Another Windy Day On The River

It was another windy day on the river and a cold front was moving in to boot, but I had to get out of the house and away from my damn computer, if only for a little bit.

I left Elmo our "wonder dog" and Karen at the house, loaded up four light spinning outfits and headed for Peacocks Pocked road in search of redfish.

I thought about hitting north Shiloh Road, but I didn't feel like making the drive only to find the road closed because of the waterfowl hunting season.

I got a late start (around 4:00 p.m.) so I just headed for the closest entrance.

As I crossed the bridge over the Indian River lagoon, I spotted several wind boarders on the north side of the road enjoying another windy day on the river.  The para-sailors in their wet suits looked worn out and were packing up their gear to go home.

The temperature was in the high 60s and the wind was blowing steadily but the sun was out which made the fishing enjoyable.

I was targeting redfish today but after fishing almost until dusk, I only spotted one one swirl which could have been a red.

On the way into the refuge, I met a nice couple who were subscribers to my website.

They asked where Elmo was and we talked briefly about the fishing.  I'm terrible with names so I apologize that I didn't remember them but they said they were catching sea trout on a white plastic jig with a green tail.

He told me he started using it when he caught a redfish at the "duck blind" with the jig in it's mouth.  Evidently it worked then and is still producing.

I headed on up the road and continued fishing with several baits.

I started with my gold Bagley spoon and switched off to a no name plastic paddle tail swim bait and finally settled on a white Creme bait.

I missed a couple of fish on the gold spoon and switched to the no name bait.

I missed two more fish before a slot sized sea trout finally decided to nail my bait.

I got tired of the short strikes so I got rid of the no name lure,  changed to the Creme paddle tail bait and started hooking fish.

I landed four sea trout in the slot and one that was just shy of the 15" minimum before I started getting chilly and decided to head for home.

 

There were lots of birds out on the marsh as well as a few gators sunning on the bank.  And, as usual there were lots of out of town visitors enjoying the wildlife.

  

Even though this afternoon was just another windy day on the river, all in all it turned out to be a really enjoyable afternoon.

The fishing should be improving during the upcoming month as the finger mullet begin to invade the estuaries and along the beaches.

Till next time, Tight Lines!