Stick Marsh & Farm 13

Date Fished: 9/18/2000 Water Temperature: 88 Water Clarity: 1 foot As I'm writing this report, Gordon has headed northward and we have clear skies and cooler temperatures. Yesterday we had a fair amount of rain and some mild winds and hopefully it has helped to stir things up on the Marsh. This last week has been one where you had to work for the fish that you caught. Our primary bait of the week was a Zoom shad in white jerked across beds of hydrilla and along the canals. There were occassional shad busts and if you happened to be there hookups were immediate. However, once the bass retreated down not much was able to get them out. With the sandwiched cool water layer getting those fish was very difficult. The face of the Farm is changing weekly and areas in the south end that had opened up with some rain have again become matted. On the Marsh hydrilla is coming up in some areas and there are some bass in these areas. Also on the Marsh bass can be found in the sticks and brush. Working these areas will get you fish, but be fast on gaining control to keep the bass out of the branches. I would anticipate that the changes after Gordon will encourage the bass to get more active. There are several large schools along the north ends of the ditches so these are great areas to check out. See you out there. Be alert to the shad busts and rewards can be real good.