Welcome back yak fans. Here we are in April and summer is just around the corner. This gives me a self-provided Segway into this month’s offering–spring fishing. When I say spring, I’m not talking about the season, I’m talking about all-weather fishing and the Floridan aquifer. This aquifer, that stretches from Georgia, Alabama and all of Florida, is the closest to the surface on Florida’s Nature Coast. Put that with the porous lime rock substrata and you have springs.
Whether it’s Weeki Wachee, Homosassa, Chassahowitzka, Three Sisters or many others, every creek and river on our Coast is fed by this source. So, where am I going with this you may ask? The answer is unbelievable fishing. Filmans Bayou, Hammock Creek, the Mud River and both Jenkins and Higginbotham creeks all have springs in the back. So, when the Gulf temps drop in the winter, or the bay temps rise in the summer, many species head to the springs with its constant 72-degree outflow. This creates a fish-happy, target-rich environment for the angler. My last two trips have been fantastic with redfish, trout, sheepshead, black drum, mangrove snapper, snook and even goliath grouper being caught. Not bad for a hole as big around as a one-car garage door! This in a spot where you sometimes have to get out and drag the kayak over the rocks to get to it. The deepest reading I’ve gotten over the mouth of one of these springs has been over a hundred feet.
These spots are Nature Coast Treasures and well worth the time and effort to discover and fish them. Think about it, seven species in one spot and I never pulled up my anchor! Let me know if you enjoyed this story.
Till next time–Bruce