Hunt For Reds In October

This weekend was anything but what you would expect an October weekend to be like.  The weather has been nothing short of blissful and the fishing has started to improve.

Some of my friends, who religiously fish the Mosquito Lagoon, say that the fishing this past week has started to improve.  Small schools of redfish are still cruising the flats, and with the windy conditions have made it easier to cast to them.

Sea trout are still easy to catch however the larger, gator trout, aren't hitting like they were earlier in the spring.
You can still pick one up early in the morning or just at dusk, but the sow gator trout get that way because they are extremely wary.  The clearer water make them doubly so come winter.

My wife, my wonder dog Elmo and I spent some time on the Indian River Saturday, and this evening, getting some nature pics and a little fresh air.

I fished top water Chug Bugs, SkitterWalks, a shallow running Yozuri Minnow, gold spoons, jigs, and just about everything else you can think of trying for a redfish or large trout.  Other than a few small trout, nothing earth shaking occurred.

My wife removed her Cajun Thunder rig and fished large dead shrimp both afternoons with some better results.  She picked up several catfish, a large stingray, puffers and missed a couple redfish.

After wearing out my casting arm, I reverted to fishing frozen shrimp in a small canal we often frequent.

 I picked up a top end slot redfish just at dusk that put up a great fight.  The particular rod I was using was threaded with 10 lb. Cajun Red Lightnin line and 20 flourocarbon leader, so I had to spend some time getting the red to land.

Until this evening, I was beginning to think I had some sort of fish curse on me.
Oh well, that's why they call it fishing instead of catchin.

Till next time; Tight Lines To You All!

Max Brewer Memorial Parkway Bridge Construction

The Max Brewer Memorial Parkway bridge on the Indian River at Parrish Park in Titusville, Florida, will be replaced by a single span bridge sometime in 2011.
                                        

Construction on the bridge piers, has been proceeding at a rapid pace by Lane Construction Co. and the way progress is being made, they just might complete the bridge on schedule

The fishing pier that was partially destroyed by the hurricane a couple of years ago, has been torn down and is also in the process of being rebuilt.  See pictures of new construction.

                                                                     
    
I'm happy to report that the boat launch at Parrish Park, that was also rendered unusable by the last hurricane, has been rebuilt and is currently available for launches.


It remains to be seen just how the bridge construction will affect the upcoming sport shrimping season.  Only time will tell.

I do know one thing for a fact; the huge redfish that accompany the shrimp run and hover in the shadows of the shrimp lights, are here to stay regardless of what goes on topside!

Tight Lines!

Mid October Fishing On The Space Coast

Well, didn't get much fishing in this weekend, however did get some great sunsets.

The chill has officially hit the Space Coast as of lat Saturday evening, effectively putting down the cruising redfish we normally see in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge area..

 My wife and I (and of course our wonder dog Elmo) spent part of Saturday afternoon braving the windy conditions on the Indian River, only to get a couple trout, puffers, catfish and rays.

My wife missed a nice redfish  and I had similar luck with a red that
wrapped itself around some brush.

The weather change apparently put a halt to the bite that we enjoyed for the past several months.
Things should pick up when the temperature levels off again.

The fall mullet run has started and the Mosquito Lagoon system is filled with them.

The redfish and large trout are chasing bait into very shallow water, less than 16" deep on most days, and travel to deeper water off the flats on others.  This is probably due to the shifting winds,  and temperature drop we are presently encountering.

The large schools of redfish that we see in the summer months, have dwindled to small roving pods and a lot of singles. 

I'm sure there are still large schools around that the professional guides follow, but I haven't located them.  I don't get the boat out often enough.

If you can find clear water with mullet swirling, you can probably pick up some redfish, and a good trout or two..

My usual baits of choice, DOA shrimp, Chug Bugs, SkitterWalks and light colored jerk baits, all still work well.  I usually shuffle the offering around until I come up with a winning lure for the day.

OOOH,  The chill is in the air...Shrimping is just around the corner!

Enjoy the scenery, and until next time.....Tight Lines To All!

October? - More Like August Fishing!

The mid October weather, in central Florida, has lately seemed more like August, and the fish seem to love it.

The Titusville, Fl. weather has been hovering in the mid 90s, with a heat index topping the low hundreds.

Fishing the Indian River this weekend was productive, despite the humid weather, no see ums, and Dracula like mosquitoes that give the Mosquito Lagoon its name.

The mosquitoes get particularly aggressive toward dusk, in and around the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is also the best time to catch a nice redfish or gator trout.

My wife, Elmo (our wonder dog) and yours truly, hit the river Friday and Saturday evening to get in some late fishing.



Saturday was a tournament day for the October Hunt For Reds, however for the amount of fishermen on the water, you'd never know it.

We didn't do to well on Friday, but managed to catch a few on Saturday in an area we call the "duck blind".

The wind was blowing baitfish from the Indian River into a sheltered cove, where the redfish, trout, catfish, rays, and black drum were being chased by a lone dolphin trying for an afternoon meal.



My wife Karen, immediately picked up a nice redfish, some catfish, and a small stingray, all on fresh dead shrimp.



I was playing around with my usual top water lures, having some fun with small trout on one rod, and catching a small redfish on a second.

On another rod that I usually use for jigs; I tied on a #5/0 owner hook, and impaled a large fresh dead shrimp for bait.

I switched to a Johnson gold spoon with a red tag on my third rod, and started throwing it to the many swirls in the cove.

The lone dolphin had stirred up the fish in the cove, and got them moving around a bit.

After a short time, I hooked up to a large black drum that put up a very respectable fight on the 10 lb. line I was using.

About 15 minutes later, I got the bruiser close to shore, where I had planned on getting my wife to take a picture or two for the website.

As I got the drum close to the bank, I tried to multitask, and show Karen how to turn on the camera.

Unfortunately the drum didn't want it's picture taken and he took off for parts unknown along with my gold Johnson spoon.

After that, the action slowed down some, and when the mosquitoes got to the point where even Elmo decided to sit in the car for some relief, we called it a night and went home.

Tight lines to all!

Reds In October

I'm happy to announce that the redfish are still cooperating in the Mosquito and Indian River Lagoons.

My wife and I hit the river again this evening with good results on her part.

I still can't seem to hold my mouth right. I've been jump fishing for trout with good success, but the redfish I usually pick up this time of year have eluded me.

My wife on the other hand, picked up another slot fish this evening using her tried and true, large, dead shrimp bait.
See the pics of the fish and the beautiful sunset.



We didn't get out until very late this afternoon, so the boat stayed in the driveway.

The jump fishing is pretty good this time of year, with the cooler weather moving the fish and the people around the preserve roads.

We saw a lot of vehicle traffic, and few keeper fish. The excessive weekend traffic usually puts them down a bit and the bite is slow, if you use artificial lures like I do.

The exception is dead cut bait, shrimp, or crab fished on the bottom.

As you can see my wife did it again!

Till next time, tight lines!

October Reds

October reds are on the prowl in the north Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon estuaries.

The relatively cooler weather along Florida's Space Coast has spurred some fine fishing for trout and redfish.

My wife, my wonder dog Elmo, and I, fished late Thursday and Friday evenings a couple of hours before sunset, and had pretty good luck with the sea trout and redfish.

My wife picked up a nice red just at dusk, fishing with a dead shrimp offering in a seldom fished canal near what we call the "swamp" area. (See picture below.)

Thursday evening she clobbered an oversize redfish that busted loose after wrapping itself around some brush. That one was well over 30 inches.

I managed to snag slot sized sea trout on Chug Bug topwater lures, Florescent white Creme swim baits, and a PM3 Bomber topwater lure, that I just started using.

I love the top water hits. This evening in particular, the water was near dead calm,, and the trout and redfish just blasted the lures out of the water.

I picked up about 16 trout both evenings, and released them all to fight another day. I probably lost half as many as I caught this evening.

The fishing reports I have received about the Mosquito Lagoon fishing, is as good or better than the Indian River.

Tarpon are still roaming the flats in the Lagoon, and are being caught with DOA Bait Busters, and live bait.

The rising water level of the past few weeks, have the redfish moving and feeding in the areas where previously there were only mud flats.

They will soon be moving into the deeper areas of the Lagoon for their spawning ritual.

Everyone I know has been limiting out on sea trout in the Mosquito Lagoon on a variety of lures and baits. The trout are everywhere and they are hungry!

Hope you enjoy the pics, and with any luck I'll get the boat out tomorrow for some more fishing fun, and another fishing report.

Tight Lines!