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Water levels can change often on the Choctawhatahee River. So at times anglers
access may be limited to areas. Spring
largemouth bass
fishing is generally the best when water
temperatures increase and bass prepare to spawn. Recommended baits are live shad
if available or of coarse wild shiners. When
fishing artificial lures, loud crankbaits seem
to be the best bait of choice to cover a lot of
water. The Choctawhatchee River has
an excellent population of large bream. Bream
fishermen should search the shorelines by spot
fishing, as you would for bass to locate bream,
when accessible. Spawning
activity for bream peaks during the full
moon in April and May. Use wigglers, earthworms
and crickets with a split shot
sinker on lite line seems to work best.
Bream will aggregate around spawning areas, as
on most lakes. So,
if you begin to catch fish, fish the area for
spots within the same areas.
Crappie
fishing will be at its best when they move
in to spawn. Most crappie are caught below the Highway
20 bridge west of Ebro. Try fishing the
backwater lake areas around woody debris with
small crappie minnow jigs.
During the spring, striped bass and sunshine bass anglers should fish the
river in the
early morning or evening, which fishing is
generally better on an outgoing tide.
Look for stripers feeding, they swim in schools
around lots of shad. Cast into the activity with a lure mimicking
a shad and they will be sure to strike your
lure. Large striped bass move upstream during their spawn,
which runs as water
temperatures approach 65-68 degrees. When
fishing upstream, look for areas were the
current is the swiftest, and check your depth finder
for deep holes adjacent to sandbars and points.
The mouth of East River, and the junction of
Pine Log Creek and East River, are good places
to start fishing. Live shad and shiners can be free-lined off the back of the boat.
Catch data indicate that many
stripers 15-30 pounds and hybrid striped bass
4-8 pounds are living in the river.
HISTORY ON CHOCTAWHATCHEE RIVER:
The Choctawhatchee River is Floridas' third
largest river system in terms of water volume
discharged. Originating in the southern portion
of Alabama, the river flows approximately 96
miles from the Alabama state line into
Choctawhatchee Bay.
In general, anglers will
enjoy the greatest success fishing when water
levels are low and the river is within its
banks. Nice stringers of bluegill and
redear
(shellcracker) are caught off the spawning beds
in the spring and along river banks lined with
dead falls and snags the rest of the year.
Crickets and wigglers are good baits for
panfishing. Many local anglers swear by the
catalpa worm, which can be frozen in clear corn
syrup and used throughout the year. Try fishing
the mid to upper reaches of the river system for
your bigger bream. Largemouth bass are commonly
caught on crank baits, spinner baits and
artificial worms throughout the river system.
Big bass can usually be found around treetops
and snags in the mid and upper reaches of the
river and along the saw grass flats down by the
mouth. Sunshine bass (hybrid striped bass) and
striped bass fishing is excellent in the spring
and fall throughout the lower end of the river.
These fish are stocked annually by the
Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Preferred baits include finger mullet, live shad
and shad-like lures. The best fishing is on the
out-going tide at dusk or dawn. Areas to target
include sandbars and points in the river. It
should be noted that harvest and size
regulations are different for the sunshine and
the striped bass (see current regulations
handbook).
Popular boating access
points along the Choctawhatchee River include
Hwy. 90 (Caryville), Hwy. 20 (Ebro) and along
River Road off Hwy. 20 (east of Bruce) there are
several boat landings and a bait shop. For
access to the lower river take Hwy 331 south of
Freeport and go left on S.R. 394 about a mile
and look for the signs.
Holmes Creek, a major
spring-fed tributary of the Choctawhatchee,
offers some excellent fishing. Several bream
species can be found in abundance including
longear sunfish, spotted sunfish (stumpknockers),
redbreast sunfish and warmouth. Big
shellcrackers can be caught along the channel
side of water lily beds. The spotted bass, a
close relative of the largemouth bass, is also
native and is an exciting fish to catch. There
are several boating access point along Hwy. 279
(Vernon) and Hwy. 79.
Local information on
these rivers and their fishes may be obtained
from the Commission's Blackwater Fisheries
Research and Development Center, 8384 Fish
Hatchery Rd., Holt, FL 32564. (850) 957-6177;
FAX (850) 957-6176.
Additional links,
http://www.basinalliance.org/
http://www.floridaconservation.org
http://www.holmescountyonline.com/recreation.htm
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