After the recent rain that fell upon our area last week it has done major damage and filled our lakes and lagoon. The North fork of the Sebastian River is closed just east of the spillway area due to a levee collapse and the Fellsmere Grade road leading to the Stick Marsh is also closed due to high waters. You can fish Headwaters but the rest of the road west of this entrance will be closed for a while. I made a solo fishing trip to Garcia which I haven’t fished for a long time and was met with high waters at the ramp that I never had seen this high ever before. The Old Man steps I installed on my trailer really came in handy to get in and out of my boat due to the water levels.

I started my day on the north end of the lake and my plan was to work my way south mainly looking around since it’s been so long being there. I noticed very little to no Hydrilla anywhere I went and for the first hour not a fish had been caught. I cranked up the motor and just started slowly moving around looking for Hydrilla and cleaner water. I also noticed there were way more areas choked in with hyacinths which made it difficult to get from one spot to another. The southern end of the lake was easier to move around than the north and water was cleaner with better healthier hydrilla scattered in it. It took me a while to get to an area that I have called Pig Trail for over 40 years when I first came to this lake with a coworker Ross from my Winn Dixie days. This was the only area yesterday where I caught fish. Nothing big but who cares it has hope. I found one bed while floating around the area. I caught all the fish, throwing my favorite little suspending jerk bait, a Yo Zuri 3DS Minnow and a new lure that came out this year a Pro Jointed Minnow. This next weekend will be giving us our first winter chill so once again putting the puzzle together for what the fish will be wanting will change again as the mid 70 water temperatures will drop for a few days afterwards.