PALATKA, Fla. — There is no shortage of places to fish on the St. Johns River. Finding ones that hold fish this time of year – that becomes the issue.
With the fall transition about to really ramp up, locating spots away from a crowd (especially for consecutive days) is going to be a challenge for pros at the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Gator Division Super Tournament on the river Sept. 27-28.
This year, BFL anglers benefit from an expanded slate of Regionals, which minimizes travel costs and provides more opportunities to qualify for the $120,000 BFL All-American while fishing familiar, closer-to-home waters. Click here to find out more.
What to expect
There’s a lot of things going on right now on the St. Johns. Some of them are good, and some, not so much.
For instance, the area has seen sustained northeast winds, which has the water so backed up and high that local Terry Scroggins says it’s borderline flood stage. Now, he doesn’t expect those conditions to be there come the tournament, as it only takes a southwest wind to push the water back out to normal. But even if they do remain, he says the fishing won’t get hurt.
“This time of year, there a lot of shrimp in the river,” Scroggins said. “And it’s also the time of year the bass start to group up, schooling on either the shrimp or threadfin. It really gets them feeding, and that will keep the fishing good even if the water is high.”
While Florida fisheries are typically known for their overabundance of vegetation, that’s not the case on the St. Johns. There is some pennywort, bulkheads and hyacinth down on the south end of the system, but Scroggins says there hasn’t been much grass in the river for roughly five years.
Then again, this time of year, that’s not too much of an issue, as the offshore, shell bar bite tends to be a winning strategy. That is, if you can get on the right bar.
“It’s kind of hard to catch them on the river two days in a row this time of year,” Scroggins said. “There are like 300 to 400 shell bars, and most people know about them and want to fish them. Problem is, there will probably only be fish on 15 to 20 on them.”
That’s going to make quite the race each morning to those spots. Those that get on them will probably be happy quick, but for those who miss out, there are still plenty of docks, hard cover and other sneaky places to target.
Baits to bring
This time of year, it’s best to tie on a lot of options, and that’s extra true for a diverse fishery like the St. Johns.
Pros who focus offshore will do plenty of damage with Carolina rigs and big worms, and Scroggins says there’s even a solid crankbait bite both offshore and around wood pilings and docks.
For those who opt to stay shallow, flipping baits will definitely be good on the south end of the system, and most everywhere else, topwaters should be key producers.
What will it take?
With the fish on the verge of grouping up in bulk, pros can put together some big bags quickly. After all, it took more than 29 pounds to win a team tournament last weekend, and the fishing hasn’t even gotten “good” yet.
Thus, Scroggins figures some bags of that size will be brought to the scales in this event. The challenge will be consistency. Hence, he’s figuring a pro who can average around 25 to 27 pounds per day will have an excellent shot at winning.