# Steinhatchee - April 4 Full moon



## Gmonkey (Jan 30, 2015)

Hi guys,
We're thinking about heading down there to fish for trout on the flats, but having second thoughts due to the full moon.  
Whenever I've fished at Orange Beach during a full moon, I haven't had much luck.  
What would the trout be doing in April during a full moon?  Should we go?


----------



## cableguychris (Jan 30, 2015)

Should be awesome. That is the weekend i am planning on going myself


----------



## bhdawgs (Jan 30, 2015)

I had my best trip ever down there the first weekend in April in 2013...  Go.  

April will be on fire regardless of the moon.... Just hope they don't get a lot of rain between now and then.


----------



## FREEDOM22 (Feb 1, 2015)

I agree with BHDAWG, the moon does not affect the fish like other wildlife as much, but it does have an effect on the tide, I will be there from March til June, and I will be posting fishing updates along the way... Good luck!


----------



## brotherinlaw (Feb 2, 2015)

April is always good. We will be there fishing April 3,4,5


----------



## Gmonkey (Feb 2, 2015)

Would the trout tend to feed at night with the full moon?


----------



## jimbo4116 (Feb 2, 2015)

Lot of water moving on the afternoon High Tide.  Should be good.  

But as always they always bit good yesterday, come back tomorrow.


----------



## Gmonkey (Feb 2, 2015)

Where do you start looking for fish? In the bay, or out into the Gulf?
Is the whole area covered in grass or oyster bars, or do you have to search for some structure?


----------



## FREEDOM22 (Feb 2, 2015)

*Bay*

The term Bay is used loosely in the Hatch, once you come out of the river you are essentially in the gulf.
As what to look for ...find good grass, clear water and a moving tide. not much structure to be found.




Gmonkey said:


> Where do you start looking for fish? In the bay, or out into the Gulf?
> Is the whole area covered in grass or oyster bars, or do you have to search for some structure?


----------



## flatheadz (Mar 17, 2015)

full and new moons are great for fishing for the simple fact the tides pull harder and this is great for trout. im going the week of the 18th(new moon). Harder the negative/positive pull makes fish move or reposition on grass or bars. trout normally in front of structure and reds are on the corners and rear of structure


----------



## Gmonkey (Apr 9, 2015)

Fishing seemed slow.  We caught 4 spanish and zero Trout.  Fished hard Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. 
Went to a reef 7 miles out looking for Sheepies.  Nothing biting but pinfish.  Headed to another reef but had engine trouble.  Trolled back in, but didn't catch anything.


----------



## pottydoc (Apr 9, 2015)

We were there Thursday and Friday. Chased the bsb's and sheephead Thursday with no luck, went up north and in shallow Friday and hit the Reds pretty good. About 18-20 overall, kept our limit of six and let the rest go. We caught two legal trout, one 23 1/2" one, the other about 17 or so.


----------



## brotherinlaw (Apr 10, 2015)

Friday fished hard and ended up with 9 trout from 16-20 in and a few spanish. Sat no trout  5 spanish and 1 20 in flounder. All in all hard fishing all weekend


----------



## gcs (Apr 10, 2015)

Was there much grass in the flats? We were down there first of fall last year and all the places I had marked before, the grass was gone.


----------



## Rhodes (Apr 10, 2015)

Don't feel bad GMonkey, we fished out of Steinhatchee last Thursday and Friday and it was the worst flats trip ever for me. We only boated 3 keeper trout Thursday with one Spanish and only 6 or 8 short trout. Friday was worse with only 2 short trout for the day! We fished shallow....deep......in thick grass......sandspots,,,,,out of grass.....we threw plastics....hardbaits. The grass was thick in places but it was brown colored and not green and lush yet. Also there was what looked to be algae all over the bottom. There just wasn't much aquatic life that we seen. We didn't catch any trash fish at all so I don't think the bait was there so no bait, no fish. we even heard several guide boats on the radio through out the day and they were scratching their heads as well.


----------



## bhdawgs (Apr 10, 2015)

Sounds like the fishing was tough last weekend, im glad my buddy bailed on me at the last minute !   

I will be down next Thursday - Sunday -  hopefully it stays warm and the grass has greened up by then


----------



## FREEDOM22 (Apr 11, 2015)

*It was tough but we managed*

The grass is very scattered, water temps were good it was also clear.
We didnt kill them like last year but we did manage 38 trout, 3 keeper reds, threw back several, and 8 spanish.


Be back down this coming weekend for the seafood festival and one guide trip on saturday.

 Expensive trip though, the trolling motor died, lost the vhf, and the power pole quit on saturday. luckily the pole is under warranty


----------



## Gmonkey (Apr 11, 2015)

FREEDOM22 said:


> The grass is very scattered, water temps were good it was also clear.
> We didnt kill them like last year but we did manage 38 trout, 3 keeper reds, threw back several, and 8 spanish.
> y



Sounds like you did pretty well. Where did you fish?

We mostly fished a little south of the channel, in 5-10 feet of water. 

Also, seemed strange about the lack of baitfish at the dock. We had the last dock on the right as you're heading out. We threw the cast net for days and only caught two little croakers and 10 or so pogies. We saw a few manatees too.


----------



## FREEDOM22 (Apr 12, 2015)

*south*

Sounds like ya'll were fishing too deep, and the water in that area usually stays brackish due to the river outflow. This time of year they are still full of eggs,(at least all the females we caught were) so they should be in 2.5- 4 ft.

we ended up fishing further south than normal but thats where the grass was and bait fish schools. (find the grass and you'll find the bait) Put it this way it would have been closer for us to launch out of horse shoe beach.

A few fish were caught on popping corks but all of our larger 20+ inch fish came off of live target lures, 

I've been guiding and fishing the Hatch for over 20 years, I just don't have time to do a lot of it anymore, If I can help further don't hesitate to ask. I hate to see guys go that far and not catch em.

here's a few pictures of our better fish:







Gmonkey said:


> Sounds like you did pretty well. Where did you fish?
> 
> We mostly fished a little south of the channel, in 5-10 feet of water.
> 
> Also, seemed strange about the lack of baitfish at the dock. We had the last dock on the right as you're heading out. We threw the cast net for days and only caught two little croakers and 10 or so pogies. We saw a few manatees too.


----------



## drhunter1 (Apr 18, 2015)

FREEDOM22 said:


> The term Bay is used loosely in the Hatch, once you come out of the river you are essentially in the gulf.
> As what to look for ...find good grass, clear water and a moving tide. not much structure to be found.



The only structure are the rocks on the left side and the oyster bars. I suggest you stay away from those though.


----------

