Catfish Creek Loop Is Open

On the way back home from my dentist appointment this morning, I decided to take a short drive around the refuge and was pleasantly surprised to see that Catfish Creek Loop, Gator Creek, and East Gator Creek roads were all open to vehicle traffic.

The last two times I tried to fish the area, both access roads were closed to vehicle traffic, apparently due to road repairs.

When I drove into Gator Creek today it was almost high noon and the air temperature was 84 degrees.  The water levels in the marsh areas are up and there was almost no breeze on the water.

I only had one rod with me which I always carry in the truck.  It is a 7 ' medium heavy action Bass Pro spinning outfit loaded with 30 pound Power Pro main line,  15 pound fluorocarbon leader, and a gold Johnson Sprite spoon.  The rig has become my "go to" outfit for finding redfish, sea trout, and any other predator that targets baitfish.

The barrier across the road was down and the water around Gator Creek was clear and calm.  There was some finger mullet activity but the fish were apparently being ignored by predators.

I fan cast several areas around Gator Creek and Catfish Creek with no success but since we are basically in the summer cycle, I didn't expect to catch anything this late in the day anyway.

As I cruised around Catfish Creek Loop I took a video of a porpoise that was rounding up some fish for lunch.

As I got close to the mouth of the creek, I spotted a couple of juvenile tarpon rolling into the area from the middle of the river, but they were too far out to make a reasonable cast.

The road was overgrown with grass and weeds but you could see that it had been worked on.

As I got to Peacocks Pocket Road, the barrier was still up and will probably be impassable into the near future.  Too bad, it was one of my favorite areas for big sea trout and redfish.

On the way out I drove around East Gator Creek and shot several casts at some Longnose Garfish around the first culvert.   I had two hits but I couldn't keep a fish on the treble hooks.

I took a few pics of some vultures and a lone duck before heading back to the house.

Not much to report on the fishing front, but the scenery was just what I needed after a couple of weeks out of town.

I'll plan on going out tomorrow morning to target some sea trout on topwater baits if they're in the mood.

Till next time, Tight  Lines.