Skunked On Reds

Skunked on reds was the verdict for this afternoon's fishing excursion into the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Because of the rainstorms earlier in the day, I has hoping for a stellar day fishing the marsh areas around Gator Creek Loop road.

The air temperature when I hit the refuge was 82 degrees and there was a moderate wind on the water.

Since I caught a nice redfish in the area around Gator Creek Loop road yesterday, I decided to begin fishing around the same area today.

On the way to the entrance of Gator Creek Loop road, I stopped by an open culvert and started blind casting the extremely shallow water with a Chug Bug hoping for a red or a sea trout.

On the second cast I landed a ladyfish that skyrocketed the bait into the air before getting itself hopelessly hooked on the dual trebles.

I normally would have stayed in the area to play with the fish but today I was targeting reds, so I moved on up the road.

I fished the shallow marsh canals and ponds hard and had only three followups from redfish.

 

I was surprised that no sea trout were hitting my top water baits, especially after a rainstorm but today the fish were extremely spooky.

There were only two other fishermen in the area all the time I was out there and they weren't doing anything with redfish.  The one guy I talked to said they had seen a few reds but the bit was really off for some reason.

I continued fishing until the sun started to set and the mosquitoes became intolerable.

Just before I decided to hit the truck, I picked up another ladyfish on the plug.

After I released it I resigned myself to the fact that I got SKUNKED on reds today.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day if the hurricane bands aren't too bad.

Till then,

Tight Lines.

Catfish Creek Loop Redfish

Catfish Creek Loop redfish are often found in the shallow marsh areas opposite the Indian River.

This afternoon's fishing trip started late. I didn't get home from work until around 6:00 pm and my wife wanted to wait for her eyeglasses to be delivered before going fishing, so she suggested that I go alone and we would get an earlier start tomorrow.

I didn't wait around long for Karen to change her mind.

I picked four spinning rods to take along.  Two were rigged with top water Chug Bugs and two with different patterned paddle tail swim baits.

Since there wasn't much time before dusk, I drove into the first entrance to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and headed for Peacocks Pocket Road.

This evening the air temperature was 82 degrees and there was a mild wind coming out of the east which was just enough to cause a ripple on the water.

As I got to the first set of double culverts, I saw some fish swirling in the shallows but after a few casts I could only pick up a medium sized ladyfish.

I quickly unhooked and released the fish and decided to move on to try for some sea trout or a red.

Normally I would have spent some time playing with the ladyfish but time was of the essence.

On a lark, I decided to swing around Catfish Creek Loop road to see if anything looked promising.

Blind casting on the river side didn't produce anything and as a large gator came up to where I was fishing, I decided to drive over the short stretch of crushed granite roadbed to fish the marsh areas on the other stretch of the road.

 

 

I stayed with the Chug Bugs and hooked another ladyfish in the marsh shallows.

Several casts later, I missed what looked like a nice sea trout.  The fish hit the plug three times but never hooked itself.

Blind casting to the opposite bank and into the entrances of the small ponds produced a couple of follow ups but no fish.

The scenery was beautiful so I took a few pics of the area and later the sunset.

 

 

 

I moved past another couple and their kid who were enjoying the scenery while still fishing and started fishing an area where my wife had caught a sea trout on a prior fishing trip.

Blind casting the area wasn't producing anything except an occasional followup so I walked several yards up the road to fish another larger pond area.

I gooed up the top water bait with some Pro-Cure and after two casts had a fish follow the bait only to miss it.  The water exploded under the Chug Bug but the fish never hooked itself.

My wife called and asked me when I was planning to head home so we could walk around the neighborhood together.  I told her I was just about to give it up for the day and hung up the phone.

I decided to try a couple more casts to the fish that missed the Chug Bug.

As luck would have it, on the very next cast a nice redfish blasted the Chug Bug and started peeling line off my reel.

Not wanting to lose the fish, I took my time and played the fish until it finally gave up the battle.  The 26" red made three more strong runs before I could finally gill it and hoist it on to the bank.

I got my Nikon and took these pics for this site before releasing the fish.

The sun was setting so I decided to leave the mosquitoes in the "swamp" and head home.

On the way out of the refuge I briefly stopped to see how a couple of other fishermen were doing.  They had four rods out with live finger mullet but were not having any luck.

When they asked me how I did, I told them the truth but I don't believe they believed me.

Anyway, as I headed home I wondered if any other Catfish Creek Loop redfish were caught this evening.

When I called Karen to tell her about my luck and that I was on my way, she became suddenly up to fishing the area tomorrow if the weather was decent.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Another Rainy Afternoon Fishing Trip

It was another rainy afternoon fishing trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and I was definitely stoked for it.

Karen wanted to work on one of her stained glass projects so I decided to pack some rods and head for the Indian River to catch some sea trout.

Since I couldn't mow a wet lawn, I left relatively early today. It was about 3:30 pm when I got to Peacocks Pocket road and it was drizzling. 

The air temperature was  75 degrees and there was almost no wind blowing on the water in the marsh area.  Almost perfect conditions for catching sea trout on a top water plug.

There were no small gators on the road to rescue this afternoon so I headed for the spot where I lost a big sea trout and my favorite Chug Bug yesterday.

Today there was almost no action in this area so after about 15 minutes I decided to move on up the road to find another likely looking spot.

I stopped at an area where I caught some nice fish last week and started casting another baby bass Chug Bug that I picked up at Bass Pro. 

I caught and released several medium to large ladyfish before moving up to fish a bend in the marsh canal where I caught an almost gator sea trout the week before.

I had been using Pro Cure on the Chug Bug and it seemed to work better than fishing the plug without any scent. 

My second cast along the canal hooked me up with a sea trout that was at least 5 pounds.

The fish smashed the Chug Bug as I stopped the bait.  The fish was following the lure so I paused the retrieve and let the plug sit for a couple of seconds.  As I twitched the bait, the sea trout inhaled it and made a lightning fast run down the canal.

The fish ran about 20 yards in just a few seconds, stopped and then ran the other direction.  I was frantically reeling in the slack and the trout turned around and took off again.  This time I started running down the dirt road trying to keep the big trout out of the brush along side of the road.

I thought I was going to have a trophy picture for this site but the trout got into the bushes and pulled out the treble hooks.

I reeled in the plug and I'm sure I mumbled something to myself about the crappy luck I was having.

Several more casts into this area yielded a smaller 20" sea trout, so I moved up to try another spot a few yards up the canal.

The rain stopped and the bite slowed down along with the rain.

Undaunted, I continued pitching my Pro Cure coated Chug Bug to likely looking cuts and indentations in the marsh canal until I hooked up with this 27" sea trout.

My cast was slowed down by the overgrown grass that now lines the entire length of Peacocks Pocket road and the fish blasted the bait as soon as the short cast hit the water.

The sea trout made two nice runs before I pulled it on to the bank to take it's picture and release it.

 

I moved to fish a small pond and caught a couple more sea trout, two more ladyfish and a needlefish which obviously had high expectations.

The needlefish was only a bit larger than my Chug Bug.

As the afternoon wore on, the bite slowed down.  I had several more followups and caught another large ladyfish before I decided to call it a day.

On the way out of the refuge, I spotted a redfish in the canal pushing a nice wake so I just had to give it a try.  I cast the top water bait well ahead of the fish and twitched the lure as it got close.

The fish turned around to inspect the bait and literally "slurped" in the plug.

I broke one of my rules on top water bait fishing and set the hook too quickly.

I learned many years ago when I used to fish for largemouth bass that you should count to three before setting the hook with a top water bait.  I didn't and I lost the fish.

I took these pics of the sunset before leaving the refuge.

As I was driving past one of my favorite spots on the way out, I met up with Ashford and his fishing buddy.  They said that today they weren't catching anything but that during the past week Ashford caught several sea trout in the 20" to 25" category.  He had not been catching anything for the past few days.

I told him that today I caught several sea trout on the Chug Bug that were all at least 20" long and some ladyfish.

Even though it was another rainy afternoon fishing trip, the sunset was awesome regardless of the catch.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket Road Could Have Been Named Gator Creek Road

Peacocks Pocket Road could have been named Gator Creek Road and this evening my wife and I wondered why it wasn't.

When I got home from work I packed up some rods, loaded Elmo, Karen and some water into the truck, and headed for the closest place to wet a line.

Since it had been raining on and off during the day, Karen suggested that we head up to Peacocks Pocket and fish the area around the shallow water kayak launch.

As we drove towards the launching area, I spotted something running on the edge of the unimproved dirt road.

I drove past whatever it was and asked Karen if she could see what it was.  As I backed up to get a look, it turned out to be a small alligator strolling down the road.

I got out the Nikon and as I was taking these pics of the little gator, I spotted another one down the road a bit. 

 

 

The little gator was only about a foot and a half long and Karen was afraid someone would run over the little guy so I picked it up by the tail and put it into the canal along side the road.

He hissed a tried to get at me but I moved quickly to get him out of the road and into the water where it would be somewhat safer.

I walked down to the other gator and saw two more which I also moved into the canal.

As we got back into the truck we wondered about where their mama was hiding.  I didn't want to mess with a full grown gator in or out of the water.

We stopped briefly at the double culverts and fished a bit with no success. 

Karen fished the Indian River side where there was a lot of activity but nothing was hitting her shrimp. 

I fished both sides of the road with a Chug Bug and got the same result so we moved up to where a small pond buts into the mash canal.  I noticed some activity there and decided to give it a shot.

My second cast hooked me up with this ladyfish. 

I caught another and missed several more that were in the same size range before I hooked up to an over slot sea trout.

The fish wasn't hooked well and got off after it's first run.

Karen was trying to catch one of the nice redfish that were tailing out in the pond but the fish remained just out of casting range.

It was getting late but the fish were moving around and seemed to be getting more active.

I walked up the road to fish a cut that opened up into another small pond and flipped my Pro Cure covered Baby Bass Chug Bug next to the opposite bank.

The Chug Bug got blasted before it moved three feet.  A sea trout of about 27" hit the top water bait and made a fast run down the shallow canal. 

I was trying to keep up with the fish on the bank and I thought I was winning the fight until the fish headed for some brush and got tangled up in it.

I didn't want to lose the fish and was thinking about taking a chance wading into the canal to get it unstuck, but the big sea trout sloshed around until it finally broke off taking my favorite baby bass Chug Bug with it.

I was pissed about losing the fish and to add insult to injury, I stepped into an ant hill and got bit on both feet.

Karen wasn't getting any hits even though we could see the redfish busting bait fish farther out in the pond so we decided to call it a day and head for home.

This evening there was only one other person in the refuge and they weren't fishing. 

Hopefully, tomorrow we can get out and have better luck.

 

Till then, Tight Lines.

Sea Trout Fishing During A Thunderstorm

Sea Trout fishing during a thunderstorm is often extremely productive and this afternoon's trip was no exception.

My wife planned to go horseback riding, so I packed up four rods along with a cooler full of water and headed for the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to do a little sea trout fishing.

When I left the house it had been raining steadily, but I decided to go fishing anyway hoping against the odds that the rain would let up in the "swamp".

As I crossed the bridge across the Indian River I knew that it wouldn't.

It was raining cats and dogs and the lightning was visible on the horizon.

I turned on to Peacocks Pocket road from the easternmost entrance and as I was driving past the kayak launch the rainstorm increased in strength.

There was no point in even trying to fish during a lightning storm, so for safety's sake I stayed in the truck until the lightning passed by.

 

As soon as it was possible to fish, I started blind casting into the Indian River hoping to pick up a sea trout or a redfish.

It pays to fish the fronts because it is almost always productive, but thunderstorms are a different proposition entirely.

After making several casts to likely looking spots I quickly realized that either there were no fish in the area or they just weren't in the mood for my baby bass Chug Bug top water bait.

It was still raining so I decided to fish the salt marsh canal on the other side of the road.

It took only a couple casts into the narrow canal to stir up some action.

I had a couple of misses on the Chug Bug from sea trout but they would not hold onto the plug.

I pulled out my little container of Pro-Cure super gel and smeared the sticky stuff all over the Chug Bug paying particular attention to the flashy trailer on the rear treble hook.

The second cast hooked me up to a chunky slot size sea trout that put up a great fight in the confines of the narrow canal.

Since my wife wasn't with me, I tried to take some pics of me and the fish while holding the camera awkwardly with my left hand.

I continued fishing the marsh canal and picked up a gator sea trout of about 28" at the entrance to a small pond.

The big fish blasted the Chug Bug and literally tried to inhale the bait.

I learned to give the fish slack when they hit a top water lure so they hook themselves and this fish did just that.

I fought the big trout carefully and finally found a spot to pull it up the bank.

After taking a couple of pics of the fish, I released it to fight another day.

As I was smearing some more Pro-Cure on the Chug Bug, I noticed two redfish tailing their way down the middle of the narrow marsh canal.

I cast well past their path and let the lure settle before twitching it. One of the reds swirled completely around and hit the plug as I twitched it but when I dropped my rod tip to let the redfish hook itself on the plug, the fish wasn't there.

I tried several more casts to the fish but they were spooked and showed no interest in my offering.

It was still raining so I got into the truck and drove several yards up the road to a new spot to continue fishing.

The canal was wider in this area and I started making long casts close to the opposite bank and working the Chug Bug back at an angle.

After a few casts and a followup, I hooked onto another big sea trout that was well over the slot.

This fish also put up a nice fight but I finally gilled it out of the water, took it's pic and released it.

As long as the rain was still coming down, I was catching fish.   And, as soon as the rainstorm subsided, the fishing slowed down and finally came to a halt.

Before the rain stopped entirely, I managed to land eight sea trout that were all in or over the slot.  (15" to 24")  Two of the fish were in what is commonly called the "gator trout" category.

The biggest was 29" and the next biggest was just at 27".
 

Sea trout fishing during a thunderstorm is not what I would recommend to everyone, but for me it was a fishing bonanza.

All during the time I was in the refuge I saw only two other vehicles and two other fishermen.

I had the entire area all to myself for the majority of the time I was fishing.

After all, how many people are crazy enough to go fishing during a thunderstorm?

As the sun was setting I was privileged to an awesome sunset.  I took a few pics for you to enjoy.

 

 

As I was driving out of the refuge, I passed Ashford, the young fisherman I met last weekend and his buddy who were also leaving the area.

When I asked him about the fishing, he said he caught a nice 24" redfish on a Chug Bug earlier in the day.

All in all I can accurately report that sea trout fishing during a thunderstorm can provide some great fishing if you can tolerate the rain and don't mind the no see ums and mosquitoes that brings them out.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Ladyfish Schools Are All Over Gator Creek

Ladyfish schools are all over Gator Creek and many other areas in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River, so this afternoon I decided to spend time having fun with these smaller versions of the tarpon family.

My wife didn't feel like fishing this evening so I packed one rod with a paddle tail bait and three others with various top water lures (STORM Rattlin' Chug Bug - 3.25" - Metalic Silver Black - Branded Topwater) and headed to East Gator Creek road.

Gator Creek last week proved to be a good fishing spot choice for top water plugs.

I caught, released and missed several very nice sea trout, one of which was in the gator trout category on top water baits, so I thought I would try to duplicate my success this afternoon.

As I pulled into Gator Creek, it was overcast and the wind was blowing enough to create a ripple on the water's surface.

The air temperature was 88 degrees and signs of thunderstorm activity was making me leery of fishing out in the open.

Although I didn't see any sign of fish I pulled off the dirt road and pitched a frog pattern Chug Bug into the weedy shallows near a submerged grassy island anyway.

The lure made it about three feet before a ladyfish smacked the bait into the air and jumped all over the place before shaking it off.

The next cast produced identical results.  I hooked a ladyfish on almost every cast for the next 45 minutes or so and landed only three of them which were quickly released.

I actually got tired of catching ladyfish so I moved up the road to where I lost a gator trout last week.

Ladyfish schools were all over Gator Creek and I just couldn't seem to get away from them.

Every time I made a decent cast into "trouty" areas, a ladyfish would screw me up and hit the Chug Bug.

After about an hour and a half of playing with the ladyfish schools the sky got very dark and it looked like the weather was about to get very nasty.

I was the only person in this area of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge so I decided to try one more spot on the way out of the area before heading for home.

At an area where four culverts feed the salt marsh from the Indian River, I spotted two nice redfish in the shallows chasing baitfish.

 

Not wanting to spook them, I changed rods and flipped a Berkley baby bass paddle tail bait close to where they were feeding.

I'd like to report that I hooked up with a red but I didn't.  The fish were after something other than what I was offering and after many unsuccessful casts with the paddle tail bait and another light patterned Chug Bug, I was ready to head for home.

As the wind was picking up, I took these pics of the sunset before leaving the large ladyfish schools in the area.

 

Hope you enjoy them.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Another Productive Friday Evening Fishing Trip In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

My wife and I had another productive fishing trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Friday evening.

When I got home from work this evening, I was hoping my wife wanted to go fishing with me.  When I suggested it, she was half way packed and out the door with Elmo before I could even pick out which rods I wanted to bring along.

As usual when we are short on time, we headed for the closest spot which today was Peacocks Pocket road.

I drove into the first entrance off of SR 406 and briefly stopped near the East Gator Creek  road turnoff to play with some ladyfish on top water Chug Bugs.

I hooked a nice ladyfish on every cast I made until I got tired of messing with them.

We passed several of our usual spots to settle on an area where I picked up a redfish last week.

There was a mild breeze which gave the shallows in the marsh a slight chop.  This is perfect for top water baits and I took advantage of the situation to pick up a couple of nice slot size sea trout.

Karen started fishing the marsh pond with a Cajun Thunder float and a frozen jumbo shrimp that I picked up from Wild Ocean Seafood here in town.

She tossed the rig out to where we saw a couple of nice redfish tailing around a grassy island while I walked the banks casting my baby bass patterned Chug Bug to likely looking spots.

I had several hits from small trout before I hooked a big one.  The sea trout blasted my plug as I chugged it away from the opposite bank and swam under some brush along where I was casting.

I managed to steer the fish away from a stickup but as I was trying to figure out where I was going to land the fish, the hook wore a hole in the fragile mouth of the sea trout and it got away.

Undaunted, I continued walking down the road fishing and casting until I hooked into another nice trout.

This time I horsed the trout up the bank, unhooked it and released it to fight another day.

Meanwhile, Karen was getting bored waiting for one of the redfish to pick up her shrimp so she started fishing a Fire Tiger with the other rod.

I keep trying to get her to fish with artificial baits more but she likes to contemplate her existence waiting for fish instead of chasing them like I do. 

However, today after only a few casts she hooked a respectable sea trout and managed to land it without it breaking it off in the brush.

I recorded the event with the camera and returned the fish to the water.

As I continued fishing, Karen was yelling that she had a nice fish on her shrimp.

I quickly ran up the road to see if it was a red and picked up the camera from the truck on the way.

As she got the fish close to the bank, we found that it was a large sting ray.

I got the ray on the bank, took a pic and released it back to the marsh pond.

The top water action slowed down so I changed rods and started fishing with a baby bass pattern paddle tail bait.  I gooed it up with some Pro Cure to see if I could speed up the action and after only a few casts managed to pick up another sea trout.

As I was releasing the fish, Karen yelled that she had another fish on her shrimp rig.

Again it turned out to be a sting ray and again I unhooked the fish and released it.

I was getting tired and so was Karen so we decided to head for the house and dinner.

As I was taking this picture of the beautiful sunset before leaving the refuge, I commented to Karen about us having another productive fishing trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

 

Till next time, Tight Lines.