Shore and Kayak Fishing

Oscar Scherer State Park

We reserved the coldest days of this fall so far to camp and fish somewhere local that we could go to without a lot of driving. Oscar Scherer State Park was a good choice. While most camping spots are full of visitors from the north all winter, this small park is often overlooked by the RV crowd. The locals that enjoy this park, for the most part, only take up space on the weekends. By camping during the week, we were able to reserve a spot with short notice. 

South Creek passes through this park providing protected water for kayakers trying to escape the cold winter wind. The black mud bottom soaks up solar heat providing a refuge for snook and other gamefish that are seeking warmer water. While the camping spots were good, the kayak launches were worse than we expected based on previous visits. The only usable launch was the one by the entry station, but the trail from the parking area was deep black mud. This launch was better when we could back down to the sand beach launch. Now, with black, ankle-deep mud, we had to pull our kayaks on their dollies to the water, then rinse the mud off before stowing the wheels back in the car. That process had to be repeated when we loaded up again. This launch could be easily fixed with a load of shell over the mud, but after talking with the ranger at the entry station we found that the park was not interested in doing that.

The ADA launch was aground on this same black mud at low tide and featured a 180 degree turn on the approach dock that would make it impossible to navigate with a larger fishing kayak. I asked about the state of disrepair on this launch and was told they don’t like to rent kayaks anymore due to the instructional requirements involved caused by the liabilities of the launch usage. There was no consideration of the launch issues for folks that bring their own kayaks. 

On the water, we fished with jigs and shad tails as we paddled up the creek towards our camping spot. This cold snap made the bite a little slow, but we still managed to catch and release some smaller snook while losing a few larger fish to downed timber which provides structure and cover for the snook here. We were both surprised by a larger jack crevalle that smashed Kim’s jig in this dark water. Later, we paddled under the US 41 bridge, but the cold wind convinced us to call it a day and begin the massive kayak cleanup that awaited us at camp.

The next day, having had our fill of black tar mud, we launched at Vamo Park a little further north. Here we found clean water and a sandy launch. Paddling south, we found ourselves in a maze of mangrove islands with very shallow bays to cross. When we run our kayaks aground, we’re talking really skinny water. We pressed on finding slightly deeper (4”) depths we could float on. We probably would have turned back if it wasn’t for the rising tide. Eventually, we found a cut between islands that led to the ICW. Spotted trout were there in abundance on the deeper flats outside of the channel. Though most were small, probably one in ten was a keeper for those who like trout. We released all our fish to grow for a while longer. We both like this launch  and plan to return on a day trip during high tide. These shallow protected bays should attract redfish, flounder, and kayak anglers on the cold days that lie ahead this winter. 

Oscar Scherer State Park does have plenty of hiking trails we explored on our third day prior to checking out. Of particular interest was “Big Lake”. It was only about a mile from the campground as the crow flies but, due to the Legacy Trail and the limited crossings there, it was considerably further. We didn’t take fishing rods, but to our surprise, after a couple of miles of deep sand hiking, we found the lake and line recycling tubes for anglers. Access to the lake would be difficult due to low water and deep grass and mud along the shoreline. Maybe next time. 

Kim Beery with with a nice jack caught at Oscar Sherer State Park.