37" Redfish On A Chug Bug

Catching a 37" Redfish on a Chug Bug wasn't exactly what I expected this afternoon, but that is exactly what happened this evening.

After a depressing day in the stock market, I decided to clear my brain and wet a line in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I left the house at around 5:30 pm and headed towards Peacocks Pocket where I managed to catch some nice sea trout yesterday evening. When I got to the spot, the water was like glass and as I fished the area I quickly realized that there were no fish in the area today.

I slowly drove up the road towards the kayak launch looking for signs of fish but only saw an occasional sea trout dimpling the surface.

I pulled up to the mouth of a small pond and spotted a rolling tarpon in the deeper canal adjacent to the entrance, so I started pitching my Shad pattern Chug Bug around the area.

After several well placed casts, I hooked into a fat slot sized sea trout which I quickly released.

I spotted some tailing activity in the small pond but the fish were well past casting range but I decided to continue fishing the area anyway.   At least one juvenile tarpon was still in the area and I wanted a shot at the fish.

After many casts I spotted a wake coming around the point towards the pond's entrance so I shot a cast right at the bank several feet ahead of the wake.

The fish exploded on the Chug Bug and literally inhaled the lure.  The fish took off towards the pond and as soon as I felt it's weight I knew it was a good red.  The fish made several runs up and down the marsh canal, but each time I put on as much pressure as I could to stop the fish from heading towards the brush at the bank. 

After about 15 minutes or so I finally steered the fish close enough to grab it with my Boga Grip.

I landed the fish and skinnied up the  bank to unhook the big red, take a quick measurement and a pic before releasing it.    The fat redfish measured in at 37" without pinching the tail and it did literally inhale the Chug Bug.

I got out my fishing pliers and tried my best not to hurt the fish as I removed the treble hooks.  They were inside at the gills but I managed to extract the bait without doing too much damage.  At least the fish wasn't bleeding.

I got back down the bank and spent about another 10 minutes trying to revive the fish.  It started moving and I thought it was ok so I released the fish back into the marsh canal.

The fish swam about three feet or so and went belly up.  I was going to continue fishing but I decided to stick around and try to help the fish.  It's gills were still moving so I hoped it would eventually upright itself and move on but after 15 minutes or so it was still belly up.

A snake slithered up to the fish and made it stir a bit so I took a short video of the situation.

Finally, the redfish slowly up righted itself and  started swimming in meandering circles until it eventually went into the shallow marsh pond.

I stuck around to ward off any gators that might take an interest but fortunately none were in the area.

After confirming that the redfish made it, my fishing for the evening was just about finished.

The gnats were starting to get to me, so I packed up my rod, took a few pics of the awesome sunset and headed home.

As I drove slowly towards the boat launch, I spotted a couple more redfish cruising down the marsh canal but I didn't bother making any cast towards them.

Catching a 37" Redfish on a Chug Bug was enough for one evening.  To date, this is the largest red I have caught on a topwater bait in this area.

Till next time, Tight Lines.