Indian River Parasailing

The wind gusts today were over 30 mph in areas, which proved to be challenging to say the least, for any decent fishing.

My wife, our wonder dog Elmo, and yours truly braved the wind, like the idiots we are, to catch a fish or two. Unfortunately, today the fish didn't particularly care to be caught!

I fished a DOA Paddle tail watermelon color bait, gold spoons, surface lures, and only got two hits from trout on a redfish ripper gold spoon.

The wind was brutal in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve drive, but even with the windy conditions there was a good bit of vehicle traffic.

At our first stop, I was pleasantly surprised to run into our cardiologist, David McMahon and his family. It's not every day that someone calls me by my name in that area, but he and his family were enjoying the scenery as were most of the other people we encountered.



No one appeared to be catching anything but 'hard head' catfish, including ourselves.

My wife caught two cats in 'bobcat bay', and I also gave up the lures and caught one on a dead shrimp, just to report that I didn't get skunked!

There were tons of dead puffers washed up on shore by the wind and several nice sized trout in the Wildlife Preserve area. Apparent victims of the cold snap of the last few weeks.

The weather was exceptional for the parasail enthusiasts, and I couldn't resist taking a couple flicks for you to check out.





Hope you enjoy them, and until next time; Tight Lines!

Windy Weekend On The Mosquito Lagoon

Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River fishing conditions have been tough throughout the weekend due to the windy conditions however it didn't stop the para sailing enthusiasts.

The wind made sight casting for redfish extremely difficult however, blind casting for sea trout and redfish on the leeward side of the islands, and sheltered areas is still productive.

The cold snap has taken its toll in both the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon.

Hundreds of puffer fish and an occasional snook can be seen, and smelled, rotting on the shoreline where the winds have blown them.

The marsh areas and banks of the northern Indian River, seem to be where most of the puffers were pushed ashore, but I understand that other areas farther south were also hit pretty hard.

Reports of good fishing around the warm water power plant discharge at Port St. John, got me interested enough to crank up my old Maverick flats boat.

During cold spells, this is one area that you can always count on to pick up some decent action.

The water is still a bit cold and crystal clear.

The water clarity is perfect for shallow water sight casting for trout that hang around the sand pockets in the seagrass beds, and the occasional small schools of redfish, if you can spot them as they cruise the shallows.

Fish your baits very slow, use light thin diameter line, and make longer casts to get more hits.

DOA shrimp, Gulp jerk baits, and live bait will all get their share of fish.

I didn't get any redfish yesterday, but the trout and the beautiful wildlife in the area saved the day.

Check out the pics, I thought the spoonbills were gone for the winter. Guess these didn't get the memo!

When the water gets a bit warmer, and the wind dies down a bit, we can expect some great fishing on both lagoons.

Tight Lines!

Night Shrimping On The Indian River

Planned on getting out and making a few casts before dark, however I drove in from Savannah, Ga. and ran into some unexpected traffic and didn't get home early enough. After my last traffic stop by Volusia county, I try to keep it way under 95 mph! Just Kidding!!

Anyway my wife, Elmo and I drove down to the causeway bridge to see what was happening.

There were few fishermen on the water, and about a dozen or more shrimpers doing their thing from the bridge and a wooden fishing dock.

The old timers complained about the slow shrimping. Several told me that this time of the year should be when the shrimp begin to run in ernest, but the cold snap of the past week put the shrimp down. The general concences is that Feb. or March should be when they really turn on.

One thing is certain, the trout were there in droves and I suspect they were the main reason no one was loading up on the shrimp. The trout were eating everything in sight. The water column above the shrimp lights looked like a fish hatchery.


I took a couple of videos of the fish activity you all might find interesting. Turn down the audio unless you love the sound of generators.



The videos were taken about 7:45 . Later on in the evening, the big bull redfish come cruising in like miniature torpedos looking for a trout dinner, I suspect.

In any event, I hope to get out and bend a rod tomorrow. Till then.

Tight Lines.

Bleak Day On The Indian River Lagoon

Friday evening on the Indian River Lagoon, proved to be a losing proposition for fishermen and shrimpers.

I couldn't resist taking out a rod and checking out the Indian River yesterday but when I drove down to the Lagoon, it was desolate.

The cold front was here and the fish were probably huddled in the deep troughs over dark bottom trying to survive. One thing was sure, they had a severe case of lockjaw.

As I got to the bridge, I expected to see some shrimpers doing their thing but there was only one crazy person on the causeway.

He had the whole bridge to himself. I thought about asking him how he was doing, but he looked so cold and windblown that I didn't want to bother him with dumb questions I already knew the answers to.

My wife, Elmo the wonder dog and I took a drive through the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, just to see if anyone was nuts enough to do any late evening fishing.

We saw only one Toyota pickup driving around Gator Creek, and absolutely no one else driving or fishing the river.

The only crazies out there tonight were my wife, my wonder dog Elmo, and yours truly!

The temperature was 34 degrees when we drove around Peacock Pocket, and I didn't spot one swirling redfish or trout anywhere.

With the temperature hitting the high teens tonight, I don't believe I will bother the fish until next weekend.

I should add that right now could be a Killer time to hit the Port St. John power plant discharge.

The warm water from the power plant draws game fish and manatees like a magnet.

Till next time, Tight Lines if they don't freeze first!

Black Point Wildlife Drive Birdwatching

The weekend has been a bit too cold for my wife to do any serious fishing, so since it was the last couple of days for my annual vacation, we decided to do some bird watching in the Black Point
Wildlife Preserve.



I packed up my camera, my wife, and our wonder dog Elmo for a little fresh air.

The birdlife was decent for this time of year and I took some pics that I have posted here for your enjoyment.

A little bit of action occurred when someone left the unimproved road and wound up almost in the drink!




The EMS, fire truck and KSC officers temporarily closed off the drive until the problem was taken care of. It's nice to know that help is close, especially if someone would have had a severe medical problem.

Anyway, the weather was brisk, but it didn't deter visitors from all over the U.S.

We were surprised to see bird watchers carrying their photographic equipment from Canada,Alaska,Vermont,Louisiana,etc.



The drive was unexpectedly crowded for this time of year, and I realized that what we locals take for granted, others from around the United States find remarkable.



Hope you all enjoy the pics.

Tight Lines To all of you and we sincerely wish all of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!