# Creek Fishing Advice??



## BentStraight (Dec 27, 2008)

Can anyone offer any info on productive methods of fishing local creeks like Boiling Creek, Weaver Creek, Stick Creek, or Burnt Grocery Creek in Santa Rosa area. The water is normally clear with a strong flow. I live on Nichols Lake and I know that the outflow which is Nichols Creek has a good supply of Bass, spotted sunfish, pickerel and stumpknockers (Warmouth).

Good baits for clear water?

Peak times or seasons for stumpknockers?

Local techniques or something I might be missing?



Thanks in advance


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## countryjwh (Nov 20, 2007)

to be quite honest with you i have no idea where them creeks are but i have a few creeks around my house in mobile that sound/look like that. it stretches from some areas to 10 ft to 25 ft across. it very seldom ever gets over head deep hence we usually wade it. the only problem is that there are a few other people that wade it also and sometimes they can be tough to catch. we are usually hard core enough though to wade farther then they do and get to water that no one else touches. when we go to the creek, we take a fanny pack with assorted tackle. we have corks, hooks, split shots for crickets, we also take the small top water rapalas and they are deadly on the bass and red bellies. the last bait that we have are beetle spins with many different colors. most of the time the crickets are the key bait but we usually can catch them on everything to an extent. with the crickets though we mainly catch blue gills and red bellies with a few stumpnockers thrown in. with the rapalas we usually catch the bigger bass and big red bellies. creek fish are so aggressive especially if they haven't been fished hard. wading creeks are one of my most fun ways to fish. the water at this creek has to be almost clear though to even get a bite. if it aint you are wasting your time. we also use light line like 6 lb test on our zebcos. cast everywhere because they will be right up against the bank right beside any structure. when you catch on keep casting cause there are usually more. you always do better walking or going upstream! good luck and post a report. sorry for so long i just love this type of fishing.


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## showme parrothead (Nov 30, 2007)

One word CRAWDADS !!!:letsdrink


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## BentStraight (Dec 27, 2008)

Thanks Countryjwh, I use floating Rapala minnows a frequently as well a beetle spins, but due heavy brush and obstructions casting is limited. Most of these creeks are too deep and swift to wade, especially against the current (upstream). I often will let my rapala or weedless lure free spool and drift down with the current and then retrieve it. 

This year when the water is warm enough to wade,I plan to make a rig using a stout cane pole and a length of strong braided leader about 7 foot long and use a 3"-4" bluegill on a weedless hook and actually lower the tip of cane pole underwater and allow the bait to drift down under the snags, log jams and undercut banks to where I know they are hiding. I got this idea after snorkeling down the spring run outflow of Merrit's Millpond in Marianna, Fl. I saw huge bass and chain pickerel hiding under log jams but a normal rod and reel couldn't reach them.


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## countryjwh (Nov 20, 2007)

oh, that is definitely a stronger current than the creek we fish then unless the gates are open above it. the creek we fish is made by a concrete dam with gates on it that they open and close. they open it up after every hard rain and i am gld they do for it fills back up the creek with fish. what your talking about sounds fun though. let us kjnow how you do it and the cane pole trick sounds like it should work.


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## FishingMedic (Sep 27, 2007)

I agree with all of the above as far as floating rapalas and beetle spins. My all time favorite for a small shallow creek though is a 1" white mister twister tail grub. The moving water gives it a great action and the white is perfect for lighter waters. small red headed leadhead and I promise it can't be resisted:bowdown:bowdown


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## j_purdy (Oct 9, 2007)

Used to fish a lot of creeks in AL that seemed similar to what you've described. A few favorites of mine were small roadrunners with a bubble belly, pitching live crawfish with little or no weight as a method of sight fishing. Also rigging a finesse 4 inch worm weedlessin natural colors on a small worm hook can be deadly. Since it's weedless you can pitch it under overhanging braches or let it drift under. Either way it should have a niceslow sink rate. Just give the occassional twitch and watch your line closely. Also try some light flourocarbon leader for spooky bass.

-Jason


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## Midnight Rider (Sep 30, 2007)

Dont loose your paddel....... Sorry couldnt resist.


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## curtpcol (Sep 29, 2007)

Use to fish a lot ofsmall creeks when I was a kid . Heck don't know if this is legal or not but I would take an old potato sack,burlap or as some one call them croker sack. We would put some cotton seed meal in them and find a deep hole in the creek put the sack down with a weight and wait till the next day and behold it would be full of all kinds of fish. You would not believe the size of some of theblue gillswe would catch.


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## Framerguy (Oct 2, 2007)

Those creeks sound a lotlike some of the creeks I have explored on Eglin in my kayak. They are mostly spring fed, clear as a bell, very narrow, and some are very shallow in spots with pot holes here and there. A lot of blowdowns, brush, and other natural growth that would make travel with a jon boat or other craft darn near impossible, those types of creeks are all over the Eglin area. I have hauled my kayak down an access road and put in wherever I could find an opening and floated a few of these streams and, you are correct, the fish see you coming a country mile and scoot for cover! I haven't fished any of the creeks in this area as yet but it can't be any different than float fishing many of the clear water creeks in So. Mo throughout Mark Twain Nat'l Forest and also the Mid-Appalachian area of PA, both of which I have fished extensively at one time or another. 

Your choice of lures is good along with the suggestions made earlier and I wanted to suggest that you consider a fishing tube for your choice of floatation. I don't know the layout of your specific creeks but I have floated many clear creeks and fished holes with a fishing tube and had such good luck because, without a tube or some kind of very small device, you just won't access some of the tight holes. I used ultra-light tackle, short light action rods, 4 to 8lb. test line and I fished slow and covered every little nook and cranny that I felt would hold a nice fish. 

Bass and crappie will hole up in the shade after the sun gets to a certain height but they can't resist a well thrown lure or live bait if you take your time and don't make a lot of commotion on the water. Sunfish and redear can't resist a nice fat cricket on a small hook either floated free with maybe a small split shot or on a bobber either. It just depends on the water conditions and the surroundings.

I would guess you can buy those fishing tubes or the "jackets" that slip over a regular car inner tube at most sporting goods stores, maybe not, but you can always mail order them in from places like Bass Pro or Gander Mountain.

It is tougher fishing than what most guys want to try but it is so much fun and, sometimes you feel like you are the first man to ever come onto a stretch of natural water that has no trash on the banks or junk on the bottom of the creek and you can't hear a sound but the singing of wild birds and the wind in the trees!! That isjust as cool to me as catching a nice fish!

I wish you good luck in your adventures on those creeks and I hope you pay attention to the little things that you will find out there. That is part of the addiction for some of us of going out in the "outback" in a kayak or canoe and seeing what has been there all along well before man came on the scene!!


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## BentStraight (Dec 27, 2008)

My wife and I were members of West Florida Canoe Club many years ago (I still have two aluminum canoes) and we have paddled just about every creek and river from here to the Big Bend with the club or on our own. I LOVE the beauty of wild Florida. I have even done a little "tube" float fishing on Blackwater River, but I wouldn't try it on Boiling Creek. 

The best trick I have figured out so far on Boiling Creek is using the smallest Sabiki Rig they make (#14) to catch the small minnows in the swift current, they make GREAT bait. I have even had bass strike the minnows on the Sabiki rig before I can get it out of the water. This has worked on Blackwater as well. I don't know what kind of minnows they are, they don't get quite two inches long, I just hope they aren't some protected species!


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## Rocky Creek Rider (Jan 14, 2009)

Creek fishing is ou great,but can be hard. The fish can see you. It's been hit or miss with me.My best bet for bass is finger mullet. No weight just a hook through the eyes. I have caught some nice ones this way,most of which coming from the mouth of the creek a little ways in. I found a lake off one creek took some shiners caught a nice pickeral. They give a great fight. We were saltwater fishing decided to go up the creek for a swim, had some finger mullet in the bucket. What the heck drifted one under a tree got a panfish.Drifted the finger mullet back under the tree nice bass.You usually can get finger mullet from the mouth of the creek.Creeks are usually a good time. Good luck


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## ScullsMcNasty (Oct 4, 2007)

> *FishingMedic (2/22/2009)*I agree with all of the above as far as floating rapalas and beetle spins. My all time favorite for a small shallow creek though is a 1" white mister twister tail grub. The moving water gives it a great action and the white is perfect for lighter waters. small red headed leadhead and I promise it can't be resisted:bowdown:bowdown


yep!!

go to walmart and get some little white twirl tail grubs, the smallest size they sell. they come in packs of 10 and have a pink jighead.. ive caught more bass, bream, goggleyes, pumpkinseeds and small catfish on them than any other type of lure!! they are awesome!!


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## Saltfisher (Mar 26, 2009)

I do creek fishing mostly, and I have found that if you are goin for bream mainly and the occasional bass roostertails in the 1/8 ounce and beetle spins are the most productive. if im going for big bream or bass, I'l use a floating worm, usually something white, or something that stands out good, or a popper. and wading is deffinetly the way to go.


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## BentStraight (Dec 27, 2008)

Casting is very limited on the creek, but I have been flipping the 1/16 oz curly tail jigs and the getting some results. My wife and I did pretty good using beetlespins just the other day, we got a couple in the Nichols Creek and several more in the upper lake by our house!



I was going to try my hand at catching some crawdads out of some area ditches but I can't find my sand flea rake!


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