A Nice Day For Redfish

After almost getting skunked yesterday, Karen and I almost didn't bother going fishing today.

However, after I finished up with some chores, we decided to try some other areas we that we haven't fished in a while.

Since I had a lifetime pass to Playalinda Beach and hadn't been to the beach lately, we decided to check out the fishing and possibly catch some whiting if the conditions were right.

The weather was beautiful but the wind was whipping up the waves. A perfect day for surfers but not for fishermen.

We stopped first at lot #6 where I took these pics. There were virtually no fishermen in the area but lots of bathers and surfers.

We drove on to Eddy Creek and saw only a few catfish and small trout being caught so we moved on up to lot #9 where the fishermen usually catch fish.

I took these pics and after talking to some of the guys who were fishing, decided to pass on the surf fishing.

When the tide was coming in some nice bull whiting were being caught, but as the waves became more difficult to fish, almost everyone was "packing it in" for the afternoon.

These guys were the exception and were still catching whiting.

Elmo was getting antsy, so I took some pics of the last space shuttle that will ever launch from this pad and decided to take Bio Lab road along the Mosquito Lagoon out to our next spot.

I stopped to net some finger mullet for bait but couldn't get close enough for a good cast. I foolishly tried one half hearted cast into the wind at a school that wasn't nearly close enough before giving up and moving on up the road.

As we got close to the Bio Lab boat launch, we saw a group of fishermen who were thoroughly enjoying themselves out in the Mosquito Lagoon,lounging on their chairs and fishing with live finger mullet.

I just had to take this pic.

I was about to call it a day but Karen wanted to give one of our spots on the Indian River one last try if it wasn't too windy to cast.

As we came into Catfish Creek Loop I managed to net enough finger mullet for bait at one of the culverts.

We drove on up the road to the spot where she wanted to fish.

Karen stayed with her dead shrimp and bobber combo while I tossed out two live finger mullet baits. One was free lined and the other held on bottom with a 1 oz. sliding sinker rig.

As a car came by, Karen called me to make sure that Elmo was in the car.

I went to the car but he wasn't anywhere. I quickly realized that Elmo was still sitting where I netted the finger mullet for bait.

Karen was frantic and threw her rod into the truck as I backed down the road.

About 20 yards down the road I saw Elmo looking to find us. I opened the door and he flew into the truck with an incredulous look on his face that we would actually leave him like that.

After scolding him for not staying in the truck we moved back to our spot where my rods were still out.

Despite the wind, it was only about 10 minutes before a nice fat redfish picked up the freelined mullet bait and headed upstream.

After a really decent fight, I Boca Gripped the fish to the bank, took some pics and returned the fish to fight another day.

The fish measured in just over the slot at 29".

As I put on another mullet I heard Karen yell that she had a good redfish on.

I pulled out my trusty Nikon camera and took these videos of her landing a 31" redfish. As they say; "A picture is worth a thousand words".


These two fish made up for the lousy fishing we had on Friday.

After I put her fish back, I walked back to where my other rod was and lost another redfish.

Since I hadn't bothered to bring any aireation along, the mullet I netted were all dead. So, I hooked up a 7" mullet and punched some holes in its guts to get the juices flowing and pitched it into another area where I saw a fish swirl.

After about 5 minutes or so I hooked onto another nice fat redfish that put up a good fight. This fish was just at the slot and almost made it to the dinner table tonight.

Instead I opted to put the fish back to fight another day.

Karen and I were getting eaten up by the mosquitoes and it was getting late, so we decided to head on up the road and call it a day.

The full moon over the Space Center will probably keep the reds eating throughout the night.

Anyway, it was A Nice Day For Redfish and today's fishing excursion definitely made up for yesterday's less than stellar trip.

I'm not sure I can get out tomorrow so until next time, Tight Lines to you all.