Playalinda Beach In December

Fishing Playalinda Beach in December can be a lonely experience, especially during the week.

Late this afternoon, I decided to head to the beach to see if anyone was catching fish.  I tool along a mid-sized "river" rod and my Okuma surf rig just in case the Pompano were hitting.

Before hitting the bridge, I stopped at Mosquito Lagoon Bait & Tackle to pick up some sand fleas and a small bag of fresh dead shrimp for bait.  They were busy so I didn't bother asking about the beach fishing but I should have.....

When I got to the guard shack at the beach, they had a sign out stating that only lots 1 through 4 were open.  The other lots were closed to clear off boats and debris that had supposedly washed up onto the beach.

I almost turned around but I decided to give it a shot anyway.   As I drove past Lot #4, I decided to hit Eddy Creek so I continued up the road and quickly found that the sign had lied.  Most of the other lots were open.

As I drove up to Lot #9, there were very only a couple of cars in the lot so I decided to give it a try.

As I trudged up the walkway and got to the steps leading to the beach, I knew it would be a bad day for fishing.  The tide had just gone out and there was very little water moving.  Not a great time to catch fish....

Since I was already there, I decided to give it a shot so I skewered a peeled shrimp along with an unpeeled version on one rod, and a couple of sand fleas on the other rig.  With no water movement, a 1oz. pyramid sinker was all that was necessary to hold bottom.

There was a wash in one area that was pulling out shells and sand, so I targeted that area hoping for a bite from a late comer.

To make a short story shorter, I spent the next hour and a half enjoying the fresh air on the beach without a bite and making friends with the seagulls.  I've been skunked before, but never this bad.

The only people on the beach were picking sea shells and sunbathing.  A couple of fishermen who walked up from Lot #10 said they missed a fish but it "wasn't anything great".  Other than that, there was almost no one on the beach for miles.

I took some pics, packed up my gear and headed back via BioLab Road to see if anyone was doing any better in the Mosquito Lagoon.

The water levels were up but it was close to 6:00 pm and no one was fishing the lagoon.  There were a lot of sightseers but no fishermen.

I headed towards the refuge to see if anybody there had caught any fish and although there were a lot of bank fishermen in the area, nobody seemed to be catching any redfish.

About this time, I didn't even bother wetting a line.  I just drove around Catfish Creek Loop and headed home.

The bite, for whatever reason wasn't happening today but at least I got some fresh air.

I've got the rest of the week off, hope I do better later in the week.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

35 Inch Catfish Creek Redfish

The 35 Inch Catfish Creek Redfish below was caught on a fresh dead frozen shrimp along with a mixed bag in only an hour and a half.

When my wife suggested we take Elmo and Odie for a ride around the "swamp" this afternoon, it didn't take long for me to agree to the idea.

Since this was an unplanned, spur of the moment outing, I decided to take along some rods at the last minute.    I picked a bag of shrimp out of the freezer, loaded the small ice chest and a few rods into the truck, and headed out to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

It was late in the afternoon and we only had a couple of hours before sunset so I headed for a spot along Catfish Creek Loop that would keep Elmo and Odie away from any vehicle traffic and give us a good chance of catching a few fish.

As we drove by the Indian River, Karen wanted to try a spot where she caught redfish in the past.  We stopped and put out her bait but I realized that I forgot to bring along any tackle.  Other than what was already tied onto the rods, I had no spare hooks or sinkers.

Karen had a sliding sinker rig on her rod, so she cast out as far as she could and waited for a fish to hit.  I had a 5/0 Owner hook on my rod with 30 pound Power Pro and a fluorocarbon leader but no sinker.

I tried casting with a rock for weight but it didn't work out so well.  The rocks kept slipping out of the loop knot.

I remembered that I had a had a bag of 1 oz. sinkers somewhere in the truck and after wasting ten minutes of so tearing the truck apart, I finally found them in the truck bed.

I tied on a sinker and used a small piece of stick as a stop and I was in business.

Karen caught the first fish, a small whiting.  It was big enough to take home for dinner but she wanted to release it.

I had a bite shortly after she released her whiting and picked up a hard head catfish that I also released.

At this point it started to rain so we decided to move to another spot.  As we were loading our rods, a Fish and Game Warden I knew drove by.

When we got to our spot it stopped drizzling and we set out our rods with fresh dead frozen shrimp for bait.

Karen got the first fish and landed this very small croaker.

We had a good laugh about the size of the fish and I was going to use it for bait, but I released the fish and continued fishing.

She cast out again and after a couple of minutes I had a hit on my rod, which turned out to be the first redfish of the day.

The fish came in easily at first but when it realized it was hooked, it took off on a long run that peeled the Power Pro from my reel. 

I knew it was a heavy fish so I played it carefully.  After three long runs, I asked Karen to get my smart phone from the truck and take a video of the action.

She took the video below as I landed, measured, and quickly released the fish to fight another day.

I give my wife Karen kudos for being a great photographer.  She did a stellar job holding the phone steady during most of the video.  Anyway, the redfish measured in at 35 inches without the tail being "pinched".

I released the fish, skewered on another shrimp, and continued fishing.  

It wasn't long before I had another hit which I thought was a catfish, but as I got it close to the bank it turned out to be a small stingray.

I got my pliers, snapped off the tip of the stinger, unhooked and quickly released the fish.

Meanwhile Karen had another bite but missed the fish.  The head of the shrimp was gone so she thought it was probably a sea trout.   

It was getting dark and the bite slowed down so we decided to head for home. 

It turned out to be a fine day in the refuge.  Elmo and Odie had a great time and we were happy getting out to wet a line and catch a mixed bag of fish.

With Christmas around the corner, I'm hoping for a repeat performance.

Till next time.  Tight Lines.

December Fishing Around Titusville, Fl.

December fishing around Titusville, Fl. can be rewarding when conditions are favorable but this afternoon with a cold front moving through the area, the conditions were definitely less than favorable.

I've been out of pocket for the past few weeks, so when I got home this afternoon, I decided to make a quick scouting trip around some of the areas in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Although I packed a couple of spinning rods for the trip, I only bothered casting in one area where I spotted a redfish tailing in the shallows.

I made a few casts to the redfish with a gold Johnson Sprite spoon that didn't stir any interest, and the topwater plug I used afterward didn't fare any better.

As I headed out to Peacocks Pocket Road, I remembered that it was closed for the hunting season until February 15th.

The blocked entrance immediately reminded me!

I continued scouting the area for reds or sea trout, and as I drove around Catfish Creek Loop I expected to see the usual groups of bank fishermen however, I spotted only one hardy angler fishing for black drum.

He had several rods staked out baited with shrimp and cut baits but hadn't had a bite.

The reason could have been the weather.  A good steady breeze was blowing out of the North and the air temperature had dropped considerably since I had left the house.

The sheltered areas in the refuge harbored a lot of waterfowl, mostly common Moorhen and Coot with some ducks mixed in.  The usual compliment of wading birds were also out in force.  I grabbed a few pics with my cell phone, below.

As I drove through East Gator Creek Road on the way out of the refuge, there was no visible surface activity and I didn't spot any wakes so I decided to head for home.

When I drove onto the main road I spotted these duck hunters pulled off to the side.   I noticed a couple of hunters on the way into the refuge and assumed they were waiting for the fish and game people to check out their bag but I really have no idea what they were doing.

They did have nice rigs for fishing the shallow marsh areas though.

Hopefully, the weather will allow a couple of good days for fishing before I have to head back out of town.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket Road Is Closed For The Season

I was hoping to fish the culverts this afternoon until I learned that Peacocks Pocket Road is closed for the season, again.

When I first moved to Florida many moons ago, Peacocks Pocket road and most of the other areas like Shiloh Road, were open all year long to anglers.  These days, the powers that be seen hell bent on closing the areas we pay or tax dollars to keep open.

Anyway, when I decided to wet a line this afternoon ahead of the cold front that is moving through our area, I saw that the barrier was up prohibiting vehicle traffic from Nov 1st until Feb 15th.   I was told that the closure is due to waterfowl hunting in the area.

As I passed the barrier, I decided to see if anyone was fishing the Catfish Creek area.

The weather was pretty dismal this afternoon.  There was a steady wind blowing in from the northwest and the air temperature was in the low 70s all the time I was around the water.  The wind made it feel like the temperature was in the 50s, and tonight it probably will be.

I stopped to talk to a few of the many fishermen who were dunking a variety of live and dead baits from the shore.  Most were using shrimp and cut baits and a couple of guys were fishing live finger mullet.

To a man, (or woman) nobody was catching anything but catfish and stingrays today.

I had three rods with me and although I tried casting a gold Johnson Sprite spoon into several areas where I caught redfish in the past, I never got a hit and eventually lost the spoon to a mangrove root.

The windy conditions made casting a pain, so I didn't bother to spend much time fishing into the wind.  I spent about an hour and a half around on the water, mostly talking to other fishermen, before deciding to call it a day.

As I was driving around Catfish Creek Loop, there were actually small whitecaps on the surface.

A great day for fishing but not for catching!

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Fishing The Open Culverts

Went to the river to check out the water levels yesterday and decided to try fishing the open culverts for a sea trout or red.

I took along three spinning rods rigged with a topwater bait, a paddle tail jerk bait and a gold Johnson Sprite spoon, just in case everything else failed.

The water levels in the marsh and in the lagoons are the highest I have ever seen and the fish are taking advantage of the situation by foraging in areas where they seldom swim.

I spotted several nice size redfish in the marsh areas off of Peacocks Pocket Road foraging with their backs out of the water in the marsh grass.

The weather was great for bird watching but not so great for fishing topwater baits.  The temperature was in the 80s and there was almost no wind blowing in the marsh.  A slight breeze was blowing on the Indian River side just enough to make a small ripple.

I was surprised at the number of bank fishermen in the refuge.  I counted at least a dozen vehicles parked along the river and many more fishermen dunking cut baits and live mullet for redfish.

Two of the guys I spoke with said they caught several catfish and only a couple of reds, but the redfish were definitely biting.

As I drove along Peacocks Pocket road, I stopped several times to blind cast at likely looking areas but got not action.  The fish were spooky and foraging far off from the road beyond casting distance.

As I passed a couple of culverts, I decided to concentrate on fishing the open culverts instead of my usual areas.

From past experience, I knew that the fish concentrate around the culverts to pick off small baitfish and crustaceans that are flushed into either the river or the "swamp" when they are open and today several had strong flows.

At the first spot I fished, I got a hit on a paddle tail bait but no hookup, so I moved on to the next set.

At that spot I pulled over and slowly edged up through the high grass to take a peek at the area.

At first there wasn't much action but after a minute or two I spotted several large sea trout right at the bank picking off finger mullet at the open culverts.  The fish didn't appear to be in a hurry and at times their backs were out of the water.

I took this video of the action before pulling out my fishing rod.

There were at least half a dozen sea trout at the culverts that were in the 20" to 30" category but they were in no mood to hit any of my baits.

I had a bump on the paddle tail bait but nothing on the topwater lure so I decided to go to my favorite Johnson Sprite gold spoon.

That did the trick.  On the second cast along the bank, a nice long (but skinny) 26" sea trout nailed the spoon.  The fish put up a short fight as I horsed it up the bank to take a couple of pics.

The fish was a female that had just come off the spawn, so I quickly released her to fight another day.

After a short wait to let things die down, I flipped the spoon around the other culvert and after a few casts hooked up with another sea trout about the same size as the first fish.

I released the second fish and continued fishing but the fish were spooked.

As I was being eaten alive by the gnats, I was ready to head for home but when I saw a gator trout of at least 30 inches swimming up to the culvert, I had to give it at least a few more casts.

On the third cast in front of the fish, another smaller sea trout nailed the spoon and after a brief tussle was hoisted up the bank.

I kept casting the spoon and the paddle tail bait into the area but the fish were put down and had quit biting.

At this point, home seemed like a good idea, so I slowly drove towards the Kayak launch towards home.

On the way out of the refuge, it seemed like every good spot on the road had a bank fishermen on it.  Most had several rods out, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.   I hope they were catching redfish but for me, I prefer fishing the open culverts.

Till next time, Tight Lines.  

Karen Catching A 38 Inch Redfish In The Swamp

These pictures of Karen catching a 38 inch redfish are only part of the story. The video is the best part. Trust me on this.

This afternoon my wife suggested we take Elmo and Odie to the "swamp" for a road trip.

It was around 4:30 pm when we finally got the dogs and some rods loaded into the truck, and shortly thereafter we were trucking down Peacocks Pocket Road towards the kayak launch.

Karen has been working on her stained glass projects and hasn't been going fishing with me lately, but today she decided to see if she could catch a redfish.

As we drove past the second set of culverts at the kayak launch, I spotted Glenn,  a subscribe to this site and some of his friends fishing in the Indian River.  They had about six rods set out in holders with mullet and cut baits for redfish.

When I asked him if they were catching anything, he reminded me that we had met on the fishing pier one evening as I was compiling a fishing report.  He noted that the shrimping for the most part  has been pretty lousy for the past couple of years.  He also said they had caught several redfish in the slot and a few that were oversize.  The redfish bite has been on fire this month and today was no exception.

We parted ways and headed down Peacocks Pocket Road to find a spot to fish.

Karen wanted to fish an area where she caught some reds this past summer, but I told her they were probably not in the area during this time of the year.  But, we stopped briefly at the spot and set out a couple of rods with cut ladyfish for bait.

After about a half hour or so with not bites on the chunk baits or the topwater XPS Slimdog I was pitching around, I decided to move to a spot where I caught fish the past couple of days.

We pulled up to the area and the culverts were still open and flowing.  There were some mullet in the area so I decided to give it a try.

Karen wanted to try a piece of shrimp, and I baited up with a ladyfish head.  I set her rod out at the culvert so she could get the best shot at a red, and I moved down the road to try another spot.

After a few minutes, Karen said she had a fish on and thought it was a redfish.  I didn't have my camera with me so I pulled out my cell phone and started to video the action.  The results are below for your enjoyment.

The fish she had on was a bruiser.  The red took off down the marsh canal and went underneath some brush on the bank.  I told Karen to keep the line tight and keep pumping the fish in, which she did well.

I can truly say it took some real dedication on her part to land this redfish.  It was tangled in the brush and would not have survived if Karen had not literally went out on a limb to retrieve the fish.

When I finally got the fish to the bank, we measured it at a hair over 37 inches without the tail being pinched.    I had to coax her to hold the fish for a couple of pics and then spent a considerable amount of time reviving the redfish at the open culvert.

Watching Karen catching a 38 inch redfish this afternoon was a blast,  and she fought the fish like a pro.   But landing the fish was beyond a doubt the best part of the outing.

Till next time Tight Lines.

P.S.  By the way, I missed three redfish today, and landed none.  I guess that's why they call it fishing.

Catching A 28 Inch Sea Trout In The Ditches

This afternoon I managed to catch a gator, a 28 inch sea trout in the ditches, a "hard hat" catfish and an oversize redfish that I lost around a brush pile.  Not a bad outing for only a couple hours fishing!

The North wind as blowing up a storm this afternoon which made fishing topwater baits almost impossible, so I decided to fish cut baits for Redfish and whatever else would take a bait.

I loaded up three rods and a cooler with a half of a large ladyfish that I caught a couple of weeks ago and proceeded to Peacocks Pocket road.

I planned to fish an area where I caught some nice reds yesterday evening but someone was already at the spot, so I moved up the marsh canal to another spot where I often see redfish cruising.

I chunked up a couple of pieces of ladyfish and put out two rods without any weights.

It didn't take long before a redfish hit the first bait I set out near an open culvert.  The red was oversize and felt like it was well over 30 inches but I never got a chance to take a measurement.

The fish ran up the marsh canal and headed towards a pile of brush where it managed to break off.

I quickly tied on another 5/0 Owner hook, cut another chunk of ladyfish for bait, and lobbed it into the middle of the marsh canal for another shot at a red.

I put my SJ4000 Cam on my visor in hopes of getting a video of another redfish catch and started fishing again.

The wind made it impossible to keep a tight line and when the next fish hit, it took a while for me to realize I had a fish on.

I turned on the SJ4000 Cam as soon as I saw something on my line and got this video of me catching a 28 inch sea trout in the ditches.


Surprisingly, the big sea trout did not put up much of a fight and after some sloshing around, I finally slid down the bank to get a Boca Grip on the fish.

I took a couple of quick "selfies" and this short video before releasing the fish to fight another day.

 

 After putting the rod out with another fresh chunk of ladyfish, the other rod took off and I thought I had another big redfish on but as the 20 pound Power Pro kept screaming off my reel, I knew it couldn't have been a redfish.

Whatever I caught was about to spool my reel so I tightened the drag to the max, and thumbed the spool to add additional resistance.  I thought the line would break off but the long run finally stopped and I started to pump in whatever was on the other end.

After literally 30 minutes or so of constant pressure and a lot of give and take, I finally got to see what was on the other end.

I saw the tail first, and immediately recognized it as an alligator.  The gator was about 7 to 8 feet long and it was in no mood to stay around me.  When it saw what was on the other end of his tail, it took off again and I decided to break it off.   

I pointed the rod at the gator and held on until the line snapped at the hook.

All the time I was fighting the gator I thought I had turned the camera was on, but when I got home I realized it was shut off.

I was ready to quit fishing and head for home but the line on my other rod was moving out and I thought I had another redfish on.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a hard head catfish which I promptly released.

It was getting dark and the wind never let up, so I packed up the rods and headed for home.

All in all it was a decent fishing trip, at least it wasn't boring..

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Culvert Fishing For Redfish

Culvert fishing for redfish in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge excels during October and November.

Late this afternoon I decided to hit the ditches to see if the sea trout bite was still on.

I brought along three rods with artificial baits and took along another medium action rod to fish cut baits for redfish.  I loaded up the gear and a cooler with some bottled water and one large frozen ladyfish that I caught this past month for bait.

The cool weather was attracting the sightseers and Peacocks Pocket road was beginning to resemble I-95.  There was a steady stream of visitors driving through the refuge, as well as a number of fishermen along the banks of the Indian River.

Most were bait fishermen, but a couple of guys I see in the area on a regular basis were fishing paddle tail baits for trout and redfish.

I entered the refuge via East Gator Creek Road and tossed an XPS Slim Dog topwater bait around the first culvert  to see if  I could pick up another fresh ladyfish for bait.but they weren't in the area today.

I kept fishing the top water bait in several other areas with no luck and no followups.  After an hour  of fishing with absolutely no bites, I was beginning to think today was going to be a bust, so I decided to try fishing a culvert in the southern end of Peacocks Pocket  road close to the kayak launch.

The area is very narrow and when the water is running can be a good spot for sea trout and big redfish.

It was a little after 6:30 pm when I pulled up to the culvert I planned to fish and I was happy to see that it was slightly open.  Water was flowing from the Indian River into the marsh canals slow enough to keep the "hatches" closed but just enough to stir up the water.

I cut a 2" chunk from the middle of the frozen ladyfish and hooked it on a 5/0 Owner hook.  I was using 20# Power Pro with a 30# fluorocarbon leader and no weight.

I watched the water for a while but there was no sign of fish in the narrow canal but since the water was moving, I dropped the ladyfish chunk into the middle of the canal.  It was so narrow, a cast was unnecessary.

Within a couple of minutes the line started slowly moving, so I tightened up on the line and set the hook.

At first, the fish didn't realize it was hooked but after a couple of seconds it decided to head up the canal.  There was no way I could stop the first run.  The drag was tightened up as much as possible but the fish kept going.  I was silently cussing myself for not bringing the GoPro to record the action but I was having my hands full trying to land the fish.

After a while I pumped the fish back to the culvert and it headed the other direction on another long run.  I was beginning to realize that this redfish was not the average for this area.  It was one of the larger ones in the marsh.

After several smaller runs I finally managed to land the fish and pull it onto the bank for a couple of pics.  I estimate the length at 38 inches.  The base of this rod to the black guide wrap in the picture above is exactly 40".

These cell phone pics don't do the fish justice but it's all I had today.

I released the fish and decided to try my luck again at the same spot. With all the commotion, I didn't really expect to get another redfish at the same spot but I gave it a try anyway.

Another chunk of frozen ladyfish, another plop into the middle of the canal, and bang... another redfish.

The second redfish hit the ladyfish chunk almost immediately and headed up the canal in the opposite direction from the first fish.    This one felt as big as the first red but when I eventually landed it, it was about an inch shorter.  I took a couple of "selfies" of the fish and a short video before releasing it.

 

The fish looked like a clone of the first one.

About this time I it was getting kind of chilly out.  I was going to head home but I thought I'd try one more chunk of ladyfish "for the road".

I tossed another chunk towards the far bank of the canal and waited.  This time it was about ten minutes before I got another bite.

This fish didn't dawdle.  It picked up the bait on the run and kept on going.  I didn't have to set the hook but I did just to be sure.

This fish took at least fifty yards of line up the canal before I could slow it down.  I pumped the big red for quite a while until it turned around and headed back towards where I was fishing.

This fish acted bigger than the other two but I couldn't be sure.  I never got to land it.  As I got it close to the bank the third time, it broke off the hook around a brush pile and kept on going.

If I was a gambling man I would bet this fish was close to 40 inches or better but since I never got the Boca Grip on the fish, I'll never know.

Anyway, it was getting dark so I decided to "fish" up the road towards home.

I stopped at two more spots and picked up a nice sea trout in one of my favorite areas with the topwater XPS before calling it a day.

The sunset was awesome, so I took  a couple of pics of the blood red horizon before making my way home.

I hope my next trip is as productive as today's was.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing Peacocks Pocket Road Before A Front

Finally got a chance to wet a line around Peacocks Pocket Road this afternoon, but the conditions could have been a little better.  A front was moving in and the weather was getting nasty.

When I crossed the Max Brewer Bridge heading towards the beach, the wind was blowing steadily out of the North and the air temperature was hovering in the high 80s.  There were white caps on the left side of the causeway and only a couple of fishermen were along the bank.

I was told that the redfish bite was on and that the best baits were cut mullet or fresh ladyfish chunks.

Since I was using artificial baits, I decided to target the sea trout and sight fish the reds if they were around.

I drove into East Gator Creek road and stopped to fish the first set of culverts.  They were closed but the water was up and it looked "fishy", so I pulled out my rod with an XPS topwater bait and started tossing the plug around the mangrove roots.

 After four or five casts I was ready to move on but I decided to try one more cast towards a really shallow area.

Almost as soon as the plug hit the water, a Snook blasted it back at me.  The fish surprised the hell out of me as I jerked the plug from it's mouth.

After several more casts into the area I thought I got another hit from the Snook, but it turned out to be a ladyfish that I landed and quickly released at the culvert.

After the second fish, I thought that the narrow waterway was about done with but I gave it one last shot and as luck would have it, I hooked up and landed a garfish.

The fish was only about 20" or so long, so I shook it off at the culvert so I wouldn't have to mess around with their teeth.

A misty rain started to fall so I decided to drive along the road and check out the area.  I've been out of town working and the water levels are much higher than when I left town.  Fortunately, the fish were still in about the same areas that I usually fish.

When I got to Peacocks Pocket Road, I stopped to fish several places with the topwater plug and a red Berkly Rattlin Jig that I picked up at a WalMart in Mobile, Al.  I got a couple of taps on the jig but no fish, so I decided to concentrate on using just the topwater bait.

The wind was blowing all the time I was out in the refuge and it continued until I finally gave up fishing.  Working a topwater "walk the dog" bait in choppy water with the wind blowing into your face is a challenge to say the least, but I made the best of the situation.

I stopped at several places and fished the marsh canal with the topwater bait.  I picked up three sea trout in the 18" to 22" range and missed a redfish that seemed more inquisitive than hungry to eat.

All the fish were nicely colored and fat.  Apparently they were chowing down for the upcoming winter which explains why they were nailing the XPS Slim Dog topwater bait.  The lure looks like a finger mullet or a small ladyfish in the water and when you smear it up with some Pro-Cure, it even smells like a baitfish.

After passing (and being passed) by several fishermen, I decided to head for the house.  The wind was wearing me out and I got tired of casting into the waves with the wind in my face.

The high grass along Pocket road was also getting to be a pain.  My line kept getting caught in the grass as I retrieved my topwater baits.

I stopped to ask a couple of anglers how they were doing but nobody I spoke with had caught anything, Yet.

One fisherman said that his friends were catching a lot of redfish on cut mullet in the marsh but they were all oversize.    Another guy a bit farther up the road said they had also been catching some nice slot reds on the Indian River side of the road on cut baits.

I was genuinely surprised to see how many fishermen were in the wildlife refuge today until I remembered that it was already October 2nd.   The Hunt for Reds in October was a tournament stop for Titusville.

On the way home, I couldn't help to notice how many more bank fishermen were dunking cut baits and live mullet since I drove into the refuge.   It looked like opening day of trout season on a Pennsylvania limestone stream.

Anyway, as I called Lil Ceaser's to order a Pizza, I made a mental note to bring some mullet along tomorrow if I decide to go fishing.....

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Black Point Sea Trout

The Black Point area is an overlooked fishery for sea trout, redfish and some nice ladyfish during certain times of the year.

Michael, a subscriber of this site emailed me this pic of a nice gator sea trout that his friend Matt caught earlier this spring.

He didn't say what he caught the fish on, only that it was quickly released to fight another day.

However, after taking a closer look at the picture, it looks like a long soft bait hanging out of the fish's mouth.

Although I have been fishing a bit in Mobile, Al. the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Central Florida in particular still produces more huge redfish, black drum, and "gator" spotted sea trout than  anywhere I've been privileged to fish, especially when it comes to sight fishing.

The video below was taken under one of the bridges going to Dauphin Island, an area just west of Mobile.

The black drum was estimated at 40 to 50 pounds and was caught on an incoming tide on half a blue crab.

When I fished the area where the guy caught the drum, I managed to hook a couple of fish on a Berkly Rattlin Jig but both broke off around the rocks.

The people on the opposite bank were wading and pitching freshly netted finger mullet but from what I could see while I was fishing the area, they weren't doing all that well.

Like the beaches at Playalinda, the tides in the Mobile Bay area dictate the best times to fish.

Apparently, I wasn't there at the right time!

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Sea Trout In The Ditches

The sea trout in the ditches were a little harder to catch this evening but I still managed to catch and release five fish before it got too dark to fish.

I didn't bother to get out this evening until about 6:30 pm which gave me about an hour and a half fishing time.

As usual, I headed for the closest water which is in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I took three rods with me that were rigged with a topwater bait, a soft bait, and a suspending bait I caught all of the trout on an XPS Slim Dog bait that I picked up at Bass Pro some time ago in Savannah, Ga.

The air temperature was 90 degrees when I hit the refuge and there was no wind blowing on the water.

I concentrated on fishing the "ditches" along the side of Peacocks Pocket Road, mainly because of all the weeds in the river that had blown in and lined the shoreline.

At the first couple of stops, I had only one followup that didn't seem at all interested in eating the XPS bait.

When I got close to an area my wife calls "her tree",  a breeze started blowing and I could see a storm was beginning to whip up South of Titusville.

I'm not sure if it was the breeze on the water or the barometric change in the weather that turned on the fish but they started nailing the topwater bait like they hadn't had a meal in months.

In the next hour I hooked and landed five trout and missed three more fish on the XPS bait that I'm pretty sure were also sea trout. 

All the fish caught were just at, or over the slot limit and were released to fight another day.

As it started getting towards dusk, it was almost if someone pulled a lever because the fish simply stopped biting.

I made several more casts in three more areas, but never got another fish or even a followup, so I packed up the rods and headed home.

It never did rain, but the wind had picked up considerably and I could see lightning on the horizon.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Topwater Sea Trout Action In The Refuge

The topwater sea trout action got pretty hot this evening just at dusk.

I made a late decision to go fishing this evening so about 6:30 pm I quickly packed up three spinning rods and headed to the closest are in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I passed Peacocks Pocket boat launch and spotted a lone fisherman wading around the culverts with another rod set for redfish.

I passed him and headed towards an area where I spooked a small pod of redfish the other day and sure enough they were still in the area.

The fish were cruising slowly down the marsh canal and were totally oblivious to everything I tossed at them.

I tied on an XPS silver and black topwater bait to replace the topwater bait I lost in the trees yesterday at Patillo Creek, and started pitching it around some likely looking areas.

 It didn't take long before a slot size sea trout smacked the lure at the mouth of a shallow pond.

I quickly unhooked and released the fish to fight another day and moved to another area.

I was still playing around with the moving redfish but even with the new lure, they were not eating the bait, however, I nailed another under slot sea trout on the bait that I released.

I finally gave up trying to catch the redfish and started concentrating on sea trout.  The air temperature was in the high to mid 80s and there was almost no wind on the water where I was fishing.

When I came to "Bobcat Bay", I started pitching the XPS into the marsh canal around an island and a small pond.    After smearing the bait up with some Pro-Cure to add "incentive", the second cast into the area hooked me into this nice fat 26" sea trout.

The fish nailed the topwater bait and make two strong runs in the shallow canal before I could lip the fish out of the water,.

Both sets of trebles were in the fish so I took a couple of  quick videos, got the pliers from the truck and unhooked the fish.

It looked like it was in good shape but because there was so much brush around the bank I had to toss it back into the canal.   The fish turned upside down but was breathing,  so I took a video of it until it righted itself and swam away to fight another day.

The next spot I stopped to fish produced another 16" sea trout, again on the same XPS topwater bait.

It was getting dark so I made one last stop at an old duck blind to fish another pond entrance before heading home.

I missed three sea trout on the same bait and finally hooked an landed a Garfish that was about 22 inches long just as the sun was setting.

I took a couple of quick pics of the fish before releasing it into the river.

Since it was too dark to land a fish if I caught one, I decided to pack it in for the night.

As I was heading to the main road, an out of town angler partially drove into the marsh at the last set of culverts.  Fortunately a guy in a Jeep had a chain an pulled him out so everyone could head home.

Every day fishing is a good day but when the topwater sea trout action is hot, it makes a good day a great day.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Cabazon

Up until last Sunday, I had never heard of a Cabazon (below), but when I received an email from Craig and Mary I decided to post a picture of it along with some of the other fish they caught in Washington State while on vacation.

I posted some pics of his vacation on "Topwater Redfish In The Marsh", the rest are below along with his email comment on the 37" Redfish On A Chug Bug post I made last month.

John,

            Good to read you made it back home. Nice looking Red!

            We went over Saturday evening. I only got one bite.

            The fish in the marsh were not doing much. The bite I got was on the river side.

            Big trout smashed my swim bait waking it on top but missed it.

`          How ever, Mary and I went on vacation for a couple weeks to Washington State.

            We fished a couple days. One day in the San Juan Islands and one day off the coast at Westport.

            I attached a photo of a fish called a Cabzon. Not many fish are legal these days up that way. This one is and so we made some fish and chips.

            We caught a small pink salmon about 5 pounds. Grilled him up that night.

            I caught a real nice lingcod. The season for those in that area closed so back over the side he went.

            Our second day of fishing was at Westport for salmon. The captain told us that the ocean is too warm closer to shore so we ran a couple hours west.

            The captain said the salmon were in the bottom 50 feet in 270 feet of water. 10 ounces of lead was required to get the bait down that far.

            I caught 3 nice little king salmon pretty quick early in the morning. Then it slowed down.

            Fishing that deep you never know what your going to get on fresh herring.

            I caught 50 and 30 pound halibut back to back. From 270 feet, my arm was toast. Lots of heavy lifting for halibut out of season.

            The mate cut the leader pretty quick and I didn’t get any big halibut pix.

            Mary, my son and I got a good picture of our Salmon at the dock when we got back.

            I have to say, not many days do I get enough fish that my arms worn out. That was one of them.

            We froze some fillets in zip locks and brought them home for the freezer.

            Mary caught a nice keeper Lingcod at Westport that was in season. They are so tasty!

            I was hoping for a big one out there in the deep. The guy next to me landed a 20 pounder. Cool looking sea monster.

            Well that’s the latest. We hope to get in another trip next weekend rain permitting. Perhaps we will see you out there.

            Keep your tip up!

The Cabzon has a blue mouth with blue flesh and according Craig is excellent eating.

I know that Ling Cod are top notch table fare, as are fresh caught Salmon of any species.

Nice fishing trip!  If we ever get the chance and the time; Karen and I would love to try that type of fishing, at least for a few days.

Till next time, Tight Lines.