Lady On The Flats

After I finished with the chores and some light bush hogging in the back area, I packed a few rods and headed out to sample the evening bite and get in some topwater fishing at East Gator Creek.

It was almost 7:00 pm when I drove past the culverts and the air temperature was still in the low 80s. 

There was a light breeze over the water and except for one guy who insisted on telling me where the fish were, I had the area entirely to myself.

I started fishing the shallow flats with a Chug Bug smeared up with some Pro-Cure gel and almost immediately started getting followups and eventually some solid hits.

I was blind casting over the grass and experimenting with several retrieves before finding the right one.

After about 10 casts and a couple of followups, I finally hooked into a small ladyfish which I quickly released.

Another 3 or 4 casts into another area produced a small undersize sea trout which I also released.

I was going to move up the road to a calm area that I knew always holds fish but there was a gator in the area that always gives me grief when I use topwater baits, so I opted on blind casting over the shallow grass beds instead.

I made several well placed casts before hooking into a very large ladyfish.  I was using a fast chugging retrieve and stopping for a few seconds before continuing the pattern.

The fish hit the Chug Bug when it was at rest and immediately jumped about 4 feet into the air and peeled off about 50 yards of line and again jumping.

I had my drag set light for a change and just followed the fish as it continued jumping all over the flat.

Finally, the fish tired and I managed to lead it to a spot where I could land it between the mangrove roots.

As I was fighting the fish, I thought it was a juvenile tarpon until I got it close to the bank.

I landed the fish and took a few quick pics along with this selfie before returning it to the water.

I continued fishing and caught one more fish before I decided to head back home.  I figured that 3 ladyfish and one small sea trout in a little over an hour was enough fishing for one evening.

On the way out of the refuge, I took this pic of the beautiful sunset.

Hope to get out tomorrow after my Doctors appointment.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.