# WBB Invades Florida - St George Island Report - 10/29/07



## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

First of all, let me get a few administrative details out of the way before I get to my report.

1) Daaum, I love fishing in Florida.
2) For us non-residents, there is a saltwater fishing license we need to get to fish Florida waters. I mention this because I got a lot of contradictory info about this from several different reliable sources. 
3) This is my first report here on the Florida board and I'm not familiar with Florida etiquette, so I will not go into detail about spots, but I'd be glad to share that info if it's ok. I'll also PM it to you if it's not.
4) Our Chief Technology Officer (aka AtlantaKing) also made a foray into the Penascola area this weekend. In the near future we are considering a full scale invasion with a complete contingent of WBB. Have mini-van, will travel! 

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My dad and I got to St. George Island around 7pm on Sunday with the intention to catch sheepshead. Looked around my usual places for fiddlers. But the weather was lousy. Spent most of the night trying to collect bait but no dice, so I checked in to the Buckaneer Inn and called it a night. Next morning, I went to the bait shops looking for fiddler crabs, and no one had them yet. Oh well, I got some shrimp and headed out to the bridge. The weather was drizzling and windy. Weather man called for 10-15 mph winds, but it was more like 20 with gusts that were so strong at times that it was actually pushing me around. Tide was moving slow and to the left (I'm guessing that's outgoing) and it rained off and on throughout the day. Well, the weather kept everyone away and I had the bridge to myself for most of the time. Now, for the good part. The fishing was great! I caught a total of 11 different species of fish which included trout, croaker, grunt, spadefish, grouper, 2 kinds of catfish, bonnethead shark (not sure if this is the correct name), whiting, toadfish, and black sea bass. All were released except for some grunts and whiting which were released into hot oil. Took lots of pics which I'll post when I get back to Maryland. Unfortunately, my list did not include any sheepshead. I talked to a couple locals who told me that they were catching them real good right now. Oh well, I guess you got to fish when you can. 

Highlights:
1) Fishing with my dad. He's 73 now and is not as energetic as he once was, but seeing the smile on his face was priceless.
2) Variety, variety, variety! Didn't put much meat on the table, but I had non-stop action most of the day and got a few surprise catches. The bonnethead, spadefish, and grouper were firsts for me.
3) Angelo and Sons restaurant on 319 was superb. Great dinner after a long day of fishing. 
4) Boiled peanuts and candy pecans! They got guys that sell them on the side of the road, just like our crab and watermelon guys on the eastern shore. Awesome!
5) People out there are really friendly!

Lowlights:
1) No sheepshead! 
2) Couldn't buy or catch any fiddler crabs. Although I have a number of spots, I didn't see any.
3) Forgot my cast net. I saw tons of what looked like finger mullet to me. Sure could have used the extra bait. 
4) Weather was tough to fish in.


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## GhostCrab (Sep 5, 2006)

Thx for the report. Yeah FL seems like a great place to go fishing... we'll have to make a WBB trip in the future.

Take some PICs next time!


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## okimavich (Nov 13, 2006)

Oh, good. You're still alive. 

We'll see you when you get back.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Here are some of my pics. I just remembered that I have WIFI in the hotel. 

Here's a pretty dark colored whiting. Thought it was strange compared to the other whiting, so i took a pic.










Here is a grunt. I caught a bunch of these.










Caught a couple of these croaker too.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Here's a picture of my fishin' buddy. He stole a bunch of my bait and made a couple of fly-bys on my fish too  He looks just like the blue heron we have in MD.










Bonnet Head shark?










Here's one of a few spadefish we caught.










One of the many, many, many catfish in the water. There was this kind and a smaller species that seemed to max out at about 8"










I'm pretty sure this is a trout. It has the same dracula teeth that the one in MD have, but it's coloration is just pure silver. No marks.










Grouper? 1 of 2 that were caught.


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## LiteTackleChamp (Jul 29, 2005)

thats a trout, i believe their called silver trout or something like that, i believe they may be only found in flordia, ill have to look at the book again 
did you keep the spade they taste pretty good to


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## LiteTackleChamp (Jul 29, 2005)

silver trout
http://www.fishing-boating.com/baitprofiles/siltrout.htm


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

bmcox86 said:


> thats a trout, i believe their called silver trout or something like that, i believe they may be only found in flordia, ill have to look at the book again
> did you keep the spade they taste pretty good to


I wanted to, but the reg book I got didn't list them, so I didn't know if I could keep it. I couldn't find a reg on the trout too.  Anyone know if there is a size/creel on these species?


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

bmcox86 said:


> silver trout
> http://www.fishing-boating.com/baitprofiles/siltrout.htm


That's it! Didn't know it was considered primarily bait. Some of them had some pretty good size to them! I did run out of bait in the afternoon. It would have been nice to know that these fish would have worked. Oh well, I guess I better do more research before my next :fishing: trip.


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

The whiting is a gulf whiting I believe. Yes, bonnethead shark was correct as was silver trout and the grouper. The grunt was actually a pigfish which is really good bait for big speckled trout.
We have two kinds of catfish here, the one you caught was a hardhead which aren't good to eat.
Y'all were about 90 minutes east of me, should have told me you were coming down.

As for spots, there's not many people on here who fish in this area so you can post all you want about spots without burning.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Well Emanuel, I'll contact you next time we come down. 

As for spots, here's what I found. The railing is numbered on the top to show which pylon you are standing on. Some of these numbers seemed to way out-produce the others. So I got down on the ground and peaked over the edge of the bridge to take a look underneath. It turns out that not all the pylons are the same. Some are a grouping of 3 pylons leaning in to create a pyramid and others are stand alone. The 3 pylon combo seemed to be the ticket and #20 in particular produced very well for me. As far as catching crabs goes, the parking lot has a grassy marsh that protrudes north. That place usually holds all the fiddlers you would ever need. If you're coming from the east, Leonard's Landing is also a good spot to catch crabs and also had tons of finger mullet in the water. I thought the Maryland swarms were big, but daum! These schools extended up and down the beach as far as I could see!


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## fingersandclaws (Oct 17, 2005)

Hey Buddy!!!! Good to hear from ya . . . dude, so when you getting your yak out of my garage  LOL 

Let me see those pics:

You done got yourself:

Saltwater Carp
Baby Black Drum
AND a baby Hammerhead 

Dude, did ya call up your FL P&S buddies when you went? 

Have fun at Seaworld . . . and remember, leave the pocket fisherman at home!!!!


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## The Crew (Jul 8, 2007)

Here are the regs for your next trip.
Glad you got to have a good time, and got to see the smile on your dads face. That's what it's all about man! 

http://myfwc.com/fishingareas.html


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

There are actually 3 types of Whiting which are actually called Kingfish.

Kingfishes:
- Southern Kingfish (Menticirrhus americanus)
- Northern Kingfish (Menticirrhus saxatilis)
- Gulf Kingfish (Menticirrhus littoralis)

Perhaps that was a Northern Kingfish when we normally catch Southern? I know the off colored ones you speak because I've caught a few in the day, but I don't recall which is what.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Great report*

Nice job with the catch.


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## cpn_aaron (Apr 11, 2006)

I tend to catch teh darker species of whiting in the Indian River now adn again. If you were after a tasty sheepshead you should have kept the spadefish. They taste just like sheeps but tend to be easier to catch since they don't have that baitstealing nibble.
That trout is a silver/sugar trout and I think they're beyond FL to GA, but they tend to be smaller. So that one looks like a monster compared to the size I normally catch. Looks like a good trip with plenty of action.


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Thanks guys, for all the info. I'll take another stab at it soon.


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## TyatCapeSanBlas (Apr 6, 2007)

That first fish is called a brown mullet in that area. It looks to be a species of kingfish(whiting) but with stillwater adaptations. Found out they make great bait this year. Congrats on the fish


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## KodiakZach (Mar 16, 2005)

TyatCapeSanBlas said:


> That first fish is called a brown mullet in that area. It looks to be a species of kingfish(whiting) but with stillwater adaptations. Found out they make great bait this year. Congrats on the fish


Oh yeah, forgot to mention that. Those particular Whiting are absolutely a-w-e-s-o-m-e shark baits. Never seen one put out and not get smacked by a shark!!!


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