillway finally was closed late yesterday. This morning, at daylight, a fleet of boats arrived hoping for the flow. Although there was none, some of the shiner fishermen stuck around to catch those bass that were still hanging around. Unlike times past, the spillway did not draw the strong numbers or size of fish. There was certainly plenty to go around and any trip in the spillway area exceeded 50 fish with weights to 8 pounds, but in the past when running, one could count on over a hundred easily and weights into the double digits.
The Marsh has been a training bed for my 8-year-old grandson as I had the opportunity to get him out 5 times over the last 11 days. His best trip, (4 hours), Chris caught 15 bass with one that went just under 8 pounds. In those five trips he learned to cast an open faced spinning rig, use a chug bug, and use a Carolina rig. Yesterday, in just under two hours he caught 13 on a C-rig.
Several friends fished the Marsh this weekend and all had a great time. Skip Hill and son Dustin had a fantastic time and caught plenty of fish. Subman, as he is known on the Internet, was down from Georgia and also had a great time.
The fish are still holding strong to the areas of hydrilla adjacent to the irrigation canals (boat trail). Of particular interest is the N/S center ditch, south of the intersection. The schools that are along this trail have been there for over 2 1/2 months and they're still biting the same baits. Top water lures and baits will get them throughout the day. We have caught them using chug bugs, buzz baits, jerk baits, rattle traps, Carolina rigged lizards, Texas rigged lizards, and floating worms. You just can't miss if you're paying attention. Bass balling the shad goes on throughout the day and if you are nearby the catching is unbelievable.
Another strong area to pursue is in the open areas south of the E/W canal anywhere there is emerging Hydrilla, which means just about anywhere. Some probing will get you into schools of big fish. Today, as an example, we found a school that didn't have many fish less than 5 pounds. Most of the bass that we caught were better than five pounds. I did have on double on a chug bug with one about 3.5 and one about 3. The wind was blowing pretty stiffly and we just redrifted the same area over and over. We caught 3-5 fish on almost every drift with fish to 10 pounds. I will have some of the pictures up by Monday on my pages.
If your looking for some great fishing and don't mind the heat the Stick Marsh is a blast. Water levels are up which make it easier to get around, the fish everywhere, and your chance for a big fish is pretty darn good. Good fishing!
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