Karens First 29 Inch Redfish Using Artificial Lures

Karen's first 29 inch redfish using artificial lures was made today in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

We had a slow start today but my wife and I finally got to wet a line in the marsh this afternoon.

Karen had been having a "dry spell" fishing so I bought her a new spinning rod and reel combo at Bass Pro Shops, loaded it up with 14 Red Lightning Cajun Line, a short length of 20 lb. fluorocarbon and a 3" - Creme Lures Spoiler Shad Swimbait - Chartreuse Bunker -  Softbaits.

I took her out to the swimming pool and gave her a brief lesson on how to fish the lure before we packed Elmo and several rods into the truck.

We headed out to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge around Peacocks Pocket.

The wind was whipping up a storm and it was difficult casting so we passed several of my favorite spots and headed for relatively sheltered areas to begin fishing.

The temperature was in the mid 80s but the wind made it a pleasant afternoon for fishing.

Peacocks Pocket road was crowded this afternoon.

There were wade fishermen in several areas around the south end of the road and bank fishermen drowning finger mullet throughout the area.

Most of the fishermen we saw were not catching anything but everyone seemed to be enjoying the afternoon.

Karen and I stopped at two likely looking spots to give her some practice casting.  Neither of us had a hit so we moved to a calm area in the marsh where I spotted some swirls.

I told Karen how to fish the area and moved off down to road to give her some space.

After a short time Karen hooked on to a nice sized fish.  She was yelling for me to help her so I grabbed my Nikon and headed to where she was fishing.

I got there just as she lost the big fish.

Although she couldn't tell what it was, I'm almost positive it was a large sea trout.

We fished the area until it started getting towards dusk and moved on to another location where I knew there would be redfish cruising the marsh canal.

When we got there, I spotted a nice swirl at the bank and told Karen to shoot a lure close to the area.

Several casts later I spotted a large wake coming down the marsh canal and told Karen to cast in front of where the fish was headed.

She made a flawless cast and after the Creme bait moved only a few feet had a take from a nice redfish.

I saw her hook the fish and headed for the truck to get my Nikon and get some pics.

As you can see from the short video below, the fish put up a respectable fight before I 
got the Boca Grip and landed it for my wife.

The video missed a lot of the battle but you can get the gist of it.

I measured the fish in at 29 inches and took a video clip of her releasing the fish.

The mosquitoes were unusually vicious this evening and Karen was literally bleeding from bites to her legs so we both decided to pack it in for the evening and head for the house and some dinner.

Karen's first 29 inch redfish using artificial lures broke her dry spell and may have changed her opinion of fishing. 

Although I didn't get a fish today, it was great "guiding" her on to her first fish using lures.

The days of fishing fresh dead jumbo shrimp under a Cajun Thunder float may be over.

Until next time, have a good Memorial Day and Tight Lines to you all.

Another Windy Saturday Afternoon Fishing

It was another windy Saturday afternoon which almost prevented me from going fishing.

However, after replacing a screen in our pool area, I was more than eager to leave the house and wet a line despite the windy conditions.

Since Elmo was jonesing to ride with me to the swamp, Karen decided to come along at the last moment.  Like most fishermen, she hates fishing on windy days.

We packed our rods and headed for the same spots in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge where I hooked up to some reds yesterday.

Our first couple of stops weren't memorable enough to comment on but at our third stop things started picking up.

The wind was blowing from the northeast for the most part and the weather was 79 to 80 degrees.

Most of the areas we fished had a moderate chop on the water and casting was challenging to say the least.

Karen insisted on using a jumbo dead shrimp under a pencil float to try for a redfish.

I started out using a  Johnson Sprite Spoon - 3 4 oz but quickly changed to this
Tsunami Holographic Swim Shad Softbait - 3'' - 3 8 oz. -  Lure that produced yesterday evening.

I had a few encouraging taps that I could feel but no fish until a reader of this site drove up and asked me if I was John.

Alan Forehand (pardon the spelling) and his family were down from Carolina and asked about the fishing.

He said he was visiting for the week, read my blog every Monday morning and wanted to catch some sea trout.

I suggested some lures, gave Alan a few tips and recommended wading the flats in the area or just fishing from the bank with live finger mullet.

Just as Alan and his family drove off, I landed this 16" sea trout on the same bait that I recommended to him.

I hooked another clone to the first fish in the same area and released both fish before moving on to an area that was easier for my wife to cast.

At the next spot I spotted several small pods of mullet in very shallow water. Occasionally the fish would scatter as a red or sea trout would charge in for the kill.

Karen fished the marsh side and I started fishing the Tsunami soft bait on the Indian River side of the road.

On the second cast around one of the mullet pods I hooked up to another under size sea trout (below) which I promptly released.

Karen and I both saw lots of fish but casting to them was definitely a problem.

As the sun began to set, we both had enough of the wind and decided to head towards the house.

On the way out of the refuge, I spotted two huge wakes traveling down the marsh canal.

I decided to give Karen one last chance to hook a redfish so I drove well ahead of the wakes, pulled over to the side of the road and tossed out her shrimp bait.

We waited for the redfish to show but it either moved into a pond or stopped to feed elsewhere.

When the mosquitoes got to Karen, we packed it in.

Maybe tomorrow the wind will be more cooperative.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

P.S.

Alan, Right now the sea trout are still going crazy in both the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River flats.

Wade fishing early in the morning or on overcast days is your best bet for a Gator Sea Trout.

Use top water plugs around schooling mullet pods, especially when you see the fish being chased.  When no pods are present, fish the sandy "potholes" (lighter areas) you can see as you wade.

Sea trout lie just off these spots to ambush baitfish as they swim by.

On windy days, use a 5/0 worm hook and a floating jerk bait (D.O.A.CAL, Strike King, etc.) on a long fluorocarbon leader when using Power Pro or other type braid.

Try going down Bio Lab road towards the shallow water boat launch.

 Drive to the right and fish the potholes in the Mosquito Lagoon flats on the left side of the road.

 DO NOT try wading across the ditches. There are big gators in these areas and I don't mean gator trout!

You can also try wade fishing around the Scottsmoor boat launch with free lined finger mullet, live croaker, mullet under a float, or lures. This area is noted for large sea trout and bull redfish.

Good luck and Tight Lines!

Fishing The Marsh Shallows During A Front

Fishing the marsh shallows during a front usually produces some mighty fine fishing and this afternoon was no exception.

The water levels in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are up and the fish have become more aggressive in the shallows.

This evening I didn't get out to the refuge until about 5:30 pm.

The weather was overcast and the temperature was a pleasant 80 degrees. An east wind was blowing just enough to ripple the surface yet not enough to cause any problems casting.

It was a perfect evening for fishing.

Since it was late, I entered the refuge from the first entrance and made several stops before heading into Peacocks Pocket road.

Some culverts were open and flowing this evening, which is always a good sign. The fish tend to lay just off the current flow where they wait to ambush bait fish.

I brought along three rods this evening. One with a gold Johnson spoon, one with a Chug Bug and the last with a Tsunami paddle tail soft bait.

The first culvert turned out to be a bust but at the second culvert, using the Tsunami paddle tail bait, I landed a slot size sea trout on the second cast.

I released the fish and moved on in search of bigger game.

After making a couple more stops, I pulled off the road at a shallow pond where I hooked up with my first redfish of the evening.

The fish hit the paddletail bait in about a foot of water in the area below and made several nice runs.

The battle would have been perfect for a You Tube video, but since my wife opted to stay home and work in our pond, there was nobody to make a movie.

I tried to take a few pics of the battle with my Nikon Cool Pix 8700 but only got ripples.

It's hard filming a battle using only one hand, I've tried before!

 I finally landed the 28" redfish with the boca grip and took these pics before releasing the fish to fight another day.

   

I worked my way up Pocket road avoiding gators and casting to several likely looking spots where I hooked up with several slot and a couple of smaller sized sea trout.

After taking pictures of some of the trout, I released all the fish to fight another day.

Fishing the marsh shallows during a front can be exasperating but today the fish were hitting like they hadn't been eating in a week.

After two more stops. I hooked into another redfish of about 30".

The fish hit the same paddletail bait only a foot from the bank near a culvert in water that was only about a foot deep.

After the first long run, the fish made several short runs before it eventually got into the brush.

I managed to lead it out of the heavy brush, but after a few minutes it managed to get tangled in a tree that was only about ten feet away.

Since I didn't feel like wading into the Indian River muck to retrieve the fish, I just pulled until the line snapped and the fish swam away.

I didn't come well prepared this evening and didn't have another paddletail bait, so I switched to a gold Johnson Sprite Spoon - 3 4 oz .

The spoon attracted this sea trout which was almost as long as the spoon.

It was getting late and I was tired so I headed out of the refuge to the comfort of home and a nice shower.

Several other fishermen were out this evening but none of them reported catching anything.

Although fishing the marsh shallows during a front produces fish, you still have to know how to catch them and what baits produce.

This evening the best bait was the Tsunami soft bait, tomorrow who knows?

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing The Marsh Canals In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Fishing the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge this time of the year is an "iffy" proposition.

For the past couple of weeks, fishing has been pretty much "hit or miss" however, today my wife and I changed that scenario.

After mowing the lawn and working in the pond, I wasn't really in the mood to do any fishing but Karen and our wonder dog Elmo talked me into a late afternoon trip.

I packed up the truck with five spinning rods tipped with various lures, a cooler with drinks and some dead shrimp for Karen to use for bait and Elmo.

We didn't leave the house until 4:00 pm and since it was late, we headed for Peacocks Pocket road where Karen wanted to fish at one of her favorite "trees".

We stopped at a couple of places where there was a lot of finger mullet action but didn't get any hits.

Today was Mothers Day, which is why there was very little vehicle traffic.

The weather was overcast, the temperature was in the 70s and we didn't see one single fisherman all afternoon.

When we finally got to Karen's favorite spot, I pulled off the road and she flipped out a jumbo shrimp under a pencil float.

I was dubious about this particular area but I decided to try a Tsunami paddle tail bait to see if any sea trout were willing to get caught.

I walked down the dirt road to leave Karen fish her area in peace and started blind casting to fishy looking areas. 

I counted at least a dozen large red fish or black drum pushing wakes down the marsh canal towards where Karen was fishing around 7:00 pm but they weren't feeding.

I continued casting to fish and blind casting to the far bank when I hooked up to this nice 27" sea trout. 

The fish hit the paddle tail bait as I pulled it off the bank around a grassy inlet and put up a great fight before giving it up.

I got Karen to take the above pics before releasing the fish.

I caught another slot size sea trout and a couple of undersized fish like the one to the left in the same area as it was getting dark.

After several more casts I missed another trout that literally jumped out of the water after hitting the Tsunami bait.

A few casts later in the exact same area, I thought I had hooked another large sea trout until the fish started running down the marsh canal.

I was using 10# Cajun line and a 15# fluorocarbon shock leader with a light set drag to minimize losses from hooks pulling out of the sea trout's paper thin mouths. 

I tightened up the drag but the redfish ran at least 50 yards down the marsh canal before I could start to slow it down. 

The big fish was in the brush and all I could do was keep up the pressure hoping it wouldn't wrap around a stickup. 

Finally, the fish turned around and started to run directly towards me.  I never eased up on the pressure and just when I thought I had the fish in the bag, it made another run up the canal towards where Karen was fishing.

After I stopped the second run, the fish was starting to give up the battle.  Five minutes later, I slipped down the bank and lipped the big redfish out of the canal water.

The fish was well over the limit so I walked quickly so Karen could take these pics before I released it.  The heavy fish measured in at just over 32".

After the brief photo session, I revived the red and let her go on her merry way.  After all it was Mothers Day.

Although fishing the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge this time of the year is "hit or miss", today's outing was definitely a hit.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Night Shrimping On The Indian River

Night shrimping on the Indian River Lagoon has been picking up for the past couple of weeks, according to some of the regulars that I spoke with this evening.

Since I've been working in South Carolina for the past couple of weeks, I haven't been able to do much serious fishing.  The seven hour drive really wears you out.

I had planned to catch a few sea trout this afternoon but as luck would have it, the blower motor on our HVAC unit went out.

Today was windy for the most part and a healthy east wind was blowing smoke into the city of Titusville this evening, apparently from a controlled burn .

After I walked around the block to get some exercise, I decided to run down to the fishing pier to see what the shrimpers were doing.

The smoke around town looked more like an eerie fog and driving down to the river felt strange this evening.

When I got to the fishing pier it was apparent that the party goers didn't mind the smoke one bit.  A band was playing at the outside bar and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

I didn't bother bringing my fishing rod, only my Nikon Cool Pix.

There were lots of people on both fishing piers this evening.  The shrimpers on the higher pier were not doing as well as the ones who staked out the lower pier.

Because of the heavy east wind, not many people were fishing.  The guys that were fishing were using shrimp and were catching mostly catfish and a few small sea trout.

The shrimpers on the lower fishing pier closest to the sea wall were literally murdering the shrimp.

The east wind was pushing shrimp towards the sea wall and the shrimpers closest to the wall were dipping up shrimp almost constantly.

I took the video below of the action and as you can see the shrimpers were pretty active.

Night shrimping on the Indian River in May can be rewarding, and coming off a "super moon" might have something to do with the abundance of shrimp that were being caught tonight.

Although no one I spoke with had their 5 gallon bucket limit, several shrimpers were well on their way to filling their limit with jumbo size shrimp.

When I got to the pier at around 10:15 pm, there was a steady east wind blowing and it stayed that way until I left about 45 minutes later.

I ran out of memory on my camera and got tired of breathing smoke so I said my goodbyes and headed back to the hacienda.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get out tomorrow and catch some reds.

Tight Lines to you all.

 

Skunked During The Super Moon

Although Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River fishing has been hot for gator sea trout and reds this month, yesterday afternoon my wife and I both got skunked.

The hype about the "super moon" being great for fishing didn't really pan out for us yesterday evening.

Since the local fair was in town, I expected everyone to be spending their time there.

Karen and I originally planned to fish Shiloh Marsh Road but the barriers were up on the northern entrance preventing vehicle traffic into the area.

According to the powers that be, they have the road closed for "improvements" and it will remain so until further notice.

So much for getting a chance at really big bull redfish and sow gator sea trout that frequent this area.

Unless you have a kayak or canoe, the only way to fish this area now, is by biking or walking the road.

We backtracked to the main road and drove into the Patillo Creek area but decided to move on when we saw how low the water levels were.

Karen and Elmo finally persuaded me to fish Peacocks Pocket road until dusk.

I planned on fishing top water "Chug Bugs" later on in the evening when the "super moon" was lighting up the river, but the windy conditions made fishing a top water lure unappealing.

The water levels were down about 6" since the last time we fished the marsh area and the fish were concentrated in the deeper channels and small ponds.

This canoeist had to get out and walk his canoe across some really mucky water when he literally ran out of water to paddle.

 

Karen had a couple of hits from small sea trout and crabs while I was throwing gold spoons, soft plastic paddletail baits and a DOA shrimp.

I had several followups on the Johnson's Gold Spoon and one hit on a Creme paddletail bait but I never did land a fish.

Despite the heavy fishing pressure that this area has been getting lately, some fish were actively feeding in a few areas.

Everyone I spoke with who was fishing mullet from the bank said they weren't getting much action.

A few waders were picking up sea trout by casting soft baits and silver spoons, but no one was catching anything really impressive trout or redfish.

I haven't been skunked for quite a while, so I guess I was due.

Anyway, the weather was great and viewing the sunset from the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was awesome as usual as you can see from the pics below.

We hope to get out again late Sunday afternoon if I get done with all my chores.

Till next time, Tight Lines.