Another Great Day Fishing The Cold Fronts

My wife and I had another great day fishing the cold fronts in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I coaxed my wife to go with me today to fish the marsh around the Indian River for redfish.

She saw how well I did yesterday, so I didn't have to coax her much.  Anyway, we hit some of the same areas I fished yesterday.

The air temperature was again in the low 70s and the wind was blowing just like yesterday.  The only difference was the fact that today the sun was out.

The first stop was again in an area most people drive by without ever bothering to fish.

Karen was using a jumbo fresh dead shrimp with a green clicker bobber and I again chose a gold Bagley diamond spoon with a red tag.

My first cast landed on the head of a medium sized redfish. 

The fish spooked and went towards a small pond, so I walked several yards up the road and started casting the spoon towards the flooded grassy areas where the reds were actively feeding.

It took about 20 casts before I hooked up to a sassy 23" redfish.  The fish put up a surprisingly strong battle before I lipped it, took it's picture and released it.

Karen had a bite but missed the fish.  She was hoping to break her losing streak today but so far, no luck.

We moved to a couple more spots where I caught another fat redfish that could have been a clone to the first one I caught.

This fish headed for a brush stickup at the bank almost immediately after being hooked.

I took off my sneakers and waded out to quickly lip the redfish in the picture below.

There was a gator on the bank but I didn't want to lose my favorite spoon so I took the chance.

 

I figured the air temperature would make the gator slow enough for me to beat him to the bank and I was right.  He only eyeballed me.

I released the fish and after a few minutes we moved again to another location.

Here, Karen broke her "dry spell" with a 24" redfish that hit her dead shrimp in the grass.




I took her picture with the fish (below) and we released it to fight another day.

Another move yielded another beautifully colored redfish on the gold spoon, pictured below.

We decided to hit an area just around the corner from "bobcat bay" were I caught some sea trout yesterday.

It was to be our last stop before heading home and as luck would have it, I caught this trout on the second cast into the area.

Karen, missed another fish in that was literally feeding in the grass and I missed another trout before we decided to pack it in.

 

Like yesterday, we saw a few people driving around the area but only two other people were actively fishing.

For some reason, fishermen in the area don't take advantage of the great fishing that accompanies cold fronts.

 

Anyway, Karen broke her dry spell and it turned out to be another great day fishing the cold fronts on the Indian River.

Till next trip, Tight Lines.

Fish The Cold Fronts

Every time I fish the cold fronts I usually wind up catching some decent fish and this afternoon was no exception.

I didn't get a chance to go fishing Friday evening, so I decided to take advantage of the cold front that was forecast for our area this afternoon.

I couldn't coax my wife away from the stained glass project she was working on so I packed up four rods, my cast net and a few lures and took off for the river.

Because it was late in the afternoon, I headed for where I knew there would be fish.

The fishing conditions this afternoon were less than ideal. 

The air temperature was in the low 70s and the wind was blowing across the marsh so hard that there were whitecaps in many areas. Casting was a challenge to say the least!

The north Indian River east of Titusville, Fl. in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is a great fishery if you know how to fish the area.  I like to fish the "swamps" instead of the river where most everyone else goes.

Fishing the "swamp" is a lot like trout fishing in the limestone streams of northeast Pennsylvania where I was born and raised.   You have to "stalk" the fish.

Since you couldn't easily spot fish with the wind blowing like it was, I decided to "jump fish" and blind cast several areas where I had caught fish in the past several weeks.

The first area I stopped at was just before Catfish Creek Loop road in an area which is almost never fished.

This stop produced a small slot sized sea trout and about a three foot ladyfish that made 4 or 5 jumps before shaking off the spoon I was using.

At first, I thought I had a small tarpon on!

About the only lure that I could easily cast this afternoon was a Bagley gold diamond spoon with a beaten up red tag.

It's weight proved to be just the ticket for casting into the wind and still being able to work the bait effectively.  The short video below will give you an idea of just how strong the wind was blowing.

    

I continued to jump fish and blind cast several other areas where I picked up a couple of nice slot redfish and two more slot size sea trout.

Some of the pics below are slightly out of focus but you can get the gist.  Anyway, all the fish caught this afternoon were on the same Bagley gold spoon.



I tried using jerk baits, but they were impossible to control and today top water lures were definitely out of the question.

When you fish the cold fronts you can expect to catch fish, but you shouldn't expect to enjoy perfect fishing conditions.  The is evidenced by the fact that only two other fishermen were fishing the area this afternoon.

Several people were driving around apparently looking at the scenery, but the only two people I spoke with who were fishing, weren't catching.

I could have caught more fish but I was getting chilled and it was getting towards dusk.

I took these pics of the sunset and headed down towards the fishing pier to see if anybody was crazy enough to be shrimping this evening.

 

By the time I got down to the fishing pier, it was dark and the lights on the lower pier were not on for some reason.

I was surprised at how many people were fishing and setting up their shrimping gear. 

The water was pretty choppy to see any shrimp but when I asked a couple of guys about it, they said it would calm down later on in the evening.

When I inquired about recent catches, almost everyone I talked with said they were catching good numbers of medium to jumbo shrimp.

The guy next to the trash can in the picture to the left, said he caught 98 shrimp last night in the jumbo category.

Another guy said he dipped over 450 medium to large shrimp in the past couple of days off the pier.

Evidently, the shrimping season has begun!

When the weather gets nicer, I'll get an in depth shrimping report to post for all of you who are interested.

Till next time, fish the cold fronts if you want to catch fish and Tight Lines!

Reds In October

The best time to fish for Reds in October is whenever you can get out to do it!

My wife and I took Elmo out for our Saturday outing to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on the north Indian River lagoon to see if we could catch some redfish.

The weather was a pleasant 75 degrees and there was a brisk wind blowing most of the afternoon which made casting a challenge.

We went out about 2:30 p.m. and stopped at a couple culverts to cast net some finger mullet but today there were none to be had.

Undaunted, I decided to use artificial lures and fortunately Karen brought along some fresh jumbo shrimp to use in case we didn't net up any live bait.

We fished at a couple of stops along Peacocks Pocket road and neither one of us got a hit

The water levels in the marsh were at the highest levels I've seen this year and what had been dry mud flats this summer were now under at least a foot of water.  This is where the redfish were feeding.

The next stop was in an area like this.  I was using a gold Bagley spoon with a red tag and Karen was using shrimp under a chartreuse  clacker bobber.

On the fourth cast I missed what I thought was a nice redfish and two casts later I hooked up with a nice fat 24" redfish that belted the spoon right in the weeds.

 

 The fish put up a nice fight on the 10# rig I was using and after landing it and taking the pics below, I returned it to fight another day.

Several more casts later I had another hit but missed the red.  Karen wasn't having much fun casting into the wind and the alligator below was getting too interested in what we were doing so we decided to move on up the road to a more sheltered spot.

We stopped briefly at the "duck blind" where Karen missed a redfish.  I fished both sides of the road without getting a hit so we decided to move to another spot.

 

At the next spot, I dropped Karen off and walked back to fish about a 150 yard stretch of weed lines in the marsh.

After about two dozen unproductive casts, I finally nailed another sassy redfish.  The fish was a clone to the first one I caught and after taking it's picture, I released it to fight another day.

Karen missed two redfish and I missed two fish that were probably reds right in the weeds.

It was starting to get chilly and the wind never did let up much so we decided to call it a day and get an earlier start tomorrow.

There is a redfish tournament next week in this area and for good reason.  Fishing for Reds in October for me is the best time of the year.

The temperature makes for comfortable fishing, the mosquitoes aren't out in force and the fish are generally more active before the colder weather sets in.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

October Marsh Fishing

October marsh fishing usually picks up when water temperatures start to drop.

This month the water table in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge has risen considerably and the areas where I normally catch fish this time of the year aren't as productive.

The redfish and larger sea trout are feeding in the newly flooded shallows chasing finger mullet, eating crabs and other crustaceans.

Because of time constraints, I didn't get a chance to do any real fishing this weekend.

Friday night Karen and I took Elmo our "wonder dog" out for a spin in the marsh just to see what was shaking. We were surprised at the number of people out there fishing and taking pictures.

The sunset was beautiful enough for me to take these photos.

       

 

Unfortunately, the fishing wasn't so great. Karen had a couple of hits and I never got a bite.

I started out using a gold spoon to locate fish and after a while switched to a jerk bait.

Karen was using dead jumbo shrimp and later we both changed over to live finger mullet.

We fished about an hour and a half until the mosquitoes drove us off.

Saturday, I spent most of the day working around the house and trying to fix our riding lawn mower's steering.

We didn't get out until about six in the afternoon and the water was dead calm on both the river side and marsh side of the road.

We saw four fishermen in the area and the only people who were catching anything were an older couple fishing at the "duck blind", a spot Karen and I occasionally frequent.

The gentleman had just landed an upper slot redfish that he caught on a live finger mullet.

All his wife could say was "finally"!

Saturday evening's sunset was awesome as you can see from the pics below.

 

Hopefully, next week the water levels will be down a bit and the fish will come back out of the shallows into their normal feeding areas.

Till next time.

Tight Lines.

Fishing The Indian River During A Thunderstorm

Fishing the Indian River during a thunderstorm this afternoon proved to be extremely productive.

The conditions were less than ideal but I decided to take Elmo to the wildlife refuge with me on a little fishing outing.

This afternoon the air temperature was in the 70s and the weather was balmy to say the least.  A brisk wind was blowing over the water making casting a bit difficult.

I decided to fish an area where I saw some redfish activity last weekend.  My wife and I call it "bobcat bay" for reasons known only to us.

Anyway, I stopped at a culvert on the way into the refuge and netted up a half dozen finger mullet, just in case.

I started fishing using a gold Bagley spoon that has been "good" to me lately.  A gold spoon is one of my standby lures and one I favor for locating fish in murky water.

I had several taps from small trout before moving on to where I planned to spend some serious time fishing.

When I got to my "spot"  there were several fish moving around an open culvert chasing finger mullet and small ladyfish.

I spotted a huge wake moving down the marsh canal and made a picture perfect cast directly in the fishes path.

Almost immediately, the fish nailed my spoon but some how managed not to get hooked.

I decided to bait up with a finger mullet on a casting rod I use for big fish.  It's an old Garcia Ambassadeur 6000 C rigged with 60# Moss Green PowerPro® Braided Spectra® Fiber Micro Filament Line, about 8 feet of 30# fluorocarbon leader and a 5/0 Owner circle hook.

I waited several minutes so everything would calm down in the area before casting the mullet to the opposite bank.

It took no more than a minute before a wake aimed for the mullet and exploded under the bait.

This time the fish was hooked solid and took off like a freight train down the canal.  The drag on my reel was cranked down but the fish just kept running.  It was at least 50 yards up the canal before I managed to slow it down and muscle it back towards the culvert where I was standing.

As it swam by, I could see that the redfish was huge.  It was at least three feet long.

It passed by at full speed and went down the canal in the other direction pushing a huge wake.  I fought the fish for at least another five minutes until I finally got it to within a few feet of the bank.

As I scrambled down through the brush to land the fish, it got it's second wind and took off again.  This time it would around a stickup and broke off at the hook.

I could not believe the fish got off with the extra heavy tackle I was using but that's why they call it fishing.

I replaced the fluorocarbon leader with a fresh piece and snelled on another 5/0 hook.

I spent a few minutes fishing the Indian River side blind casting the spoon trying to locate some fish but mostly waiting for the commotion to die down in the marsh canal.

When I saw mullet being chased again in the shallows, I baited up with another mullet and pitched it to a likely looking spot near a weed lined island.

It took about a millisecond before a nice sea trout blasted the mullet and headed down the canal.

This time I didn't muscle the fish.  I played it carefully until it was out of steam.

The fish measured in at a hair over 24 inches and was headed for the dinner table.

All during the time I was fishing, it was raining off and on.  The wind was getting stronger and the thunder was getting closer, so I decided to head for home and clean my fish for dinner.

Fishing the Indian River during a thunderstorm is usually productive and this particular area is almost always great fishing right before and during a thunderstorm.

I won't hope for one but if a storm is around tomorrow afternoon, I'll be on the Indian River fishing.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Another Beautiful October Sunday Fishing Trip

After yesterday's windy afternoon fishing trip, Karen decided not to go fishing with me today.

Since I was fishing alone, I decided to try Bio Lab road on the Mosquito Lagoon instead of the marsh area in the Wildlife Refuge.

The weather was great for fishing but there was just enough of a breeze to push the floating sea grasses close to shore around the wading areas I favor off of Bio Lab road.

I tried casting artificial lures in a couple of areas, but the grass I was picking up on every retrieve made fishing a chore instead of fun.

I decided to move on to Peacocks Pocket to see if the fishing conditions were any better than they were yesterday.

The was enough of a breeze to make fishing comfortable and casting easy,  so I decided to fish the exact same areas that I had problems fishing yesterday.

There were only a few people in the area and most were checking out the waterfowl and the alligators.

I started fishing with a gold Bagley spoon and concentrated on the relatively shallow grassy areas where the bait fish were moving around.

My first fish was a barely legal sea trout that clobbered the spoon right at the bank.

The fish made a couple of short runs before I unceremoniously hoisted it to the bank and released it.

I managed to shoot a half baked video of it here.

My next fish was a slot sized red that hit the spoon right in the grass opposite the unimproved road.  It made two nice runs before I got the fish to the bank and released it.

In the next hour and a half, I managed to hook and release three more small sea trout, one more redfish and missed at least that same amount.

The wind started to calm down so I changed over to a black/chrome Zara Spook Jr. surface plug.

I had at least a dozen hits from small trout in a stretch just beyond a place we call  "bobcat bay".

It was getting late and the skeeters were starting to suck my blood so I was seriously thinking about leaving for home.

A friendly guy in a red pick up truck named Erin Reynolds stopped to chat while I was "walking the dog" with my Speckled Trout Heddon® Saltwater Super Zara Spook Jr.

He told me that there weren't many fish on the side I was fishing and that redfish, sea trout and snook were on the river side.

When I asked him if he caught anything, he said he was only out to enjoy the weather this afternoon.

I politely told him about this site and what I had caught in the marsh area today but I don't think he really believed me.  Anyway, it was nice to get someone Else's opinion on where to fish.

After he moved on, I decided to follow him out.

On the way out, I spotted swirls in three other areas.  I had to stop at the last one to make one final cast to a redfish chasing something onto the bank.

The fish spooked when I tossed my plug too close to where it was feeding and when a large alligator started to pay too much attention to my plug I decided to exit the area.



At the culverts near the kayak launch I made a final stop to talk to a family of fishermen who were fishing on the Indian River side of the road.

The guy I spoke with said they had caught some small trout and one nice 30" redfish. 

Believe it or not, his wife caught the red on chicken livers she was using to catch catfish.

I wished them good luck with their fishing and headed for home.

The sunset was beautiful and the day turned out to be another picture perfect one for the books.

Till next time.

Tight Lines!

Early October Marsh Fishing

October marsh fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge usually picks up when the weather starts to get cooler.

Because the water levels are above normal for this time of year, the redfish and sea trout are foraging around the weedy islands chasing bait fish into the shallows and up onto the grassy shorelines.

If you can cast a weedless spoon, jerk bait or top water plug into these grassy areas, there is a good chance you will hook up with a nice red or sea trout.

On Saturday afternoon, Karen, Elmo and I decided to fish Gator Creek and run Peacocks Pocket road.

The weather was great. It was a cool 77 degrees but there was a gusty wind blowing that made casting into the marsh areas extremely challenging.

Gator Creek was loaded with finger mullet schools that were being blasted by either redfish or trout.

I tried several artificial lures without any success and Karen didn't even bother baiting up with her go to fresh dead shrimp bait.

We stopped at several likely looking places along the Pocket road, but casting in most of the areas proved to be next to impossible.

We finally stopped at a location where I saw some fish pushing surface wakes.

Karen pitched out a Billy Bay bobber baited with a jumbo shrimp and I started pitching a gold Bagley hammered spoon.

I missed one redfish and had a couple of bumps that were probably small sea trout.

Meanwhile Karen yelled to me that she hooked a redfish.

I picked up the camera and took this short video of her slot fish. It was gut hooked so we decided to take it home for dinner.

Instead of the wind dying down like it usually does in the evening; it continued to make casting difficult.

I couldn't stand being eaten by the mosquitoes any longer and the bite slowed down, so I asked Karen if she had enough for one day.

She was also being bitten up so we packed our gear and made a hasty departure.

The fish were definitely all over the area this afternoon but the conditions made it hard to detect a bite.

I know I missed at least four fish that swirled around my lure but I never felt the hits.

Anyway, till next time.

Tight Lines!