# what else can I catch wading hwy 98 b/t eastpoint and carabelle



## Mike in Al (Jul 11, 2016)

I usually have little problem catching a limit of trout while wading along hwy 98 while on our annual weekly vacation. Carrabelle/ eastpoint is a three and a half hour drive for us. Soon my sons and I will be taking a long weekend trip back to get our salt water fix. We will not have a boat or kayak. Seldom do we ever catch anything worth keeping other than trout . Sometimes a stray redfish ,flounder or blue fish. If you were me and were lucky enough to catch your trout limit early, Is there any other species you would then target the rest of day. I would love to figure out how and where to catch flounder. Any tips ? Like how far from shore or time of day ? Recently we saw a boat with lights gigging just before daylight two mornings in a row and they looked to be 10 feet from shore. Do flounder hang out this shallow all the time or do they move out deeper when it get hotter? Any crabbing suggestions for daytime or night? Thanks for any suggestions that help us get more of the bay experience. We would rather spend our limited time there fishing for anything or crabbing rather than sitting on the beach or at the hotel. I would be open to a 30 mile drive either way if I thought I had a fair chance of catching something else.


----------



## Fourfingers (Jul 11, 2016)

Fish the rocks right up close to the rd early and late for reds. High tide helped us out with this bite this year. Once the the sun got up and hot the fish stop bitting. Fish the sandy spot between the grass flats with a gig head slower bouncing it of the bottom for flounder. We have caught cobie and hooked a couple of tarpon fishing from 
Eastpoint down past the high school about a mile. All we do is wade fish. Hope this helps we done good this year and caught more reds this year than the last couple years.


----------



## Mike in Al (Jul 17, 2016)

Thank you four finger for the response. Now that you mention it the three or four reds that we have caught on vacations the past 4 years have come from close to shore on the way out or in. And most of the few flounder we have caught have come from the sandy area 30 -40 yards out. I will surely start spending more time in those zones. The majority of the trout we catch are when we wade out as far out as possible then cast as far as we can . Catch 90 percent of those on the initial fall of the jig or the first bump or two. Its like we are barely getting to the edge of the school with our casts. So this year I switched to 2 pound braid and got a lot more distance on my cast.
We also caught  a cobia while casting jerk baits for trout this summer. It was only 25 inches but my son had a lot of fun catching it on light tackle. A fisherman we met there this year told us he had landed two big cobia this year while wade fishing. Said when he caught a lady fish ,he put the whole live fish on a circle hook and threw it back out on a larger rod and reel. I don't think I want to try that , but was thinking of taking a bigger heavier reel and putting on a half or forth of crab or a chunk of a lady fish and see if I might get a red or cobia. Any thoughts or suggestion you guys have would be appreciated. I'm also wondering if I should try this on the bottom or under a float.


----------



## Fourfingers (Jul 17, 2016)

Not to for sure about cutting up a lady fish while in the water with the sharks. Seen a 9-10 footer this year about 25 yards in front of me thi year. Didn't want to do anything to attract it any closer. We always talk about throwing a pin fish thow but scared of the big fish that might come and get it. A cobie will give a run for your money on light tacke. That all we take. Glad to hear you son got one.


----------



## Havana Dude (Jul 17, 2016)

You can go into the state park on SGI. Go to the east end,if you have 4x4. When you get to the areas of test pavement, bay side of course, you can wade the flats between a couple small islands of grass for reds. Serious though, 4x4 is a must, and not just in case, ........you will, need it.


----------



## Mike in Al (Jul 17, 2016)

yeah, probably not a good idea bloodying up the water around me. I have been fortunate the past few years because I have always put my fish on a metal hook stringer attached to my belt. Next time I will be dragging a raft of some sort to float a cooler  for fishand  any bait I may have.


----------



## Fourfingers (Jul 18, 2016)

Built this for wade fishing for about 40 bucks and it works great it is 22" x 36". Been in reall rough water not the first time has it tried to turn over. For our fish bag we use wheel barrel innertube and a big ball bag that holds soccer balls and zip tie it to innertube. We have had fish stay alive allday. Just a idea for ya


----------



## Dustin Pate (Jul 19, 2016)

Havana Dude said:


> You can go into the state park on SGI. Go to the east end,if you have 4x4. When you get to the areas of test pavement, bay side of course, you can wade the flats between a couple small islands of grass for reds. Serious though, 4x4 is a must, and not just in case, ........you will, need it.



They have improved the road now. It is hard pack and 2 wheel drive accessible (at least the last few times I have been). Do not get off the hard pack though.

I kind of miss the old road. Getting there was half the fun. Many good memories of going down the old sand roads, pulling folks out, etc.


----------



## Mike in Al (Jul 19, 2016)

I have heard folks talk about going out to the end. I heard (please confirm or correct this statement )that it cost 15-20 bucks per vehicle to go out there and that they only allowed 20 trucks out there


----------



## Havana Dude (Jul 20, 2016)

Been so long since I have been, hopefully someone can help you who has been recently, to confirm or deny all that. I didn't even know the road had been improved.


----------



## Mike in Al (Jul 24, 2016)

My son and I went and did some wading this weekend . We got a blue fish and a few trout yesterday. This morning the trout bit really well. They just weren't  very big. We fished all morning before getting a limit, but that wasn't a big deal because we had lots of action on 13-14 7/8 inchers. We released 80 short ones. Caught one blue fish this morning. The most exciting part of the morning was when a 4 foot tarpon came up and grabbed my jerk bait 20 feet in front of me. My two pound braid was no match for him. He is still roaming the waters along hwy 98 .The red fish and flounder continue to elude me. we fished two different stretches of rocks late yesterday and at daylight this morning with the water high and didn't get a bite.


----------



## Greene728 (Jul 25, 2016)

Mike in Al said:


> I have heard folks talk about going out to the end. I heard (please confirm or correct this statement )that it cost 15-20 bucks per vehicle to go out there and that they only allowed 20 trucks out there



Probably a little late but, it's $6 per person to go to the east end and yes on limit of 20 permits per day. We were there all last week and it was HOT and the fishing was tough for us. Still beautiful and fun though.


----------

