Warm weather and fish return

Well it was a beautiful weekend and quite a few people took to the water and those that fished in the right spots with the right bait caught fish.

Mike Hopkins said he had the best weekend he has had in months. Nobody fished the flats for trout but those that did fish inshore fished for reds and were pretty successful. Gulp and gold spoons fished around the docks did very well. Offshore fishing was pretty good. Several people got their limits and some came in with 4 or 5 fish. Bryan Fletcher fished SE of K and got their limit of grouper. Another customer fished on Saturday in 30 feet of water all day and came in with their limit. They were trolling Stretch 25’s and 30’s and the bite was so aggressive they caught two fish on one plug. The next day they went back and had to go to 60 feet of water to find the fish.

Tammy at Jerry’s Bait and Tackle said they also had a busy weekend and the warm weather brought the people out. A lot of bass are being caught in the Wakulla River right now and Luis Lundquist caught 4 bass over 4 pounds using a pumpkin seed colored lizard. Quite a few bream are also being caught on crickets. Jeff Suber, who fishes mainly out of his Kayak, said he caught a lot of trout at the mouth of the Ochlockonee River.

Last week, Sara Beth Snuggs who has a house on a canal at Shell Point was fishing off her dock when Richard Gardner heard her screaming and looked over and saw her rod bent double. He ran over, grabbed a net and netted her first red fish ever. She continued fishing and caught two big sheepshead and then another red that weighed about 7 pounds which she released. Bill Donaldson and I fished over the weekend and caught 24 trout and a 24-inch red. We fished the oyster bars in Oyster Bay with white Gulps on a 1/16th-ounce lead head. Mike Pearson of Shell Point went out Thursday afternoon and caught and released about 20 red snapper and only one legal grouper. He did say they caught a bunch of small ones.

Here’s something to think about. One of the people that rent a home at Shell Point got a letter from one of her renters. He was fishing out of Alabama for reds and they were using live pinfish. He got spined under the fingernail and thought nothing of it. A few days later he was back at home and noticed a black streak under the nail and his finger was sore. Two days later his finger was black and swollen and he was feeling very sick. He went to the doctor and got some antibiotics.

A few more days and he was so sick he couldn’t get out of bed. He went to his regular doctor and was sent right to ER. He had his finger cleaned up and ended up in the hospital for 4 days on a continuous cycle of three different antibiotics by IV to try and stop the infection that had gone systemic. His kidneys were failing, blood pressure was low, etc. He had to take antibiotics for two weeks after being released and physical therapy on his hand. According to the doctor, if he had waited a little longer to come in he might not still be around. Being relatively young and in pretty good health and having a wife that insisted on him going to the hospital is probably what saved him. I know I have been stuck by plenty of pinfish but never thought this could happen. I guess there’s some pretty nasty stuff in some of the water so just be careful and pay attention to being finned, bit or cut while fishing.

Remember to leave that float plan with someone and be careful out there. Good luck and good fishing!