Smokey Evening On The Indian River

It was definitely a smokey evening on the Indian River today.

As I was driving home from Highlands, N.C. today, I heard on a 690 AM radio station out of Jacksonville a report that there were currently 3,500 wildfires burning in the state of Florida.

From Savannah, Ga. all the way to Titusville, Fl. there was smoke in the air that in some places made driving pretty hazardous.


Despite the smoke, my wife and I decided to get out and scout the north Indian River around the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see if anything was happening.

I didn't get home until late, so we didn't get to the river until about 7:00 p.m.

There was a lot of smoke in the air, the wind was blowing and there was a storm brewing but despite these conditions we tried our best to catch a redfish or two.

We saw only one other vehicle in the preserve and he didn't look like he was going fishing.

Karen and I only had time to stop at a couple of our favorite locations and we made the best of it.

Karen fished dead shrimp and I tried fishing several artificial lures with no success.

I tried a gold Johnson spoon, Chug Bug, a D.O.A.TerrorEye and finally a white Creme swimbait that I found in the center console of my truck.

Although Karen had a couple of hits that she thought were sea trout; I didn't get so much as a tap until just before dusk.

I was blind casting the white Creme paddle tail swimbait all around the Indian River side of the road and finally hooked a redfish about 5 feet from the bank.

I thought I had a snag when the redfish hit, but when I saw the beautiful blue hue on it's fins I immediately knew what I had on.

The fish was about 26" long but wasn't hooked well. It spit the lure out almost immediately and took off into the deeper part of the river.

I continued casting around the spot hoping for another bite, neither Karen nor I had another hit for the rest of the evening.

Since it was getting dark and starting to rain, we decided to pack it in and head for home.

Although it was a smokey evening on the Indian River this evening, I hope the rain clears up the smoke enough to get in some decent fishing tomorrow.

Till then, Tight Lines!