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Meet Eric, the fisherman, his dad Greg, and his
Granddad .
This family caught many fish, including Eric's
first ever fish - a very nice speckled trout.
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Habitat Description
Grass Flats
The main fish habitat that is located around the Bailey's
Bluff, Gulf Harbors, and Blue Heron Vacation Homes is
described as lots of "grass flats" with ocassional oyster
bars.
These areas extend from the shorline out 2 or 3 miles
from the shore and range in depth from inches deep at the
shore line to 4 to 6 feet deep 3 miles offshore. So
generally, the areas you will be fishing are in the range of
3 to 6 feet deep.
Oyster Reefs
Thirty years ago there were several channels dredged to
allow "big" boats (ones that draw 3 feet or more) to get in
and out. When these channels were dredged, the spoil (dirt)
that was dredged out was simply thrown to the side of the
channel in the shallow water. Over the years, portions of
these spoil areas have become oyster reefs.
These oyster reefs are very very shallow, and at low tide
even stick up out of the water and are easy to see. The
oywter reefs run paralled to the channels, and are generally
located only on 1 side of the channel, not on both sides.
This is because when the dredging was done, the spoil was
simply thrown on one side of the channel.
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Speckled Sea Trout
The most common fish that is caught over the grass flats
is the Speckled Sea Trout, commonly called Specks, or
Speckled Trout.
Specks are preditors, eating primarly live smaller fish.
They are aggressive and will hit several types of lures as
well as "live shrimp". As far as the most effective bait for
Specks, I have found that there is not much difference
between the live shrimp and 1 or 2 types of lures. I will
describe the two types of lures and how to "fish them" that
I have had the best luck with. It depends who you talk to as
to which of the lures is the best. Men talking about fishing
lures and which is best, is kind of like men talking about
women. Some men like Blonds, Brunettes or Read Heads... and
have very strong feelings (one way or the other) about a
particular hair color.. It all depends on who you talk to...
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Plastic Jigs and Floats
The double "jig" lure and the floats in this
picture make a super combination for fishing in the
grass flats.
The floats I use on these jigs are "equalizers"
and come 2 to a package. The color of the floats is
not important, the important thing is being able to
see them. These floats have a wire with beads on it
that runs through the middle of the lure. As you
retreive this by gently jerking (or poping) the
line, the beads make a snapping sound, which is
identical to the snapping sound that live shrimp
make as they are moving around underwater. This of
course is designed to attract any fish in the
area..
The Love Lures brand of double plastic jig,
white with the red head, seems to work better than
the other colors. The "Love Lures" are already
rigged with 2 jigs on a double leader setup. The
leaders of different lengths, so one lure hangs
lower than the other.
Again, many fishermen have preferences in their
lures, and it depends on who you talk to most
recently as to which lure you may think is the best
!
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Set up and ready to go fishing !
This picture shows the poping cork and the Love
Lures set up to go fishing.
The bottom where you will be fishing will be
mostly sea grass, where the bait fish hide and
live. By rigging the setup so that it stays out of
the sea grass, you will not have to clean the sea
grass off of your hooks nearly as often.
The Plastic Jigs that I use are shown on the
right. They are "Love Lures" and are already rigged
with 2 jigs on a double leader setup. The leaders
of different lengths, so one lure hangs lower than
the other.
This rig is very effective in catching Speckled
Trout. The distance between the float and the lures
should be adjusted so that the bottom lure is about
6 inches to 1 foot above the grass on the bottom.
That way it will not snag in the grass..
How to work the plastic jigs and
popping cork
1. You throw this out and pause so that it hangs
straight down.
2. Then gently "jerk" the pole, pulling the
float toward you. This causes the plastic jigs to
"jump" as if they are swimming, then to settle back
down to hanging straight down below the float. This
step lasts about 3 to 5 seconds..
3. Reel in the slack line that resulted from the
gentle jerk.
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until the rig is beside
the boat, then lift it out of the water and cast
out again. Repeat this cycle every 4 to 5 seconds..
which is rather SLOWLY....
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Other good fishing lures
In addition to the plastic jigs, the "DOA
Shrimp" shown here in the package and out of the
package is a deadly lure. Again, it seems that the
best color combination is the white body with the
read head. This shrimp should be worked in the same
manner as the Love Lures described above.
The two lures on the bottom are "floaters" or
surface lures. This type of lure is good on the
grass flats, and I know many fishermen that fish
exclusively with these floaters.
The biggest factor in who catches the most fish
seems to be "who spends the most time fishing". You
know what they say... You can't catch fish if you
don't have a hook in the water !
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Where to Fish
On the chart on the left, I have circled the
best "fishing areas" in the vicinity of our
vacation home.
Our vacation homes are located in the Bailey's
Bluff area in the middle lower portion of the chart
and in the "Gulf Harbors" area in the middle upper
area of the chart.
When the two shown channels were dredged 30
years ago, the spoil was thrown just to the side of
the channel. Oyster Reefs have grown in these
areas.
If you are interested in using our boat and
motor and would like to go fishing, we can usually
work in a little fishing while I am checking you
out in the operation of the boat/motor.
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February Fishing Picture
This is my son, Sammy. He is counting his 5th
fish of the day.
As you can see it, it is a very nice snook.
We had one person that saw this picture and
wrote me a nasty e-mail saying that 5 snook was too
many, over the legal limit, and that I should be
more environmentally minded.
I replied that we never exceed our legal limits.
If the fishing is "too good" then we catch and
release so there will be plenty of fish for the
next fishing trip.
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ONE STOP BAIT STAND
I do most of my shopping at the "One
Stop Bait Stand" because it is convenient and they
have everything. The red + on the map at the right
shows the location of ONE STOP. The cross road it
is on is "TROUBLE CREEK", which is just north of
HWY 54 and just south of Floramar.
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