Fishing A Windy Cold Front

Fishing a windy cold front was not exactly what I was planning on today but it is what it is.

I decided to try out  a new spinning outfit that I picked up at Gander Mountain this Friday but I didn't get out to the river today until about 2:30 pm.

The air temperature was dropping and the wind was perfect for para-sailing; not too great for fishing.

As usual, I packed several rods into the truck and headed for the nearest water.

As I got to Peacocks Pocket, I decided to try a few casts around the first of the culverts to see how my new rig would cast into the wind.

I bought the outfit to cast small lightweight baits to finicky sea trout and redfish during the summer and cooler winter months.

The 6' 6" IM-7 graphite rod was mated to a 7 ball bearing 5.2:1 gear ratio Gander Mountain spinning reel.  I loaded the rig with 300 yards of 20# Power Pro tipped with 8 feet of 12# fluorocarbon leader and a new 1/4 oz. soft bait called "Gabbies".

The Gabbies were billed as "fish candy" for sea trout, redfish, snook and even flounder so I decided to give them a shot.

I smeared on some Pro-Cure inshore salt water super gel and almost immediately started catching sea trout.

In the five or six mile stretch that I fished, I managed to hook and release at least a dozen small sea trout using the above rig and Gabbies bait. 

 

With the wind blowing like it was today, I can honestly say this was a minor miracle.

I met a couple of buddies who fish the "swamp" area on a regular basis like I do, but neither of them had any luck fishing this afternoon. 

I finally hooked a fish with some weight and it broke about 2 inches of my new rig's rod tip off while fighting the fish.  After talking to the guy at Gander Mountain, they said it was probably a factory defect and said they would replace the rod.

The traffic in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge was heavy with sight seers this afternoon and for good reason. 

 


The alligators were all over the banks sunning themselves before the cold front and the Rosette Spoonbills, Ibis and Pelicans were gathering in flocks all over the place. 

  
As I was driving down Peacocks Pocket road a couple of guys were pulling a kayak out from the marsh side of the road temporarily blocking my progress. 

I asked them if they caught anything and they said they had a couple of redfish and a sea trout that they picked up on shrimp.  Both said that nothing was hitting artificial baits.

  
I pulled over and took a couple of pics of their catch and moved on to see if I could fool a redfish.

About two miles up the road in a relatively calm area, I finally hooked into a slot redfish using the same Gabbies as bait. 

I tied a #2 Glo Gabbie on my other spinning rod and pitched it ahead of a wake that I saw moving close to the opposite bank.  The fish hit almost immediately and after a nice battle, I managed to boca grip the red on to the bank.

 The fish had gill damage so I decided to take it home and fillet it instead of letting it go to waste in the marsh.  I know the gators didn't like that idea much.

As the temperature continued to drop, I decided to head for home and call it a day.

Fishing a windy cold front can be productive with the right approach and baits but it also wears you out.  

Till next time, Tight Lines!