Playalinda Beach: How Not To Catch Pompano

Because all of the roads in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are closed to vehicle traffic, I decided to ride out to Playalinda Beach late this afternoon and see if anything was happening.

I'd been told that the whiting were hitting and that the pompano were just beginning to bite.

Around 3:00 I loaded my Okuma baitrunner reel and 10' Tournament surf rod into the truck with a couple of bags of shrimp for bait.

My intention was to pick up a couple of pompano for dinner. When I got to the beach I stopped at a few of the parking lots to see what people were catching, if anything at all.

Lots #4 and #6 were full of bathers and only a few fishermen that didn't seem to be doing much.



Lots #8 and #9 had a few more fishermen, but no one seemed to be catching anything, so I moved on to Lot #10 where I knew there were a couple of shell areas and troughs closer to the beach.



When I unloaded, I realized I forgot my tacklebox with all my hooks and sinkers. Fortunately, my rod was rigged with a double dropper rig with large Khale hooks, that I later found out were dull.

There were fishermen in both directions and the tide was just beginning to come in. I talked to an old timer named George to see what was happening and he said he hadn't seen a fish all morning.

Undaunted, I moved down the beach towards a shell strewn area and cast out my shrimp baits between the first and second sand bars.

After 10 minutes or so, I missed a heavy strike that was definitely not a whiting or a pompano. I reeled in, rebaited and noticed that both khale hooks were dull as hell. I didn't have any hooks on me or in the truck that I knew about, so I continued fishing.

Bad move on my part. In about an hours time frame, I missed three more strikes that were probably whiting.

It was a beautiful day and the surf was relatively calm. With no seaweed to mess up the fishing, it should have been a great day for catching, but the fish apparently weren't in the area where I was fishing.

About the time I was ready to move to another spot where I saw some birds diving, I was beat out by a guy in a yellow shirt who didn't seem to know much about fishing.

If he did, he certainly didn't care much about his equipment. I saw him dunk his reel in the water several times then drop his rod in the sand only to wash it off with salt water. Both are No Nos if you plan on keeping your tackle for any length of time.

Anyway, the story goes on.... This guy lobbed his baits out just past the first sand bar and caught whiting on almost every cast. After the third fish, I noticed that other fishermen were starting to pay attention to this guy's luck.

Instead of leaving, I just had to stick around and see how long it would keep up, so I took my rod back to the truck and brought back my camera.

This guy was definitely in the only spot on the beach where there were any fish!

I watched him catch four more whiting before I finally decided that there was no justice in this world. Talk about beginners luck! Anyway, it was getting on towards 5:00 so I decided to call it a day.



I took some pics and videos of the area and of the space shuttle on the way out and even though I didn't slay the fish today, it was a wonderful day to be out on Playalinda Beach learning how not to catch pompano.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

New Titusville Marina Boat Ramps

The new Titusville Marina boat ramps are now completed along with a new sidewalk and plenty of parking space for boat trailers.

The weather today for the most part was damp and gloomy.

Normally, my wife and I would have been down on either the Mosquito Lagoon or Indian River fishing for redfish or sea trout, but today Karen didn't feel well and I spent most of the day working on my web sites.

Late this afternoon I packed up Elmo to go visit the river just to see what was happening.

There were a few people on the new fishing pier, but nobody seemed to be catching anything of any size.

I gassed up the truck and drove down to see if the Marina boat ramps were finished and to my surprise they were ready for boat launching.



This area has been blocked off to vehicle traffic for several months now and I'm personally glad it's finally open.

There are several good fishing spots in the area for redfish, sea trout and an occasional snook.



A couple of local kids were having a good time sitting on the dock catching small trout and pinfish, but other than that no one was doing any fishing at all.

I took a few pics of the new ramp and a few of the birds that were dominating the scene which I'll post here.

I thought about pulling out my spinning rod and trying for a couple of trout, but Elmo wasn't in the mood to wait for me and I didn't want to leave him in the truck.

Anyway, the weather today wasn't very conducive to fishing.

Maybe next week.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Shiloh Marsh Road Fishing Trip And Road Closure

This afternoon's Shiloh Marsh Road fishing trip was somewhat disappointing but also fun.

My wife and I decided to take Elmo out to the "swamp" to get some air and run around a bit. It was relatively late in the afternoon and the weather was balmy with a hint of rain in the air.

Since we hadn't been fishing in the Shiloh Marsh area of the northern Indian River Lagoon; we decided to try that area first.

As we entered the unimproved road from US1 and just as you make the right turn after crossing the bridge, we noticed that the waterfowl hunting signs were posted for the upcoming duck hunting season.

As we traveled up the road to the first culvert crossing, Karen and I decided to stop and try out the spot. This area is seldom fished and since the culvert was open and a good flow of water was moving into the marsh, it looked promising.

I took out one of my rods rigged with a natural colored Creme paddle tail lure and started casting into the current on the marsh side.

After a few casts to some swirls, I hooked into and missed a nice sized sea trout.

The fish looked to be about 20" and would have gone on the dinner table if I could have got it on the bank.



Two casts later and I landed a smaller version in the same area.

After catching a couple more about the size of the two in the pictures, I noticed a swirl on the river side and started casting to it.

Two casts later I hooked and missed a slot sized redfish that almost immediately tossed the lure back to me.

Karen used her usual shrimp and Cajun Thunder bobber rig and hooked two catfish on the river side before moving to the marsh side of the creek.

Since the action was slowing down, I started casting a well used Chug Bug that usually produces larger redfish and sea trout when everything else fails.

After a few casts on the river side and I missed two small trout that tried to engulf the plug and finally hooked a ladyfish that jumped all over the small creek before it finally flipped itself off.

Meanwhile, Karen missed a sea trout and then hooked on to what she thought was a nice fish.

When she got the "fish" closer to the bank it turned out to be a feisty blue crab.



Because it was getting late, we decided to head into main river area but as we got closer the dreaded "closed for the season" sign was out and the road was closed for vehicular traffic.



We decided to backtrack and head into Peacock's Pocket to finish off the day, but when we got to the canoe launch area that road was also closed for the waterfowl season.

I parked the truck at the barrier and Karen and I walked back to the first bend to see if there was any possibility of catching a redfish for dinner.

It briefly started drizzling and after an hour of non productive fishing we decided to call it a day.

I guess I'll have to start taking out the Maverick more often this winter!

Till next time. Tight Lines to your all!

Windy November Evening On The Indian River

After returning home late from another week on the road, my wife and I decided to spend another windy November evening on the Indian River in the hopes of picking up a redfish or at least a few trout.

Bank fishing in November is iffy to say the least; but if you watch the water for telltale signs of fish movement, you can sometimes hook on to some very large fish in relatively shallow water even during windy conditions. The pic below is just one example.


This evening wasn't what I would call optimum fishing conditions because of what looked like a front moving in and some extremely windy conditions.

We headed for the closest water, which this time was the entrance to Gator Creek and the Catfish Creek areas.

We drove around looking on both sides of the unimproved road for signs of feeding fish and stopped several times when we saw fish chasing bait fish up on the banks.

At the first stop I saw a swirl that was definitely a redfish after some minnows. I tossed a blue Creme paddle tail swim bait at the fish, but it showed no interest as it continued moving down the shoreline.

After a couple more stops with the same result, we decided to stop at "Bobcat Bay" and let Elmo do his duty.

Using the same bait, I missed several taps that I'm sure were sea trout and finally landed one that confirmed my suspicion. The fish was just under the slot, so I put it back to grow up.

Several casts later I hooked and lost another trout right at the shore that was a clone to the first fish.

My wife wanted to fish one of her spots right before dusk, so we moved up the path to where she normally does quite well.

She fished her usual shrimp and Cajun Thunder rig, while I tossed out a dead shrimp on one of my casting rods and then started peppering the shoreline with my Creme lure.

After a short while Karen picked up a catfish and missed another. I missed something that I thought was a redfish but might have been a cat. Regardless, we didn't do much of anything at her spot.

The wind was whipping up and I was getting chilly, so I got the Nikon and took some pics of the awesome sunset and a few birds winging their way into their night roosting areas.



The windy November evening on the Indian River reminded me of a gator trout I picked up a couple of years ago around this same area. Unfortunately, this evening wasn't a repeat performance.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Another Windy Day On The Indian River

Saturday was too windy to do any serious fishing and because I had just had a flu shot and didn't feel great, I decided to wait until Sunday to do go out to the river.

Well as luck would have it, today was another windy day on the Indian River. It was great for the windsurfers and para-sailers but it wasn't the best day for fishing.

Because of the gusty wind, my wife decided not to go fishing with me. Windy days cause her to leave multicolored Cajun Thunder bobbers all over the trees. Looks kind of like Christmas tree decorations.

Anyway, despite my better judgment I decided to give it a go for a couple of hours around the Pocket area.

The temperature was in the low 60s and the wind was really gusting across the Indian River side of the road.

I was really surprised to see several other fishermen in the area trying for redfish on both sides of the river.

I didn't bother fishing my usual spots and because of the wind direction, I opted to fish the marsh areas. I brought only one rod with a blue Creme paddle tail lure and started casting to various deeper water areas that looked promising.

After several stops and several dozen casts, I hooked onto a nice slot sized redfish that looked to be about 25 inches long. When it got close to the bank, it wrapped the line around a stickup and somehow got free.

After several more casts into two more deep water areas, I briefly hooked onto another fish that I never got to see. The fish hit and immediately ran into the shallower marsh area and got off.

The way it fought led me to believe that it was another redfish, but there is no way to really know.

I passed a respectable sized gator trying to get warm on the bank and when I had another one get too close to where I was casting, I decided to move on.



The wind continued to build and after an hour or so I finally decided to call it a day.

I love fishing, but when the clouds come rolling in and the sky looks like it's about to snow, it's time to call it a day.

Here are a few pics I managed to get of the wildlife.



Till next time, Tight Lines!