Stick Marsh / Farm 13
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2002 1:42 am
Saturday September 19th 7am.
Janine & Jim Shively of Ocala, Fl celebrated Janines 1-day belated birthday by hitting Stick Marsh/ Farm 13 with me today, Janine chose bass fishing over a trip to Aruba for her present and was grinning ear to ear like the cat that ate the canary all day. Both Jim and Janine were very persistent, thorough, and alert in their approach so I had no excuses.
We started about 7:15am on a ditch intersection in Farm 13 with winds about 8 mph, I had them both start with 1/2 oz. rattletraps in "limon" color while I searched the bottom with a heavy texas-rig and a carolina-rig. There was very little visible activity due to a small chop and the fish weren't quite jumping in the boat but the birthday girl was catching 2 or 3 every 30-45 minutes as Jim and I pretended to "let her" take the lead . We fished a 40 yard circle until the wind made my circle look like !#@*?!!!
11:00am.
14 fish was the count, about 8 fish to Janine, 4 to Jim, and 2 for me. Our next stop was to a good windy day spot, a point between the Farm and the Stick Marsh. It was to be our last stop of the day, by 2:00pm we had hooked over 50 bass, at least 36 made it to the boat. All of their fish were caught on rattletraps, every fish thought it was 10 lbs., none were but they were all 1-4 lb. scrappers. About 8 or 9 of those fish ate c-rigged 8" Gambler red shad ribbontails but the traps were definately the chosen tool for the day, for the week for that matter.
4 days at the marsh this week and there is no doubt in my mind that a 1/2 oz. lipless crankbait is the way to go right now.
The fish that I have seen this week have been primarily feeding on threadfin shad from 2-3" in length, not shiners, needlefish, etc.
During full moon phases the abundance of bait can make fishing confusing, too much bait.
To catch fish we usually attempt to "match the hatch" or use very similar sizes and colors to the preferred bait at the time. However, during these full moon phases in these "areas of bait abundance" I prefer to match the size of the bait but not the color, in other words I prefer wildly colored baits over chrome or other reflective baits that too closely resemble the thousands of shad in the area.
If your not in an area of bait abundance match the size and color of the preferred bait.
Retrieves will differ but steady retrieves with occasional pauses to fall below the shad is usually a good start.
GET OUT THERE, HAVE FUN, HOOK A LOVED ONE !!!
"stick martian"
Randy Sanders
www.BASSTRIPS.com
Janine & Jim Shively of Ocala, Fl celebrated Janines 1-day belated birthday by hitting Stick Marsh/ Farm 13 with me today, Janine chose bass fishing over a trip to Aruba for her present and was grinning ear to ear like the cat that ate the canary all day. Both Jim and Janine were very persistent, thorough, and alert in their approach so I had no excuses.
We started about 7:15am on a ditch intersection in Farm 13 with winds about 8 mph, I had them both start with 1/2 oz. rattletraps in "limon" color while I searched the bottom with a heavy texas-rig and a carolina-rig. There was very little visible activity due to a small chop and the fish weren't quite jumping in the boat but the birthday girl was catching 2 or 3 every 30-45 minutes as Jim and I pretended to "let her" take the lead . We fished a 40 yard circle until the wind made my circle look like !#@*?!!!
11:00am.
14 fish was the count, about 8 fish to Janine, 4 to Jim, and 2 for me. Our next stop was to a good windy day spot, a point between the Farm and the Stick Marsh. It was to be our last stop of the day, by 2:00pm we had hooked over 50 bass, at least 36 made it to the boat. All of their fish were caught on rattletraps, every fish thought it was 10 lbs., none were but they were all 1-4 lb. scrappers. About 8 or 9 of those fish ate c-rigged 8" Gambler red shad ribbontails but the traps were definately the chosen tool for the day, for the week for that matter.
4 days at the marsh this week and there is no doubt in my mind that a 1/2 oz. lipless crankbait is the way to go right now.
The fish that I have seen this week have been primarily feeding on threadfin shad from 2-3" in length, not shiners, needlefish, etc.
During full moon phases the abundance of bait can make fishing confusing, too much bait.
To catch fish we usually attempt to "match the hatch" or use very similar sizes and colors to the preferred bait at the time. However, during these full moon phases in these "areas of bait abundance" I prefer to match the size of the bait but not the color, in other words I prefer wildly colored baits over chrome or other reflective baits that too closely resemble the thousands of shad in the area.
If your not in an area of bait abundance match the size and color of the preferred bait.
Retrieves will differ but steady retrieves with occasional pauses to fall below the shad is usually a good start.
GET OUT THERE, HAVE FUN, HOOK A LOVED ONE !!!
"stick martian"
Randy Sanders
www.BASSTRIPS.com