Fishing The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge After Discovery

The Discovery space shuttle launch this Thursday drew a lot of out of town visitors to the Kennedy Space Center.

Many of these visitors also took advantage of the great weather to fish the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River.

This evening when I got home from my work, I was ready to go fishing even though I had just finished driving 3 1/2 hours.

We loaded our gear, along with Elmo our wonder dog and headed for the closest Refuge entrance.

There was definitely a lot of traffic this afternoon in the Wildlife Refuge; no doubt from the shuttle launch.

I dismissed my first thought of fishing Gator Creek and instead headed past Catfish Creek Loop.

Our first couple of stops didn't yield anything, but our third stop looked very promising.

There were small bait fish milling around the shallows in the marsh canal and some larger bait fish in the Indian River side, farther out from shore.

Karen started fishing with a large frozen shrimp and I started casting my favorite hammered gold spoon.

After about a dozen or more casts, I quickly realized that the spoon was not going to work and when I lost it on a stickup, I decided to change baits.

I picked up a green, red eyed, DOA jig head and threaded a watermelon colored Strike King jerkbait onto the business end.

Two casts later to the opposite bank yielded a barely legal "rat" redfish.

As I pulled the fish out from the brush along the bank, I saw that Karen was also fighting what looked like a decent fish on her rod.

When I got closer, I helped her get her fish out from the brush along the bank and got my Nikon from the truck to document the catch.

Her redfish was larger than mine by a few hairs but even though they were legal, we released them to grow up and fight another day.



Since it was getting late, we decided to keep fishing the area we were in instead of jump fishing the rest of the road.

I had two more really good hits before the bite stopped completely.

I walked about 30 yards down the road and saw a swirl that looked like a redfish targeting minnows in the shallows.

I eased a cast across the opposite bank and gingerly pulled the lure into the water. It didn't go more than three feet before a nice fish hit the bait and jumped clear of the water.

It was one of those times I wish I had a video camera on a tripod taking footage of the action.

After a decent fight, I landed the fish which turned out to be a nice 20" sea trout.

The fish inhaled the lure so deep and was bleeding so badly, that I decided to keep the fish for dinner.

Next to blackened redfish, I love sea trout fillets for dinner.

Because it was getting close to dark, the mosquitoes were getting really nasty. Poor Elmo barricaded himself in the back seat of the truck to get away from the pesky critters.

There were so many insects in the air, that a huge flock of swallows came into the area to feast on them. For a short time the scene was reminiscent to Hitchock's "The Birds" and I managed to get a brief clip of them here.

Anyway, Karen missed two more fish and I picked up a couple more taps before we decided to call it a day.

All in all it was a good late afternoon fishing trip. We were both happy with our catch and the beautiful weather.

After I get my work around the house done tomorrow, I hope to at least duplicate this evenings trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!

Saturday Night Shrimping On The Fishing Pier

This Saturday night shrimping on the fishing pier was a pleasant change from sitting in front of the boob tube and vegetating.

I planned on taking out my Maverick flats boat with my wife and hitting the Mosquito Lagoon but I would up working on fixing the indexing valve on my sprinkler system instead. What a job!

Anyway, since I didn't get a chance to go fishing Saturday, I decided to check out the new fishing pier in Titusville first hand.

The pier can't be seen from the new fixed span A. Max Brewer bridge and I couldn't tell what if anything was going on until I pulled around into the detour road.

I parked underneath the bridge and pulled out my Nikon camera and one of my fishing rods tipped with a DOA CAL jerkbait.

A few people were shrimping along the sea wall on the south side of the bridge, but most of the people were on the pier and in the "watering hole" having a good time.

The night was windless and the moon was full. There was barely a ripple on the Indian River. The night was absolutely beautiful.

I took several pictures of the shrimpers doing their thing and the fishermen trying for sea trout or redfish.

The shrimpers weren't doing much good, but there were shrimp being caught. Several were nice sized jumbos.

I think they would have done much better with a wind to move the current and bring the shrimp up from the bottom. But who am I?

Anyway, since I didn't feel like sitting around the house, I started casting away from the shrimp lights and bringing my lure into the lighted zone.

I had several hits from small sea trout and missed one really good hit from either a large sea trout, a drum or a redfish.

The best hit came from the rocks just at the base of the restaurant where I was told some large gator trout were caught a few weeks ago.

Anyway, I didn't catch anything to brag about or take pictures of, but here are the pics I did take of the evening.


I just love being on the water with other fishermen and swapping stories. Saturday night shrimping on the fishing pier beats the hell out of vegetating in front of a TV set.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Exploring Shiloh Marsh Road

Exploring Shiloh Marsh Road can be detrimental to your vehicle if you don't pay attention to the many deep ruts you will undoubtedly encounter.

My wife and I decided to take Elmo, our wonder dog, out to the Indian River to see if the fish were biting.

Last week we tried to venture into this same area but the barriers were up for another couple of days.

This evening when I finally got home from work, we decided to explore Shiloh Marsh Road to scout for promising areas to fish.

The water levels in the northern Indian River Lagoon are unbelievably low. Many of the spots we fished last year at this time are now completely dry on the marsh side of the road and less than a foot deep on the river side.

Despite the low water levels, Karen and I plodded on and tried several promising locations even though we didn't spot any fish activity.

Usually during extreme low water conditions the fish are concentrated in tight deep water areas where they hold until the water levels rise.

This evening, even though some of the culverts were open and feeding water into the marsh canals, the fish just were not around. If they were, they definitely weren't feeding.

I was tossing two sizes of gold spoons and a DOA CAL jerkbait most of the time and only succeeded in enticing two hits which were probably from sea trout.

Karen was using dead shrimp for bait and managed to lose a sea trout when we first entered the road, and later on caught a large catfish near an open culvert that we had occasionally fished.

By exploring Shiloh Marsh Road this evening, we learned that until the water levels increase dramatically, we would be better off fishing either the Peacocks Pocket road, Haulover Canal, or the Mosquito Lagoon.

With only a few exceptions, Karen and I are putting Shiloh Marsh Road off limits for fishing for the time being. The unimproved road has 15 mph speed limit signs posted in a couple of locations, but unless you own a hovercraft to get you safely over the deep ruts in the road, or you just want to destroy your car's suspension; you will never hit the speed limit.

One thing I can't complain about are the awesome sunsets you get to see from this road. Karen and I saw only one other vehicle all the time we were exploring Shiloh Marsh road and they looked like bird watchers.

Here are some pics of the area for your enjoyment.

Tomorrow after getting some work done around the house, we plan to take out the Maverick around the Mosquito Lagoon flats. I hear that the redfish and black drum schools are all over the place.

Till then,

Tight Lines.

Sundays Fishing Excursion

Sunday's fishing excursion started with our intention of fishing N. Shiloh Marsh road and exiting near the deep water canal near the "gumball" as my wife calls it.

Unfortunately, Shiloh Marsh Rd. is still closed until Feb. 15th. so after driving up to the barrier we decided to backtrack and see if we could fish the deep water canal at the southern most part of the road.

The weather was beautiful but chilly. The air temperature remained in the high 50s for most of the afternoon.

We fished several locations in the area but neither Karen or I could buy a bite. I didn't feel too bad because everyone I talked to was in the same boat.

Today the fish just weren't biting well.

I was using a variety of artificial lures from top water Chug Bugs, Bagley gold hammered spoons, Johnson Sprite spoons and DOA CAL jerkbaits. My wife was tossing her favorite dead shrimp and bobber combo also without any luck.

After an hour or so fishing various locations around South Shiloh Marsh Rd. we decided to move on to Peacocks Pocket to fish the marsh side of the road.

Water levels on the Indian River are extremely low and casting from shore to deep water, fish holding areas is challenging to say the least.

As we were driving to the Pocket Road, we saw a large bobcat cross the road directly in front of my truck. This one looked to be about three feet long and had to be the largest one I have ever seen in the wild.

We fished several areas on both sides of the Pocket road and didn't get a bite until just at dusk.

Karen had a nice bite on her shrimp that she thought was a sea trout and I caught a sea trout about 17" long on the gold hammered spoon.

The temperature was cold and getting colder and the wind died down to nothing as we finally decided to leave the preserve.

Although we didn't get skunked, it could have been a better day fishing. Lord knows we both tried hard enough.

Anyway, the temperature is expected to be in the high 30s tomorrow morning and much warmer for the rest of next week which should pump up the bite.

Here is a short video of our Sundays fishing excursion:



Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Another Cold Front

By the time I finally made it home Friday, it was way to late to go fishing. Instead, my wife and I took a little trip over the newly constructed Max Brewer bridge to see if anyone was fishing or shrimping from the new pier or the bridge.

The restaurant at the fishing pier apparently was the place to be. There was live music playing and everyone seemed to be having a hell of a good time mixing it up.

There were a few shrimpers with lights dropped along the sea wall and pier but the shrimp didn't seem to be cooperating.

Several fishermen were catching small undersized sea trout and all the while I was there, nobody caught anything of any size.

The lack of catching certainly didn't have any affect on anyone's spirits. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I had planned on getting into some serious fishing today but I had an appointment with Jackson Hewitt to go over my taxes. How I love April 15th!

Anyway, the weather today was in the low 50s for most of the day and the wind was blowing enough to attract a gaggle of wind surfers on the North side of SR 406. The wet suits they were wearing were appropriate attire today.

Anyway, we drove around Catfish Creek road and into Pump House Road on the other side of SR 406 to see if anyone was catching fish. There were a lot of people on the banks fishing, but no one was pulling in fish; at least when we were driving by.

It was getting late and the temperature was dropping, so we headed home.

With the option of going fishing or picking up groceries at Wal Mart; I chose stocking up on grub.

On the way back from the store, I stopped at the Municipal Marina to see what progress was being made on the new boat ramps and park areas.

Here are the pics along with one of a rat redfish I caught flipping a spoon into the grass flats along the Indian River. The red must have had a death wish. Anyway, I just couldn't leave a Saturday go by without catching something!

If the temperature gets decent tomorrow, I'll be out on the water at least for a little while to give you guys another report.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Rainy Day On The Indian River

Even though it was a rainy day on the Indian River, I still had to get out and give my new lure a try.

I lost my hammered Bagley spoon yesterday in the brush and replaced it with a 1/2 oz. Red King gold hammered spoon that I picked up at Bass Pro Shops in Savannah.

As I crossed the newly opened A. Max Brewer fixed span bridge, I wasn't particularly interested in a long drive out to the Mosquito Lagoon, so I opted for the closest fishing location on the Indian River.

Fortunately in Florida, good fishing is pretty much everywhere.

I cruised around Gator Creek Road and headed towards Catfish Creek Loop.

Along the way I managed several casts into "fishy" looking water that my wife and I normally don't stop to fish. Today she wanted to work on a stained glass lionfish project instead of wetting a line with me. She has been disappointed lately with her lack of luck fishing with dead shrimp.

After the third stop, I was using a small Johnson Sprite gold spoon in an area where the water was only about a foot deep and hooked up to my first fish. It was a small redfish just under the slot limit that took the spoon on a moderate retrieve.

It was about 4:30 pm, the air temperature was 73 degrees and it was raining sporadically when the fish smacked the lure. I put a tape on it and it only measured 17", so I took a picture and returned it to the tannin colored waters it came from.

I was driving slowly down the road looking for telltale fish sign, stopping when the rain let up enough for me to cast and not drown. I was continuously switching rods and lures trying to give the fish every opportunity to eat when I picked up my second redfish on the new Red King spoon.

This fish was smaller than the first red and didn't put up much of a battle so I released it and moved on to another spot near the exit to Catfish Creek loop.

Several casts with a green DOA CAL jig head and green cyberflexxx jerkbait combo netted me a nice 17" sea trout.

I was going to keep the fish for dinner but decided instead to release the fish. The fish weren't biting as well as I had hoped and I didn't want to just kill one fish for the table.

Several casts later with the same lure, I picked up another sea trout in the slot but a bit smaller than the first. I guess I should have kept the first fish.

It started raining harder and everybody seemed to be leaving the area. I couldn't really blame them cause the conditions were getting downright miserable.

I moved about a mile up the road into an area where my wife and I usually have pretty good luck with the redfish.

After several casts and a couple of missed strikes with the jerkbait, I switched to the
Johnson Sprite Gold Spoon. The weather was letting up a bit and I noticed several huge wakes coming towards me in the marsh side of the road.

I waited until the fish were just in casting distance and lobbed my spoon so it would pass in front of the lead fish. The lead fish ignored the lure but another fish in the small school nailed the spoon and just about yanked the rod out of my hands.

The fish was a huge black drum that looked about 30" or so. The fish sloshed around in the shallow water and after a second or two tossed the lure back to me. Evidently the barb wasn't set deep enough, anyway I retrieved the lure and started running after the school of drum.

You could hear them drumming in the water from the bank. I managed a couple of casts to the fish but they were in no mood to take a look at another lure and continued on their way.

It was getting dark and after many casts to likely spots in several other areas, I never got another hit on anything so I decided to call it a day.

On the way out, I saw two guys out on the Indian River shallows in a trolling motor powered canoe releasing a redfish that looked to be oversize. They had to be miserable in the rain but they were catching fish and that's what counts!

If they happen to read this, I'd appreciate a comment on the fishing.

Anyway, as I left the preserve it was dark and when I got to the new bridge I just had to take a nighttime pic.

I'm used to seeing shrimpers on the old bridge on my way home from my fishing ventures, but this evening the old bridge and roadway were closed.

Both of the new fishing piers and restaurant were also closed to the public.

I know of several die hard shrimpers who are going to be raising all hell until they finish the destruction and renovation of the old swing bridge.

In any event, maybe the fishing will be better tomorrow. My wife said the temperature is supposed to be in the low 70s, so I don't anticipate another rainy day on the Indian River.

Till then

Tight Lines!

Friday Night Sea Trout

The Friday night sea trout bite wasn't what I was hoping it would be; nevertheless the trip was still a success in my book.

After leaving Savannah, Georgia's rainy 47 degree weather this afternoon and driving 3 1/2 hours to get home, the weather alone was worth this evening's fishing trip.

Since I had not yet been on the new Max Brewer Causeway fixed span bridge, I persuaded Karen and Elmo to join me in a short fishing trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and see what the new bridge was like.

In a word it was NICE.

People were walking across both sides of the bridge, I guess to just enjoy the new view. It definitely provides you with a good view of the area.

We took the first road into the preserve and aimed for the "duck blind" area where we usually catch some fish.

Along the way we made several short stops, while leaving the truck running, to cast to "fishy looking" spots on both sides of the unimproved roadway. This evening, nothing was interested in what we were offering.

Karen was fishing a Billy Bay bobber with her usual dead shrimp offering and I was tossing a hammered Bagley gold spoon, a CAL DOA jerkbait and after losing the hammered spoon; a small 3/4 oz Johnson Sprite gold spoon.

Although all of these baits normally entice a strike, this evening nothing seemed to be interested
in what we had to offer.

We hit the "duck blind" just as the sun was setting and I took some quick pics of the beautiful scenery before I started tossing around the gold Johnson Sprite spoon.

Karen wasn't having any luck at all and I wasn't doing any better. After about a dozen or so casts, I finally caught the sea trout in the picture that inhaled my gold spoon as I swam it off the opposite bank.

The trout wasn't legal so I returned it and continued fishing. I had a solid hit after about another dozen casts from what I think was a redfish, but I couldn't be sure.

Anyway, I was getting cold and Karen was getting bitten by mosquitoes so we decided to call it an evening.

On the way out, we came upon a large gator that looked like he was sunning himself. With no sun out, he looked like he was frozen on the bank so I took a few pics before heading out.


This is the kind of gator that can cause someone bank fishing a serious problem. They have a unique knack of sneaking up on you when you are casting too close to the water and forget that they're in the area.

The gators in the preserve are not afraid of people and this makes them dangerous.

I was wade fishing Haulover Canal several years ago before they closed the southeast section to vehicle traffic when a ten foot gator popped his head up about 10 feet away from me. I slowly eased out of the canal onto the bank and never again forgot the incident.

Anyway, this evening the scenery was great even though the fishing wasn't up to our expectations.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

Tight Lines.

The New Fixed Span Bridge Is Now Open!

As of yesterday, the new fixed span bridge over the Indian River at the Max Brewer Causeway is now open to public traffic.

The new fixed span bridge span that replaces the old troublesome SR 406 swing span bridge, also known as the A. Max Brewer Bridge, has been under construction since May of 2009.

According to inspectors, the old swing span bridge was considered one of the most unsafe bridges in the state of Florida.

The FDOT project that included the construction of a 300 foot long fishing pier on the west bank under the North side of the bridge is apparently right on schedule.

Lane Closure Schedule For January 30, 2011 to February 5, 2011:

1/31/2011
On Monday traffic will be diverted to the new fixed span bridge and the old swing span bridge will be officially be placed out of service.

Various construction activities will continue to occur that may cause stoppages or intermittent lane closures.

02/05/11
On Saturday, the A. Max Brewer Bridge will be closed to motorist traffic from 9am-11am.

The old bridge was the main conduit for visitors to the Canaveral National Seashore, Playalinda Beach, the Kennedy Space Center, and the Black Point Wildlife Drive in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Hopefully when the demolition of the old swing span bridge is complete, there will be enough left of the span for shrimpers and fishermen to use as casting and shrimping platforms.

Cast netting and the use of generators for shrimping is prohibited on the new fishing pier.

It would be nice if the FDOT would leave portions of the old bridge intact for this purpose, like they did when they constructed the St. Petersburg's Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

We shall see.