# Steinhatchee Flats Fishing - What do you think?



## Paid Up (Sep 26, 2009)

I am baffled.  I have been fishing the flats of Steinhatchee for 20 + years and it seems like the last few years the trout bite is slowing down. Is anyone else finding this?  What I mean is going out and getting a limit of fish say 20 (4 people) is not like it use to be.  However, I have found the redfish bite has in my opinion gotten better.

Also, not sure if anyone will want to tell this but I will.  What is your go to lures of choice for trout fishing?  Mine would be the Gulp New Penny and the Papa Dog topwater.

What about water temp.  I have found the best bite between 74 and 78 degrees.  Any opinions?

Like I said I am just baffled so I thought I would throw this out and see what opinions I get.


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## kyleh28 (Sep 26, 2009)

My dad has been fishing out of Steinhatchee for 25+ years and I have been tagging along for about 18 of those years. I would have to say in the past couple of years I would have to agree that I think the trout fishing has slowed down some. I remember being a kid and taking the boat ride (which seemed like forever as a kid) down toward Pepperfish and just have a ball catching Trout. 
I pick at my Dad these days by telling him that he is just getting old and he can't remember the spots like he use to and I'll just hire us a guide next time and boy that gets him fired up. I will tell you this though, we might not be catching as many fish as we use to but as we both get older it's all about spending time together and looking back at the times we have had in good ol' Steinhatchee Florida....


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## asimm85 (Sep 27, 2009)

I will have to agree with you on that. the fishing has slowed down alot compared to 6 to 10 years ago. it takes a lot more work to get your limit. Like staying out there the majority of the day. I remember about 8 or 9 years ago you could get a 4 person limit in a few hours or at least we could with no problem. Now we are spending a lot more time on the water. Best bait we found is gulps or live pin fish or mud minnos for the nice 18 plus trout. I think it has something to do with the fishing pressure the hatch has now.


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## sogafishin (Sep 28, 2009)

I can remember going to the flats with my Dad and just tear them up.Hard to put the rod down and eat or drink something.I still usually limit out but it is hard work.Getting homr later also.My go to bait is a Gulp I think it is the shad in Glow.


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## Capt. Richie Lott (Sep 29, 2009)

I have a couple of buddies that go over that way for the inshore fishing, and they're done with that trip... They catch just as many right here in GA and it's just not worth the drive anymore they are telling me. I mean, I watched over 100 Trout get brought in between 4 boats by lunch yesterday...


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## trout fisher (Sep 29, 2009)

Capt. Richie Lott said:


> I mean, I watched over 100 Trout get brought in between 4 boats by lunch yesterday...



Exactly why I wanna learn to fish GA coast. I fish out of Econfina, Fen Holloway, and Aucilla areas. Getting harder and harder to catch a limit. The drive for me will be longer, but a larger bag limit and greater opportunity to catch fish should offset that.


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## Parker Phoenix (Sep 29, 2009)

I think ya'll ought to fish the Georgia coast. There are no fish in Steinhatchee. If I do see any I'll let ya'll know.


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## Capt. Richie Lott (Sep 29, 2009)

Parker Phoenix said:


> I think ya'll ought to fish the Georgia coast. There are no fish in Steinhatchee. If I do see any I'll let ya'll know.





I wanna add... Keith, that comment reminds of Paul D about the Tarpon in GA. There are none. Please drive through to FL.. Classic.


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## kirt (Sep 29, 2009)

Yeh, I am in the same boat.  I fish Fenholloway to Econfina mostly and some Steinhatchee and about 6 years ago you couldn't ride out of the river without fish jumping in the boat.  I have been planning a trip to Jeckyll but its hard to leave somewhere you know so good.


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## Capt. Richie Lott (Sep 29, 2009)

trout fisher said:


> Exactly why I wanna learn to fish GA coast. I fish out of Econfina, Fen Holloway, and Aucilla areas. Getting harder and harder to catch a limit. The drive for me will be longer, but a larger bag limit and greater opportunity to catch fish should offset that.



Yeah, and the fall time of year is pretty good here as well as spring and Summer on the beaches. I have never targeted trout inshore in the gulf, only nearshore and offshore fished there, but there used to be quite a few folks from here that would go there to fish inshore.

Oyster beds, rips off shell beds and feeder creeks, and on top of the shells at high water.... You almost can't miss in the Fall.. The SSI Sound and Jekyll area are like that and Mark Lewis will tell ya the same about north of here, as will Paul Durham... GREAT fishing.

Looks like we have a "stand-off" on where the best trout fishing is..   I would feel good about sending 5 boats out to limit 150 keepers most days in the Fall. We have to catch 15 per person for the limit as you all know, not 5. If only 5 were the limit, we couldn't go trout fishing.... Would be a waste of fuel.


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## pottydoc (Sep 29, 2009)

Parker Phoenix said:


> I think ya'll ought to fish the Georgia coast. There are no fish in Steinhatchee. If I do see any I'll let ya'll know.



What Parker said. 

We crushed the trout all spring, mainly using gulps and crystal minnows. There's alot more people fishing for them than years back, but catching a limit still hasn't been a big deal for us.


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## kirt (Sep 29, 2009)

Yeh its not too hard to catch a limit but you dont see very many days where you catch 200+ fish between 2 people like it seemed like it was 2about 6 years ago.  It also seems like people have migrated from the Econfina area towards Steinhatchee in recent years.  Lately though I have had several trips that resulted in under the limit catches.  I may hit Fenholloway tomorrow, this cool weather has me moving.  Didn't do great on Saturday but didnt fish long either.


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## saltlife addicts (Sep 29, 2009)

kirt said:


> Yeh, I am in the same boat.  I fish Fenholloway to Econfina mostly and some Steinhatchee and about 6 years ago you couldn't ride out of the river without fish jumping in the boat.  I have been planning a trip to Jeckyll but its hard to leave somewhere you know so good.



well put!


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## Lynn in Mid GA (Sep 29, 2009)

Man I just started fishing the flats, meeting people, and gaining confidence...I not changing even if I have to start my own trout hatchery!  Like I told Keith, I enjoyed catching the black sea bass as much as anything...love the way they hit the line while drifting.

Lynn


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## Reel Time (Sep 30, 2009)

I have been going to the hatch for the past 6 years. I have never been to the Ga. coast. I think I need to learn the Ga. coast. It is about the same drive time for me but 15 keepers a day is far better than 5. It will just take time to learn the conditions and the locations, I think it is time to learn the home state waters..... To many Gators down there for this Georgia boy.


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## asimm85 (Sep 30, 2009)

Been trying to fish the ga coast for years. have been going to sapelo island for 15 years now and i still dont know how to steadly catch fish everytime out. i can count the number of times i have done really well on the ga coast and that is 3 times in about 15 years. i give props to the guys i always see on here that can catch them on the ga coast. guess i dont know what im doin on the ga coast.


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## dakota45 (Oct 6, 2009)

*i thought everybody knew*

i 've fishing stienhatchee for 45 years.i remember when you could walk across the river on boats.steinhatchee is a unique place.it is so secluded that the fla game and fish won't go there .ever heard those air boats running at night?what do you think they are doing?if you guessed netting you're correct. they haven't slowed down ,even with the ban.netters are ruining the rec fishing.state law officials won't inforce the ban and locals are afraid they will be a missing persons stat.as you know a lot of people have become missing or found floating in the river.a friend of mine had a gun pulled on him when complaining to local citizens about netters


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## Parker Phoenix (Oct 6, 2009)

dakota45 said:


> i 've fishing stienhatchee for 45 years.i remember when you could walk across the river on boats.steinhatchee is a unique place.it is so secluded that the fla game and fish won't go there .ever heard those air boats running at night?what do you think they are doing?if you guessed netting you're correct. they haven't slowed down ,even with the ban.netters are ruining the rec fishing.state law officials won't inforce the ban and locals are afraid they will be a missing persons stat.as you know a lot of people have become missing or found floating in the river.a friend of mine had a gun pulled on him when complaining to local citizens about netters



I don't know about Fla DNR not going there, I have been boarded three times in two years. Ya gotta be careful of those banjo playing locals, they don't call it Dead Mans Bay for nothing.....It's not that bad, but there is a lot of extreme poverty there. I think the average income for the county is about $11,000 a year.


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## kirt (Oct 6, 2009)

yeh they are there quite a bit in my experience.  Your chances of not being checked are generally good though because there are so many people.  They were crawling everywhere on the river after the man that was hit scalloping died earlier this year.  As for a rough crew, yeh it is pretty rough.  Try Crabby Dad's on a friday night out of scallop season if you want to meet some locals.


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## dakota45 (Oct 7, 2009)

law will be there on weekends when tournaments are going on,for bigtime exposure,but they ain't comin out at nite


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## volguy (Oct 7, 2009)

*fisheries*

paid up,

i have also seen a change in the trout fishery on the panhandle in the last three years.  however, it is just a cycle in my opinion.  all fisheries cycle.  the crappie fishing here on lake oconee was amazing from 02 to 06 and has gotten a little worse the last couple years.  it has been like that since i was a kid however.  it is just a cycle.  on the trout.....i have caught more 14 3/4 inch fish in the last  2 years than i had total in the previous 6.  i believe you will see some great fishing in the next few years.

i can't agree with the ga vs fl argument.  the limits are easier in ga b/c the size limits are so much different.  after spending a good bit of time on the GA coast several years back, i can tell you the quality between ga and fl is not  close.  if you had a 13 inch limit in fl on trout, folks would have limits in 15 minutes everytime out.  but that is the reason the quality is better.  the average trout size in fl on our limits is 17 to 18 inches.  the time i spent fishing GA, the avg was 13 to 14 inches.  you also have to remember that you are talking about two totally different habitats.  a flat in ga and a flat in fl are like night and day.  that is another reason for the difference in quality.

of course there will be lots of disagreement as always.  i am just stating from my own experience fishing both areas.


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## ddb (Oct 7, 2009)

Haven't fished the GA coast enough to comment about it, other than it takes more than a few trips to figure it out.  I find the flats fishing much easier to figure out.  It does appear to me that the trout on the flats have become a bit more selective on what they hit, but limits of quality fish are still not that hard to come by.  It does appear the red fish fishery is improving, but if it doesn't with a one fish per day limit somethings wrong.


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## kingfish (Oct 10, 2009)

I caught the last trout in Steinhatchee yesterday and darn the luck, my buddy got the last redfish.  No more trout or reds in Steinhatchee, sorry.  We knew that this would happen one day.  Better stay home.


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## jamrens (Oct 10, 2009)

Well shucks i guess everyone will have to go to NC or FL since the fishing is no bueno in GA.



WHit


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