St. Johns river thoughts

[Deadeye1]

Two different areas but the same river system. I'm not saying that the hurricane didn't have an impact there but with our very fertile waters any grass that was displaced should naturally come back quickly. But with the decades of over spaying with the tens of thousands gallons of different chemicals dumped in this waterway, these chemicals have a half life of many years, which settles into the bottom muck and slows down if not stops any new qrowth. Look up Palm Beach Pete on youtube. He does video's thru out the year of the grass down there in the lagoons, this time of year the water is clear with lots of new growth, come our rainy season when the water starts flowing from the canals into the lagoon the grass all dies and the water looks like crap. Same happens to you guys up north as the St Johns flows north.

Believe me I hear you 100%.

I watched Lake Woodruff and the runs that feed into it go from Simply the Best Bass Fishing I've ever seen to a devoid of life wasteland. All because they would not stop Spraying and killing the vegetation.

[Casslaw]

I fished the river near Astor 3 weeks ago. Our club had very few limits, but oddly there were some big fish! I lost an 8.5+ about 10’ from the boat and a 9lb’er took big bass. There wasn’t much in between though, the fish were either 16” or 7+. I believe the hurricane took out a couple generations of bass and bluegill. The mudfish were plentiful though, as were the gar!

Its not the fishery I remember 20 years ago, but it will cycle back through IF we let it.

[Bill2e]

Jason,
The River has indeed declined somewhat, the war waged on the grasses essential to good fish habitat has all but been wiped out, that coupled with Irma has dealt the River a serious blow that will take years to recover from, look at it this way, a couple of years ago Rick Clun won the BASS tourney on the ST. Johns with something like 106 pounds ( I could be wrong here on the weight) and this year it was under 50.. Its not Rocket science. I haven't fished the River for about 2 years now, just frustrating to not be able to find good vibrant growth of hydrilla and eel grass.

Spanky
BTW was at Santa Fe today and it was like the 4th of July Googins in full force.

im not going to blame the weight of those to events on river decline.

that issue is all about the weather and number of days fished.

that said the river is in decline. The war on vegetation is killing the river. Can’t find grass or clear water. Muck is alll over the place. Very sad.

[Spanky06]

im not going to blame the weight of those to events on river decline.

that issue is all about the weather and number of days fished.

that said the river is in decline. The war on vegetation is killing the river. Can’t find grass or clear water. Muck is alll over the place. Very sad.

Bill,
It's all a shame, The River has taken such a beating it is not going to be as easy as it was say 15 years ago to "Be On Em", I have all but given up on fishing there again any time soon, but that does not mean that I wont try. Given the lock down and the amount of folks going fishing I will try to go find new areas and be prepared to mark them. Good conversation here in the River...

Spanky

[Whiteboat]

The fish are not occupying the historical community holes, but they are still there - and fat and healthy. I am catching fish in places I have never fished in 20 years fishing the river. I am sure the hurricanes and high water rearranged the bottom forcing them to move. Shell beds have moved and the shoals have been rearranged.

I will say that there seems to be signs of weak spawns over the last two years. The missing eel grass is an issue. Hopefully we get a couple of years of low water to allow it to recover.

[rocknemo]

The fish are not occupying the historical community holes, but they are still there - and fat and healthy. I am catching fish in places I have never fished in 20 years fishing the river. I am sure the hurricanes and high water rearranged the bottom forcing them to move. Shell beds have moved and the shoals have been rearranged.

I will say that there seems to be signs of weak spawns over the last two years. The missing eel grass is an issue. Hopefully we get a couple of years of low water to allow it to recover.

The fish are not anywhere near the same numbers, never will until they stop. When you lose habitat you lose the whole ecosystem, which eventually will reduce the fish at the top of the food chain. But by all means lets keep on nuking whatever's left.

[Deadeye1]

The fish are not occupying the historical community holes, but they are still there - and fat and healthy. I am catching fish in places I have never fished in 20 years fishing the river. I am sure the hurricanes and high water rearranged the bottom forcing them to move. Shell beds have moved and the shoals have been rearranged.

I will say that there seems to be signs of weak spawns over the last two years. The missing eel grass is an issue. Hopefully we get a couple of years of low water to allow it to recover.

Interesting Observation.

I recently met a guy that lives not far from me and fishes the River all the time. The same day I was out and caught only one small fish (fishing areas I KNEW had held fish in the past) he had had quite a good day. He reported catching quite a few over the same time period (4 hours) and caught and lost Big Ones as he put it.

Perhaps what your saying "holds water". Perhaps the fish are there, just not where they have been over the last 10-30 years and where we all have gotten used to catching them. Maybe hitting the River with "fresh eyes" and not fishing memories would make a difference.

I know that I am going to try. I miss fishing the River and having a good time.

[Whiteboat]

Interesting Observation.

I recently met a guy that lives not far from me and fishes the River all the time. The same day I was out and caught only one small fish (fishing areas I KNEW had held fish in the past) he had had quite a good day. He reported catching quite a few over the same time period (4 hours) and caught and lost Big Ones as he put it.

Perhaps what your saying "holds water". Perhaps the fish are there, just not where they have been over the last 10-30 years and where we all have gotten used to catching them. Maybe hitting the River with "fresh eyes" and not fishing memories would make a difference.

I know that I am going to try. I miss fishing the River and having a good time.

The bite is in the first two hours of the morning. After that they disappear. There is plenty of bait in the system right now. Unfortunately, Seminole County closed the ramps this Sunday.

Fishing memories has killed me the last two years on the river.

[Orion922]

I went to Palatka yesterday to see how that part of the river looked. I did not do a lot of fishing but ran a lot of water, and when trolling motor down, I was moving fast. Did a lot of graphing and just observed nature. I even decided to check out several banks I had never spent a lot of time on. I was there from low tide till out going tide to ensure I was not seeing it one sided.

Observations I did not venture into Dunns Creek:

1. Water like chocolate milk--everywhere. With no wind and very little rain lately--I was surprised. Decided to look at the canals behind seven sisters and they looked like poop water. Smelled gross!!! I was surprised since the islands protect that area.
2. Many more mud fish in every area. Few areas had a lot of mullet activity which was nice to see.
3. Beds off lilly pads (when I could see with high sun) were void of life. Been a hot year but was surprised.
4. Bends and turns graphing were void of life for the most part.
5. Current was strong.
6. In some areas graphing observed some bottom grass coming back. Noting exciting.

I parked next to Scroggins at the ramp but never saw him. Be interesting to hear his take. I never went further south than Welatka.

[rocknemo]

I went to Palatka yesterday to see how that part of the river looked. I did not do a lot of fishing but ran a lot of water, and when trolling motor down, I was moving fast. Did a lot of graphing and just observed nature. I even decided to check out several banks I had never spent a lot of time on. I was there from low tide till out going tide to ensure I was not seeing it one sided.

Observations I did not venture into Dunns Creek:

1. Water like chocolate milk--everywhere. With no wind and very little rain lately--I was surprised. Decided to look at the canals behind seven sisters and they looked like poop water. Smelled gross!!! I was surprised since the islands protect that area.
2. Many more mud fish in every area. Few areas had a lot of mullet activity which was nice to see.
3. Beds off lilly pads (when I could see with high sun) were void of life. Been a hot year but was surprised.
4. Bends and turns graphing were void of life for the most part.
5. Current was strong.
6. In some areas graphing observed some bottom grass coming back. Noting exciting.

I parked next to Scroggins at the ramp but never saw him. Be interesting to hear his take. I never went further south than Welatka.

That describes the upper St Johns to a tee for the last 15+ years, but they are still out there spraying all year long. The real sad part is there are a lot of people that still dont get it, and this is even after seeing this in most of our lakes and the devastation to our lagoons.

[JohnM64]

I went to Palatka yesterday to see how that part of the river looked. I did not do a lot of fishing but ran a lot of water, and when trolling motor down, I was moving fast. Did a lot of graphing and just observed nature. I even decided to check out several banks I had never spent a lot of time on. I was there from low tide till out going tide to ensure I was not seeing it one sided.

Observations I did not venture into Dunns Creek:

1. Water like chocolate milk--everywhere. With no wind and very little rain lately--I was surprised. Decided to look at the canals behind seven sisters and they looked like poop water. Smelled gross!!! I was surprised since the islands protect that area.
2. Many more mud fish in every area. Few areas had a lot of mullet activity which was nice to see.
3. Beds off lilly pads (when I could see with high sun) were void of life. Been a hot year but was surprised.
4. Bends and turns graphing were void of life for the most part.
5. Current was strong.
6. In some areas graphing observed some bottom grass coming back. Noting exciting.

I parked next to Scroggins at the ramp but never saw him. Be interesting to hear his take. I never went further south than Welatka.

Strong current right now is due to moon phase; I wouldn't expect to see much grass on your graph (even when it was in good shape) unless your skeg was dragging bottom. If you have time, graph and fish the upcurrent side of the boils.

[2dwoods]

It's funny I grew up fishing at st johns and small lakes around Titusville and that was 50 yrs ago and we had the same chit chat nothing ever changes but I do remember that when they sprayed the lake the fishing went to hell every time

[K-DAWG]

I have caught more fish this spring than I have ever caught. This could also be because I am just better fishing the St. Johns than I have ever been. I have been fishing it regularly for the last 4-5 years.

[reelman]

Things for me went way down after summer 2017...
many (like me) blame hurricanes and the FWC overspraying my best 3 banks (watched them on Lake Monroe and just above Lake George....bio nuked many banks...
not a green leaf there after 18 months...
caught 2 over 8# and some others there...a $$ bank in club Ts...

Lake George, as Clunn said before he had to move to its N edge in 2019 to win (as I watched him close up a few minutes the final day)...
paraphrasing "grass was gone in George"...

I myself also had to go up river some and pound the pad lines for over a year to find 8-10 spots...paid off with some small $$...and a 8.69 a year ago today.

In no way from George to Welaka is it the way it was...George has some small grass patches 6-10 inches maybe when I checked last fallL...
I fish a LOT being retired and 3.5 miles from the P. City Docks...
I do not fish shell beds ('just green shallows") & have only 5 years experience...but others have said the same...
the key is to watch the weight of the Top 5 in a T...13-16# is winning or just 2 boats have a better day and the rest are 10# or less...

**Run as many spots as you can and rotate 5-6 baits....**
keep in mind these late cold front nights in April generally hammer water temp down in shallows
which lockjaws bass a day or more...it was 50 this morning, April had 49 and 51 degree mornings...
my best recent days were March 26-27th then the fronts plus 25mph winds churned my shallows...

[DAC244]

River has been beaten me up lately.

[buzzard1]

Good reply whiteboat. Fishing has been great the past 5 years. Fish have just moved because of lack of grass in some of the lakes. If you fished this river back in the 70’s and 80’s before we had hydrilla and eel grass then you know shell beds were the deal and that has become the deal once again. As for Lake Monroe fishing pressure was a major factor on this little 9300 acre lake over the past 7 years when there was grass. That lake is still going strong you just have got to find the new areas they live and spawn in with the lack of grass. We had a great spawn on that lake the past 2 years. It just happened deeper where you couldn’t see them.

[soulfisher]

Good reply whiteboat. Fishing has been great the past 5 years. Fish have just moved because of lack of grass in some of the lakes. If you fished this river back in the 70’s and 80’s before we had hydrilla and eel grass then you know shell beds were the deal and that has become the deal once again. As for Lake Monroe fishing pressure was a major factor on this little 9300 acre lake over the past 7 years when there was grass. That lake is still going strong you just have got to find the new areas they live and spawn in with the lack of grass. We had a great spawn on that lake the past 2 years. It just happened deeper where you couldn’t see them.

I had an unreal day on Monroe in 2010. A guide took me out and I caught (2) 10lbs, (4) 9lbs, and (4) 8lbs, along with who knows how many 3-5lbs fish in roughly 6hrs. Never fished it much since as there was no use trying to do that again.

[Whiteboat]

I had an unreal day on Monroe in 2010. A guide took me out and I caught (2) 10lbs, (4) 9lbs, and (4) 8lbs, along with who knows how many 3-5lbs fish in roughly 6hrs. Never fished it much since as there was no use trying to do that again.

Was the guide's name Eddie Bussard?

[soulfisher]

Was the guide's name Eddie Bussard?

Yep Eddie is the man.

[Deadeye1]

Good reply whiteboat. Fishing has been great the past 5 years. Fish have just moved because of lack of grass in some of the lakes. If you fished this river back in the 70’s and 80’s before we had hydrilla and eel grass then you know shell beds were the deal and that has become the deal once again. As for Lake Monroe fishing pressure was a major factor on this little 9300 acre lake over the past 7 years when there was grass. That lake is still going strong you just have got to find the new areas they live and spawn in with the lack of grass. We had a great spawn on that lake the past 2 years. It just happened deeper where you couldn’t see them.

Mind sharing just how deep you are finding them?

I had some spots on Monroe that were always ON, now they are either gone or not even close to what they were. But I was focusing on the shallower areas where the eel grass had been and they bedded in it every year.