Suddalax Suddalax, St. Marks Apalachee Bay
by Keith Lozott, Contributing Writer
I’m sure you’re wondering what the hell Suddalax Suddalax is? Well it’s my buddy Vance’s nickname; who lives in Crawfordsville, Fl. and how he got that name is a story in itself. The Cliff Notes version is that he thought the native Louisianans called a crappie a “suddalax” and not “sacalait”. Now for the fishing in the Big Bend around St. Marks. If you’re a technical poling skiff buff and have an expensive rig that rocks and oysters will destroy, I’d strongly advise you to leave it in the garage. This amazing place is perfect for a tricked out Jon Boat. Vance has a 16 foot Jon boat with a trolling motor, Engel 60 Cooler mounted on the bow, tiller 20 hp Yamaha and plenty of added rod holders. It was so simple and calming to fish this way that I thought about getting one for myself. The Suddalax craft gets on a plane and gets into water that you wish your skiff could. It was floating in 3-4 inches of water and if we bumped an oyster or a rock, no worries just keep casting.
Day 1 of 2: We started the day throwing topwater lures hoping a hungry trout or redfish would cooperate and they sure did. If you haven’t had the opportunity to catch a redfish on your favorite topwater lure, then I suggest you give it a try. These fish crush surface lures with full commitment, and it results in a fun battle on light tackle. Vance also caught several nice trout on a white Rapala Skitter Walk that he retired at the end of the day. I only managed to catch a bunch of redfish, which was fine with me. Once the topwater bite slowed down we began throwing DOA Paddle Tails, Exude Darts and Z-Mann shad tails with great success. Vance hooked a really nice 18 inch flounder on a Z-Mann which instantly changed his mind on the effectiveness of their baits. The flounder gave Vance the inshore slam for his area which is always a great angling achievement.
Day 2: Since this was a half day, we decided to fish Sweetwater for bass and panfish on the Wakulla River. When I say this place may have been one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in my life, it may be an understatement. There is native large leaf eel grass that is unique to the river, giant pine trees, oak hammocks, super gin clear 72 degree spring water, too much to name. We caught several small largemouth bass on micro Rapalas and had a couple huge bass chase the lures but to no avail. Vance is a fisheries management biologist and knows fish like no one else I know. He said we may catch a Suwanee bass and sure enough we did. What a cool looking bass. If we had more time, we could’ve fished our way to redfish and trout. Give the St. Marks it’s old Florida at its finest.
Keith Lozott
The Fishing and Real Estate Guy!