I am planning a trip to the St. Johns River in Florida in Feb. and I need some ideas on what tackle to bring with me and where to fish. We will be staying around Deland. Any help would be great.

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] Glenn.

There should be fish spawning, and prespawn. If targeting spawning fish hit up SALT SPRINGS, its in between Lake George and Kerr. It should not be that far of a run. Lake George has other good spots trying researching them, i'm not to familiar with it. I'm also told that down past Astor you start getting thick grass mats you can flip, and if you get in the right area it can be game on. This is about all the help i can be, hopefully it helps a little. Also Salt Springs is hard to get into at times. Really shallow flat in front of it to get in, just trim up the motor and go slow. Lastly, research and pay close attention to manatee zones and speed limits, they will ticket you.

Caleb

Lake George is very far run from Deland ramps depending on which ones you put in at, but I would say that the opening to Lake George from the river is probably 20 miles from the closest ramp in Deland. I would suggest bringing soft plastics mainly soft jerk baits, topwater baits, and crankbaits. Fish will be in pre-spawn, spawn, and post spawn mode at this time. I personally would fish either the deleon springs run or lake woodruff. Live shiners also do very well this time of year in Florida. Are you bringing a boat with you. I actually live in deland.

Sorry, if my information was a little off :-[. (I fish in a lot of tourneys where 35-60 mile runs are very common)

thanks for the info. I am flying down and will rent a boat when I get there. I was thinking the Salt Springs to but it is a real hike from where we will be staying. I figured I could ask around when I got there where any springs are thinking the water will be warmer there. I'm really not going to bed fish (personal reasons) what I was really after was tackle to bring with me. Thanks a bunch.

YOu can rent a boat from Highland Park Fish Camp. Tackle would be topwater, crankbaits, jerkbaits, and anything that is considered a power fishing bait.

Try here. Just south of DeLand.

http://www.campresort.com/

If your thinking about a guide, he will likely launch from the above site.

http://www.bobstonewater.com/index.htm

I booked this guide twice and have caught numerous (25 last trip) decent bass using live shiners. My PB was 8-4. We fished just north of the marina and traveled less than two miles total.

DeLeon springs !  Frog fishin the pads and 4"finese worms under them. (redbug) If you stay on the river find an outside turn shellbank leading to a cove. Crank or carolina ... but remember its a tide water river!!!!

It may be tidewater up near Jacksonville but in the Deland area we don't see and water level changes.