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Double Digits at Hatbill

Hobie Kayak on sandy beach in St. Johns River

Yesterday I decided to launch the kayak from Hatbill Park and do some scouting, as no one has reported catching shad there this year. I was a bit apprehensive when I left the house, as Hatbill tends to be a fickle area of the river in years of late, and the water is still a tad on the high side at about 4.5 feet on the SR50 gauge. However, being that it was a Saturday, I knew CS Lee would be packed and usually by February I am ready to get off the beaten path, do some exploring, and catch fish in new places. My original plan was to try fishing the Econ, hiking in from Brumley, but a broken toe and a report from Todd confirming there were not fish there set the new plan in motion. I was pretty confident I could find fish, knowing there were already good numbers well upstream.

I arrived at Hatbill around 9:00am with the intention of heading to the first junction, and then making my way to Orange Mound if the action was slow there. I arrived at the first junction in near record time thanks to some great current and a 15-20mph southeast wind pushing on my back like a sail. There was a lot of surface activity, but it seemed to be bass and small panfish. I fished the switch rod rigged with an intermediate tip, and tried several different flies with no success. After about 30 minutes of fishing I decided to make the trip a run and gun scouting session and scrap the run to Orange Mound.

I decided to use the south wind to my advantage and make my way down the west channel, hitting any place of convergence or spot with good current along the way. If I did not catch fish in 20-30 minutes, or see clear signs of shad washing, I would move on to the next spot, with the plan of reaching the second junction and then looping back and hitting any of the spots with good current on the east channel on the way back to the launch. My hope was that the wind would die down later in the day before making the paddle back upstream (yea right!)

alligator in water while fishing
My audience

The west channel had great current, but it was shallow, maybe half a paddle’s length anywhere I checked. There were also a lot of alligators. I fished but did not hookup, and did not see any real surface activity so I stuck to my plan and moved quickly, spending no more than 20 minutes or so anywhere I stopped. When I arrived at the second junction I was greeted by two very large gators that were not terribly interested in yielding the area, and a slew of seagulls feeding on the surface. Alligators or not, I was definitely fishing this spot.

shad caught using a fly rod

There was an exposed point on the east bank overlooking the orange navigation marker that offered enough dry land to make me comfortable, so I hopped out and got to work. It was not long before I hooked up and landed a very nice shad, only to turn around and notice there was a gator in the water to my left, and a bigger one to my right, no more than about twenty feet away from me. It seemed I had an audience that was quite interested in what I was doing, likely looking for a handout, so I was quick to land and return the fish to the water. This continued for about half a dozen more fish until I decided I would yield the spot and move to the next location I saw birds feeding.

I continued fishing the east channel on my way back to the launch and found that there were fish in every area of convergence or accelerating current. The fish were definitely keyed in on mosquitofish just barely wider than your knuckle, and they were feeding just subsurface as they were blown off the pasture. I figured out that lengthening my level leader of 10lb mono with a two to three foot section of 6lb mono, and then pairing that with a size 10 Fry Fly, did a good enough job of matching the hatch. In fact, the Fry Fly was the fly of the day, and I went through every last one of them in my box. Interestingly, once I had used them up and then had to tie on a similarly sized Kip Tailed Clouser, I never got another bite. I am not sure if the jigging action of the beadchain turned them off, or the wobbly darting action of the keel-like tear drop head of the Fry Fly turned them on. I may never know, but I will be tying more of them!

Gambusia or Mosquito Fish
Mosquito Fish

In all, I paddled around five miles, caught a dozen shad, and lost about another six. I made the paddle back upstream (and upwind) and landed at dusk to find I was the last off the water. As I packed up my gear, I noticed a car that seemed precariously close to the river. I looped the Jeep over to have a look, and saw that the driver’s door and trunk were open, and that the rear window was smashed out. I was going to mind my own business and just leave, but then had an overwhelming feeling that I needed to check to make sure there was not a dead body inside. Thankfully there was not! It just looked like someone had stripped all of the electronics out of it and then tried to dump it in the river. When that didn’t work, they tried to set it ablaze. I reported what I had seen to the Brevard County sheriffs and went on my way.

There are definitely fish in this section of river, but be aware that Hatbill Park is at the end of a five mile long dirt road in the middle of nowhere, so don’t leave anything valuable in the car. At least the dirtbags did not steal my Jeep while I was out fishing. Perhaps that is a bonus of driving a 2006 Commander that rarely gets washed. 🙂

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