Shiloh Marsh Road Fishing Trip

Shiloh Marsh road was the target for this afternoon's fishing venture.

The northernmost portion of the Indian River Lagoon is lauded by local fishermen "in the know" for bull redfish, gator sea trout, and a variety of other game fish.

Today my wife and I decided to try the shallows in the marsh area to see if the tarpon were in the shallow water canals along side of the unimproved road.

Except for a mild wind, the weather was superb and schools of finger mullet were everywhere in the shallows on the Indian River side of the road. This heron got his dinner early on the marsh side.

We didn't spot any tarpon, but we did see several large gator trout killing mullet on the surface and some redfish tailing in several areas we normally fish.

With a bum shoulder, I did as little casting as possible but still managed to catch a couple of just slot sized trout on a top water SkitterWalk bait. I missed at least 10 fish before hooking up with the one in the picture.

Still using the plug, I tried to entice a couple of redfish that were swirling in the shallows of a cove we fish a lot with no luck. They seemed to be feeding on crabs or something on the bottom, and my top water plug didn't even get a follow.

My wife was fishing with Elmo and for the first hour or so only got one bite.

At around 8:00 pm the fishing started to improve and she caught a nice slot sized drum on a Cajun Thunder rig with a dead shrimp for bait. After a brief tussle, she landed and released the fish.

Using the same rig, she managed to catch and release a couple of slot sized trout and two catfish.

After landing the second catfish and because my shoulder was killing me; we decided to head for home.

We crossed Haulover Canal and noted shrimpers setting up on the north west bank and at the western mouth of the canal.

There were a few boats anchored at the mouth of the canal on Mosquito Lagoon side, with fishermen that were probably trying to catch one of those bull redfish or oversized black drum that frequent the area.

Coming towards Titusville, we noticed that the lights on the newly completed fishing pier were lit and that the restaurant and lounge was open for business. The place was loaded with customers who were obviously having a great time.

There were several shrimpers on the bridge doing their thing; along with several groups of fishermen who were also doing their thing! We didn't stop to ask them how they were doing but they were dipping up something!

The trip was a success and the weather was great. With any kind of luck and if my shoulder feels better, we hope to duplicate the trip tomorrow in another area.

Till then, Tight Lines!

P.S. I've been getting tons of mail from readers who are sharing interesting bits of information about their fishing experiences, techniques, history of the area, etc.

Although I will answer all your emails, why not just post your comments along with your photographs?

All comments are moderated, but as long as they remain on topic and benefit other readers they will probably be approved.

Peacocks Pocket Fishing

Got some positive MRI results this morning from my Dr. in Savannah, Ga. He discovered that my rotator cuff muscle was just severely bruised, and not torn as he originally suspected; which means NO surgery.

To celebrate my good fortune and to keep my shoulder active with a bit of "fishing therapy"; Karen and Elmo decided to take me on a late afternoon fishing jaunt.

The closest place was Peacocks Pocket road, so we headed out with high hopes.

The weather was beautiful with a light breeze on the Lagoon.

On the way into our fishing spot, we only encountered one other vehicle parked at the canoe launch.

I parked the truck and pitched a dead shrimp out to a swirl I saw on the Indian River side of the unimproved road, hoping to get the attention of the redfish, and my wife did the same in a shallow cove down the trail.

I personally don't like bait fishing in this area because of the by catch of rays, catfish, etc. but with a bum shoulder, I had to take it easy.

We watched a pair of kayakers, which were probably from the parked truck we saw at the canoe launch, doing their thing.

They were definitely rigged out for fishing and looked like they knew what they were doing.




I had a couple of half hearted bites on the shrimp and finally caught a small sea trout. I put on another shrimp and let it set on the bottom in another spot and pulled out my other spinning rod loaded with a funky colored paddle tail jig.

After a couple of casts, I picked up another trout and missed three more. All were just under the slot limit and were released to fight another day.

My wife Karen wasn't doing too well. She had several bites but no fish which is really unusual for her. Normally, she out fishes me!

Anyway, after catching a scrappy catfish on my other shrimp baited rod, we decided to pack it in and pick up the prescription for the new pain pills that my Dr. ordered for me.

The other pain pills he gave me, turned me into more of a babbling idiot than I usually am and screwed up my ability to catch fish. I'm convinced of that!



Anyway, we headed out into the beautiful sunset hoping to have a better day tomorrow!

Until then, Tight Lines!

Peacocks Pocket Fishing

Peacocks Pocket road was our destination this Friday evening.

The weather was beautiful and the scenery was fantastic as usual in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Getting a late afternoon start with my wife and Elmo, our wonder dog proved to be just the ticket to success.

We only saw two other vehicles on the road the entire time we fished the area which I thought was extremely unusual for this beautiful a day.

My wife was using her Cajun Thunder bobber rig with dead shrimp as usual, and I was doing about the same.

I screwed up my rotator muscle on my casting shoulder so I couldn't use the artificial lures I'm so fond of using in this area.

I chucked out one rod with a large dead shrimp on it that I could have eaten for dinner and started casting a Skitter Walk in trout color with my other rod at surfacing trout.

Karen, as usual caught the first fish. It was a 25" drum that put up a decent fight on her light tackle.

I missed 4 or 5 fish before I caught a catfish that acted like a small redfish.

I for once in my life had to settle for sitting on the bank watching the water. My shoulder was killing me and I didn't want to aggravate it any more than I already had.

We enjoyed the evening and that was about all. I kept missing fish on dead shrimp, and Karen caught a stingray and missed two other fish she thought were reds before we called it a day.

Nothing like trying to fish with hydrocodone to kill the pain. Evidently it also makes you miss the fish.

Until I get my shoulder fixed, I'll probably not have much to offer here in the way of personal outings. But, have no fear...... I will fish again!

Till Next Time, Tight Lines!

Shiloh Road Fishing Trip

After a dismal fishing trip on Saturday around Peacocks Pocket Road, my wife and I decided to try out Shiloh Marsh road near the "bubble gum" machine (as my wife calls it). See the pic.

The Peacocks Pocket area on Saturday proved to be pretty bad. The water was dead calm on both sides of the road, and I completely gave up on my artificial lures.

Karen and I caught one catfish each on dead shrimp for bait. I never got a hit on any of the artificial baits I tried all day.

Today was a bit better. We fished one of our tried and true areas around a culvert where the water was moving, and stayed in the area until dusk.

My wife and Elmo, missed a few fish on shrimp and finally landed a nice slot sized sea trout.

I stayed with a Skitter Walk top water plug and later switched to a CAL paddle tail bait.

I got several hits on a black and silver flecked CAL paddle tail bait and finally landed a 20" seatrout.



At about 8:00 the fish were getting active and aggresive. I missed five trout on the Skitter Walk and finally landed one that measured in at 25".

I missed one redfish on the same bait, but couldn't get any of the other redfish I spotted to take a lure.

As the skeeters started sucking my blood; we decided to head home and enjoy a video.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

P.S. To Victor and his friends. I'm still a beginner, I just like to practice a lot!
Never stop trying, that's why it's called fishing and not CATCHING!

Black Drum In Bobcat Bay

After an almost 7 hour drive home from Columbia, S.C., my wife and Elmo were jonesing to get out on the water and do a little fishing.

Because it was so late in the evening, we decided to just take Peacocks Pocket drive and hope for the best.

The waters of the Indian River Lagoon were like glass with almost no movement and the marsh areas looked almost stagnant.

My wife fished her usual dead shrimp under a bobber rig, and I started with a top water plug.

Although I caught the first redfish, it vied for the smallest redfish of the year competition.

The little bugger was about the same size as my Skitter Walk.

Karen then picked up a slot redfish that she at first thought was a large catfish. After a short fight and photo op, I cut the line and released her to fight another day.



The action slowed down, so we decided to scout for signs of sea trout or redfish farther on down the unimproved road.

We only saw a few rises and finger mullet, so we didn't bother stopping until we hit an area we call "bobcat bay".

Several large swirls in the shallow weed beds, suggested that a redfish or large trout was actively feeding; so my wife chucked out a free lined dead shrimp on another rod we brought along.

Almost immediately, she hooked into what she thought was a redfish, but after a brief fight turned out to be a slot sized black drum. This time I took a short clip of the action before we returned the fish to the Lagoon.

The mosquitoes, gnats, and green headed horse flies were tormenting us and poor Elmo to the point that he was whining to get into the car to avoid the plague. So, we decided to call it a day and leave for home.



The scenery was beautiful and we only saw two other vehicles during the entire time we spent fishing the unimproved road.

Perhaps it was because all the culverts were closed or the insects were blood thirsty, but the people just weren't around this evening.

Hope you all enjoy the photos and until next time; Tight Lines To All!!

Peacocks Pocket Road Has Opened!

After a couple of months, Peacocks Pocket Road has finally opened for traffic.

It was closed by the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge powers that be, to refurbish some of the culverts and bad areas of the unimproved drive.

The road meanders about 9 miles from its easternmost entrance from the Max Brewer Memorial Parkway, around the banks of the northern Indian River Lagoon and exits back farther west back on the Parkway.

There is always good fishing in the shallows on the river side as well as the marsh areas; depending on which culverts are opened and in which direction the water is flowing.

Today, my wife and I took Elmo our wonder dog fishing along the southern end of Peacocks Pocket Road.

As we entered, I started casting with a Skitter walk and immediately had a 24" plus trout knock the plug about two feet completely out of the water. The fish was never actually hooked, just very pissed off at the lure.

I made several casts until my arm got tired and we moved on farther up the road to try our luck in the Indian River side grass flats.

Since it had just stopped raining and the air was nice and fresh, I continued with my top water and caught probably the smallest redfish of my entire life. The fish was only slightly larger than my lure. See the pics.



My wife missed a couple of strikes on her shrimp as I changed lures and continued casting with a white DOA CAL bait on a 1/4 oz. chartreuse jig head.

After about 5 casts, I hooked onto a hefty black drum that put up a respectable fight on my 10# cajun thunder line. The fish was full bodied and measured in at 29". I didn't have a scale so I can't be sure, but the fish probably weighed in close to 20 pounds.



Too bad my wife doesn't know how to take a movie with my Nikon Cool Pix; it would have been nice to post.

Anyway, we took some pictures and returned the fish to grow even bigger for somebody else to enjoy catching.

We moved to "bobcat bay" where we decided to fish until we had to leave the refuge.

On the way we encountered a "herd" of baby turtles that I just had to take a clip of.

When we got to bobcat bay, there were some snook murdering baitfish in very shallow water on the other side of the "bay", but I couldn't cast my plug that far.

I managed to miss a couple of nice sea trout and caught one that was again just about the size of my lure.

As the green headed horseflies sucked the last of my blood from my legs; Karen and I decided it was time to go.

Elmo was savvy enough to stay in the truck to avoid the bugs. Karen and I weren't so lucky.

I swear, I've never seen hordes of horseflies actually follow a vehicle to get at the passengers until today, but they did just that.

Next time I won't forget the spray.

Tight Lines!

Top Water Action On The Indian River Lagoon

When fishing the Indian River Lagoon on a June afternoon, sudden thunderstorms are just about a "gimmie".

My wife, our wonder dog Elmo, and yours truly gave it a shot on Friday evening mainly to see if the tarpon were in the area.

Midway to one of our favorite fishing spots, the sky unloaded with a torrent that almost had us heading back to the hacienda.

We waited it out and I started throwing a Skitter Walk top water plug in the marsh canal next to the river. On the third cast, I hooked and briefly fought one of those gator trout you read about in Florida Sportsman magazine. The fish was at least 30" long and had to weigh in the 10# range.

She jumped twice the plug fell out. I tried several more casts with the plug and other plastic baits to get her interest, but it it was not meant to be today.

The rain slowed to a drizzle and we continued fishing down Shiloh Marsh Road.

The fish seemed to be hitting better on the marsh side during the rain and after a couple of stops I hooked into another gator trout of about 27" to 28" that again shook the top water plug.

Fishing for over sized trout in a ditch with top water plugs has its hazards and maneuverability is one of them. When the trout headed left; I couldn't, and the fish left me with my plug.

Finally we got to a causeway that Karen loves to fish; so she continued with her favorite shrimp and bobber rig while I plugged away with my top water lures.

True to form, after a few minutes she caught a slot redfish that she gingerly fought to the bank, and unceremoniously jerked into the roadway.



I used my trusty "Arc" dehooker but the fish was too far gone and even though I tried to revive her to fight another day, I decided to fillet her instead for dinner.

I kept losing fish on my top water, so I changed lures for an oddball soft "Sonic" type lure I think I got on sale from Bass Pro Shop in Savannah. After a couple of casts, I hooked a clone to the redfish my wife caught. This time, I took a few pics (below) and released her to fight another day.

A few minutes later, and my wife again caught her second redfish in the same area. This one was slightly larger, just making the slot; but again we let it go.

As dusk settled on the Indian River, and the mosquitos started really getting blood thirsty, we headed home to clean the fish and write about another beautiful evening on the Space Coast.

Till next time, Tight Lines!