More Big Sea Trout In The Swamp

There are definitely more big sea trout in the swamp than most people are aware of. The trick is to learn how to catch them!

This afternoon's fishing trip again proved that a slow retrieve and a stealthy approach will get you more big trout sea trout in the swamp than any other tactic you can use this time of year.

My wife and I didn't get to go fishing today until late this afternoon.

When I got home from work after a long drive from Vidalia, Ga., I unloading my stuff from the truck, I packed up a few fishing rods, a cooler, Elmo and my wife and proceeded to the closest entrance to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to grab an hour or so of fishing before sunset.

Karen wanted to just park herself at a spot and dunk a jumbo frozen shrimp under a float, so I picked a spot where she could easily fish and I could walk the banks casting to areas I knew held sea trout.

I picked up a couple packs of 3" Berkley paddle tail baits when I was in Savannah, Ga. at the Bass Pro Shop store, along with a bottle of super sticky Pro-Cure inshore salt water "super gel" that another fisherman talked me into trying.

The stuff is supposedly made from fresh bait and has bite stimulants and amino acids in the formula that is supposed to entice fish to strike.

Since the "dog days" of August are almost here, I thought I'd give it a try this evening to see if it made any difference.

If you are a regular reader of this site, you already know that I have caught more big sea trout in the swamp and marsh canals than I have in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River flats.

At our first stop, I pulled out a light action rod spooled with 10# mono and a three inch "baby bass" Berkley paddle tail bait.

I smeared the gooey super gel on the bait and started casting into the sea grass on the small islands and opposite bank of the marsh canal using a super slow retrieve.

On my third cast around a culvert, I hooked up to what I thought was a redfish, but a couple of minutes into the battle, I realized it was a big sea trout.

The drag was set light and the fish put up a great fight.

Eventually the fish tired enough for me to "gill" it and bring it up the bank to take a couple of pics.

As you can see, the fish had beautiful colors and measured in at just under 27".

I got Karen to take these pics with a Samsung 18X zoom 24mm wide angle camera that my sister sent me to use while my Nikon is being repaired.

I smeared some more super gel on the bait and on Karen's shrimp to "sweeten" it up a bit and continued casting to the grass hoping for another fish.

Several casts later in the same general area produced the fish below which I also caught using the same super slow retrieve. This one was close to 20".

 
This particular spot produced a total of five sea trout that were all around the same size as the fish above and to the left.

I also managed to miss a couple of strikes that I'm sure were sea trout.

At this point I was beginning to become a believer in the gooey stuff I was smearing on my lure.

The bite slowed down, so Karen and I decided to move down the road to fish another area.

Our next spot was at a bend in the marsh canal, where we saw a pair of sea manatees.

At first Karen and I thought it was a gator but the distinctive tell tale trail on the water's surface and a quick view of the manatee's nostrils quickly identified it.

I thought that the manatee activity would stir up the area and hopefully attract a redfish.

Karen and I fished this area until it was close to dusk but unfortunately, neither of us got another hit.

I don't know if the manatees spooked the fish, but neither Karen or I had a bite for the rest of the time we were out in the refuge.

For a Friday afternoon, the refuge was almost uninhabited. All the time we were fishing, we only saw one other fisherman who eventually passed us as we were deciding to leave the area.

This evening the weather was pleasant. The air temp was 82 degrees and there was just enough of a breeze blowing to keep away the mosquitoes, put a nice ripple on the water and keep things relatively cool.

On the way out of the refuge we were privileged to enjoy another beautiful sunset.

I'm almost convinced that the gooey stuff on the lures helped catch more big sea trout in the swamp this trip but even if it did, you still need to use a stealthy approach and a slow retrieve this time of year to catch them.

Till next time, Tight Lines.