Last Shuttle Night Launch On The Indian River Ever?

Fishing this weekend on the Indian River Lagoon was pretty much out of the question this weekend.

NASA's scheduled night launch of Endeavour, that was supposed to go early Sunday morning never materialized due to the windy conditions and excessive cloud cover.

I managed to get down to the causeway bridge, amid thousands of out of town visitors hoping to get a last glimpse of history in the making, to see how the shrimpers were faring.

There were only 4 or 5 left on the bridge and all had about a quarter of a bucket filled with medium to large sized shrimp.

I asked Ralph, a regular who I have seen there on many a night, how the shrimp were running, and according to him; shrimping was beginning to "pick up". Pretty non committal to say the least, but that's how it goes.

Anyway, launch time approached and went, I didn't even get one hit on my lures, and I was freezing with only a light wrap on; so I went home to the comfort of my bed.

Since the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was closed to the launch, my wife and I decided to work around the house and get caught up with some work.

After I learned why the shuttle was never lit, I decided to try again Monday morning to get a glimpse of history.

This time the results were somewhat better; here is the video I took of the last launch possibly ever from the cape.



Hope you enjoy the sound, much of the video looks like a UFO after the initial launch but being there live is much more impressive.

If the weather warms up next weekend, I plan on taking the Maverick out on the Lagoon to snatch up some of the redfish I hear are hitting.

The cold water is crystal clear, the fish are extremely wary, and the fun is about to begin.

Till next time, Tight Lines!