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.