Black Drum In Bobcat Bay

Friday, June 11, 2010

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!!


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Unknown said...

Hey John,
My friends and I have been fans of your blog. Today we decided to hit some of the spots you go to. We kept an eye out just in case you were in the area.

We are pretty much beginners, and didn't have much luck today. We tried live shrimp, dead shrimp, fiddler crabs, DOA shrimp, poppers, and a Johnson's silver minnow. We were out from 5am-2:30pm. We were pretty worn out on the ride back to Orlando.

Any advice?

Anonymous said...

Hey Victor,

The only advice I can give you is to keep fishing. That's why it's called fishing and not catching.

My wife and I didn't do much on Saturday either. We fished Peacocks Pocket road and only caught two catfish.

I tried top water lures, soft paddle tail baits, and because of a shoulder problem I have, I switched to frozen shrimp so I wouldn't have to cast much.

The water on both sides of the river was calm to the point of stagnation. We only spotted two redfish in the shallows near dusk; but they were not in the mood to bite.

Too spooky,

I'm glad you enjoy our website and hope you sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Maybe we'll meet. Till then, Tight Lines!

John, Karen & Elmo our wonder dog! (WD for short)