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PB on the St Johns River..109

A Personal Best:

We had the good fortune of finding out what happens when all the planets are in alignment and all timing in the universe is in synch, with regards to Fishing...today (4/22) was more like Catching. A good friend of mine (an ole Navy Vet) Charlie got a Friday off and the plans were put in to play. Full tank of gas and 315 miles of river to catch fish in. We loaded 14 Rods, two Guide sized tackle boxes, 12 of those Flat Snap-tight boxes of lures/baits, 1 dozen large shiners and Live shrimp..oh yea, and two Fly Rods.

all those plans but the fish said otherwise

109 Reasons to stick with where you know.

We ended up putting 109 Large Mouth bass in the boat. 4 on Live Shiners, 0 on Thread-fin, 105 were caught on the Sebile Suspending Twitch.

Total Time fishing, 8 hours.

One unbelievable day of catching the Green Fish'es



Before we know it we will have a Minnow Run and I will be changing lures to MirroMinnow. On a down note, these schoolies will be noticeably smaller and tougher to catch....in my experience.

Total 905 LMB 2016

on a good note, Mullet run is getting with it on the IRL now. Way North IRL REDFISH by May for me...
When Practice meets opportunity, Set-The-Hook!

Replies

  • GotBass?GotBass? Posts: 202 Deckhand
    WTG!!!:fishing
  • capt louiecapt louie Posts: 10,901 Moderator
    They are fat ! I seen some schooling down river in lake Dexter Saturday. The tournament I fished took 25 lbs to win. Big fish was 10.98.

    I had neither of those weights :grin
    "You'll get your weather"
  • TD-AnglinTD-Anglin Posts: 99 Deckhand
    Wow! Thats one heck of a day!
    http://sobesurf.com/
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  • RealSeabeeRealSeabee Posts: 583 Officer
    That is a good bag...coincides with a "bedding" that started last Thursday down here. Some of them look like balloons ready to burst. There would be Threadfin coming out of them all over on the way to the boat. Little 2# bass spitting up 4 and 5 threadfin @ 4"+ each.
    capt louie wrote: »
    They are fat ! I seen some schooling down river in lake Dexter Saturday. The tournament I fished took 25 lbs to win. Big fish was 10.98.

    I had neither of those weights :grin
    When Practice meets opportunity, Set-The-Hook!
  • RollinRollin Posts: 1,549 Captain
    Wow, great day !!
  • eeekbackupinthereeeekbackupinthere Posts: 75 Deckhand
    What a day! Way to go!
  • CageyCagey Posts: 917 Officer
    315 miles of river narrowed down to less than 5 near let's say 46! Well actually I recognize those spots... so narrowed down to less than 100 yards for what I am seeing in the photos! I can look at the scenery behind the fishermen here and pinpoint nearly exact locations as I have been fishing those same places for years myself- and with Charlie sometimes too.

    Live bait huh? Charlie did not tell me that part of the story... Never knew him to be a live bait type of fisherman. And those sebile lures are hard to come by these days so I use a substitute that seems to work just as well out there. Can't wait for my yamaha to get fixed so I can get back out there!

    Congrats on all the fish! Nice when it is on like that. I can see now I will have to do some scouting and find some new places!
  • RealSeabeeRealSeabee Posts: 583 Officer
    howdy Cagey..yep you might know a few places but for those that know me, there is no need to guess. I usually always tell where, how and with what I caught them on. The spread of Pictures are from Lemon Bluff to the Econ with stops at the Bluff, Power Lines, Coca Cola, North Harney, West Harney, South Harney, The Split +, The Shortcut, The Striper Turn, Econ Mouth and Double Hole.

    As long as I have been fishing "school" bass there has never been a lure like the PY/White Lady 72mm Stick Shadd Sinking Twitch for TOP Catch count. There are several other lures that can catch them but none like the Sebile Stick Shad in WHITE. If you take a look at last years Posts about the schoolies, you will see that I Posted pictures of each Lure with "Catch Counts" for each one. Last year we caught 1,027 Bass and this year we are at 1,100 Bass and I have not fished them since first week of May.
    When Practice meets opportunity, Set-The-Hook!
  • GRIZZLGRIZZL Posts: 909 Officer
    RealSeabee wrote: »
    The spread of Pictures are from Lemon Bluff to the Econ with stops at the Bluff, Power Lines, Coca Cola, North Harney, West Harney, South Harney, The Split +, The Shortcut, The Striper Turn, Econ Mouth and Double Hole.
    .

    HA..you end where I start :). I go from the bluff to Monroe..up to Weikiva. Went out yesterday and caught some cowboys. Water Temp @ 88Deg IN THE RIVER! Hot. Fish were deep in the pads and floating crud. No biguns 1.5-2Lbs

    LOTS of boating traffic and I think there was a Tourney going on at Mullet Lake
  • RollinRollin Posts: 1,549 Captain
    RealSeabee wrote: »
    howdy Cagey..yep you might know a few places but for those that know me, there is no need to guess. I usually always tell where, how and with what I caught them on. The spread of Pictures are from Lemon Bluff to the Econ with stops at the Bluff, Power Lines, Coca Cola, North Harney, West Harney, South Harney, The Split +, The Shortcut, The Striper Turn, Econ Mouth and Double Hole.

    As long as I have been fishing "school" bass there has never been a lure like the PY/White Lady 72mm Stick Shadd Sinking Twitch for TOP Catch count. There are several other lures that can catch them but none like the Sebile Stick Shad in WHITE. If you take a look at last years Posts about the schoolies, you will see that I Posted pictures of each Lure with "Catch Counts" for each one. Last year we caught 1,027 Bass and this year we are at 1,100 Bass and I have not fished them since first week of May.

    Thanks for the detailed info, especially on the Sebile. I've seen the schoolies but never new exactly what to throw at them. Now at least I feel somewhat prepared and the Sebile looks exactly like the bait I've seen them busting!!
  • CageyCagey Posts: 917 Officer
    GRIZZL wrote: »
    HA..you end where I start :). I go from the bluff to Monroe..up to Weikiva.

    LOTS of boating traffic and I think there was a Tourney going on at Mullet Lake

    All those bigger boats is precisely why I never go any further north than say Mullet Lake- and I rarely go past Lemon Bluff. I plan on doing some scouting trips to the South when I get my boat motor repaired.

    A couple of years ago I put in at I-4 public boat ramp right at mouth of the river leaving Lake Monroe going up to Wekiva and Highbanks and it was so overcrowded there and with some really big boats too that ran all over us fishermen hoping for a little peace and quiet. Some of them were intentionally driving right at us, then turning sending a wall of water right at us on purpose. I decided then I would not return to that part of the river. I want to go further South where the big boats can not go.
  • CageyCagey Posts: 917 Officer
    Rollin wrote: »
    Thanks for the detailed info, especially on the Sebile. I've seen the schoolies but never new exactly what to throw at them. Now at least I feel somewhat prepared and the Sebile looks exactly like the bait I've seen them busting!!

    The schoolies on the river are awesome no doubt. I really like using a 3" or 3.5" swimbait on them and tear them up. Old Charlie has been surprised that my consistent use of the swimbait actually keeps up with his sebile bass count.

    I throw it on one of those super light high modulus 7' Falcon Bucoo micro guide rods- the super sensitive thin wall rod customized into a spiral wrap- some 20 pound braid on my new Shimano Curado 201i and Calcutta swimbaits and the bass love them, maybe not as much as the sebile I don't know, because that Sebile bait is now discontinued and no longer available for purchase except on rare cases on ebay for high dollar- and I don't have any of those. I have been trying to get some but I think old Charlie and RealSeabee and others are snapping them up as soon as they are posted on ebay or something??? :huh

    Charlie keeps telling he is going to get me one,(hint, hint) but as yet I still have not seen one except on the end of his rods! I got myself a couple of those gold shiner Sebile magic swimmers and have caught some bass on it, but not in the numbers I am hearing the sebile 72mm and 90mm stick shad ghost color baits brings in. I wonder if we can get sebile to make them again???

    I recommend if anyone wants to try the rubber type of swimbaits for the schoolies to buy the Calcutta brand for two reasons- one, they do not tear up as easily as some other brands like the Berkley which one fish or a couple of fish can rip the rubber right off the weighted hook. I have one calcutta on my rod now that has caught over 25 fish and still ready for more. The second reason I like the calcutta brand is because they are heavier and work down into the river current better than the Berkley which are so light even a slow retrieve can bring them to the surface. And to increase my hookup percentage sometimes I add a stinger treble hook on them and turn it so the center hook is straight down and bury it into the paddle tail so it swings back and forth with the paddle tail and does not throw the lure off balance and gets me some nice hookups on the short bite.

    Another lure I use out there is a mirrolure suspending minnow. It is a shame both of the types I am using out there like the Sebile are both now discontinued. I use the original mirrolure minnow some of mine date back to the 1960's or 1970's and still work like a charm, or the newer type with hologram flash foil inside which is very similar in size and shape to the sebile.

    When the schoolies are busting up, casting across the boil and swimming or jerking these lures through the boil works great, but when the bass activity settles down you know they are still in the area, I cast out one of the calcutta swimbaits and let it drop down to the bottom and pop it up off the bottom and let it drop back down to the bottom again and repeat and can usually pick up a few extra bass that way that may have missed out on stuffing themselves and will usually hit it.
  • Old SkoolOld Skool Posts: 102 Deckhand
    New Stick Shadds in 60 to 210 mm will be available mid September as per the Sebile website
  • CageyCagey Posts: 917 Officer
    Old Skool wrote: »
    New Stick Shadds in 60 to 210 mm will be available mid September as per the Sebile website

    This is good news, but I just went and checked their website and the only "ghost" or white color they will be making starts at 6.25 inches long. They will also be making the "ghost" color in 7.25" and 8.25", but nothing in the 3" to 4" range in that color. I wonder why?

    Here is a link to the webpage with all the selections they will be releasing:

    http://www.sebile.com/sebile-hard-bait-sebile-stick-shadd/sebile-stick-shadd/1405310.html#q=stick%2520shadd&start=1
  • CageyCagey Posts: 917 Officer
    RealSeabee wrote: »
    As long as I have been fishing "school" bass there has never been a lure like the PY/White Lady 72mm Stick Shadd Sinking Twitch for TOP Catch count. There are several other lures that can catch them but none like the Sebile Stick Shad in WHITE.

    I will give it a try when I can get my hands on one! Thanks!

    UPDATED:

    I just received word from Sebile that what is listed on their website is subject to change and that it will change! But they did not say or confirm smaller versions of the stick shadd in white would be produced. Reply from Sebile:

    Thank you for your email. Please continue to check back for more release information on color and size.

    Kind regards,
    JS
    Service Experience Coordinator
    Pure Fishing Inc
    a subsidiary of Jarden Corp
  • MRichardsonMRichardson Posts: 10,466 AG
    The hookup retention rate isn't as high, but throwing a topwater
    like a skitterwalk is a blast. I haven't found these fish to be very selective
    when they're in a frenzy.
    I have never seen live bones, but I know that they are often used by rich people to decorate the interior.
  • CageyCagey Posts: 917 Officer
    To me trying to find a lure that looks as close to the bait those bass are feeding on is the key. Size, shape, coloring, and motion of lure are the key. Rubber swimbaits are right in there and do quite well- as well as any during the feeding frenzy.
  • RealSeabeeRealSeabee Posts: 583 Officer
    Went at it yesterday after some time out chasing Saltwater fish. The timing is the same this year as last year.

    Minnows moving NOW and the Tropical Threadfin (Yellow Threads) are starting. Looking yesterday, the Minnows look to be about finished and the Threads are small still but they will grow fast.

    This is the Second to the Last run of bait until next Fall and will probably be the last time to catch Bass over 3# in a schooling scenario.

    Until the bait "switch" I am throwing the MirroMinnow (smaller of the two sizes) Black or Green Back, Siler Sides OR Silver Broken Glass. I keep my Sebile Yellow 90mm Stick Shad rigged and close by. Throw it every once in a while until they start hitting it (which should be when they begin to focus on the Thread instead of these little Minnows).

    <Side Note>
    1. Sebile was owned by Patrick Sebile. 2. He sold it to PureFishing inc. 3. Purefishing just sold to Rubbermaid inc. Currently, there is no news from the folks over at Rubbermaid as to what the strategy is for rolling out their new Fishing Lines...Sebile, Berkley etc. Most of us expect that this years ICAST will shed some light on what will be UPCOMING from Rubbermaid and all the companies they just bought from Purefishing.
    When Practice meets opportunity, Set-The-Hook!
  • RealSeabeeRealSeabee Posts: 583 Officer
    Cagey, something I have found to work is a C-Rig under the schoolers or ANY plastic drug on the bottom under them. This works no matter which bait is running. Sometimes if you cant match the hatch like you really want to, try going to a C-Rig and drag some plastic under them...Color does not seem to matter nor does length.

    This is just a slower method but it is productive when connected with schoolies.

    Traditional Bass fishing now with Buzz and spinners and frogs is getting really good with this recent rain here in our location.


    Cagey wrote: »
    To me trying to find a lure that looks as close to the bait those bass are feeding on is the key. Size, shape, coloring, and motion of lure are the key. Rubber swimbaits are right in there and do quite well- as well as any during the feeding frenzy.
    When Practice meets opportunity, Set-The-Hook!
  • RealSeabeeRealSeabee Posts: 583 Officer
    Got two school fishing buddies that ONLY throw Skitterwalk and Super Spook...all day every day every throw. Agreed, most fun on the lake.
    The hookup retention rate isn't as high, but throwing a topwater
    like a skitterwalk is a blast. I haven't found these fish to be very selective
    when they're in a frenzy.
    When Practice meets opportunity, Set-The-Hook!
  • ragincajun92ragincajun92 Posts: 465 Deckhand
    :fishing nice fish
    My Fishing Videos and Reviews  https://www.youtube.com/user/85stangbanger 
    Thanks for watching,liking and subscribing!
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