# St. Johns starting to heat up .....



## Andrewp (Jul 23, 2010)

Got two opportunities to get out on the St. Johns including New Years Day.  I got 5 species on fly each time -- bass, bream (both bluegill and redbreast), crappie, shad (more on that in a moment) and ..... channel cat!!  Actually now have caught 3 cats on fly so far, so I guess it's not a total fluke.  What I have still yet to catch is one of those nice hybrid stripers .....

The shad run is still spotty/slow, but hopefully will pick up in the next week or so.  I got two the first trip (terrible weather conditions) and six this last trip.  Spec bite has been great, lots of big slabs.

I caught everything on this one fly, seems to work all the time for me (#6 or #8 hook size):




AP


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## jeross (Jun 6, 2009)

Nice going AP. I agree that the shad aren't thick yet, but they are showing up farther south. 

I was fishing the St. Johns between SR 46 and Lake Harney yesterday and caught pretty much the same as you. I was shut out with the shad on my fly rod, but caught lots of crappie, a nice bass and many bluegill, redbreast and long-ear. My fishing buddy was jigging and caught two shad, some nice crappie and a 5 pound striper hybrid. All of these fish were feeding on small minnows in the river bends. I fished a tiny feathered jig on my 5-weight and my pal was jigging a shad dart.


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## Andrewp (Jul 23, 2010)

Nice -- I was fishing south towards the Econ.

What exactly did your friend's shad dart look like? Was he fishing deeper than you? I'm trying to throw something bigger/heavier, with an 8-wt, but didn't know if anyone else had any ideas on what to try and how to fish for those hybrids .....


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## jeross (Jun 6, 2009)

He makes his own. They are like this one but uglier and with polka dots. They can be purchased at Bitters (for example) - the smaller ones aren't too heavy for the fly rod. He was using a spinning outfit and he did have a small split shot a foot or so up from the jig.










I probably only got down six feet or so with my tiny jig due to the current running the way it was. I want my shad, too!
:'(


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

Thanks for sharing the report. I went out on Monroe a few days ago for just two hours and caught 4 shad and 1 crappie, all on jigs. Haven't attempted the fly rod this season yet, but will soon.


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