Fishing the St Johns River In Fl (around Deland)?

Question

I am going out on a houseboat in the St Johns at the end of Dec. any tips on fishing stategy (Bass and Pike (if there are any pike around those parts))?

Answer 1

Have fished up & down the St. Johns since I was a child.( I am an old man now! LOL)

You might catch a Pickerel, (cousin of the Northern), but it's rare. There are no Northerns and Pickerel only get about 2 LB's. Generally, in Florida, Pickerel are considered "trash fish" or at best a "curiosity".

December, (believe it or not), in Deland FLA, you could have some beggining "bedding" Bass. Look for "sandy-spotted" beds in 2-4 FT of water, in coves and (eelgrass)weedy areas.

7" Paddle-tailed worms in Red Shad, Blue/Black, Tequila Sunrise, Black, & Motor-oil work well "pitched" to docks & eelgrass pockets. Also, try Berkley PowerWorms in the same colors.

1/2 OZ gold "willow-leafed" spinnerbaits pulled through the eelgrass beds early in the morning work well.

Generally, everything must be weedless. Hard-plastics and "treble-hooked" lures DO work at certain times of the year, (Deep cranking or topwater), but your catch ratio will go up 50% if you use alot of "weedless" lures. IE: Spinnerbaits, Texas-rigged worms, Slider Rig, Etc.
If you must fish hard-plastics try 6" suspending Rapala's around weed-edges and woodstructure.

A typical day on the water would be like this:

5:30 AM- Casting eelgrass beds around points/structure with spinnerbaits & 1/4 OZ weighted Texas-rigged worms/lizzards. Look for any bedding Bass.

10AM- 7PM Start hitting docks and "shady" woodstructure inside creeks or off the main river. Your "best" docks will be near deep water, current, abutting creeks & eelgrass beds.

Remember that the St. Johns River flows to the sea. I have caught Snook, Red-Drum & Flounder as far away as Palatka. It would be a good idea to keep a couple soft-plastic Shrimp imitators handy to cast around docks.

If you are doing poorly with lures and you want to try for a 10 + LB Bass, get some 8-10" shiners and float them under a "ballon-rig" or float. Your odds on catching a trophy go up 50% when using live shiner.

Make sure to spray all lures with an attractant-Bang, Baitmate Max, YUM, Etc.

Larry Larson has an EXCELLENT book on Bass fishing this area.("Larry Larsons Guide to Central FLA Bass Waters", Bass Waters series). I suggest you read this book.

Bass fishing Florida is very different than in Northern waters.

Hope this helps? Good luck!

Answer 2

I Live on the st johns and every thing the guy above me is right and theres no pike around these parts but theres a lot of brim that will bite just about any thing and pretty nice size large mouth bass

Answer 3

don't know about he pike.....they do call it Northern pike...
I have lived on and fished the Wekiva river (which leads to the St Johns), so large mouth bass, gar, catfish and a whole lot of crappies(maybe chain pickerel) I never caught any tho....

bass- topwater, spinnerbaits, rubber worms, jig and pig...
catfish- on the bottom your favorite catfish bait(I used chicken livers)
crappies- small minnows fished deep over structure
gar- you can try a rope fly....take a short piece of nylon rope, fray the end (you will have to sight cast to the gars) and when the gar takes the frayed rope, it will get caught in its teeth....
gar is more of a nuisance unless you get a big one that fights good....

Answer 4

Fly fishing is a go on that?