The Sea Trout Are Still Hitting Topwater Lures

The sea trout are still hitting topwater lures in the marsh canals early in the morning and later on towards dusk.

Because of the thunderstorm activity in the area my wife again didn't want to go fishing with me, so I packed up three rods and headed out to the "swamp" to see if I could duplicate yesterday's success with the sea trout.

It was about 6:00 pm when I left the house and the temperature was in the low 80s.  A mild breeze was blowing across the Indian river and it was starting to drizzle.

I missed the heavy thunderstorm activity and I thought the fishing would be slow but my first stop produced a nice slot size sea trout on my third cast, with my newly purchased Chug Bug.

I snapped a pic of the fish that measured in at 19" before releasing it.

Several casts later produced a nice ladyfish that jumped all over the place before shaking off the lure.

Since it was overcast and late in the afternoon, I decided to fish "pelican cove" where I lost my Chug Bug to a big sea trout yesterday evening.

The wind was picking up just enough to create a slight ripple on the water.  For me this is the best scenario for topwater lures.

I started fan casting between two grassy islands and promptly hooked up with another nice sea trout.

The fish blasted the Chug Bug just as I was "chugging" it from the shallow flats into deeper water.

I took a pic and put the fish back into the canal.

I walked up the road a piece and started casting to the edge of the grass in the shallows.

About the third or fourth cast I hooked into a huge sea trout that made the gator trout I missed yesterday look small.

The fish blasted my Chug Bug and started running up the canal acting just like a redfish.

I followed the fish as best I could and finally maneuvered the big trout close to the bank after it's second long run.  The fish had to be 30" long.  Anyway, as I tried to shimmy down the bank to lip the big sea trout, the fish made a last ditch effort as it was swimming under some brush and pulled free of the Chug Bug.

I couldn't believe it!  Two trophy sized sea trout in two days and I lost both of them.

I was going to move to another spot after all the commotion the fish made but I decided to stay and keep trying for another shot at the trout.

It took several casts to hook up with another trout but I eventually did hook and land three more sea trout from the same pond.

While I was fishing a couple of guys who passed me earlier stopped to ask how I was doing.

Steve and Chuck were in an SUV that I see in the area on a semi regular basis, so I shot the breeze with them a bit.

They had been fishing on the Indian River side, but didn't do well today because of all the sea grass that was being blown in towards shore.  I showed them the Chug Bug I was using and told them about the trophy sea trout that I missed earlier.

As they were leaving the refuge, I mentioned this web site and took the pic below to post.

As they were rounding the curve I caught the last sea trout of the afternoon.

This was the only fish of the day that didn't make the slot but it was still fun to catch.

Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River fishing from the bank is alway an "iffy" proposition but as long as the sea trout are still hitting topwater lures, I'll keep coming back.

I love when a sea trout or a redfish explodes on a Chug Bug or Skitter Walk topwater bait.

The mosquitoes and gnats were starting to get to me and the sun was setting so I decided to call it a day.

The total tally for today was six sea trout and one ladyfish landed, and one trophy sea trout lost.

Not a bad couple hours of fishing if I do say so myself.

Till next time, Tight Lines.