Stick Marsh & Farm 13

Fishing date: 6/20/03 - (Wind mild from the SSW) Scott left the ramp at daylight with Joe Dolan and fished both the Marsh and the Farm. Most of their fish were caught in the SW corner of the Marsh on rattletraps, Chug Bugs, and Senkos. Best bait for the day were rattletraps, (chrome/blue). The Chug Bug was only working when the shad came over the bass and there was a bust. I was out scouting in the southern reaches of the Farm with a friend and we had the opposite results. Top water Chug Bugs produced some really nice 3-5 pound bass from a patch of hydrilla. As the afternoons storms headed in we headed off. Two boats, 4 fishermen and 60 bass for the day. Fishing date: 6/21/03 - (Wind mild from the SSW) Scott departed the ramp for day two with Joe Dolan and they repeated day one, both in location and baits. Weather today would be a bit wetter but they managed a full day. One item of note: a reel with a 6:1 retrieve moved the bait more to the bass's liking than one with a retrieve of 5:1. Both yesterday and today there were bass also found just inside the cut into the Marsh and they were liking the rattletrap in that location.   I had out a couple of Coasties from Canaveral. We headed to several different spots that included the spillway, several patches of grass in the Farm, and the above mentioned areas of the Marsh. We made a run to the ramp at about noon for a fast moving storm and then headed back out. Since one of the Coasties was my oldest son when the second storm looked like it was moving in we moved out. Again today we had two boats, 5 fishermen, and 60 bass. However, as you can see by the numbers the bite was a bit slower today. Fishing date: 6/22/03 - (Wind mild from the SSW) Mark and Tyler came out for a second day with Scott. There was no change in the producing baits, however the bite wasn't as strong as their first trip. The 30+ fish that they caught came from several locations and they had very little topwater bite as compared to the first trip. The best location was on the Farm for them today. The grass and mats of the SW area produced fish up to 5 pounds.   I took Don out again as I scouted areas of the Marsh and the Farm. You have probably read the results of Don leaving his box sitting on the back deck as we ran to the spillway. (OOPS) The spillway produced pretty good and we called Scott and his party in. When they arrived the bite dropped. We spent a 1/2 day out there and had a pretty catch, but with rain heading in we again opted to come back another day.   Fishing date: 6/23/03 - (Wind mild from the NNE - NOTE THE WIND DIRECTION CHANGE) Today we had a two boat trip with Charlie Wilder and his friends Dave and Jim. We hit all of the areas that we fished in the last several days but with one drastic difference. The fish weren't as willing to play. We caught some in the SW area of the Farm, some in the Twin Palms area of the Marsh, and that was about it. Almost all the fish came on weightless Senkos. Total for  4 fishermen today was 25 with the biggest barely topping 3 pounds. The weather was better throughout the day with no storms and some sun. One major difference in the morning was some pretty heavy fog which didn't lift out until somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00. Of course the wind had swung with the movement of the front but who knows what put the bite on hold. However, Charlie and friends are true fishermen and made the best of the slow bite and walked away knowing that their next trip would be a lot better, (maybe). Today Scott and I went out to check some areas that we haven't fished in a while, plus we hit some of the old. A 1/2 day fishing with the same weather conditions as yesterday resulted in the same bite. It was slow and sporadic. Basically to recap: Chug Bugs, rattletraps and Senkos are the baits that are working best right now. Areas holding fish are the SW of the Farm, the SW of the Marsh, the end of the Center N/S ditch, the front of the Marsh outside the cut, and Twin Palms. Watch for shad busts and hit them with the Chug Bugs when you see them. When the bass go down pull out the rattle traps and Senkos and pick them off the bottom. See you on the water.