Thread: Slabfest in central Florida

The Florida Crappie Assn would probably be a good group to get ahold of, good group and really involved in speck fishing(their classic is this weekend) They have a monthly tournament, Sandy's Bait and Tackle in Tavares also has a tournament the first sat. of each month (except Jan and Feb) on the Harris Chain, maybe all the speck fishermen can get together for a good day.--shu

Thanks for the info. Wasn't aware of the FCA. Will check it out. I am in Indiana, 24 degrees, until the 22nd. The 25th I am going to meet TNT at Talquin for another week of fishing. Check out the slafest pictures on the GA site. Lot of fun and great information sharing.

Chuck

i don't dare to look at anything mentioning Lake Talquin, got minnows, gas in the truck and boat, poles are in the boat, i might sleepwalk to the truck and leave before i could stop myself. Would like to spend Jan and Feb there but wouldn't have anywhere to come home to.--shu

Dont go to Talquin...The fish are small and the lake is trashy:p...Chuck and I are only meeting there to try out his new Jet Ski:D

What is a slabfest and how can I participate? Also what part of Little lake harris is good? I just parked my boat there for the winter?

Will have to look up Stick Marsh on google earth to see where it is. Never fished there, but would be a nice change from the Harris Chain. Know too that the Harris chain has a lot of miles of water. Does Stick marsh have a lot of pads/grass or deep water avaiable? May be hard to fit it in this quick with the holidays comming on in just a few days, any thoughts on mid Jaunaury when more people will be here?
Dusty

Originally Posted by rwebster14

What is a slabfest and how can I participate? Also what part of Little lake harris is good? I just parked my boat there for the winter?

Slabfest is a get together of Crappie.com members for a day of friendly competition. We have a few Slabfests in GA every year at different lakes. It's just a day (or 2 or 3) when the members of this site get to meet each other and share info about crappie fishing. When we have one, there is always plenty of food, fun and fellowship. The actual "Slabfest" usually takes place on a Saturday and everyone pitches in on the expense of a trophy. Whoever puts the Slabfest together can set it up any way they want to. We dont have cash payouts to the winners here in GA, just a trophy and bragging rights for the top 3 teams and a Big Fish. Cash payouts has a way of bringing out people that do not post on here until it is time to fish, then they disappear after the Slabfest. Its basically a time of meeting others around the state and learning. We have people from as far away as Pennsylvania that attending ours and anyone is welcome at any of our Slabfests. I fish Talquin quite a bit and would probably fish some other lakes if Florida did have a Slabfest.

Originally Posted by centerdriver

Will have to look up Stick Marsh on google earth to see where it is. Never fished there, but would be a nice change from the Harris Chain. Know too that the Harris chain has a lot of miles of water. Does Stick marsh have a lot of pads/grass or deep water avaiable? May be hard to fit it in this quick with the holidays comming on in just a few days, any thoughts on mid Jaunaury when more people will be here?
Dusty

Dusty;
Here's two pics I posted in an earlier post as to the location of Stick Marsh and Farm pond 13 (AKA- Farm 13).
The northern half of the rectangle is called Stick Marsh, a little above the middle runs a dike from east to west, and on the west end is an opening where boat traffic can go around and south into the bottom half, called Farm 13 (AKA-Farm Pond).
This is Glenn's territory, he fishes there almost exclusively most weekends.
I posted a few posts back some pics of the place when me and Glenn fished there recently.
I didn't notice much if any at all lilly pads except where one launches their boat, right there is plenty of real estate to fish pads, but, the bodies of water of Stick Marsh and Farm Pond are pretty much empty of pads.
If I recall from Glenn and mine's recent trip, the depth was around 6-8 ft.
If you go down, ya go south on I-95, pass Melborne exit (Hwy #-192), pass next exit (Palm Bay), and get off at the next one (Malabar), go east to big light (Babcock St) hang right, go south on Babcock St, for, I believe around 12 miles (long way ! ), then you wll come to a big canal running east to west (can't recall it's name), you must cross over, and right there on the south side is a dirt road taking off westward running right along the south side of the canal. I believe this dirt road is approx 7 miles long (pretty good ways) take it all the way to it's end and there is the boat launch, etc, etc.
Is a good trip from here (Titusville), so will be even longer for you.
But, if ya ain't never been, always good to do new places.
P.S. Be very carefull, look out for the occasional submerged trees, most times you can see just a little sticking out of the water, best to run in the canals and go slow anywhere else unless following someone, etc....
I would suggest PM'ng Glenn for a rendezvous for first trip.....