The Gator Trout That Didn't Get Away

This is the story of the Gator trout that didn't get away.

A couple of weeks ago I hooked up to a gator trout that got off at the bank.

I had back problems and couldn't bend down fast enough to land thefish and the hook literally dropped out of the fish's mouth right at the bank.

Another fish story you say!  Not so.

Anyway, my wife and I took Elmo and Odie to Subway this afternoon for a couple of much needed subs.

We decided to eat them while driving around Peacocks Pocket road to see what was going on, but I wanted to see if anyone was catching fish at Haulover Canal, so we decided to head there first.

 

The draw bridge was up and the road was blocked to vehicle traffic due to bridge work, so we drove up to the canal via the eastern dirt trail.

There were several vehicles parked below the bridge and a couple of guys throwing a cast net around.

Since we didn't bring any rods, I didn't really care.

There was absolutely no current in Haulover Canal today.  The water was dead calm.



I took a few pics and asked about the fishing.

I was told that the black drum were tearing up shrimp, crab, clams and even cut bait at the mouth of the Mosquito Lagoon.

We ate our subs and headed towards Peacocks Pocket road.

We entered the eastern entrance and drove past the Peacocks Pocket canoe launch heading north.

There weren't many fishermen around the boat launch area; probably because the grass was over waist high throughout the unimproved road. 

I saw one guy fishing the Indian River side of the road cleaning a slot redfish but no one else looked like they were catching any fish.

I drove up behind Ron a friend of mine and asked him if he was catching anything.

He said he caught a slot size redfish earlier on a mud minnow and was heading home.

We parted ways and headed towards the house.

I almost didn't go fishing this afternoon.  It was raining hard with lightning at the house and I didn't really want to tempt fate by going fishing in this mess.  However, when it started to ease up I asked Karen if she wanted to go fishing with me.

She has allergies and felt that the high grass would do nothing but cause problems, so she bid me adios as I loaded up a few rods.

It was around 6:30 pm when I left the house and the air temperature was in the low 80s.

When I got to Peacocks Pocket Road the air temperature was in the high 70s and the water was almost dead calm.

It was raining off and on but there was no lightning in the area.

I headed directly to the small pond I fished Friday evening and did nothing but waste my time there.

This 10 foot alligator kept messing with my fishing.

I had a couple of taps from small sea trout before I foul hooked a small ladyfish on my gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.

I tried a Nemire Red Ripper that I had on one of my spinning rods and missed a redfish that turned on the lure and missed.  

I fished several areas in the marsh canal and a couple of small ponds without another bite so I decided to try the area where I lost a large gator trout a few weeks ago.

The water was still dead calm so I decided to fish my beaten up "go to" Johnson Sprite gold spoon.

As it started to drizzle again I flipped the spoon out past a weedy island and retrieved it over a shallow grassy hump where baitfish usually congregate.

As I retrieved the gold spoon over the shallow area and it headed for deeper water, a huge gator sea trout jumped halfway out of the water and inhaled the spoon.

The fish made a long run and headed toward some brush but I managed to steer it away from the stickup.  It turned and headed up the other direction of the marsh canal towards more brush but I again managed to gently play the fish until it finally gave up the fight.

The fish looked like an oversize redfish but it was a big gator trout that didn't get away this time.

I scurried down the bank through some brush to "lip" the big fish and shinnied back up the bank to measure the fish and take some pics.

I didn't plan on keeping the fish but it was hooked deep in the gills and was bleeding so I decided to have her for dinner.

I took some quick pics as the rain started coming down heavier and decided to call it a day.

The fish hit at around 8:15 pm and it was getting dark so I turned the truck around and went home.

I got Karen to take a couple of pics of me holding the fish.  Looking at pictures of fish laying on the grass gets boring after a while! 

The fish measured in at 31 inches and is one of the biggest gator trout I have landed to date.

I'm still trying to catch the one that got got away last year.  Anyway, the gator trout that didn't get away is in the pics and now the fridg.

Till next time,