Fishing During A Thunderstorm

Fishing during a thunderstorm isn't normally considered a great idea in terms of personal safety however in terms of productivity, it is one of the best times to be on the water.

This afternoon's weather was mediocre, but I managed to easily talk my wife into coming along with me on a quick "scouting trip" to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

We were targeting redfish but as usual, I fish for anything that hits.

As we entered East Gator Creek road it was apparent that it had been raining for quite a while before we got there. There were deep puddles and gouged out tire tracks everywhere.

Karen and I got a late start and only had about a couple of hours to fish before sunset so we passed some spots I would have fished had I been alone.

Instead, we headed for a couple of spots where Karen could have a chance of hooking up with a cruising redfish.

The first spot we stopped at didn't produce anything so we moved on to a shallow pond that opens up in several spots to the shallow marsh canal that parallels Peacocks Pocket road.

Karen tossed out her Cajun Thunder float with a frozen shrimp to the edge of a grassy island and I started out casting a white Berkley paddle tail bait around the bank opposite the road.

I got several taps and finally landed a small sea trout, but we didn't see any reds.

Karen had a couple of hits from what were probably small sea trout but got no hookups.

Being the impatient person I am, we picked up stakes and moved to another area.

I changed over to a STORM Rattlin Chug Bug and again started casting to the weeds along the shoreline.

I've learned from experience that although you get fewer strikes on the Chug Bug,, the fish you catch are usually quality fish.

The weather had become more ominous as the thunderstorm that were hovering over Titusville and Mims started blowing across the marsh in the refuge and as the storms moved in, I started getting more hits.

I had several followups and short strikes from sea trout and as the weather got worse, the fish became more aggressive.

Karen missed a red and I picked up a couple of nice sea trout on the Chug Bug.

As the lightning got closer, I had great hit from what was either a redfish or large sea trout.

The fish smashed the top water bait, made a short dash before the hook was set and as it spun around, hit the bait the second time. The fish wasn't hooked well and after making a short run pulled off.

The big fish hit just as it started getting dark from the storm and as the lightning got closer, I started heading to the truck. I love fishing but I'm not stupid.

As I was walking back to the truck, I saw a couple of big redfish pushing a large wake cruising down the marsh canal. I made a half hearted cast to the fish but they never slowed down.

It was getting dark so Karen pulled her rig and we both decided to head for home.

Fishing the marsh canals before a cold front and  fishing during a thunderstorm from my experience is usually productive and today's trip demonstrated that as the fronts moves in, the fish become more active.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to wet a line tomorrow.

Till then, Tight Lines!