Walking Peacocks Pocket Road

It was around 4:30pm when I finally decided to walk Peacocks Pocket road.  

I left Elmo and Odie at the house and packed a couple of spinning rods with a DOA Baitbuster, and a Johnsons Sprite gold spoon, just in case I came across any busting fish.


When I pulled up to the barrier at Peacocks Pocket Road, I immediately noticed that the water in the marsh canal was a dirty brown color.  I assumed it was a brown algae bloom like we have almost every summer.

I packed a few swim baits, spoons, Chug Bugs, and spare jig heads in a portable box and headed down the road to see if I could spot any fish.

Almost from the start, I realized that the fishing today would suck.  The water was stagnant and there was an odor along the road from all the dead garfish that were in the marsh canal and along the bank.

I counted at least two dozen garfish in the canal and on the road, and the vultures were having a smorgasbord, to say the least.

About 40 yards up the road there was a large heap of what looked like dredged muck in the middle of the road.  I assumed it was from the canal but there was no sign of any dredging activity.

I didn't spot any fish but I did see some topwater activity, possibly from sea trout or garfish.

As I walked farther up the road, I came up on another larger pile of dried up muck and as I continued up the road, there were two more piles of the same stuff.

At the first big bend in the road leading up to a small pond I liked to fish, there was a huge load of dried up muck in the middle of the road.  I didn't feel like meandering around the dirt, so I quit walking and headed back to where I parked the truck.

On the way back, I tried blind casting my DOA Baitbuster on the Indian River side and in the marsh canal with not hits or followups.

About half way back to the truck, I spotted a juvenile tarpon of around two feet long that briefly surfaced and quickly dived to the bottom when I got close to the bank.

I made a couple of half hearten casts to the fish with a swim bait that I put on my other rod, but the fish wasn't interested.

With all the dead garfish in the canal and on the road, I was surprised that even a tarpon could survive in the dirty water.

That small tarpon was the only thing that I actually spotted during my walk.

I was glad that the administrators at the refuge were trying to repair the damage done to the road but I was disappointed in the progress.

As I was told, it's all about lack of funding.

Anyway, if the wind doesn't get too bad, I plan to take out my kayak tomorrow.  We shall see.

Till next time, Tight Lines.