Skunked

My wife and I went fishing late Friday afternoon mainly to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

We didn't have any fresh bait so I brought my cast net along in case there were any finger mullet in the shallows...

We fished Peacocks Pocket road and started at the eastern entrance where I know a few holes that are frequented by ladyfish and finger mullet.

On the way in we saw an young otter swimming in the ditch that parallels the road.

I tried to take a pic but by the time I got my Nikkon, the otter was going up the bank and all I got was a short video of it's tail going through the underbrush.

The water on the Indian River was dead flat.  The air temperature was 68 degrees and it was a beautiful day in the refuge.

 
Perfectly flat conditions make fishing this area challenging to say the least and today was a perfect example.

Since there were no finger mullet in the area to cast net for, Karen was using fresh dead shrimp that I picked up at the bait shop and I was using a variety of soft baits and my favorite Bagley gold spoon.

We saw some spoonbills, lots of coot, and about a dozen alligators sunning themselves on the bank but no sign of fish.

I was hoping we wouldn't get skunked but the longer we fished, the more it seemed like we weren't going to do much catching.

There was a lot of vehicle traffic which made the fishing much more difficult.  The fish I did spot were spooky and were not interested in biting.

After a while I decided to turn the trip into a photo opportunity and started taking pics of the abundant wildlife.

There were kayakers around the island where several resident schools of black drum always frequent, but none of them were catching any fish.

  

There were also a few wade fishermen out in the river that didn't seem to be catching anything either.

   

As it neared dusk and the battery in my camera gave up the ghost, Karen had enough of the mosquitoes and I was ready to go home and make some dinner.  Anyway, the sunset was awesome.



It's been a while since we both got skunked, but it happens to the best of us.

Till next time, Tight Lines.