Sunday Labor Day Fishing Report

The Sunday Labor Day Fishing Report for redfish turned out to be as dismal as yesterdays report.

After I finished mowing the lawn, I chilled until about 6:00 pm when I decided to hit the water and try for a redfish.

Karen didn't want to go along because of the condition of Peacocks Pocket road. 

The grass alongside the road makes for tough fishing and the insects are bloodthirsty.

Since I only had a couple hours of fishing available, I again headed for East Gator Creek road to fish the shallows.

Yesterday evening I saw a school of black drum and a couple of reds in the area so I decided to target the reds.

I spotted a couple of reds aggressively busting on baitfish alongside the shallow canal that parallels the roadway.

They were coming in from the canal just to the edge of where mats of sea grass cover the area to feed on either small mud minnows or finger mullet.

Since my Chug Bug was a little oversized for what I believed the fish were targeting, I switched to a small black backed silver plug that I picked up at Bass Pro on sale a couple of weeks ago.

I smeared on a liberal dose of "Pro-Cure Inshore Salt Water super gel" and tossed the little bait just to the edge of the mat of sea grass.

The water here looks tannic but is crystal clear.  This makes the fish super spooky and tight lipped most of the time.

A couple of light jerks to the bait resulted in a follow up by an over size redfish but for some reason it would not hit.  Several casts later I got the same result.

I switched to my favorite baby bass pattern Chug Bug and got the same result from another red in the same general area.  The fish followed the bait but would not hit.

Several casts later and I picked up a ladyfish that wasn't so fussy.

I fished the entire canal next to the road until just before dusk with the same results before moving to another area. 

Evidently the fish were spotting something that gave them lockjaw.  It could have been my fluorocarbon leader, the loop knot or whatever, but regardless of the reason I could not get them to hit any bait.  The fish would follow the lure and then shy away at the last moment.

Frustrated, I moved to an area off Peacocks Pocket road to give it a shot before dusk.

I hooked about a 20" sea trout but as I tried to land it, it shook itself loose as I was trying to get down the bank to land it.

The bugs were getting to me so I decided to give up and head for home.

As the sun was setting on the river, I spotted a big school of redfish swimming about a hundred yards out from the Indian River into Catfish Creek.   There was no mistaking what they were as they pushed a wide wake in the glassy calm water.

Since they were so far out in the river I didn't even try to make a cast to them, I just took out my Nikon and took a pic of the beautifull sunset.

 

 

The only two fishermen I talked to in the area reported that they caught two sea trout about 20" long on "bullhead minnows" out in the river.  No one reported catching any redfish from the bank in the area today.

On the way home I stopped to talk to people fishing the Indian River and got the same report.  People were catching some sea trout, catfish and ladyfish but no one I spoke with caught reds today.

Although I was hoping for a more substantial Sunday Labor Day fishing report, it is what it is.

Till next time, Tight Lines.