Backwater Bassin’ – Crane Creek/Turkey Creek

Happy Monday Spacefish!

Picture yourself on a boat on a river. Just like John Lennon famously sang, just try and do it without psychedelics. Well, I guess you can. You’re an adult, and I’m not here to judge. Regardless, picture yourself in a boat on a river. That river is actually a creek, and there are overhanging trees casting large shadows everywhere. You look down and see a smaller male Bass guarding his fry which is the result of recent spawning activities. That Bass has been waging war against a pesky crab that wanted the eggs, now he looks up and sees Tarpon gliding past, Tarpon that would love an easy meal of baby Bass. What a long, strange trip it’s been. He wonders why he couldn’t have been guarding a bed, and his fry in a small farm pond somewhere. Bluegill make for a much more manageable adversary. It’s a surreal environment, but you refocus on the task at hand…

You pick up a 7 foot spinning rod loaded with moss green braided line, with a few feet of 20 pound test monofilament attached to the braid. The mono is tied with a snug knot to a 3/0 EWG Worm Hook and it has a Zoom Horny Toad, soft plastic topwater, in Watermelon Red Pearl. You make a perfect skip cast under a tree and your bait gets smoked before you even have a chance to start the retrieve. You are not sure if it’s a Snook, or a Tarpon, a Bowfin, or a Largemouth Bass. All of these species may be hanging out in the shade, waiting to engulf some poor baitfish that wanders too close. The explosion happens and you weren’t quite ready, but you manage to get a hook set in, and this fish has some weight to it. You know there are downed trees, rocks, and barnacled stumps in the water. Dangers to your fishing line all around. You cup the spool and pull back and the fish comes off, the hook set wasn’t good enough. Damn. You’re disappointed, but you realize that there are hundreds upon hundreds of overhanging shade pockets along this creek and that you have a full day of fishing ahead. Possibilities endless with a plethora of species to target. But one that I tend to overlook deep in the brackish water tributaries of the Indian River Lagoon is America’s favorite gamefish. The Largemouth Bass.

So over the past few weeks I have been concentrating my efforts on the backwater areas of Crane Creek, Turkey Creek, and a few weeks ago I went back a decent way into Horse Creek as well.

The more time I have spent back in these creeks targeting Snook I have come to realize that they hold more Largemouth Bass than I previously realized. I mean I figured there were some. But when I am not targeting Tarpon, I am targeting Snook. Fishing for Snook for me means skipping soft plastics, and that’s a great way to catch Largemouth Bass in creeks and rivers as well.

Before I get into the specifics of Crane and Turkey Creeks I want to talk about tackle and baits.

Backwater Slam Setup – Less is More

One of the reasons I wanted to post that picture above was to show how beautiful some of these areas I have been fishing are. But I also wanted to show how many overhanging trees there were. This is pretty consistent throughout most of the Turkey Creek Sanctuary. Crane Creek isn’t as bad, but there are areas where you don’t want to have rods sticking up out of the back of your kayak.

I typically take 3-4 rods out when I go inshore fishing, and if I were to go Bass fishing at Lake Toho, or Headwaters, I would probably bring 4 or 5 rods with me. For these trips I have been taking 2 rods. One rod rigged for Snook/Largemouth Bass, and one rod rigged for Juvie Tarpon. The other day I went out after school and finally got that Crane Creek Tarpon. I actually pulled off the “backwater slam” a Snook, Tarpon, and Largemouth Bass all in the same day. I did this with the two rods set up. I caught the Tarpon on a Gold DOA Tiny Terror Eyez, and the Bass & Snook on an NLBN K-Tail, in Kalkutta – which I rigged on a 2/0 BKK Screw Lock Hook. I ended up catching several Bass on this trip.

This past weekend I fished the Turkey Creek Sanctuary. My last NLBN got chewed up by a Gar, so I switched over to a 3/0 Worm Hook. I fished two baits, a Zoom Horny Toad in Watermelon Red Pearl, and a Zoom Fluke in Golden Bream. I ended up catching close to a dozen Bass, 3 Snook, 2 Mayan Cichlids, and a Mangrove Snapper. I had 2 Tarpon eats on the frog, but they spit the hook. I have caught Juvie Tarpon before on Zoom Flukes. It’s not the best Tarpon bait, but they will hit it. That’s the part of the downsizing process, is having confidence in my small arsenal of baits. I may only bring 3 or 4 different bait presentations with me, but they are presentations that I know can catch a wide variety of species.

Not only am I cutting down the number of rods I take, I am only bringing out 2 or 3 packs of soft plastics, and a small tackle trey with the hooks I need and a few extra Terror Eyez, a ring of Ande Mono Leader. I also bring my braid cutting scissors, boga grips, and a hook remover. Trust me, with the amount of Gar swimming in these waters you will want to invest in one of these.

What’s nice about downsizing gear and the amount of baits packed etc is it reduces the clutter on board, but it also forces you as an angler to focus on finding fish, finding little nooks and crannies to cast, it is a great way to hone in and really focus on, and take in/enjoy the environment you are in.

Crane Creek

The area of Crane Creek I have been fishing for Tarpon starts when the creek narrows close to the water treatment plant, and I follow it back to when it starts getting really tight and winding. I have caught more Snook than Largemouth in these areas, but if you are fishing for Snook by skipping soft plastics under overhanging cover then you definitely have a great chance of catching Largemouth as by-catch. Which sounds kind of crazy to say out loud.

A recent survey conducted by the Anglers Journal suggests that roughly 14 million people per year fish for Largemouth Bass in the United States. According to the American Sportfishing Association over $9 Billion was spent on Bass fishing in the US in 2023. I also went and analyzed data/results from the highest tier of professional Bass fishing – Major League Fishing and Bassmaster, I looked at recent tournaments in prolific Bass fishing spots in Florida and averaged the bottom 10 results. Men that have devoted their lives, money, time and resources to catching Bass. The bottom 10 of these high level professional anglers average 5.2 pounds caught per day on a 5 fish limit.

I say all that to say this. Accidentally catching a 2-3 pound Bass is objectively cool. But if you throw the right baits in the right colors I think you have a great chance of enticing both Largemouth and Snook, and possibly Tarpon to bite.

But once you hit the area where Crane Creek tightens down, you have a chance to catch a Largemouth, the further you go back, the higher your chances get. Look for laydowns and overhanging cover. There is no grass, hydrilla, or lily pads – so looking for downed timber or overhanging cover is the key.

Turkey Creek

The cool thing about Turkey Creek is I know guys that have caught Largemouth near the railroad tracks. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe John Page once told me a story about catching a Turkey Creek Largemouth, releasing it, then having a Dolphin chase it down. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

But I went back this weekend and fished the Turkey Creek Sanctuary, I used the kayak/canoe launch in the sanctuary. There’s pro’s and con’s to this launch. The pro is that your’re in the sanctuary as soon as you launch. The con is it’s a logistical challenge to get your kayak and gear from the parking area to the water. It’s a long trek, but also you have to go downhill on a rudimentary set of stairs that have been inserted in the side of a river bluff. But once you’re in you can start immediately catching Largemouth.

It’s pretty similar to Crane Creek, it’s all about timer. Downed logs and overhanging trees that create shade pockets. You can go out in the middle of the day and find shady pockets. I was catching Bass on a top water frog at 2 pm on a warm sunny afternoon yesterday. That’s pretty awesome.

There is a plentiful number of Bass in the sanctuary, but there is also Snook, Tarpon, Mangrove Snapper, Sheepshead, Mayan Cichlids and Gar. I have caught all of these species in Turkey Creek at one point or another. This weekend I caught roughly a dozen Bass but also mixed in small Snook, a Mangrove Snapper, some Mayan Cichlids, and a Gar.

I had my last NLBN K-Tail shredded by the Gar early on so I fished primarily with the Zoom Horny Toad, and the Zoom Fluke.

Conclusion

A trip down way back in these creeks truly is a trip full of magical mystery and beautiful strangeness. Like many places, the fishing can be hit or miss. But I promise if you fish in these places you won’t regret the time spent in such a beautiful waterway.

Thank you for taking the time to read this report. If you are looking to upgrade your kayaking, canoeing, or paddleboarding game so that you can go way up a creek and target brackish water Bass, then make sure to stop in at Kayaks By Bo! Whatever you are looking for, I am confident in saying they probably have it!

Stay safe, be happy, and catch lots of fish! Until next time!