Fishing The Ditches For Sea Trout

Since it was late when I got home from work this evening, I decided to try fishing the ditches for sea trout with top water plugs instead of dunking spoons or soft baits for redfish.

It was around 7:15 pm when I got on the water and I didn't waste any time fishing my usual "oddball" spots.  I headed straight for the deeper holes in the marsh canal.

The air temperature was 82 degrees when I drove up Peacocks Pocket road and there was a brisk wind over the water.

I wasn't sure I could control top water baits along the marsh canal but I gave it a shot anyway.

The first ditch I fished produced some small (very small) ladyfish and after hooking, snagging and releasing three fish in a row,  I decided to move up the road to fish another spot.

Ladyfish are a blast to catch on top water baits but when they are this small, they're just a pain in the but.

The next spot produced another larger ladyfish that hit my newly acquired Chug Bug as soon as it hit the water.

The fish jumped twice and threw the Chug Bug several feet into the air back to me.

Two casts later and I managed a hookup with a slot sea trout that looked to be about 20 inches or better.

I got the fish to the bank and made the mistake of trying to haul it up through the brush instead of scooting down the bank and landing it the proper way.  The fish flipped off the treble hooks half way up the bank and was returned to the water.

Fishing the ditches for sea trout is great fun but landing the fish through all the brush is another story.

Anyway it was getting late and I moved a few yards up the road to another deeper spot near a bend in the marsh canal.

I changed rods and Chug Bug patterns.  I decided to try a black back silver Chug Bug instead of the frog pattern I had been using.

I smeared on some Pro-Cure Super Gel and shot a cast to the opposite bank of the canal.  About half way back to the bank, a nice "almost gator" sea trout literally inhaled the Chug Bug and jumped halfway out of the water.

I could see it was a good fish as it took off up the canal and headed almost immediately to the safety of a brush  pile.

I could feel that the fish was still on the bait but the line was underneath a bush at the bank.

Giving the fish some slack didn't do much except make the fish slosh around in the water so, I opened up the drag and left the rod at the bank while I skinnied down the bank to the brush pile.

After a few minutes of balancing on the bush, I finally got out far enough to grab the fish by the gills.

After snapping the leader off the Chug Bug, I pulled the fish out of the water and crawled back up the bank to take some pics.

 

The fish was a little over 26 inches and was none the worse for wear when I returned it back into the marsh canal.

 

I missed two more nice sea trout around the same size before the green back horse flies made me leave the area.  They seem quite fond of my blood type.

On the way out I had to take a pic of the sunset.

Hope you enjoy,

Till next time,   Tight Lines.