Northern Indian River Lagoon Photo Outing

With a cold front moving through the area, and a robust wind blowing over the swamp; it was not a very good day for fishing.

A photo outing became the agenda, and what better place to take pics but in the Wildlife Refuge around the Indian River Lagoon.

My wife and I headed east on to the Peacock Pocket road and we got a glimpse of some wild boar rooting along side the road. The group moved off, but I did luck out and got a shot of a large sow standing off the dirt road.

Moving South, around the pocket area, the water level was the lowest I've seen in years.

The wind pushed the water West towards Titusville, and where we were hoping to jump some redfish or trout, there was nothing more than mud flats.

This was ideal for the shore birds and other waterfowl in the area. They were covering the flats looking for crabs, worms and whatever else birds and ducks eat on the mud flats.

White and purple ibis, ducks, egrets, all sorts of gulls, rails, pelicans, etc. were out in force. All were feeding and huddling together to get out of the chilling wind.

The photo possibilities were endless and my trusty Nikon got a work out.

The 2 gig card was almost filled before I decided to give fishing a try.

I just had to give it a shot before heading home.

There was a nice sheltered cove, which usually produces redfish and trout, that I decided to fish.

A dead shrimp or mullet fished on the bottom usually works as a last resort. Today, however, there was nothing in the area within casting distance interested in eating either the shrimp or the lures I was trying to feed them.

The only feeding fish we spotted were far beyond casting distance in deeper water.

After about an hour, with only a small stingray to show for my efforts, we decided to head home and see how the pictures I took came out.

I have posted some here in movie format for you to check out .

I hope 2009 is as good a fishing year for you as this year was for me, regardless of where you fish.

 

Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Peacock Pocket

Well folks; to any of you who are interested, Peacock Pocket road is finally open to the public for fishing, birding, or just the enjoyment of the salt marshes.

After a four hour drive from Savannah, Ga. I had enough left in me to pick up a rod and try to catch something before dusk on the Indian River.

Some of the culverts were open and flowing but nothing of consequence was hitting my lures.

I didn't get to the river until about 5:30 and it was almost dark before I made my first cast.

The sunset was beautiful as usual and tomorrow's weather looks good for an early morning fishing trip.

Both the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon provide excellent fishing this time of year.

The crystal clear water makes for good sight fishing however the fish do spook more easily.

Guess I'll break out the trusty Maverick now that the gas price has gone down.

Hummm, wonder for how long?

Black Point Wildlife Drive

December in central Florida is a great time for shrimping, fishing and bird watching.

The Black Point Wildlife Drive, located around the Indian River lagoon in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, is a spectacular bird watching location that draws visitors from around the world.

The one way drive begins and ends on S.R. 406 and provides a means of viewing all types of migratory waterfowl as well as the sometimes seen wild boar, deer, raccoon, bobcat and other animals and reptiles.

Some of the pics found here give a fair representation of what you might come across on the drive.

I have personally seen just about everything while fishing and taking pictures in the area and additional examples of bird species can be found throughout this blog.

This weekend provided some great photo opportunities for some of the early arrivals as pictured above.

The roseatte spoonbills usually show up later on towards spring, however these obviously didn't get the memo.

If you enjoy nature, and are in the neighborhood; the Black Point area attracts more bird species than ever before and is considered one of the premier birding areas in Florida.

The best time to visit the gateway to the "great Florida birding trail" is anytime. 

I say this because it's true; the duck population peaks in the fall thru winter and spring brings in a new crop of visitors via the flyways

This past weekend the scenery was just great.

If you ever get the chance to visit the Black Point Wildlife Drive, I highly recommend it.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

December Afternoon Photo Outing

Thanksgiving Outing

Late fall fishing in central Florida's lagoon systems can be extremely productive if you can brave the sometimes unpredictable weather.

The overeating of Thanksgiving day turkey got me in the mood for some fresh fish.
 
An obvious place to pick some up in this area is the Indian River or local supermarket.

With the economy sucking as it does, my wife and I decided to hit the river and hope for the best.

One of our favorite spots for shallow water red fish is the "catfish creek" area .

The area has been closed for the past few months due to waterfowl hunting, however, today the barriers on the overgrown road were down and we decided to give it a go.

Several visitors to the area seemed to be enjoying the beautiful day and only one other fisherman seemed interested in really catching any fish.

Being well prepared for the excursion (note the pic of my truck with custom rod holders, etc.)

I decided to try sight casting to any moving trout or reds seen along the truck path that circumvents the area.

I spotted several fish in the shallows, but casting artificials to them proved fruitless. The fish were spooky in the clear water and saw me before I could spot them. Not a good bet for fish on the table.

Today I was using "chug bug" topwaters, DOA jerk baits in black/gold and electric chicken colors and also a 3/4 oz. gold "red ripper".

The latter is extremely well suited for the very shallow water fishing that we were doing today.

Since we got a late start; the area was pretty well traveled and after a while I decided that artificials were not the best bet.

I decided on the trustworthy dead shrimp bait under a Cajun thunder bobber rig.

Well, a picture is worth a thousand words.

The tried and true bait works when everything else fails; this is why my wife Karen usually out fishes me on these outings.

Live or fresh dead bait is her first choice and normally produces.

Today however, it was my turn to catch on her rod.

Well, no matter, the point is that winter fishing is the ticket when "cabin fever" attacks occur. The surf at Playalinda beach and the jetties around Port Canaveral park area are also pretty hot this time of year for pompano and flounder.

The day was beautiful, the sunset (see pic) was lovely and until our next outing.....

Tight lines to one and all.

The Vulture Heron Standoff

As we were coming into the wildlife refuge on the Indian River, we came upon a mexican standoff between an irate vulture and a green heron.

I took a few pictures like the one to the left before breaking up the confrontation.

 I'd like to know who would have won the fight but fishing was on my mind.

It was a beautiful evening and the wind was calming down nicely.

After stopping at a couple of likely spots and not having any luck; Karen and I decided on fishing one of our special areas.

The general public always pass up this area for some reason and it usually holds fish of some sort.

Artificials didn't seem to be doing the trick today so I broke down and grabbed a bobber rig, put on a dead shrimp, and proceeded down a blocked off path along side of the river.

I finally spied a wake coming into a small cove and patiently waited to see if the fish would come close enough for me to make a cast.

I sent the shrimp out to about fifteen feet ahead of the fish, popped the bobber once and watched the fish pass it by and then turn towards the bobber.

The bobber started moving and after a few seconds I set the hook on the slot red fish below.

The fish put up a respectable fight and after a few minutes I lipped him from the water and trudged back to the truck.

Except for the mosquitoes, my wife was not getting any bites,and since it was getting dark, we decided to call it a day.


Fishing late till dusk usually produces fish this time of year and today was no exception.

Think I'll go out again tomorrow.

Till  next time, Tight Lines!

Another Windy Saturday at the River

Well, sometimes the fishing is what it is.. Fishing and not catching.

Several of my usually productive fishing spots today proved to be unsuccessful.

The southern end of the Mosquito Lagoon, west of Playalinda Beach produced only a few hits on artificials.

Today I was using Creme swim baits, DOA shrimp, DOA weedless rigged jerk baits, and finally my tried and true gold spoons.

After a few hours of wade fishing in the area casting these baits around and getting nothing more than grass for my efforts, I slogged back to my truck and decided on a fish finding tour of the area.

I spotted some gators opposite the lagoon in the swamp area and a couple of manatee grazing on sea grasses near the Haulover canal boat launch.

I talked with some bank fishermen who seemed to be having about as much luck as I was so I didn't feel so bad.

Most were using cut bait or dead shrimp on the bottom trying for the bull redfish that cruise the canal. The bite was very very slow.

Due to the poor results, I decided to try the northern Indian River for some "culvert" fishing.

Usually when the water is moving through the culverts, a well placed cast to the downward side of the water flow will yield at least a trout or two.

The change in location today again produced only a few hits on the lures that I had with me.

About the only lures I didn't try were the top water plugs I forgot to bring along this trip.

I know I could have picked up a couple of trout with fresh shrimp or a mullet but I was in a hurry to get out on the water and didn't have the foresight to bring along the cast net.

But then again, who knows?

Oh well, it was still a stellar day to get out and enjoy the fresh air and as they say;  "A bad day on the water still beats any day working".

Till then... tight lines.

Friday Evening Culvert Fishing on the Indian River

Well folks; now is the time of year to get out on the water for some of the best shallow water fishing of the year.

Redfish have been coming into the shallows on the space coast and when I say shallow, I mean really shallow!

This evening, my wife and I caught and released seven slot reds in about a foot of water at an open culvert on the northern Indian River lagoon system.

The locals know that when the culverts are opened by the preserve managers, trout, snook and redfish are drawn to the area like bees to honey.

Bait fish, shrimp and small crabs are sucked through the big tubes and by some mystical fish-radar method the game fish manage to find them and quickly put them on the menu for din din.

Today we fished for about an hour with nothing but an occasional bump.
Some cast netters were intent on disturbing my serenity, and fishing, by rudely throwing their nets at nothing in particular and then suggesting that " the mullet are hard to spot".

No crap... I wasn't the least bit surprised that they went away without one lousy bait for their efforts. It's hard to catch any bait blind casting a cast net but it's really fruitless when there's a chop on the water and no baitfish are visible.

Anyway, I tried my favorite Creme swimbait in several colors to no avail. I then changed to a smaller size and picked up a couple of ladyfish and missed some small trout.

My wife was using a Cajun Thunder rig baited with large shrimp.

She picked up a catfish and then moved several times to avoid a large gator that seemed to like her green bobber just a bit too much.

At about 6:30 or so I decided on changing to a DOA jig head with a 4" black and gold body (the best color for redfish, in my humble opinion).

After two casts, I hooked up to a 19" red that inhaled the jig and put up quite a respectable battle.

The fish were feeding just outside the current of the open culvert and there were a lot more around.

I called my wife over to get in on the action and she immediately hooked up to another redfish of about the same size.

Over the next hour we continued to catch and release slot size reds right up until dark when the mosquitoes came out to feed on me.

Elmo, my dog and official fish inspector, and I decided to call it a day when I started losing too much AB Positive to the insects.

Finally, even my wife, a die hard fisher woman, agreed to call it a day.

The tally for the evening was seven redfish, one catfish and a couple ladyfish. Not bad for a couple hours on the water.

I highly recommend culvert fishing to anyone visiting the area and not knowing exactly where to go to catch some decent fish. If the water is flowing; the fish should be eating.

GOOD LUCK and tight lines to all.

Slot Redfish - Fishing The Culverts

Fishing the culverts, especially when the water is flowing, is an excellent method of jump fishing for redfish, trout, and an occasional snook.

This slot redfish was caught on a Chartreuse/Blue Back  2" Creme Spoiler Shad  swimbait at an open culvert flowing into the northern Indian river lagoon near Titusville, Fl.

It was a beautiful day just to get out and enjoy the scenery.

Later in the day I tried fishing Haulover Canal and had some success with slot size sea trout.

The manatees were out feeding and playing in the basin at the Bairs Cove boat launch.

I saw two that were unlucky enough not to get out of the way of a boat's propeller.

It's a shame to see them with the scars on their backs.

Most of the fishermen I know in the area obey the slow motor zones and heed the manatee signs. Unfortunately, some either don't know or don't care about the manatee zones.

Every year I see and hear about manatees being run over by boaters that are ignorant to the zones.

This Florida Manatee Program link has tons of information on the Florida manatee that you might find interesting.

This link has HTML and .pdf maps to the no motor and manatee zones that will help you keep in compliance with the current regulations.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!

Evening Redfish

Went out Sunday evening and picked up a couple of slot redfish.

The fishing was slow, but the scenery was awesome.

The water level in the Indian River is higher than usual for this time of year, and the redfish were in the shallows looking for free meals of mud minnows and small crabs.

Most of the culverts were closed in the Indian River area but I did find one that was open in the area of the photo to the right.

The mangroves provide cover for bait fish that act as a magnet for trout, reds and snook.

I plan on going out tomorrow to try and duplicate today's catch.

Till then,

Tight Lines.

Multi-spotted Redfish

Multi-spotted Redfish are occasionally caught and can win a fishing tournament if you catch a keeper at the right time.

I picked up this small multi-spotted redfish on a DOA shrimp fished in about three feet of water outside of the Whale's Tail grass flats.

This section of the Mosquito Lagoon has respectable fishing almost any time of the year.

This fish didn't qualify as a "Bull" redfish like some in this area; but on a tournament fishing day, it could possibly win you a nice prize.

Being out on the lagoon on a nice day just makes one happy to be alive in central Florida.

Hope you get to enjoy the same some day.

LUCK to you all and Tight Lines!

Early Season Waterfowl

Early season waterfowl are abundant in the shallow grass flats that surround the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River.

These pictures were taken late February while on an extremely successful fishing trip around Bio Lab road in the South end of the Mosquito Lagoon.

There were several flocks of rosette spoonbills in the Mosquito Lagoon wetlands area near Playalinda Beach along with wood storks, many types of ducks & coot, the usual great blue herons and egrets that grace our flyways.

The fishing was great as were the photographic opportunities as you can see here.

With any kind of luck my wife and I hope to repeat this trip tomorrow.

Tight Lines.

Lousy Bank Fishing

Went to the Haulover Canal on Saturday and tried for some of the 30 pound plus redfish that live there, with no results.

I was using half of a ladyfish for bait on two surf rods with 60# Power Pro, 4 oz. egg sinkers and 30# fluorocarbon leaders snelled to 5/0 Owner circle hooks.

The hurricane evidently shut down the bite for the big bull redfish that usually run up and down the canal.

All around the area, waders, boaters and bank fishermen alike weren't doing so well either.

It should be noted that most of the drives were roped off by the NASA people either because of an upcoming shuttle launch, or the high water conditions.

The Black Point wildlife drive was apparently open, but the adjacent drive, which is a redfish hot spot was closed to vehicle traffic as of Saturday afternoon.

Oh well, at least the wildlife was available for some nice pics.....

Tight Lines to all!

Nice August Redfish

Here is a close up of the slot redfish my wife picked up just at dusk.

The bait of choice was a large dead shrimp under a Cajun Thunder bobber rig.

Nice Evening Slot Redfish

Went to the Catfish Creek area with my wife and wonder dog Elmo to take a little ride.

My wife caught the fish and I took the pics.

Nice slot redfish; they were coming into the mud covered shallows after mud minnows.

Karen caught this one on a dead shrimp near dusk; which is the best time to fish for them this time of year.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!

Haulover Canal Bull Redfishing

The Bull Redfish in the pics below were caught in Central Florida's Haulover Canal.
The first fish measured over 44 inches in length, and since I had no scale with me, I have no idea of the weight. You be the judge.

It was caught on a Tournament surf rod and Okuma Coronado Saltwater Spinning Reel spooled with 60# power pro braid.

A 5/0 circle hook on 30# florocarbon on a sliding sinker rig finished off the tackle.

I used a 13 inch ladyfish for bait, with the tail cut off to prevent spinning.

I have found that any very large live or fresh dead bait works well in the canal. Live pin fish or croaker are especially good during the heat of summer.

This fish put up about a 30 minute battle on the heavy gear, and provided several good runs (actually more like one extended bulldog run) before giving up.

After reviving and releasing the bruiser, I hooked a clone to this fish on my other surf rod, rigged with 30# tackle and a finger mullet for bait.

That fish put up a slightly longer fight with the same results. The Bull Redfish was totally played out and I had to spend little more time reviving her. I try not to play my fish too long, especially in warmer water.

The porpoises in the canal will quickly pounce on anything injured or remotely acting like a meal.
Summertime in central Florida is great fishing if you know how and when to fish. The flats are great to fish very early in the mornings, however, the bite usually subsides before 10 o'clock.

Evenings are also good fishing until about 10 or 11 o'clock, if you can stand the mosquitos.

I also like mid-day fishing in deeper waters, like the canal, for the really large fish that love the cooler waters of the depths.

The best time to fish is late afternoon, or when the tide in the canal changes.

The best baits, in my opinion are large live pin fish or any really large chunk of dead bait. I favor larger baits for larger fish. I intensely dislike unhooking catfish and rays that attack the small stuff. When I get a bite.....it's usually worth the wait.

Hope my experiences help with your success.

Tight lines to all...

July wildlife photographed with a Nikon Coolpix 8700