ictalurus
09-03-2009, 07:53 AM
I launched at the St. George boat ramp near Piney Point and fished St. George Creek from 4-8pm, which was from max ebb to slack. Water temp was 80* (dropped to 79* by 8) and salinity was 13.8.
I tried my spot spot and flounder spot near the spit across from the boat ramp, but nobody was home. I was using a bottom rig with FishBites for spot, and my bucktail/Gulp combo for flounder. There were no signs of bait or bluefish, which I thought was odd.
Since I didn't have any luck at my main spots, I decided to explore some. Across the creek from the St. George Island bridge is a marshy area that I thought might hold puppy drum. As it turns out, that area is a massive flats with about 1.5-2.5 feet of water at almost low tide. I started out with my 2" white twin tailed grub on a spinner arm with a piece of FishBites on the hook. I was alternately casting it out and reeling it back and jigging it vertically by the boat. As I was working this area, I kept hearing strange snuffling noises accompanied by splashes. I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder once as I was jigging the grub by my boat, and puppy drum slammed the lure hard enough to almost take the rod out of my hand. I turned around just in time to see its profile and the spots on its tail as it turned away from me and spit the lure before I could set the hook. It looked to be about 14-15" long, which would've made it bigger than my citation drum. :D If I had a penny for every fish I lost this year, I could easily replace all the bucktails I've left on the bottom.
I kept working the area hoping to get it to bite again or maybe find another, but that was the only chance I had. I picked up two 10" white perch that were pretty fat, so it wasn't a total loss. I didn't catch anything on the FishBites here, either. However, I did figure out that the things making the snuffly noises were river otters, which were pretty cool to watch. They would kind of rear their heads out of the water and make the snuffly noise as they tried to figure out what I was. Then they'd dive again. There were at least three in the immediate area. I tried to get some pictures, but they dove whenever I raised my hand. At one point, two surfaced right behind my kayak, panicked when they realized how close I was, and dove hard enough to totally cover me with water, which surprised the heck out of me.
I went back across the creek to work the riprap and piers for more perch or puppies. I picked up another 10" perch and a smaller one by one of the piers after a lot of casting. I also landed a 12" flounder that I caught on the grub in less than 2ft of water by the riprap.
I saw birds diving on silversides or anchovies back by my flounder spot, so I headed back that way. It was 7pm by this point, and I thought there might be a topwater bite by the cut under the bridge or by the spit. I tried the 4" Chugbug without any luck, and I tried jigging the bucktail/Gulp combo under one of the bait schools. I had one hit that I missed, and that was it. I didn't see any signs of blues or stripers working the schools, and there were very few marks on my fishfinder. The current died at about 8pm, and I wasn't having any luck, so I called it a night. It didn't seem like the shore anglers or the people in the one boat I saw had much luck, either. I wonder if the croaker and spot headed to deeper water with the cold snap?
I tried my spot spot and flounder spot near the spit across from the boat ramp, but nobody was home. I was using a bottom rig with FishBites for spot, and my bucktail/Gulp combo for flounder. There were no signs of bait or bluefish, which I thought was odd.
Since I didn't have any luck at my main spots, I decided to explore some. Across the creek from the St. George Island bridge is a marshy area that I thought might hold puppy drum. As it turns out, that area is a massive flats with about 1.5-2.5 feet of water at almost low tide. I started out with my 2" white twin tailed grub on a spinner arm with a piece of FishBites on the hook. I was alternately casting it out and reeling it back and jigging it vertically by the boat. As I was working this area, I kept hearing strange snuffling noises accompanied by splashes. I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder once as I was jigging the grub by my boat, and puppy drum slammed the lure hard enough to almost take the rod out of my hand. I turned around just in time to see its profile and the spots on its tail as it turned away from me and spit the lure before I could set the hook. It looked to be about 14-15" long, which would've made it bigger than my citation drum. :D If I had a penny for every fish I lost this year, I could easily replace all the bucktails I've left on the bottom.
I kept working the area hoping to get it to bite again or maybe find another, but that was the only chance I had. I picked up two 10" white perch that were pretty fat, so it wasn't a total loss. I didn't catch anything on the FishBites here, either. However, I did figure out that the things making the snuffly noises were river otters, which were pretty cool to watch. They would kind of rear their heads out of the water and make the snuffly noise as they tried to figure out what I was. Then they'd dive again. There were at least three in the immediate area. I tried to get some pictures, but they dove whenever I raised my hand. At one point, two surfaced right behind my kayak, panicked when they realized how close I was, and dove hard enough to totally cover me with water, which surprised the heck out of me.
I went back across the creek to work the riprap and piers for more perch or puppies. I picked up another 10" perch and a smaller one by one of the piers after a lot of casting. I also landed a 12" flounder that I caught on the grub in less than 2ft of water by the riprap.
I saw birds diving on silversides or anchovies back by my flounder spot, so I headed back that way. It was 7pm by this point, and I thought there might be a topwater bite by the cut under the bridge or by the spit. I tried the 4" Chugbug without any luck, and I tried jigging the bucktail/Gulp combo under one of the bait schools. I had one hit that I missed, and that was it. I didn't see any signs of blues or stripers working the schools, and there were very few marks on my fishfinder. The current died at about 8pm, and I wasn't having any luck, so I called it a night. It didn't seem like the shore anglers or the people in the one boat I saw had much luck, either. I wonder if the croaker and spot headed to deeper water with the cold snap?