Scrubbed Endeavor Shuttle Launch

Well as you all know by now, the scrubbed Endeavor Shuttle Launch on Friday disappointed not only tons of visitors including the President who drove in from all over the country to see it but also a lot of fishermen who planned to go fishing after liftoff.

The scrubbed launch pretty much killed the bank fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve as well as the surf fishing at Playalinda Beach.

All the entrances to fishing areas in the Preserve will remain blocked until the powers that be find out when the problems with the shuttle can be resolved.

After my doctors appointment Friday, I hoped to video the last Endeavor liftoff and do a little "jump fishing" for redfish in the Indian River.

Instead my wife and I decided to try Shiloh Marsh Road to see if the water levels were up from a couple weeks ago.

The pictures I took speak for themselves.

The water levels in the north Indian River lagoon are extremely low. That, in addition to the brisk east wind which pushed much of the remaining water to the West shores of the river made fishing this area nearly impossible and basically a total waste of time.

There were some open culverts that were draining into the Indian River from the mosquito control canal, but the water was so shallow that no fish could take advantage of the water movement.

My wife had a couple of hits on shrimp which were probably small trout, but other than that the fish just weren't biting.

We drove over to Bairs Cove boat launch at Haulover Canal to see if anybody was having any luck only to find the Coast Guard camped out there.

There were a lot of kayaks in the canal today but it didn't appear that anybody was fishing.

The kayakers were probably there to see the Shuttle Launch.

In any event, I managed to record the afternoon's events.

I hope they take down the barriers for this weekend. The bluefish are supposed to be hitting in the surf and I know that the trout are wacking top water baits early in the morning and just at dusk.

Hope's eternal!

Till next time,

Tight Lines.