# wilderness waterway by CHOKO - trouble spots



## ohg123

So i finally got the nerve to run home thru the inside because it was a normal low tide that would start coming in relatively soon and it was a good opportunity to pick thru and learn.

i did pretty well but two spots got me and i am hoping someone more experienced can look at my mistakes and help me out.

basically the little cluster at the south end of Last Huston Bay doesn't seem to have a good option to get thru at low tide (PF 17T) that i could find - i poked around a lot and squeaked thru but in a spot i would not want to do at high speed - track below doesnt show the spagetti like adventure i had there.

and trouble spot 2 was just running into mud all thru oyster bay, had to putter thru from mark 68 almost to the north end when it got deep again. i didnt got stuck completely, just shallow in general. i am guessing in oyster i want to be hugging the western shore?

thanks all - willing to do the work, just dont want to spend the night in the skiff if i can help it.

















below are my tracks - any advice would be great!


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## lemaymiami

That area (the entire upper bay system from Lostmans to Choko) is actually wind sensitive.. With a good wind coming from the wrong direction the waters can be a foot or more lower than expected... Remember those nice markers are mostly for paddlers and anyone else needing a breadcrumb trail so they don't get lost way up inside... They don't actually guarantee safe passage (enough water...). 

My best advice is to run it regularly (if you're so inclined....) and remember your skiff draws a lot less water up on plane than at idle... This is the old fashioned "run it like you stole it" method - but a better way is simply to hook up with someone that really knows the area and ask to be able to follow them through (much better, and it's the way I learned - and I don't consider myself any kind of expert in that area...). Running in clean water - or hitting the odd oyster patch might only be a difference of a few feet in some places... 

A few years back I was lucky enough to be with someone that really knows the interior - and we ran up the Huston River to the upper bays... I told him how impressed I was by his knowledge of all the bars in that river (many more than in the Chatham...). He laughed an shook his head, saying "Yeah I've hit every one of those ...... " 

That's the 'glades... over on the Flamingo side of things it's much, much more forgiving - but some days the fishing is just better on one side or the other...

Hope this helps...


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## I Heart Big Ugglies

First picture (Last Houston Bay) you need to hug just a couple feet off the shoreline on the west side. Follow the contour of the shoreline all the way thought the pass just a couple feet off the bank and you are good to go on the lowest of tides. 

Second picture (Oyster Bay) your route looks dead on. Just gotta "run it like you stole it" as mentioned above.


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## ohg123

I Heart Big Ugglies said:


> First picture (Last Houston Bay) you need to hug just a couple feet off the shoreline on the west side. Follow the contour of the shoreline all the way thought the pass just a couple feet off the bank and you are good to go on the lowest of tides.
> 
> Second picture (Oyster Bay) your route looks dead on. Just gotta "run it like you stole it" as mentioned above.


thats funny because i was fine across last huston just the islands at south end were hard to get thru and then in oyster i was gunning across when i hit bottom and had to putter the rest of the way. i am guessing i hit that little high spot you can see in the pic and then i was too shallow to get up on plane so had to putter it out. 

looks to me like in the island cluster i should hump the west shoreline at the bottleneck and then i am good to go, but next time ill still slow down and make sure its mud and not oysters im blowing thru. then for the rest of oyster maybe run point to point on W shore if i am still on a plane at that point.


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## Smackdaddy53

Get a tunnel and rig it right. If there’s water you’re good


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## mavdog32

Just checked my unit, pretty much ran the exact routes sat and sun. Ran it on the rising tide both times.

I'd say you picked pretty well!


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## Padre

That little spot at the south end of Huston is a great place to fish when the tide is running through there.


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## Mercuryproteam

I run the Florida Marine Tracks in my Simrad. If you don't run down there often as I don't, FMT is a life saver. Worth every penny.


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