A summer speck spawn? You read it here first

**A summer speck spawn? You read it here first
JIM SUTTON**

**THE ST. JOHNS RIVER AND AREA LAKES:** Heres the strangest report. Anglers on Newnans Lake are catching the fire out of speckled perch. And Tom the Bait Guy said many of the females are bearing roe. This is just about as 180 around from the norm as it gets. The spawn for these tasty panfish is always a cold water thing, with December to February as the best months. Water temperatures there have got to be in the high 80s.

This got me curious, because Ive never fished that lake, located about six miles east of Gainesville. So I did a little Googling and was surprised at how pretty it is over there. There are bike and walking trails in the adjacent state park. Theres a fishing pier and a boat ramp. Two very cool tributaries feed into it â€â€ Hatchet and Little Hatched Creeks.

The lake is around 7,000 acres with an average depth of 5 feet and 12 feet in at the deepest.

The lake was originally called Pithlachocco. I suppose it was changed in order to help fishing writers out. But whats really interesting is a drought in 2000 lowered the water sufficiently to expose a graveyard of canoes â€â€ about 120 in all. This is the largest find of indigenous canoes in the country. Carbon dating put their age at between 2,300 and 5,000 years old. Maybe it was these Indians who made up the long name because they couldnt write so they werent concerned about spelling, so why not?

At any rate, if you want to do some winter speck fishing in the middle of the summer, thats where to do it.

The croaker bite around Green Cove Springs is picking up in the channels around the Shands Bridge. The mullet bite off the bridge abutments is about as good as it gets right now.

Crabbers are beginning to find shrimp hulls in their traps. That always means the shrimping season is a go. Theyre still small â€â€ bait shrimp. Most of the reports are coming from Green Cove Springs, north to Jacksonville. One guide threw the net one time near Palatka after baiting it up and had around 50 small shrimp in a single cast.

Panfish are always biting, so you can generally catch plenty for supper. But this is not the best time to catch quality fish.

The catfish bite is almost always overlooked, but they thrive in warmer water and, for my money, are about the best-eating fish in the river.

There is a good bite of stripers, panfish and catfish in the spillway of the Rodman Dam. Nighttime is definitely a right time to try it.

THE INTRACOASTAL WATER-WAY: The flounder fishing seems to have slowed some, but larger fish are out there. A 6-pounder was weighed at the Vilano ramp this week. The redfish are scattered. Some guides, especially up around Palm Valley, are finding the same schools every day and taking their limits from them. This is also the case down around the Matanzas Inlet and the flats west of Devils Elbow.

Black drum, many small, are in the deeper areas of the ICW.

Weve heard nothing about speckled seatrout this week.

One good bet for some fun fishing is targeting feisty mangrove and lane snapper under docks and along seawalls. Both are seriously tasty fish and are best fried whole (minus guts.

**THE ATLANTIC:** The king-fish showed up again on the Nine-Mile bottom this week, just as the pogy pods disappeared off the beach. Most guides are jigging up sardines for bait out on the reefs. The kings are generally getting bigger. A couple of fish pushing 20 pounds are part of the days catch.

I spoke with Captain Guy Spear at just after 9 a.m. Wednesday. He has already limited on king-fish, caught a couple of bonito â€â€ and was heading east to try to get his charters on some barracuda. Cobia are still around. Captain Scott Shank had one Tuesday and two on Monday. Both hit live bait on the troll.

Out in deeper water, the bottom fishing remains good, especially for those chumming up schools of 10-pound mangrove snapper off the bottom.

**THE WEATHER:** Its southerly winds at 10 to 15 knots all weekend and seas of 2 to 3 feet.

Mea Culpa: For years Ive been spoofing around with Randy Guy of Avid Angler. I thought I was doing the same a couple weeks ago when I wrote that hed seen a photo of a 71-pound dolphin, then wrote, “ I cant swear to the catch because Randy was telling the story and, well, you know. Apparently a number of folks â€â€ Randy included â€â€ believed I was impugning his honesty. That was not the intent. Randy is the “go to guy in town for the fishing lowdown, and Ive counted on his expertise and knowledge for years. A long time ago an old editor warned me about how potentially dangerous kidding around in print can be. I believe he counseled, “Remember, you cant wink in a newspaper.

Sorry Randy.

***CONTRIBUTED photo** Vickie and Annie got in some quality time on the water, visiting from West Monroe, Louisiana. Captain Rob Bennett put the ladies on this pair of redfish.*

**CALENDAR:** Saturday, the countys newest artificial reef will be named in honor of Jimmy Blalock, and the boating/fishing community is invited to the event. The “Honest Jim Blalock Reef Marker will be dedicated at 10 a.m. at the reef site â€â€ N2952.701 and W8109.206. Boats are asked to fly the American Flag and are invited to stay a while afterward because the reef is already holding fish, according to the county and the Ancient City Game Fish Association. Jimmy is a true blessing to the local fishing community. Call Donna at 904-814-0515.

JIM SUTTON PROVIDES A WEEKLY FISHING REPORT FOR THE RECORD. CONTACT HIM AT [email protected] .