Fishing, Hunting, Birding Report 12/16-12/22 - Dec 23, 1999

Weatherwise this week has been pretty typical for December in the Panhandle. One day will be sunny & warm in the mid 70's, the next cold & windy and possibly rainy. The thing is that either way, the fish are still biting, usually well.

Capt. Ward Holman has been fishing the black water for Trout in the 3 to 5 pound range, catching & releasing 20 or 30. One warm, sunny day he sight fished 9 Redfish in the 4 to 9 lb range in clear water over a sandy bottom, and the back country Reds are cruising the mud bayous and oyster bars. They can be caught with their tails in the sky on fast falling spring tides. He has also had 10-15 thin water Flounder on caught on shrimp tail grubs.

Capt. Tommy Robinson entertained Bob Blesh and his mother Barbara (Phoenix, AX) for the 3rd year in a row. Yesterday was about 50 degrees and falling with up to 20 knot winds and spitting a little rain. Frankly, it doesn't get any worse. BUT the fishing was way better than average! The clear water combined with some of the lowest tides of the year yielded a couple of Largemouth Bass, about 1/2 dozen Striped & Hybrid Bass and dozens & dozens of Seatrout all in the creeks & river mouths of the Apalachicola River system. Bob fly fished with a sink tip line and clousers while Barbara used light spin tackle with rattletraps and smoke color jigs with the best "Bites" being the 1st part of the incoming tide in the afternoon. Tommy credits the trout catch to the falling water temperatures and increasingly more fish than last year.

Mike Jones got drowned out on Tuesday but Capt. Chris put him on Redfish, Largemouths and Trout on Wednesday. Mike and his wife are avid birders and were also here to try to catch a glimpse of the Arctic Snowy Owl that has been visiting us in the St. George Island State Park.

This also seems to be mating season for the American Bald Eagle, as Ward has spotted them circling on high, shouting their mating screams. He has also seen Ducks - Teal and Snipe in the black water bay 100 to 200 at a time but the duck hunters are coming home empty handed so far this season.

And for those of you who hunt, whenever Tommy & Chris are not booked to fish - they are on their deer lease in Alabama hunting for white-tails. Chris has had an exceptional season so far both there & in Canada (drives Tommy nuts) and we are enjoying the fruits of their labors. If you wish to fish with us this hunting season please plan at least 24-48 hours in advance.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone from the Robinson's!!



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