Stick Marsh/Farm 13

[George_Welcome]

It's been a steady stream of trips on the Marsh since our last report.
On the 7th I had out Travis Morgan and friend Jason from Hurricane, West Virginia for a day of shiners on the Marsh. Par for the course this year, the Mother Nature threw curve ball at us and limited our locations to fish. The back lot was the choice and the fish cooperated enough to give us an empty bait well by days end.
On the 10th Scott had out regular customer Frank Delucas and they worked shiners in the back lot. Frank fits into a Mr. Who's who category on salt water using fly rod, but when he comes to the Marsh he just loves the action the shiner fishing provides.

On the 11th I had out Carl Bird and friends from Statesboro, Georgia throwing artificial on Kenansville. The action started good in the morning and then slowed to a crawl, picking up late in the day again with spinner baits. Senkos produced the most fish. Big fish for the day was 5-pounds.
On the 12th and 13th Scott and I had out Tom Chessler from Anchorage, Kentucky, his son Ben, and friends Kyle and Blane. Shiners were the order for the first day, and artificial for the second.

Kyle holding one to remember his trip to the sunny south.

The guys found out quickly that shiner fishing is not the lay-down method of bassin that so many claim it is. It's real easy to miss those strikes and takes some getting used to.
Day two was artificial bait on the south end of the Farm and Senkos were the bait of choice on this foray.

Tom and son Ben.
On the 14th Scott had out Frank Rose from Bayville, New Jersey using shiners in the back lot. Frank was down for the week for one of his many repeat trips to the Marsh.

Frank Rose

Frank didn't get that 10+ this trip, but he swears he is going to do it the next time he is here.
On the 15th the wind blew hard so we stayed home.
On the 16th I had Ron Moore from Memphis, Tenn. and we worked artificial in the south end of the Farm. This trip for Ron was really a tough one as the fish just wouldn't cooperate. Between the frontal passage and the wind the fish just couldn't be coaxed into biting. Unfortunately Ron only had the one day this trip and the one day just wasn't going to do it.
On the 17th and 18th Scott and I had out George Bock and friends from Chattanooga, Tenn. Shiners were worked in the back lot mostly with a short time spent in the south end of the Farm. This is an annual event for George.

George Bock
On the 19th I had out Bill and Doug Payne from Murray, Kentucky throwing artificial on the Farm. Scott had out Danny French and friends from Jacksonville and Palm Bay, Florida throwing artificial and shiners. Bill and Doug are veterans of the Marsh so they knew things would be difficult with yet another front pushing its way through the area. We caught them using rattle traps and Senkos, but the numbers were down and size was also.
Scott's people also only had moderate success using the same baits. When will the wind ever go away?
On the 20th, 21st, and 22nd, I had out Gary Morgan from Maine, and friend Dave throwing artificial and shiners on Kenansville and Blue Cypress Lake. On the 21st Scott had out John Pruett and friend from Huntsville, Alabama throwing artificial on the Farm. After the wind and fronts arrival things were slow on the Marsh which was to be expected.
Over on Kenansville the bite was a bit better and using Senkos Dave was able take the lead with this nice bass.

Dave Taylor
The 21st called for winds gusting to as high as 35 so shiners were the option, Kenansville the destination, and Blue Cypress were Gary's 6+ gal came from.

Gary Morgan
After the hard winds of Tuesday the destination chosen for Wednesday was a combo of lakes Kenansville and Blue Cypress. Late Tuesday someone missed a big fish and hopes, although faint, were that she might be waiting in her home on Blue Cypress. Senkos started the day on Kenansville and the bite was decent but waned by 10:00. We moved over to Blue Cypress to finish out the day. The big fish of the day wasn't the monster of yesterday and she fell for a Horny Toad jerked through the grass. Since the wrong rod found the fish no picture was taken.
The 18 trips have kept us hopping, leaving little time for fishing reports. Over the last couple of weeks as you can see catching has had its ups and downs The passage of new cold fronts is an event that we have been able to count on occurring about every third day, and wind has been an almost constant companion. With the water in a constant state of aggravated turmoil it has been very difficult to put together a solid bite in any particular location. Couple the weather with the spawning activity and the constant movement of the bass in the bedding areas and you can readily see the difficulty faced in catching big numbers. However, even though the numbers have been down, size has been available on just about every trip. A few burps by the anglers have been cause for some anguished moments as the big gal was missed or slipped away.
As we depart the heaviest part of the spawn the big gals will again become very active as they feed to recover from the spawn. Over the next several weeks the numbers will go back up and size will be a common player. Top water is an event of any day now, and the fish will spread from the Farm side into the Stick Marsh.
See you out there. Say hi if you get the chance.

[bassintom]

you sure give a great report..thanks.i will be down there on the 31st with flfireman and lizards and my friend kirk.maybe we'll get a chance to meet.

[George_Welcome]

It's good to know someone is reading these things.

[lizardsrule]

George,

Any suggestions on where we should launch at to protect ourselves from the wind if needed. I only have a 16' flat bottom aluminum boat, and it doesn't handle the windy waves real well. Hate to get old bassintom wet from being swamped. I know the wind can pick up quickly here in Florida. ANy suggestions would be appreciated.

Lizards

[flbassman]

An old Fl sportsman had a great article on Stick marsh. I['ll go see if I can dig it up for you.

[George_Welcome]

If it's too windy your next best bet would be Ansin/Garcia. This sister lake to the Marsh, (south of Fellsmere, off route 512), is broken into impoundments which affords you some safe haven from the wind. Your chances for big bass is greatly reduced but at least you can fish it.

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by George_Welcome

If it's too windy your next best bet would be Ansin/Garcia. This sister lake to the Marsh, (south of Fellsmere, off route 512), is broken into impoundments which affords you some safe haven from the wind. Your chances for big bass is greatly reduced but at least you can fish it.

Thank you very much for the info, I appreciate it a lot . But I bet Tom wants to take the chance of getting wet, than to not have a better chance at the bigger bass rotfl Hope your filling the boat with your charters.

Lizards

[Christopherkeene9]

Can someone break down the spawn from the making of the bed to the hatching of the eggs? Thanks for your guys help!

[flfireman]

Tom and Lizards, I was gonna bring up Garcia if the weather was really windy. There are a few spots on the Stick Marsh to get out of the wind, but not many. Like George posted Garcia is broken down and offers a lot of windbreak. There are some large bass in there but not like the Stick. Ive spoken to Tom, if you want IM your phone # and we can talk. Garcia is roughly 15 minutes or so south of the stick marsh, and has a canal that runs all the way up to the south spillway. But George and Scott are still the masters on both of these over me.