# Fishing in Blackwater Bay around Bagdad



## Sea Rover (Jan 15, 2008)

I live in the Bagdad area and would like to find some fishing areas around there. I see there are a few boat ramps near me including the old Nichols Seafood, Oyster Pile and the Bagdad ramp. How is the fishing in this area for trout/redfish/drums? I have had some luck off Garcon Point bridge on the bridge itself and alone the flats there. I really want to try further up the bay and around the Blackwater I10 bridge. 

Also does anyone have a good idea where in Blackwater does the FWC consider you in fresh water?


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## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

I can't help you with places to fish but it's well worth it just to go ahead and get a combination fresh/salt license so you don't have to worry about it.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

Sea Rover said:


> Also does anyone have a good idea where in Blackwater does the FWC consider you in fresh water?


At the Train Tressle.


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## 60hertz (Oct 1, 2007)

CurDog said:


> At the Train Tressle.


Nope.

Florida doesn't have a boundary line between salt and fresh.

Florida has a freshwater license for freshwater species and a saltwater license for saltwater species.


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

One more good cold spell and there will be plenty of trout, stripers, and scattered redfish in the blackwater system. If you launch at the shell pile, go to the left and start at the mouth of pond creek. From there you can troll up and down the river until you find them. The interstate bridge over bagdad is also a good place to fish right now. You can also cross the bay from the old nichols launch and fish the yellow river system, including broad mouth and catfish. Lots of fish to be caught in the winter.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

60hertz said:


> Nope.
> Florida doesn't have a boundary line between salt and fresh.
> Florida has a freshwater license for freshwater species and a saltwater license for saltwater species.


Just repeating what FWC told me 20 years ago, that this was "considered the line".
But what you are saying is I can fish the Bob Sikes bridge area with a Freshwater license, and it's okay so long as I say I'm bream fishing, because there is no boundary line? 
No, I didn't think so. 
Maybe if I was way up Blackwater using a gotcha lure, and told the game warden I was fishing for king mackerel, you think I could get by without a ticket? No, don't think I could either. 
But I didn't read in the OP that asked where you could fish with a particular license, but rather wanted to know where the line was. 
Again, it is "Considered" at the Milton Train Trestle. 
Can you catch reds and trout North of it, Yes, can you do it with a Saltwater license, Yes, but I wouldn't go too far North of the 90 bridge and claim I was saltwater fishing. Can you catch bream at the Blackwater I-10 Bridge, Yes. Do you need a saltwater license to catch bream there, No.


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## 60hertz (Oct 1, 2007)

CurDog said:


> Just repeating what FWC told me 20 years ago, that this was "considered the line".
> But what you are saying is I can fish the Bob Sikes bridge area with a Freshwater license, and it's okay so long as I say I'm bream fishing, because there is no boundary line?
> No, I didn't think so.
> Maybe if I was way up Blackwater using a gotcha lure, and told the game warden I was fishing for king mackerel, you think I could get by without a ticket? No, don't think I could either.
> ...


A lot has changed in 20 years.

A simple google search will show there are no maps maintained by the FWC of Florida that marks where the salt stops and the fresh starts.

Freshwater map of northwest Florida from FWC: http://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/regulations/northwest/

Saltwater maps by zone: http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/maps/

Or, just Google: Florida freshwater saltwater boundary map.


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## Desert Eagle (Apr 25, 2012)

It's NOT the body of water you're fishing in - it's the fish you have in your POSSESSION. If you have a Red Fish in your possession and you only have a freshwater license - then you've broken the law. It doesn't matter if you caught that Red in pure fresh water. The same applies to that Shell Cracker or Striped Bass. If you have either in your possession, you better have a Freshwater license if you get checked. I'd go with WELLDOYA's advice and purchase a combined Salt and Fresh water license. In the Blackwater fishery, you're going to have many opportunities to have both fish in your possession. And, some good advice is to get VERY familiar with size and bag limits of the fish you intend to target.

There is no "spot" where saltwater/freshwater begins/ends. In bays and estuaries, such as Blackwater, in MOST cases and since salt water is heavier than fresh, your boat could be floating in fresh water but a few feet below your boat could be salt. 

If you're fishing around Bagdad, you're not in Blackwater Bay. You're in the Blackwater River. Blackwater Bay begins about a mile south of the I-10 bridge at a spot called BAY POINT - as pointed out to me be an old FWC LEO. Blackwater Bay turns into East Bay at Escribano Point.


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## barefoot (Nov 3, 2011)

The line between river n bay is the I-10 bridge for delineation between fresh n salt.
Been this way since...forever. Bay point was given as a land reference BEFORE I-10 was built.

BUT...FWC will take into consideration what type of fishing you're doing or have in possession.

Winter time if u launch anywhere up in BW, better know which side of the ramp is preferred and where the ramp ends...also if u have a low hitch or a drop hitch...you're going to drag concrete when u launch.

As for hot spots...I'll give those up "when they pry my cold dead hands off my rods".


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## 60hertz (Oct 1, 2007)

barefoot said:


> The line between river n bay is the I-10 bridge for delineation between fresh n salt.
> Been this way since...forever. Bay point was given as a land reference BEFORE I-10 was built.


Interesting...does the yellow river marsh not have any effect on the salinity? 

There is a LOT of fresh water flowing from the Blackwater and Yellow Rivers.

I always considered the transitional zone to be the area around Garcon Point bridge. That area is generally where the tannic colored water tends to mix with enough clearer saltier water to notice a distinguishable change.


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## Desert Eagle (Apr 25, 2012)

60hertz said:


> Interesting...does the yellow river marsh not have any effect on the salinity?
> 
> There is a LOT of fresh water flowing from the Blackwater and Yellow Rivers.
> 
> I always considered the transitional zone to be the area around Garcon Point bridge. That area is generally where the tannic colored water tends to mix with enough clearer saltier water to notice a distinguishable change.


I agree that both rivers feeding the bay area impacts the salinity of the bay. The extreme tides will also affect the salinity. E.g.: On a strong incoming/rising tide, Yellow River water, once in the bay, could possibly flow northward. I've drifted (VERY fast), with zero wind, from Robinson Point to Bay Point and only used the trolling motor to maintain distance from the west bank.


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## barefoot (Nov 3, 2011)

60hertz said:


> Interesting...does the yellow river marsh not have any effect on the salinity?
> 
> There is a LOT of fresh water flowing from the Blackwater and Yellow Rivers.
> 
> I always considered the transitional zone to be the area around Garcon Point bridge. That area is generally where the tannic colored water tends to mix with enough clearer saltier water to notice a distinguishable change.


 Hey 60;

Yes, yellow river and it's tributaries have a big influence on BW...one day it's hot, next day too much freshwater.

Tides and the 10 or so creeks/rivers flowing into BW make it a daily and most especially a seasonal challenge to fish.

There are key features/spots where fish have been known to hang around over the decades I'm familiar with. 

Garcon pt. is actually east bay and Escambia bay. Like desert eagle noted, BW ends at the grassy point area.


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## barefoot (Nov 3, 2011)

Ironically these same fresh water in flows are what make BW one of the best fisheries around if you can unlock her secrets.


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

Years ago, the train bridge in Milton was the freshwater/saltwater cut-off. I was snatching mullet off the Bagdad Bridge across Pond Creek a few years ago and was approached by a warden. I asked him which license was needed to fish off this bridge, (I had both), and he replied that it depended on which species of fish I was targeting.


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