Stick Marsh and Garcia

[George_Welcome]

The last 22 days have been days of extreme surprises on the Marsh. Yesterday, early AM risers saw snow flurries in Orlando, and those that ventured forth on the water were met with very cold temperatures, heavy winds, and tough fishing. Not only is the cold weather early for our area, but most records have been broken throughout the state. With a record breaking run of consecutive hot days, high water temperatures, and slow fishing we moved right into weather conditions completely opposite.

However, be that as it may, we have welcomed some pretty good fishermen through the period. Bob Benzinger, Clint Walls, and Walter Merchant braved the cold temperatures, and stiff winds, never putting down their rods throughout the day. Knowing that wind conditions would make things tough on the Marsh we opted for what protection we could get on Ansin/Garcia. After an extremely brisk ride the guys went to work, producing a mixed catch of bass and some very active chain pickerel.

Billy Wynn and his friend pulled their boat down from the Jacksonville area seeking some of what is a normally great time on the Marsh and were greeted on day one with lots of wind, plenty of cold, and a bit of dampness falling from the sky. I met the guys on Garcia as we pushed their day on the Marsh back a day and spent a short time showing them some spots. After dropping me back at the ramp, they went back out into messy conditions. We met the next day on the Marsh and as expected we were greeted by some pretty dirty water and a fish bite that was almost non-existent. Fishing the NW area of the Marsh and Twin Palms produced cold hands and no bites. We moved to the south end of the Farm with the same results. We managed one fish on the next move, and another as we moved to the back lot to get some wind protection. As the day progressed the wind dropped a bit so we moved again to the NW area of the Marsh, but it did nothing to increase the number of bites. When I left them at the ramp they were headed to the Farm again hoping for some improvement.

Joe O'Brien traveled down from Columbus, Ohio and him and friend Karen ran into the same situation. Wind and cold would be their partners for their trip, pretty much dampening the efforts they put forth in search of a big fish. However, as with the others they never gave up, and worked hard for what they caught.

So it went, since the 1st of this month right on through today. I'm staying home with the family and the turkey. The best producing bait has been a spinner bait, and the best producing waters have been those of Ansin/Garcia. Tomorrow morning we will be venturing out with two trips, one with shiners, and the other with artificial. Here's hoping the wind drops and the bite is on.

Have a great and safe Thanksgiving. See you out there, say hi if you pass by.