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!