# Indian Pass area tips?



## zthomas

Gentlemen,

During my kids' spring break in a couple weeks, we're doing our usual March trip from Orlando to the panhandle. This time we're camping at Indian Pass and towing a 23' bay boat.

I'll have kids (4 and 9), wife, my mid-70s parents, and a couple of dogs. So chances are we won't get a lot of fishing in, and if we do, it will be of a decidedly non-technical nature.

That being said, I'd really appreciate any local intel on fishing, beaches, places to eat and drink, things to watch out for on the water, etc.

Would love to do something a little different from the redfish-and-trout-on-the-flats game. Any good areas for the kids to pull on sheepshead? Are tripletail and/or cobia around this time of year without long runs?

Seems like it might be fun to run over to Apalachicola by boat for lunch and a beer one day. Is that do-able in a bay boat with a chart and reasonable care? Or is it a local knowledge required kind of thing inside the islands?


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## Zika

Might be a tad early, but there may be some advance cobia cruising through. Probably too soon for tripletail. Medium action rod and Al Gag's Whip-it eel lures with a 1/2-oz. jig head. Check out all the can buoys and channel markers for lurking fish. The Dry Bar off St. Vincent will hold some sheepies. Fiddler crabs or fresh shrimp. Beautiful spots along the back of Little St. George for reds, but head to Bob Sikes Cut for big bulls on moving water. Live or cut mullet will do the trick and sheepies around the rocks there as well.

Trailer the boat over to the St. Joe state park and launch at Eagle Harbor. Absolutely gorgeous water and reds/trout on the Keys-like flats. The sheeps will be spawning and you can sight cast for them there. Likely Spanish mackerel in the center of the bay and off the Cape.

Easy ride over to Apalach. Scipio Creek has a nice marina and restaurant. It's not far to walk into town to check out some of the antique shops and there are a couple fly/gear shops as well. Just follow the channel markers and you'll be fine. Back of St. Vincent gets shallow and muddy but most of the bay is trouble-free.

The Owl Cafe in Apalach is great, a little pricey. The Indian Pass Raw Bar is a local institution.

Shoot me a PM if you have any other questions.


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## LowHydrogen

@Zika hit the high notes, if you run the inside to Apalach (behind St Vincent) watch out for bars, Pickalene bar really only has one good place to get through with a boat that size. There are big drum in the lagoon, but again the lagoon has plenty of bars. The water on the inside of that side is not very clear so poke along slow if you go up in there.


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## Darkstar

I agree on the St. Joe Bay recommendation. It is a great place for family boating and fishing and the Indian Pass Raw Bar is one of our favorites! Enjoy your trip


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## Heat_PCB

Darkstar said:


> I agree on the St. Joe Bay recommendation. It is a great place for family boating and fishing and the Indian Pass Raw Bar is one of our favorites! Enjoy your trip


Best oysters this side of apalachicola


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## flysalt060

Cobia hitting the docks in destin. Some have been spotted between aplach and Mexico beach. Pompano showing up. Haven't heard about triple tail, but everything seems early this year , so they should to.


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## zthomas

Thanks to all of you for the recommendations, and to Deep South Fly for the PM.

The weather basically sucked -- at least for fishing and boating -- except on our first morning, but it was a fun trip anyway. That's just a beautiful, wild area, and I wish we'd had a lot more time to explore.

The first day, we took the boat out Indian Pass, cruised along the front side of St. Vincent, stopped at the north tip of Little St. George for a couple hours to explore and eat lunch, then returned to camp through the bay.

The next day we tried fishing around Big Bayou and the back of St. Vincent, but the wind was howling, the water was muddy, the kids were cold, and we didn't spend much time at it.

The wind howled all of day three too. Didn't even put the boat in the water but drove into Apalach instead.

A few random notes for people who might find this thread in the future:

Indian Pass Campground is definitely a step up from the RV parking lots along the coast. It's not exactly "primitive camping" as they advertise but more dispersed than the full-on snowbird RV parks -- enough to sort of feel like camping, at least in most of the spots. It's also in a beautiful setting. The boat ramp is free and convenient.

We went to Indian Pass Raw Bar on Monday night. They're closed Mondays (my fault for not checking). They sent us to their Port St. Joe location, which, being honest, kind of sucked. They had salty-ass Texas oysters, and the shrimp weren't great either.

The snowbirds from Michigan in the camp next to ours were catching multiple slot and overslot reds in the surf out around the point every single day using, I shit you not, Fishbites on oversized Walmart rods with painted spinning reels.

Apalachicola seems like a great little town -- just touristy enough to keep the wife interested but still plenty of real. I can see going back for a no-kids weekend.

Boss Oyster in Apalach was awesome. Friendly, low-key, not trying to be anything it wasn't, with fresh, good food (including local oysters that were damn good). Can't beat the atmosphere sitting outside watching the boats.

For those who, like me, have driven by it a bunch of times but never stopped, Ouzts Too on the St. Marks River was also great. A little on the divey side and took quite a while for our lunch to come out, but when it did come it was really good. One of the better oyster po boys I've had anywhere. Definitely the real deal.

Happy to answer any questions I can about the campground, etc.

Looking east from the tent area of Indian Pass Campground









North tip of Little St. George









Old wooden skiff wreck the kid was convinced was pirate-related









North Little St. George again. Miles and miles of empty beach.









Kids and my folks on the way back to camp

















Beach in front of our site at Indian Pass Campground









Snowbirds catching reds with Fishbites









Camp at sunrise


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