Clean Water In The Lagoons

Monday, November 25, 2019

Went for a short spin this afternoon and found a lot of clean water in both of the lagoon systems.

The water conditions right now make for almost perfect sight fishing in both the Mosquito Lagoon and north Indian River.

I had three rods with me tipped with a topwater Chug Bug, a Johnson's Silver Minnow, and a Mirrolure suspended bait that I was using on juvenile tarpon earlier this year.

I started slowly cruised around Catfish Creek Loop searching for signs of fish activity and found a plethora of wildlife.  Duck hunting is still in season and it seemed like all the ducks were sheltering in the area to keep away from the hunters.

The birders today would be envious of the different species of waterfowl that I spotted this afternoon.,







I tossed in a pic of the water snake above that was crossing the road around the Peacocks Pocket road barrier, just for grins.

There were a lot of fishermen on the water and along the banks today were dunking fingerling mullet, chunked baits, and shrimp. 

Most everybody I talked to said that the bite was slow and only two guys had caught anything.  A slot sea trout on a finger mullet and a juvenile black drum that another guy picked up on a dead shrimp,

As I was driving around Catfish Creek Loop, I spotted a guy in a flats boat tossing plastic baits around the mangroves.  I watched him long enough to see him finally get a hookup with what looked like a sea trout.   I took a series of pics of the guy and discovered one that had a UFO type object (below) mysteriously show up in the background.


I fished both sides of the road at several locations tossing the gold spoon around the pods of mullet and had one bump but no hookups.

As I drove out of the area, I decided to head back to the house and get something for dinner.

As much as I enjoy fishing in the refuge, I like catching more and this afternoon the bite didn't seem to be on.

Till next time
Tight Lines


 

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Johnson Hagood said...

Hi. Really enjoy reading about your adventures up there in Titusville. Which of the Chug Bugs do the juvenile tarpon prefer? Thank you & hope you're going to post again soon.

John Neila said...

Most juvenile tarpon will hit almost any Chug Bub pattern if it resembles a baitfish.
Size depends on what baitfish are in the area. I've had them hit a large size saltwater pattern in open water but in the creeks you'll probably do better using the smallest size.

Closer to winter, use smaller Chug Bugs and fish them slower.
During the summer months, they will hit larger patterns that mimic the mullet in the lagoon system.