# Choctawhatchee looking better



## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Water level prediction looking better for the Choctawhatchee River.

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=tae&gage=carf1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

keep your eyes open for me walt, iv got my eyes on your river:yes:


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Cathunter, if the prediction holds true for Mon and Tue I will be out there . 4 ft is good to get into some lakes that have not been accessible for weeks. Been raining here for hours and still going. Must have been some good rain up in Alabama to help us out down here.
Hope it will clear enough late today so we can try some night fishing with the fly rod. Full moon time but cloud cover may be too heavy. Will have to wait and see later this evening.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

Iv be studying the Choctawhatchee hard, reading and gathering all the info i can about it flying up and down it with Google earth, never been there but i feel like i was raised on it, the landing i will be putting in at is 100 miles away so for me to make the drive its gotta be worth it, I think iam gonna hitt it on July 31 so i can take advantage of the new moon, 
When the sky is dark the wolves come out:shifty:​


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Cathunter, if the prediction holds true for Mon and Tue I will be out there . 4 ft is good to get into some lakes that have not been accessible for weeks. Been raining here for hours and still going. Must have been some good rain up in Alabama to help us out down here.
Hope it will clear enough late today so we can try some night fishing with the fly rod. Full moon time but cloud cover may be too heavy. Will have to wait and see later this evening.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

is the river pretty shallow, i need atleast 3-4 feet of water for my boat


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

From the west side of the river If the level on the Caryville gauge is 3 to 4 ft you should have no problem. But if 2 ft or below like we have had for weeks you may have a problem in the upper river. Even small Jons have a problem at these low levels. Just have to be very carefully for bars and snags. Go fast and you are asking for trouble unless you know the river extremely well. I barely hold a plane in these conditions in a few areas and that's not really all that safe. Just get tired of putt putting along. Just take my chances. 
For past several weeks I have been going below Cowford (hwy 20 ramp) and launching off hwy 3280, but you can launch at Cowford at the old sand bank ramp under the bridge, if you are careful. There is one deeper spot there just big enough for a boat, then push pole out to deeper water. The new concrete ramp is out of the water. 

For the next few days the level is looking up, but it will drop rapidly if there is no more rain up north. 

Incidentally if the gauge shows 6 inches that doesn't mean the whole river is only 6 inches. But there will be a lot of bars and snags and it takes a lot of manuvering around to get anywhere. Find one of those 10 - 15 foot holes and you will find fish.

Right now the Caryville gauge is showing 1.9 and down at Cowford 4.7 (Ebro gauge). Both will be rising over next few days.


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## Seatmech86 (Mar 8, 2011)

CatHunter said:


> is the river pretty shallow, i need atleast 3-4 feet of water for my boat


And by that he means he needs 3-4 foot for his return trip, I'm betting before the haul is on board, his draft is normally a foot and half!


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## skiff89_jr (Apr 1, 2011)

North of carryville is pretty low, but as long as you stay in the channel your fine; however, it's not a river that you can fly up and down. As we speak it is rising though. When the sand bar at highway 2 bridge is barely visible than the fishing is right, and it's almost there. There are a lot of logs and snags EVERYWHERE! If you don't mind me asking where are you looking to put in at?


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

All the rivers are rising fast, iam not even going to waste my time cat-fishing until the water starts to fall again, once it starts falling the bite will be on again, It will probably be around the end of the month before i head to the Choctawhatchee ill be putting in at the hwy 2 ramp for sure, its a good looking stretch of river.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*hwy 2 ramp*

seatmech86........you are right-----:thumbup:

Thanks skiff89-jr for the update on hwy2 ramp and area. I'm not at all familiar with fishing up there, just know where the ramps are. Folks out of Geneva work that part of the Choctawhatchee very well and do very good according to the folks at the ACE Hardware up there. That's a good place to shop for what the locals use for tackle and to pick up info on what's going on up there. 

River only rising a couple of feet but will be falling by Wed of next week if we get no more rain. It's still raining here and looks like it will be a washout for tonight at PineLog.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

looks like my Escambia river is going to go from 3feet to 11 feet in just a few days
http://weather.hamweather.com/rivers/gauge/CTYF1.html
looks like the Choctawhatchee will be in flood stage as well threw next week
http://weather.hamweather.com/rivers/gauge/CARF1.html


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## skiff89_jr (Apr 1, 2011)

Cathunter i'll keep an eye out on the river for you. #2 boatramp is only 5 minutes from my house. Right now you can't launch from there unless you are launching a kayak or have a 4wd and drive on the sandbar to launch. About a two miles south of there is another nice boat ramp called curry ferry and is where i always put in at. If your coming from the carryville exit it would actually be closer.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*Too much now*

Man, forcast went from 4.1 this mornng to over 10 this evening. We wanted water and we sure got it. Been raining here all day and up north as well.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

yea there rising fast , some one should put out a flood watch iv been seeing alot of campers on sand bars that have no clue how high these dry rivers are about to be:001_huh:


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## kevin32435 (Apr 17, 2008)

The Choctawhatchee is a great river for catfish when I run bush hooks I like it on a slow rise around the 7 to 8 foot range at Caryville I fish about 5 miles south of Ponce De Leon boat ramp is called Commanders I use live shiners or crawfish. the river is going to rise fast with this rain and fall out just as fast due to the drought let me know how yall do.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

The state record blue catfish came from the choctawatchee he was 65lbs so iam sure this river has a few biguns, Also in some of the articals it talks of 40lbs channel cats and 50lb blues has has caught in the river, hes my new friend


James Mitchell and his 64lb 8 oz. Blue catfish from Caryville, Florida choctawatchee river


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## skiff89_jr (Apr 1, 2011)

Yeah one of my fishing buddies pretty much lives on the river around curry ferry. this spring he caught a 30+ flathead and a 30+ channel cat in the same trip. was that blue cat caught on a bush hook.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

that blue was caught on rod and reel, here is all the info i can find on it
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, James Mitchell of Caryville in Washignton County caught a 64-pound, 8-ounce fish late Aug. 4 on the Choctawhatchee River. 

The 53 1/2-inch fish is 3 pounds heavier than the previous record, a 61-pound, 8-ounce blue cat caught in the Little Escambia Creek north of Pensacola. 

According to the FWC: The 64-year-old Mitchell, who is disabled but still enjoys fishing, fished a favorite spot on the Choctawhatchee Monday near Caryville. He caught the record catfish at sundown but needed the help of his son and grandson to pull the fish over the side of his boat. 

He said the 10-minute fight left him worn out. 

Mitchell fishes for catfish often on the river and uses bream, which is his bait of choice. He caught the blue cat on a hand-sized bluegill, 6-foot rod and bait-caster reel loaded with 50-pound-test line. 

“The bigger the bream the better,” Mitchell told the FWC. He catches his bream using either a fly rod or cane pole. 

An avid cat fisher Mitchell has several large cats to his credit. Just a week before the record Blue Catfish, he landed a couple of Channel Catfish over 40 pounds from the  Choctawhatchee River


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

don't for get about the big stripers

*Walton fisherman reels in big stripers on the Choctawhatchee River*




Local fisherman and charter captain David Barron of Freeport reeled in several large striped bass recently near the mouth of the Choctawhatchee River. David was generous to share his account of a great day of fishing:
*Big fish, cold weather*
I was lucky enough to be home with my family for the holidays this year. After sharing Christmas with my family, I was ready to go fishing. I have noticed something about the Eastern end of the Choctawhatchee Bay; as the weather gets colder, the fish I catch get bigger, and more aggressive. As the temperature drops, the bait, then the trout, redfish, bass, and stripers run to the deepest part of the estuaries that empty into the Choctawhatchee Bay. If you can get bait, you can get on.
*Big fish, big baits*
I called my fishing buddy Bill Oswell (Freeport) on Dec. 26th and asked him if he wanted to go striper fishing with me. I was lucky enough to have caught several big mullet in my cast net and wanted to try a couple of deep holes at the mouth of the Choctawhatchee River. The baits were big and I rigged the appropriate tackle. We ran over a deep hole in the main river (15+ feet) with the boat and I chunked the bait as far upstream as I could. It landed about 30 feet from the boat. Bill and I were discussing where to land the boat and the weather. That is when I heard the thump against the side of the boat.
*Big fish, huge bite*
I witnessed a large striped bass predation. It was intense to say the least. My mullet was using the transom as cover. It didn’t work. The immediate thought that ran through my brain was that a large gator had surfaced next to our boat. There was a hole in the water where my mullet had been, next to my feet, the water splashed my face. I missed that bite.
*Big fish, team effort*
Bill and I along with one of my nephews, Drew Lord, managed to end up choking on 16 bites and getting lucky with 4 Stripers in about 12 total hours of fishing the holes during three days. We also ended up with our limit of trout on two of the three days while trolling around looking for holes to fish for the stripers. The four fish that we caught were 34 lbs., 32 lbs., 23 lbs., and 18 lbs.
Striped bass are excellent table fare and smart when they are hooked. I rate the striped bass 8 out of 10 in the category of difficulty during the fight, for inshore species. The angler has to come with a lot of pressure early. The crew has to work fast to get the other bait out of the water; the driver has to get the boat fired up and on top of the fish or you will not succeed.
Weather: 28-45 degrees
Wind: 20+ North
Water temp: 58 degrees
Tackle: 20 lb.
Bait: Mullet
Where: “The Nines” Choctawhatchee River, Freeport, FL.
*About David Barron*
Capt. David Barron was born and raised on the Choctawhatchee Bay and started charter fishing in 1990. He currently works on the inland waterways throughout the U.S. for Blessey Marine as a steersman.
“Catching big fish for people is what I enjoy doing. That is it for me. I am here basically 10 days a month, and my clients are mostly local. We go after trophy fish while I am here. It gives me an advantage because it is still just as exciting for me to get on a good bite with big fish as it is for the people. I get a little carried away sometimes. It might be after dark when we get home.”


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*Alaqua*

I plan to hit the mouth of Alaqua Tuesday afternoon on the falling tide and see what happens on specks, reds, etc., an then the river on Thursday after the river falls a good bit. Maybe the river bite will improve on the drop with water coming out of the swamp in places.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

specs are reds are defiantly biting right now, iv changed my mind and iam thinking now i might put in at hwy 90 ramp found all the ramps i need right here http://fishingdestinguide.com/Rivers-CHOCTAWHATCHEE-ramps.html


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*hwy 90 ramp*

Plenty of parking at hwy 90 ramp. shade under the bridge for vehicles.

If the water is really low there are some big sand bars out from the landing and a big one under the bridge that people fish from. That's where the river gauge is located (Caryville)

Yep, that ramp website has them all


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