Another Windy Sunday On The Indian River

Today was yet another windy Sunday on the Indian River.

Late this afternoon I talked my wife into fishing the refuge with me, hoping that the wind would die down enough to make fishing at least not a challenge.

Unfortunately, it was just as windy in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge as it was yesterday and the day before.

We packed up a cooler, five rods and Elmo our wonder dog and headed to Peacocks Pocket road.

When we crossed the bridge it was obvious that we were in for another rough day fishing.

The temperature was hovering in the mid 80s and the wind was blowing steadily.








I stopped at the dual culverts to play with some ladyfish using a top water Chug Bug and hooked four fish that promptly threw the plug. 

Ladyfish are great fun when hooked.  They jump all over the place and will usually shake off a plug.

As I was casting, a couple of fishermen that I see in the area stopped and asked me about the fishing.  We chatted a while about what was hitting and what baits we were using. 

They both said that the fishing for the past month or so sucked, and I pretty much agreed even though I do catch my share of sea trout.

Both guys read this website (I apologize for not getting their names) and one even had a smaller version of the "baby bass" pattern Chug Bug that I like to use. 

Both guys said they were also catching ladyfish in the same area with the same results, but were not catching any reds or sea trout.

Since Karen and Elmo were in the truck waiting for me and our fishing time was short, I cut the conversation short and headed to where Karen wanted to try catching a redfish.

We drove slowly down the unimproved road looking for signs of fish activity but nothing was happening on either side of the road.   Karen did spot a huge wild boar in the salt marsh, so I took it's pic below.

I pulled up to where Karen wanted to fish and grabbed a couple of rods.  One with a Chug Bug and the other with a Fire Tiger paddle tail soft bait. 

Before walking down the road, I watched Karen pitch out her favorite bait.  Shrimp under a Cajun Thunder float.

The wind never let up and casting was more like work than fun, but I continued blind casting the Chug Bug to likely looking areas near the opposite bank and around submerged islands.

I missed six or seven sea trout and landed two slot size fish, all on the top water bait.

I tried the paddle tail bait but never got a hit so I continued fishing with the Chug Bug until dusk.

As I walked back to the truck I asked Karen if she had any hits. 

Today, she got skunked.  She had been casting the shrimp close to the bank and popping the float occasionally to attract attention to the bait but all the time she was fishing that spot she never got a hit.

Earlier last year she managed to land a 33" redfish and a larger one in the same area however, today it was not to be.

The moon was almost full and the mosquitoes were out in force so we decided to head for home and watch "Breaking Bad" on the tube.



I don't know if I can handle another windy Sunday on the Indian River.  It's too much like work!

Till next time, Tight Lines.