Annual Season Pre-sale:

Each year I offer a pre-season sale for the upcoming year. The spaces allocated to this sale go quickly so if you are coming in the 2008-2009 (October 2008 – June 2009) you want to get in on this deal.

The way it works is quite simple. Book your trip within the next 30 days pre-paid and save $75.00 per day on your trip. It is not required that you pick the exact days at the time of booking as you have until October 1, to make that decision. Obviously I will cooperate on date changes if available. The booking rate for this deal is $300 per day.

Effective as of July 2008, I have no alternative but to raise my rates by $25.00. All rates will be adjusted.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

PS: No service fee applied to sale rate credit card charges.

      No cancellation on sales trips - we will reschedule to your convenience.

Submitted by: Kevin "Swede" Oleen - 9/8/08

Florida's famous Stick Marsh and Mr. George Welcome summoned me to prepare my gear and depart Tampa eastbound at O dark thirty yesterday morning.  George and I agreed to meet up at about 6:30am - so I left early enough to beat George to our meeting spot.  No such luck - arrived at 5:55am and George was there waiting on me.  After grabbing a quick McDonald's breakfast - we made the trek to the Marsh. 

What a beautiful morning we had after TS Hanna departed for the NE USA.  Partly cloudy skies, water 85 degrees and a light breeze - perfect.  We pulled up on the first stop - George says lipless CB or TX-rig - so I pull out an El Grande 6 inch Pepper Stick in Tilapia color.  George hooks up with a couple smaller fish to start the day off  right.  Then I get a thump - I set the hook - and fight the fish pictured below to the boat.  It went about 4.5 pounds and man what a fight.  My 5/0 Gami was bent  - a first for me - had to replace a hook after fish number 1.


We went and checked out a couple more areas with not a lot happening - probably due to effects of Hanna passing through the day prior.  We picked up a couple of fish though - one here and one there.  George's experience on this water showed and he kept up the search.  We idled into another area of Farm 13 - and there they were.  Fish started busting shad out in front of us.  I cast that lipless CB as far as I could in the direct of the fish and wham - fish on.  Did I mention these fish can fight.    I lost count - but guessing George and I had fish on - on each of our next 10 casts.  All these fish in the 1.5-4.0 lb class.

The fish took a short break before schooling once again - more catching action ensued before George and I decided to call it a day at 3pm.  I was a hot day and I was plum wore out. 

I've fished most of Florida's larger bodies of water - and I can definitely tell you - fish here fight better than any other.  They'd give Coosa River Spots a run for their money.  They just refuse to give up.

Additionally - I was thoroughly impressed by George Welcome and had an absolutely fantastic time.  George and I shared some life stories, he has great equipment, and he put us on fish.  I've never actually fished with a guide before, but as George now knows - I will be back.  Thanks for the adventure George!

Submitted 9/14/08

Went out yesterday to see just how well the spillway was producing. Parties that had fished it Friday were there regaling us with tales of wonder of the numbers and size of the bass caught on Friday. Having fished these conditions many times before, I knew that their tales were very true.

However, yesterday was a complete contradiction of the previous days event. Seven fishermen fishing the mouth of the spillway only produced eight fish over the two hour period that I was there.

Amazingly the water flowing into the Marsh went from excellent to poor with DO levels dropping and pushing the bass back out into the lake. Since my goal was to follow up on the previous days report I was down the road and headed to check on conditions at Ansin/Garcia.

Ansin/Garcia's condition is typical summer conditions. The impoundments are hydrilla packed making for difficult travel with the big motor. Of particular note was, contrary to rumors being spread by those that don't truly know, the reported fish kill was false. I traveled this lake in all navigable waters, talked with a couple of the fishermen out there, and at no time saw so much as one dead fish. I do know that some carp had washed through the gate south of route 60, and drifted through, but no fish kill on Ansin/Garcia. Of particular interest was the inflow of water through the pipes from the east marsh. Water was screaming through all three pipes, and I marked many fish on the bend.

Still have some openings on the Sale. There isn't much time left before I withdraw the offer so give us a call and save some money! See ya out there.

Submitted 9/17/08 by George

What started as a very slow day ended up in a not-so-bad manner. This morning Tim Wong from San Francisco and myself left the ramp under a full moon, anticipating a hot bite at one of the local hot spots. It was not to be however as the current that produces the bite wasn't there. We did try for a short while looking for some possible leftovers, but what we got was nothing.

Moving from that location to the outside wood on the south end of the Farm we worked from the bottom of the eastern N/S ditch all the way over to the bottom of the western N/S ditch. Nary a bit was to be had as we worked weightless Senkos, Swimimg Senkos, and Lewis rattle traps.

Giving that up as a cause that was lost I headed to the E/W feeder canal. The move was the right one as we soon found fish that wished to play. At the start we had a weightless Senko and a rattle trap going. First hookup was on the plastic but it was a short lived fight as he/she slipped off. The second fish came on a rattle trap, as did the third, and from there through the end of the day all fish were caught on a rattle trap.

Twenty six fish from 3 - 9-pounds were landed throughout the day. Conditions were tough today with heat and humidity soaring to uncomfortable levels. The big fish inhaled the trap and was solidly hooked up. She put up a gallant fight, posed for pictures, weighing, and measuring, and then returned to her watery home to fight another day.

Tim and I will be out there tomorrow looking for more of the same. Hopefully the heat will be less, and the big fish more. See you out there. Say hi if you get the chance.

Submitted 9/2/08

My last trip on the Marsh proved to be a difficult on. With winds out of the NE at about 15 MPH and the direction of route traveled things were tough for us. Only 10 bass made it to the boat. With the wind blowing the one good thing is temperatures were substantially cooler.

There were a couple of other boats that we encountered out there. One Stratos was carrying our friend Swede, and the other, a couple of regulars on the Marsh. Steve P and Champion Don were working the same ditch from the opposite end and had a very successful day of it. We just started from the wrong end of the ditch.

Everything is in good shape on the lake as we come into the season. Water levels are good, and clarity is very good on the Farm side. We are already seeing some migration to the south and expect that October will be quite a month for us. The big gals will be feeding heavily in anticipation of upcoming spawns and we do know where they feed.

It is still a bit warm so don't forget: hydration and sunscreen are two important items on this lake. See you out there. Season sale is still on for another week and details can be viewed at my web site.