The Mosquito Lagoon In December

The Mosquito Lagoon in December is a great time to catch a redfish or two if you practice stealth and persistence.   
                                                                  

     

The waters are literally crystal clear, even with the windy fishing conditions my wife and I experienced yesterday.

Bio Lab road that leads to Playalinda Beach was crowed with tourist traffic out to enjoy the day, and the fishing guides along with their clients, were peppering the shorelines looking for redfish and trout that where taking refuge underneath the floating grass mats.

The windy conditions didn't stop us from trying our luck, and as luck would have it, my second cast with a weedless gold red ripper, Nemire Spoon picked up a nice, just legal sized redfish.

We moved on to the Indian River Lagoon later in the afternoon, but the wind made any sort of sane fishing damn near impossible.

My wife picked up a stingray, missed a redfish, and landed a couple of redfish.

I picked up a couple of smaller trout on the same gold spoon and gave up relatively early.

I spent my time taking some pictures of the beautiful sunset and of both the lagoons.

                                                                                

Hope to get out again this week, but I picked up a killer ear infection that's making me, my wife  and my dog Elmo.

Till next time............

Tight Lines to all!

Fishing Bobcat Bay

Late Saturday, with the temperatures in the 60's, my wife and Elmo our wonder dog, decided to go fishing and asked me along.

Being the avid fisherman that I am, we decided on the Lagoon for some redfish action.

The wind was whipping, and the conditions were far from great, but even so there were a lot of people fishing the Indian River.  I guess everyone was glad to get some fresh air after the family Christmas get togethers.

I used gold spoons of several types to try to lure a redfish, but only wound up with two legal sized trout.
Since the season is still closed in East Central Florida, I put them both back in to catch another day.

My wife was using her tried and true shrimp for bait and wound up catching a few catfish.

Just as we decided to leave for the comfort of our nice warm home, Karen finally broke her dry spell and

landed a nice slot sized redfish.

The picture is here for your enjoyment.

It's been a good December for fishing the Lagoons.  The water is crystal clear, and the fish are biting when not spooked.

Hope to be out on the water next week.

Till then, Tight Lines!

Christmas Day On The Indian River Lagoon

Christmas Day on the Indian River Lagoon turned out to be a great day on the water, and many locals apparently agreed.  There were more people on the river Christmas Day than I expected to see with the windy conditions.

The temperature was in the low 70's and the wind was brisk.  I planned on making a quick trip around the drive in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge area when I started before noon, but the fishing side tracked me.

The fist stop was in a very shallow shallow area  just into Catfish Creek.  I was using a Bagly Hammered Gold spoon with a red tag that I found works great in very shallow water.

On the fourth cast, I hooked into a nice sized snook that jerked off the hook, right at the bank as I was unhooking it.

The next stop was at a culvert on Gator Creek that no one usually fishes.  I hooked, landed and released a nice 22" seatrout on the same lure.  I took pics of this one before sending him back home.

Running the marsh road, I stopped several times, "jump fishing" and picked up several small redfish, a catfish, and missed a nice redfish of at least 36".



The pics are here for your enjoyment along with the only gator I saw sunning itself on the bank

Needless to say, I didn't get too close to this one.   It was definitely a Hooser, as my wife would say!

When the weather started getting too balmy, I got tired of pitching metal and went home to explain to my wife why my 15 minute ride took 3 hours to accomplish.

Tight Lines to you all, and Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve Reds

Merry Christmas to all!

Except for the mildly windy conditions, the weather looked  good enough for another fishing excursion to the Indian River Lagoon.  So, after making a quick decision, my wife and I decided to jump into the car and give it a try.

We figured that since it was Christmas Eve, not many people would be cruising around our favorite areas, and we were partially right.

There were a few anglers giving it a go, and a few tourists taking pics of the waterfowl and the scenery around the Kennedy Space Center.

We decided on doing a little "jump fishing" , and at every stop we were rewarded with something...Redfish, catfish, puffers, drum and stingrays.

My wife fished with dead shrmp under a DOA bobber rig, and later opted for free lining with a little success. 

I chose a Bagly gold spoon that I have had a lot of success with lately, and later switched to a gold Johnsons Sprite when I lost the Bagly.

The first two stops yielded puffers and catfish for my wife, and a couple of small "puppy drum" for me on the Bagly spoon.

The second stop, in an area we call  "snook point", gave up another larger redfish and two smaller clones.

The last stop we fished in was a sheltered cove where the water was no more than a foot deep.  The wind had picked up, the air temp was around 72 degrees, and the water was cool from the fronts that we experienced in the past few days.

I fished the hammered gold spoon and missed three fish before I landed another puppy redfish.  After a few more casts, I hooked into one of those oversize "bull" reds the Lagoon area is famous for.

I fought the fish for a good  five minutes or so, before it decided to head for a brushy area and wrap around a mangrove root. 

The big redfish was sloshing around and I couldn't untangle it so I decided to go in after it.  Bad Move!
I chucked my shoes, took a step into the water and landed up to my crotch in Indian River Lagoon muck.

My wife gave me a helping hand to get back out, and about that time the fish mercifully broke off, taking my favorite spoon with it,  to parts unknown.

The fish was well over the slot limit, and was the best fish of the day for me.  Although I continued fishing with a Johnson spoon, I only caught one other small redfish before it was time to leave the area and enjoy Christmas Eve with my wife.

Till next time,
Tight Lines!

Indian River Fishing - Fishing The Mud Bottom Shallows

Fishing this time of year can be absolutely fantastic if you when and where to fish.

Is this a learning moment?  I certainly hope not.  This time of year, with the sudden drop in air and water temperatures, the fish can usually be found in very shallow water, over dark mud or sediment bottoms.

Although in the Mosquito Lagoon, the redfish start bunching into small schools;  the North Indian River fishing is a bit different.

Here we find the redfish in small pods or feeding alone over the dark mud bottoms on small  crustaceans and the occasional baitfish.

Monday afternoon, my wife and I , and of course our wonder dog Elmo, again tried the Merritt Island National Wildlife refuge around Gator Creek,  and eventually towards the Peacock Pocket shallow canoe launch.,

The conditions were absolutely gorgeous and the water on the river was calm as glass, especially towards dusk.

My wife fished dead shrimp and I decided on spoons to cover more water and try to locate any stragglers.

I chose a Bagley gold hammered spoon with a red tag, that is much thinner than the Johnson gold spoon I often use in deeper water.

The 3" spoons can be fished in 6" of water or less, without hitting bottom if you know how to fish them.  The trick is to start retrieving before the spoon hits the water, in order  to take out the slack, and then  fishing it as slow as possible using a steady short pumping action.

I spotted several good sized wakes and saw a few tails before getting my first redfish.  The fish are extremely spooky during this time of  the year because of the crystal clear water conditions.  You have to drop your spoon, or whatever lure you happen to be using, into the water gently, without "plopping" it, and scaring the devil out ot the fish.

I had a couple of bad presentatioins before I finally made a textbook presentation and hooked up with a 28" oversize redfish.

I cast well in front of, and past the redfish, and as slowly as possible pulled the gold spoon near the feeding fish.

The fish was hungry, and inhaled the spoon almost immediately.  The dead calm water was broken by the fighting fish, and the scene would have provided a superb video, but my wife was 50 yards down the road doing her thing close to   the truck and my Nikon.

After several nice runs, I finally pulled the red from the cold shallow water, got my wife to take a picture, and returned the fish to it's home in the river.  The water where I caught this redfish, and missed two more, was not more than 6" deep.

Here are some pics of the area and the fish for your viewing.

Till next time, Tight Lines To All!

December Fishing Conditions.

With the cold front coming through the area, the fishing was somewhat disappointing on Saturday; so much so that my wife and I decided to just stay inside this Sunday.

There is a bright spot on the horizon.  The shrimpers are starting to appear in numbers, even though the bridge construction is taking up precious parking spaces.

The people I spoke with on Friday evening said that the shrimp were just starting to run and that with the cold front just around the corner, they expected it to pick up.

I plan on getting some pics for your viewing when things start to perk up a bit.

Saturday proved to be a waste of time catching wise, but the scenery was just beautiful.

Here are some pics of December 19th in Central Florida.  It sure beats the blizzard conditions of the northeast corridor.  My little sister Cathy, said they were having over a foot of snow in Pa.

We can't complain about the fishing when the weather down here is so great.

Enjoy, have a blessed and Merry Christmas, and Tight Lines To All!!

Almost Skunked!

Today' late afternoon trip, netted only one small redfish.

The air temperature was 75 degrees, and the water a bit cooler with balmy conditions.

There was a decent breeze on the water, and the overcast conditions should have made for a great fishing excursion. Unfortunately, no one bothered telling the fish.

My wife and I hit the river late this afternoon; just to get out of the house.

We fished the Indian River north of Peacock Pocket, near a "duck blind" that occasionally produces redfish and some larger trout.

I used gold and silver spoons, gulp shrimp and crabs, a DOA shrimp under a bobber, and several paddle tail lures only to miss two redfish.

When I finally switched to dead shrimp, I caught two catfish and a small trout that was just enough for me to say; I didn't get skunked.

My wife landed a small redfish right out of the box, with a dead shrimp for bait, and then managed to catch a puffer and catfish.

There were several dolphin trying to corral some dinner in the shallows bay where we were fishing, but they weren't pushing the fish far enough in to our location.

The rest of the time we were out on the river, neither of us caught another fish.

I guess that's why they call it fishing; not catching!

Here's a pic of the redfish just for the heck of it.

Tomorrow's another day!

Tight lines.

Waterfowl Hunting On The North Indian River

Sunday afternoon seemed to be a good day to try our luck fishing.

The weather was beautiful and a bit windy, but getting out on the river for some fresh air seemed the thing to do.

My wife Karen, our wonder dog Elmo, and yours truly decided to try fishing the Shiloh Road area, just off of US 1, to see if the powers that be opened up the unimproved road that parallels the North part of the Indian River.

The area is noted for bruiser "bull" redfish and large gator trout. Tarpon and ladyfish can also be found here during certain times of the year.

Today, the trail was closed to everyone including the waterfowl hunters. Evidently only bike and foot traffic is now allowed in the area.

My wife rigged with fresh dead shrimp, and I started pitching a gold spoon at some wakes I saw in the shallow water.

The only thing I could dredge up was a couple of nice sized ladyfish. There were two redfish in the shallows that were well over the slot limit, but the clear water and a bad cast on my part, spooked them.

We only fished a little while but I did take a few pics of the waterfowl on the river.



As you can see, ducks were all over the place. A duckvention no doubt!

I don't keep up with the waterfowl season, but there were shotgun shells scattered around the area.

Anyway, enjoy the pics.

Tight Lines!