Fishing Peacocks Pocket

Fishing Peacocks Pocket this afternoon was more of a picture taking venture than a fishing expedition.

My wife had been sick with a severe sore throat and chest congestion for the past week and a half and today was the first day she was feeling well enough to venture out without getting frozen to death.

Since the weather was nice, we decided to go out for some air and see what was biting around Peacocks Pocket road.

I rigged a small spinning rod with a DOA jighead and a 4" CAL jerkbait for myself and another one for Karen. She asked me to show her how to fish a jerkbait when she saw how many fish I was catching on the baits.

We took some pics of the beautiful roseatte spoonbills and some other water birds as we drove into the area while watching for signs of fish.

As we passed around Catfish Creek, I thought I saw a fish swirl so we stopped and fished awhile with no luck. I switched to a gold spoon and still didn't raise a strike, so we move on.

The second stop also resulted in no fish, but a guy with a kayak on the back of his truck stopped and told me about a school of black drum in a cove near the Peacocks Pocket shallow water launch. He said he caught one from a school of about 50 fish before they scattered.

Since we hadn't had even a strike, we decided to drive past my usual likely fishing spots and go directly to the area he described.

I stopped briefly at a spot near where we normally fish, close to the canoe launch, to talk to a family who was fishing there.

The guy I spoke with said he had caught a redfish, but it didn't look like much was happening at the moment. Anyway, it was getting late so we moved on to the cove that the guy I spoke with had mentioned.

Knowing full well that the likelihood of the school still being there was next to nil, Karen baited up with a shrimp and I started blind casting with a variety of lures in the crystal clear shallow water.

In the horizon on the river I saw a lone kayaker slowly paddling towards the canoe launch.

Since the fish weren't cooperating I picked up my camera and starting taking pics of the kayaker and the beautiful sunset.

When the guy got closer to the ramp, it became obvious that the guy was loaded for bear. His kayak had a bait bucket on board, and he carried five fishing rods that I could see.

We talked briefly and he told me that there were huge schools of black drum and redfish tailing in the shallows on the leeward side of a small island out in the river.

I left him to loading his kayak on his BMW and I continued taking pictures.

I made a few halfhearted casts and when the mosquitoes started getting particularly nasty, I called to Karen to see if she and Elmo were ready to call it a day.

We packed up and planned on going out earlier tomorrow.

I can't believe I actually got skunked today! That hasn't happened in a very long time.

Anyway, till next time.

Tight Lines.

Christmas Eve Sea Trout

Christmas Eve sea trout fishing was something I didn't really plan on doing today, but since I had to go to the store to pick up some items to finish out our Christmas dinner, I decided to drive through the Merritt Island National Wildlife preserve to see what was happening.

The sun was out, the wind was blowing briskly and the air temperature was a cool 59 degrees at about 2:30 this afternoon when I got to the "swamp".

Although I didn't plan on fishing, I did take my fishing rods along, "just in case".

As I drove through the area, I just had to pull over at a spot where I thought I saw the tell tale swirl of a redfish right up on the bank. I pulled out the closest rod that happened to have a Bagley gold spoon tied on it and made a quick cast ahead of where I saw the swirl.

Almost immediately I hooked up to a sea trout that was obviously a keeper.

I fought the fish until it tired, then unceremoniously hauled it out onto the bank and put it in the back of the truck while I looked for my camera.

When it stopped flopping around, I took a picture of the fish that you see here and then put it back into the tannin colored water.

Several other casts in the same area didn't yield any more fish, so I moved on up the road.

I passed the only other people I saw in the area today. They had a blue kayak on top of their vehicle and looked like they were going to call it a day as I passed them.

Because I still had groceries in the back of the truck, I hastily made my way out out of the area until I spied another swirl that made me stop the truck and again pick up a rod.

I cast the spoon almost to the spot where I saw the fish swirl and again hooked up to a sea trout that was a little larger than the first one. This one measured in at 19" and was beautifully colored; as are all the fish in these waters.

I fought the fish to shore and lifted it out onto the road where I took it's picture before letting it go.

The people with the blue kayak passed me as I got back into the truck and made my way out of the preserve.

My wife called to see where I was at, so I decided to get my butt back home to unload the groceries.

I probably could have eventually picked up a redfish but decided that since it was Christmas Eve, I needed to put down the fishing rods and thank the Lord for another year.

Till next time, Tight Lines and a Very Merry Christmas to you all.

Indian River Gator Creek Sea Trout

Indian River sea trout seem to be biting after the cold front almost as good as they did before the front eased its way into the area this past weekend.

This afternoon I decided to try my luck in the Indian River marsh area around Gator Creek.



Gator Creek is one particular area that I haven't fished on a regular basis. Although several of my friends reported sporadic catches of sea trout and redfish in the deeper holes, I have never seriously pursued fishing the area.

The sun was out and the air temperature was in the high 60s. There was very little wind to speak of when I started out around noon, and later on in the day it totally died off to a dead calm.

There were several groups of roseate spoonbills in the area along with a few species of ducks and herons. All were enjoying the day as I was.



I took four rods along, each with a different lure for variety, but wound up fishing with a gold Johnson spoon and a DOA jerkbait that I had been having luck with this past week.

Unfortunately, Gator Creek didn't pan out. The only thing I spotted were several schools of large mullet that would have made the day for a commercial net fisherman.

I decided to back track and move into Peacocks Pocket road and fish the marsh canal.

Fishing was tough today because the water was so calm. I spooked three trout before I finally landed one on my green DOA jerkbait.

The fish was smaller than the ones I had been catching yesterday. It measured only 17" but put up a decent fight.

I took it's picture and returned it to the water and continued "jump" fishing up the road.

I missed 4 more trout before I hooked another one that measured in at 22". Again I took it's picture and returned it to fight another day.

It was 2:30 when I caught my third trout on the same lure. This one was also about 22" and put up a better fight than the other two trout. Again I took a picture and put it back.

I was hoping to catch a redfish, but I didn't see any tell tale signs of one in the area.

Blind casting damned near wore out my shoulder, but being the die hard fisherman that I am, I continued without any hits until about 4:00.

The water was as calm and flat as a mirror on both sides of the road as I eased into the area we named the "duck blind".

As I started casting, I spooked a redfish in the 30" range not more than 8 feet from the bank.

I continued casting to it until I just got tired and finally decided to give it up. It was about 4:30 when I made the decision to head for home and get something to eat.

As I was driving out of the area, I kept watching the water on the marsh side of the road hoping to spot a redfish. About a mile from the "duck blind", I spotted a swirl right on the
opposite bank from the road, so I quickly stopped the truck and walked back to where the fish should have been.

I lobbed the jerkbait perfectly on the bank and pulled it into the water to where I thought the fish should be.

Almost immediately a redfish churned up the water and gulped down the lure.

At first the fish didn't fight much, but when he realized he was hooked he took off up the canal on a nice run. A few minutes later I lipped the fish with the boca grip and pulled it from the water.

The redfish was only 26" and since it was in the slot I was thinking about taking it home for dinner.

Anyway, I didn't feel like cleaning it and I wasn't feeling well because of an ear infection, so I decided to let the fish go to fight another day.

About the time the fish hit the water, my wife called to see if I caught anything. After giving her an abbreviated report, I decided to pack it in and head for the Hacienda.

Hope you all enjoy the pics and until next time,

Tight Lines.

Another Great Trout Fishing Trip On The Indian River

Today was colder than yesterday and just as gloomy. I had intended to go fishing today with my wife, but she was coming down with something and didn't feel well.

After being pestered to death by my computer cat Morris and Elmo our wonder dog, I decided to get the hell out of the house and try my luck alone.

I figured the mosquitoes shouldn't be to bad, being as cold and windy as it was; so I packed up three rods and made a sneaky departure.

It was windy and cold. The temperature was in the low 50s and there was a moderate chop on the Indian River. In the wind it felt like 40 degrees.

I decided to fish the first entrance to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge off Gator Creek road and stop fishing at the Peacocks Pocket small boat launch.

I had good luck with my DOA jerk bait combo yesterday, so I decided to start with that rod. Because of it's 6" total length, that particular lure usually catches larger fish.

The wind made it almost impossible to cast to the river side of the road, so I concentrated all my efforts on the deeper waters of the marsh side. Since the water was cold and it was late in the afternoon, I figured the fish would be holding in deeper water.

I know from experience where the deep holes are located, so I started with these spots first.

As luck would have it, on my second cast with the DOA jerk bait, I hooked into a nice fat 24" sea trout.

The fish was sluggish and didn't put up much of a fight so I landed it, took it's picture, and promptly released it.

Fishing the same area with an extremely slow retrieve, I managed to catch another sea trout a bit smaller than the first.

I moved on down the road blind casting the DOA jerk bait off the bank into deeper water and landed another sea trout about 22" long.

This one was also nice and fat, so I took it's picture and released it.

The wind continued to blow and I was getting chilled, but since the fish were biting I didn't see any reason to quit fishing.

As I moved into an area I knew held redfish, I switched to my gold Johnson spoon and started peppering the area fan casting.

As I suspected, an over sized redfish hit the spoon but evidently didn't get a barb into him deep enough because it took off like a bat out of hell to parts unknown.

The fish looked to be at least 30" long. Anyway, as I licked my pride I continued fishing the spoon and eventually hooked into another sea trout right on the bank.

The fish was a clone to the other 22" fish, so I took her picture and released her.

To shorten the story; in about a mile stretch of road, I managed to hook and release seven sea trout between 20" and 24" long on the DOA jerk bait and missed at least four more trout and one redfish on the gold spoon.

All the fish were caught on the marsh side of the road with a super slow retrieve right off the bottom.

As it started to get colder, I moved on down the road to leave when I spotted the first otter I have ever seen in the refuge.

I got out of the truck and tried to run ahead of it with my camera to get the video below, but it didn't turn out very good. You can just make out the otter swimming along the far bank.

As I was starting to leave the area, I did manage to get these videos of a crazy heron leading some spoonbills astray .

Just down the road from where these videos were shot, I jumped what I thought was another redfish, but it turned out to be another sea trout.

After a surprisingly snappy battle, I landed the fish, snapped the picture and released it to fight another day.

All in all it was a great day on the Indian River even though I didn't manage to land a redfish for dinner.


Till next time,

Tight Lines!

Fishing The Cold Fronts

Late Saturday afternoon I tried to get my wife to go fishing with me, but after the crappy luck she had on Friday, she opted to finish a stained glass project she had been working on instead.

Undaunted, I packed up three of my spinning rods each strung with different lures and took off to the river.

I normally do this so I can quickly cast to foraging fish when I get lucky enough to spot them.

Anyway, it was a bleak day on the Indian River Lagoon and a thick layer of fog covered the water. A cold front was moving in and the birds were obviously aware of it. (See the video below.)

As I crossed the bridge and headed towards the entrance to Peacocks Pocket road, tons of seagulls, ducks and pelicans were sitting on the water all huddled together in the main body of the river in anticipation of the front.

The water was dead calm on both sides of the unimproved road as I started jump fishing in several areas.

I missed a nice sea trout on my fourth cast into the marsh canal with my Johnson gold spoon, so I switched to the green DOA jig head with a Strike King 3X jerk bait that had produced yesterday evening.

After two casts I hooked and landed a nice 20" sea trout that after a short fight, I promptly released.

Another 20 yards down the road I had another sea trout that was a clone to the first one I caught. This one put up a better fight and after taking another picture of it, I put it back to grow up.

As I continued jump fishing the glassy calm water, I hooked and released four more sea trout from 20" to 23" and missed two more fish that I'm sure were trout.

I had been hoping for a redfish but the water was so calm the fish were super spooky.

Nonetheless, after spotting a feeding redfish on the Indian River side of the road, (See the video) I shot a well placed cast and hooked up to it using the rod with my Johnson gold spoon. After a brief run, the fish shook off the spoon in the very shallow water right at the bank.

It was getting late and I was becoming the object of affection of thousands of female mosquitoes so I decided to call it a day without a redfish for the dinner table.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be the day.

Tight Lines to you all.

Late Afternoon Trout Fishing On The Indian River

Late afternoon trout fishing on the Indian River in December can be a frustrating experience if you don't remember to slow things down.

The trick to December fishing is to slow down your presentations and use the lightest test fluorocarbon leaders you can get away with on light tackle.

I didn't get home until late this afternoon and then had to wait for my wife to dry her hair before we finally got out to the river to fish.

We didn't have any specific area in mind to fish, so we just drove around the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge road until we saw signs of fish activity.

The first stop we made, I caught a 20" sea trout on my first cast with a DOA CAL jerk bait.

The jig head I used was a green DOA and the body was a floating Strike King 3X "cyber flexxx" in watermelon color.

This combo works great in very shallow water because the floating body makes the jig head stand face down every time you drop it to the bottom. This keeps the hook readily available to the fish making for easier hookups.

Since it was getting late, about 4:30, we moved on up the road to scout for more fish sign before dark.

After making a couple more stops, the mosquitoes were getting so viscous that Elmo wouldn't leave the confines of the truck. So, Karen and I decided to give it up for the evening and come back tomorrow to try our luck.

Here are a couple of photos I took of the beautiful sunset.

Enjoy,

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Cold Fronts Make For Great Fishing

When I heard on the television this afternoon that a cold front was coming into the area, I gave up the chores and asked my wife if she was interested in going fishing with me at the Indian River marsh area where I caught some trout yesterday.

Since the wind was blowing like crazy, and would make casting for her more than a chore, she declined my invitation.

So, I packed up my favorite spinning rod and Penn bait runner fishing reel combo, loaded with 20# yellow Power Pro line and 15# fluorocarbon leader and took off.

The lure of choice today was a beat up 2 1/2" gold Johnson Sprite spoon that I thought would be easier to cast in the wind than some of the other lures in my arsenal.

As I drove to the river, the wind was so strong that it looked like even the wind surfers were having a hard time. The water birds were all huddled together anticipating the coming cold front.

Because Karen wasn't fishing with me, I did a lot of what I call "jump" fishing from the truck. It's basically a quick stop and go fishing tactic.

Since it was almost impossible to cast on the river side of the unimproved road in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve, I concentrated on fishing the marsh side of the road.

After a few stops in likely looking spots, I hooked onto a nice 20" sea trout that put up a nice tussle before being landed. I took it's picture and released it back into the tannic stained water.

I missed a few more hits in several other locations before catching another sea trout that was also over 20" when I took the tape to it.

Traveling down the road to where I caught redfish yesterday, I made at lest 20 casts in the same area with only one other hit.

At a place we call "snook point", I decided to try a spot I never fished before. Today the wind was favorable to casting there so I lobbed in several casts before hooking on to a heavy trout that at first felt like a redfish.

The fish measured in at 24", so I took it's picture and again released it.

I continued fishing up the road as the wind started dying down a bit.

Near a bend in the marsh canal, I was using a very slow retrieve keeping the spoon just off bottom, when I hooked into something heavy.

The fish started running up river taking a lot of line with it and I immediately realized it was one of the oversized bull redfish that inhabit the shallow marsh.

I wanted to take pics of the fish so I held up the rod as high as I could to keep the line away from the brush and got my camera and Boca Grip from the truck.

With one hand I fought the fish and with the other, I was trying to get a good shot of the action with my camera on video. I'm sure that anyone watching me would have gotten a good laugh as I tried to land the oversize fish while taking videos.

Anyway, the results are here for you to enjoy or whatever.

After quite a long battle where I almost lost the fish twice, I finally landed the redfish and took a few pictures.

This one measured 35" and had a good sized girth for it's length.

I took these pics and returned the fish to fight another day.

I didn't think I could duplicate this catch, but as I trucked up the road I came on at least two other redfish that were sloshing around on the bank after bait fish.

I eased up to the action and tossed the spoon just above where they were feeding. Within a few seconds I hooked up to another huge redfish that took off up the marsh canal like a streak.

I tried the same maneuver with the camera, but this time I didn't lift the rod high enough and the fish got off.

Totally pissed off at myself for not catching the fish first before trying to take a picture; I got back into the truck and headed for another likely spot I had been itching to try.

This time I hooked onto another 22" sea trout that was so heavy it just sloshed around a bit before I pulled it from the water.

I put the fish back into the marsh canal just as the rain started up.

I made a few half hearted casts, but the weather was so miserable that I decided to pack it in for today.

As I was getting close to Peacock's Pocket, the wind died down and the rain stopped. I took a few pics of Herons eating catfish for dinner and made a few halfhearted casts before finally calling it a day.

The temperature tonight is supposed to be in the low to mid 30s, but I've learned from experience that cold fronts make for good fishing if you care to brave the elements.

For me, I'm just plain stupid and like to fish.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!

December Indian River Sea Trout

December Indian River sea trout are wary, hefty, and fun to catch.

My wife and I took our wonder dog Elmo to one of our usual fishing spots, in the hopes of catching a redfish or a sea trout.

Because I didn't get home from my job until late in the afternoon, we decided to head towards the closest productive fishing spot we could find, which happens to be the Indian River marsh area.

The temperature was in the low 50s and there was a moderate wind on the river when we got to where we wanted to fish. Because of the cold snap this past week, the water was cold and I assumed the fish would be somewhat lethargic.

We stopped at a couple of spots that normally produce, but today neither Karen or I had any hits.

We kept moving down the unimproved road and came upon a silver car, Mitsubishi I think, that had a bicycle on the rear bumper. It had apparently been driven off the road and was obviously in need of a wrecker.

We looked into the car to see if anybody needed help, but the car was empty; so we moved on to where I had caught some redfish last weekend.

Karen tossed out her usual shrimp and bobber rig to where I saw a fish swirl on some bait, and I started tossing my gold Johnson spoon with red tag that caught me fish last week.

Because of the cold water, I was fishing the gold spoon very, very slowly trying to keep it moving just off the bottom.

After several casts I hooked onto a fish that I initially thought was a redfish. It was heavy and sloshed around a bit before I saw that it was a very nice sea trout.

After a brief fight, I landed the trout and decided to take a few pictures before releasing it.

If the season would have been open, I would have had this one on the dinner table, but since November and December is closed season in Brevard County, I put the fish back to grow bigger for my next fish dinner.

I saw another fish swim by and told Karen to pitch her bait near it, but the fish apparently weren't taking shrimp today.

I walked up the river a bit to give Karen some room to fish and started blind casting the banks hoping to catch a redfish.

After about a dozen more casts at some likely looking spots, I hooked onto another very nice sea trout.

The fish was bigger than the first one and put up a respectable fight. I again took it's picture and put it back to grow into a gator trout.

It was getting dark and after about a dozen casts to both sides of the river, I decided to give it up for the afternoon.



Karen didn't even get a strike on her shrimp, which looked perfectly edible to me. (I'm a sushi fan!)

As we were packing up to leave, we saw a wrecker coming down the road to rescue the car that we passed on the way in to our fishing spot which had run off the road.

It pays to be careful and considerate when you drive these unimproved roads. In many areas there isn't enough room for two cars to easily pass by each other.

Whoever drove off the road this time apparently made it in one piece.

Hopefully, we will get to fish tomorrow earlier and get a shot at some redfish.

Till then; Tight Lines.

December Marsh Redfish

Although we seldom talk about The December marsh redfish bite, it is just as awesome when conditions are right, as the great flats sight fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoon systems.

For flats boat owners, December is one of the best months to sight fish for redfish in both the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Lagoons. Fortunately bank fishermen can also participate in sight fishing; only they have to do it from land.

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge offers excellent bank and wade fishing opportunities to anglers all year long if you know how to do it.

Most drivers rush past some of the best fishing spots as they drive to their favorite fishing locations in the refuge.

If you learn to slow down to barely a crawl while driving and check out both the marsh and river sides of the road for wakes, swirls, bubbles, or other tell tale signs of redfish activity; you could surprise yourself with some decent catches of redfish.

Today, even though I'm suffering from an ear infection, I took my wife and "wonder dog" Elmo for a ride through the Refuge to see if we could spot some redfish.

We saw nothing until we approached an area we call the "duck blind".

The weather was beautiful and the water on the river side was slightly ripply. The marsh side was almost like glass.

Before we got close to the blind, I spotted some activity in the marsh canal and decided to stop the truck to make a few casts to the fish. I was in too much of a hurry and spooked the fish, so we continued until we saw more activity near the duck blind area.

After quietly parking the truck, my wife threw out a Cajun Thunder rig with a dead shrimp for bait on the river side of the road.

I started fishing a 1/2 oz. Johnson Sprite gold spoon, with an 8' piece of 20# fluorocarbon leader, tied to 30# yellow Power Pro line on one of my spinning rods.

After about five or six casts I hooked a "rat" redfish just off of a point in the marsh side of the road.



I took some pics of the fish and walked up the road a bit blind casting the spoon to the other side of the bank and working it back with a very slow flutter.

The trick here is to work the spoon slow and always keep the line tight as you flutter the spoon back to the bottom.

After several casts I hooked on to a really good sized redfish that made several runs up the marsh canal in both directions.

The bank was steep, so I called to Karen to get the Boca Grip from the truck so I could land the fish.

The fish kept running and got me tangled in the brush about 20 yards up the canal but I kept up the pressure until it unwound itself.

As the fish tired and I got it close to the bank, I saw that it was about 34 " or 35" long. There was no way to get the fish out of the water except to lay down on the bank and make a grab for it, which I did.

I lipped the big redfish while I was positioned upside down on the bank, holding myself from falling in with my left hand and swinging the fish with my right hand up to the road as best I could.

The gold spoon fell out of the fish's mouth just as I swung it up the bank. Meanwhile, I was yelling to Karen to hold on to the fish so I could take a picture of it and to not worry about me falling in.

She couldn't get a good grip on the fish and it slipped out of her hands past me back into the marsh canal. For a fleeting instant as I saw it sliding back into the water, I thought about grabbing for it, but common sense reigned.

I was still upside down on the bank bitching about losing the fish as Karen was trying to pull me back up the bank. At least I didn't get drenched. Anyway, even though I didn't get a picture of the fish, it makes for an interesting story.

I licked my wounds and continued fishing up from where I caught the big redfish and after several casts, I hooked on to another small "rat" redfish, which I quickly released.

After briefly hooking and missing two more redfish in the same area, the action stopped so I
decided to walk a few yards up the road to another spot where I saw some activity.

I spotted a wake coming down the far side of the canal and quickly cast upstream from the wake hoping to intersect the fish. The fish just continued past where I was fishing, so I shot another cast farther up the canal to where the fish was headed and started the "flutter" technique back to where I thought the fish should be.

When the spoon was about three feet away from the fish, the wake stopped and I got another solid hookup with a bigger fish. This one was about 29" long and put up a very respectable fight.

I carefully fought the fish, this time determined to land it and get some pictures.

After about 5 minutes and a couple of long runs, the fish was tired enough for me to lip it without any difficulty.

This time the bank wasn't so steep, so I reached down and lipped the fish. Here are the results.

Karen was fishing both sides of the road with her shrimp rig and although she got several bites, she never landed a fish. Very unusual for my wife.

Anyway, today was a great day for December marsh redfish.


I finished up the afternoon catching six redfish in only about three hours, all of them in the marsh.

As it started getting dark, I took some pics of the Indian River and the marsh area where we were doing most of our fishing.



Maybe if I feel decent tomorrow, I'll get my wife and Elmo to go out and try to duplicate my luck.

Till next time,
Tight Lines!