Take a look, then give me some help!!

[B.D. jR]

ok guys, for most of you that know me, IM BACK!! I had a pretty bad car accident that put me out of the loop for about a year. 1FASTLASER, thanks for your support bro....I'm almost 100 percent now.
Here are some pictures that I have taken from the waterway that I fish on a regular basis. Everyone that I ask says it is the hardest waterway to fish they have ever seen. Its called Black Creek and is in Middleburg, Floirda....it connects into the St. Johns river which is known for huge BASS!.
If you notice, the sides are lined with fallen trees and lillipads (or the like). It is literally mile after mile of this. The length of the creek is about 60 miles. It is ALL fallen trees and lillipads. Just like the pics show.
As for the water, its mostly a reddish-brown stain. The creek is shaped like a bowl...the edges are about a foot deep and it drops off immed. to 18 to 50 feet, depending where you are.
When you put your boat in this waterway for the first time ever, you say to yourself....this place looks like its LOADED with bass. And, it is, HUGE BASS, but no-one can seem to catch them. Its not fished alot because I honestly think many have given up.
I have had luck in the past in different lakes and creeks by looking for "something different" like a point, dropoff, dock, fallen tree, etc. This place has NOTHING different---mile after mile...after mile. The pictures I have attached show typical black creek.
Im going to bite the bullett tomorrow and try again since the water has cooled down a few degrees. Any suggestions will be much appreciated. Help me out!!!!!!!
http://www.bassfishin.com/bassfishin...1&d=1194299075

[zooker]

hey bd wondered where you gone off to..

zooker

[crankybait]

im assuming BD= bo dale??? Welcome back, then

[B.D. jR]

Zook.....help Me Out Bro!!!

[flfireman]

I know what you are saying about given up on these. Im not a pro with these creeks either. I usually cast a creature bait into the shore or a opening between pads. I let it sink to the bottom and slow jig it, bouncing it and letting it fall. I'll do this all the way to the boat. It's slow but can be effective. However my patience for this is short lived. I also throw a lot of spinnerbaits or rattle traps along the edges of pads or into the openings. Thank god for this weather, Ill hopefully be out this weekend, for some much needed fishing. Good luck, glad to see ya back.

[zooker]

this looks a lot like the black water swamp area i do fish occasion.. the trick is location.. look at the weeds -left picture- see the cut where the duck box is?? hit these two points and move on.. the idea would be to hit key spots and cover alot of water.. troller on 2-3 all day.. once you find bass holding of something mark it cause they will hold there all the time..

zooker

[3dkicker]

I'd concentrate on the feeder creeks or areas that hold the bait fish. Find them and you'll.....you have the idea. I'd also look for real aggressive fish and throw topwater baits or fast moving baits (spinnerbait/crankbait) and cover water until I got an idea of where they were.

Welcome back!

[bassfisher02]

Welcome back. Looks like a beautiful creek to fish.

I'd say the key may be in differences along the bottom. Deeper holes, shallow humps, weeds along the bottom, sunken trees, etc. Creeks like this are hard to fish because of the lack of differences along the shoreline, but any feeder creeks are always a good bet, warmer water this time of year, and mass amounts of baitfish will probably be your best bet. Also try gettin' out real early and look for surface activity. Even if they arent bass hittin' it still means fish hold there, and thats a start.

Good luck.

[1FASTLASER]

BD WASSUP BRO........man so glad to see ya up and around. I knew you could beat that bad accident. Anyway on fishing miles of similar looking vegatation I always look for the edges and where things change. Be it different types of weeds of holes in the weeds or for that matter bottom composition. Different weeds need different types of bottoms to grow in. For instance lily pads need a firm soil to grow in where as snot grass likes muck. Fish the edges man. Glad to see ya back around now get to catching some fish and post up.

[lizardsrule]

Look for areas where it narrows for "HIGHER CURRENT". These creeks are tough, but the current has always been the key for me. I prefer the areas where the current has lots of wood, but anything with the highest current is where the bass will hang out waiting for dinner to float by.

Lizards

[Bob Smith]

Judging by the two pictures you sent there are a couple very specific structure changes, that may exist throughout the entire waterway. One is the obvious "intersections" of feeder creeks, ditches and sloughs, and the other are secondary flats and points (note the area where the lily pads extend out particularly further than the surrounding area). These represent contour variations that could hold bass, but also show varying "edges" as in the Lily pads. Fishing East Texas for years, the one thing we pretty much ignored were the drifting masses of Hyacinths and Salvinia, but wherever you had vegetation attached to the bottom indicated either contour deviation and/or change in bottom composition (soft to hard and vice-versa). Those types of areas where the bottom transitions from one type to another are usually good focus areas. Your Creek appears to be loaded with opportunities, you have to locate those subtle areas like I just mentioned (sometimes the black line on your LCG and the grey scale will tell you about the bottom changes, but in the shallower water a crankbait, jig, or c-rig with a big brass weight will tell you more about the bottom. If I am working a bait and find something that feels harder all of a sudden, or even feels like there may be rock and gravel, you can count on me slowing down and working the devil out of it because my confidence level just went way up there!

[Raul]

Don´t look at the floating weeds, look at the surrounding terrain above water level, if it´s not attached to the bottom then it´s a drifter, I too have fished not creeks or rivers but lakes with water hyacynth which drifts with the wind, what counts is what´s underneath the floating vegetation, the structure.

If it´s attached to the bottom then it is worth taken in consideration, aquatic plants grow only where the conditions of depth, current ( if there is ) and bottom composition are the best for them to develop. The roblem with drifting vegetation is that it drifts and covers the likely areas with an almost impenetrable layer of stuff not good for most techniques but you many times you can fish through or underneath it.

Some baits if rigged weighted unconventionally sink away from you, beavers ( T rigged weightless between the flaps ) do that, fat ikas t-rigged by the hairy side also sink away from you.

You can punch through the heavy vegetation with a heavy sinker or drag your baits above the vegetation into holes that are formed as the vegetation drifts.

[WTL]

Funny that you are having trouble with this creek.

Very often when I fish the Kissimmee chain and am having an off day, I head up 2 or 3 creeks that are similar to this one for what I consider more consistent fishing.

I like going with lighter casting tackle and braided line and weightless lures. Pink floating worms and flukes are very good, as are smaller spinnerbaits. A lot of this type of fishing involves angles and focusing on presentation, casts become very important. Fish are relating to current and structure. I love to focus first on outside bends where the current carves a bit of a channel, and if I can find that in conjunction with some sort of vegetation or wood cover I will hit it hard. Where the creek gets tighter might be slightly better than open flats just for the sake of narrowing down the fish's location. If I don't do anything near the banks and obvious cover, I will sometimes cast to where I anticpate the channel is with a split shot rigged fluke in a darker color. Fish that slower. Boat positioning is very imprtant in this setting. Also some stretches can be fished out or exhibit that characteristic so if I am not on the fish in 1 stretch I am not opposed to going upstream 2 miles if possible and trying my luck there. I prefer to go upstream and drift down. While fish do face into the current, drifting allows me to use my trolling motor less which is always a good thing in a small body of water like that.

[flippin4it]

The Fat Ika is a great choice for areas like this. Rigged backwards as stated by Raul is a great presentation for the bait. Horny Toads would also be a great search bait for agressive fish. Flukes would also be productive.