Skunked Again!.

Well I got skunked again this afternoon.

It's been one hell of a week.  I've been sick with the flu all week and this weekend when I finally felt good enough to get some fishing in, I got skunked.

Saturday afternoon my wife and I took Elmo and Odie fishing around Catfish Creek.

Odie is to the left, Elmo to the right.

I figured that since Peacocks Pocket road is closed to vehicle traffic until February, we might as well try some bank fishing around Catfish Creek loop.

I netted about a dozen large mud minnows and we headed to an area that I knew would have a lot of bank fishermen trying their luck.

After we parked the truck at a likely looking spot, Karen and I put out five rods and baited them up with live mud minnows at various locations around the bank and proceeded to wait.

After about 30 minutes or so I saw a large mud minnow that was on one of my bait casting rods frantically trying to get away from a fish.  About the same time I noticed the bait, the line started peeling off the rod.

I'm used to fishing artificial lures and instead of letting the fish run with the bait, I tried to set the hook to quickly.

To make a short story shorter, I missed the fish.  When I reeled in the mud minnow, it had teeth marks half way around it's midsection.  The sign of a big redfish.

I cast out another mud minnow and proceeded to wait.

My wife asked me to cast out a mud minnow for her on a bait casting rod and after only a few minutes she had a nice 22" sea trout on the line.

She landed the fish and I took this pic.  I was going to release the fish but decided to have it for dinner instead. 

Times are getting tough!

As it turned out, the sea trout was the only fish of the day.  Karen out fished me again.

We packed up our rods as it started getting towards dusk and headed for the house and dinner.

I was going to ditch the rest of the mud minnows but decided to keep them and see if they could make it another day, and I'm happy to report they all did.

Sunday, my wife decided to ride a horse instead of going fishing and it turned out to be a great choice.

I got skunked again!

I left the house with five rods and the mud minnows in back of the truck and headed for the same general area I got skunked on Saturday.

I got to the area around 3:00 pm and tossed out three rods all baited with live mud minnows.

Mud minnows are supposed to be redfish "candy" but today either there weren't any reds in the area or they didn't like "candy".

I sat, walked around, sat some more, shot the bull with a few fishermen, sat some more and never got a bite all the time I was on the Indian River.

Clearly a crappy day for fishing.

About 5:00 pm I had enough fun and started packing up my rods. One rod was bait-less and a mud minnow on the other rod looked like it went through the war and lost.

Anyway, I loaded up the truck, said my farewells to Neil Clark and his neighbor and continued down the loop to head for home.

I talked to several fishermen who were using either finger mullet or shrimp and no one except one guy caught anything.

The one fisherman who caught the slot redfish said he was fishing since 1:30 pm and this was his only fish.

I'm not sure whether it was the cold front or what, but the fish definitely were not in the feeding mood today or yesterday.

It's times like this that make me remember why I prefer fishing artificial lures.

Oh well, at least there was a beautiful sunset.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!

Shrimping Report For 11-21-2012

Here is the most current shrimping report for 11-21-2012.

The "die hard" shrimpers were out on both fishing piers this evening and some of them were doing quite well, especially from the upper fishing pier.

I was sick with the flu for the past few days and finally couldn't stand being in the house anymore so I put on my "hoodie" and headed for the fishing piers under the new Max Brewer Causeway Bridge in Titusville.

When I got to the area a guitarist was playing solo for a small crowd of party goers who all seemed to be enjoying the evening and their adult beverages.

There was a brisk wind blowing across the Indian River and it was quite chilly.  The shrimpers who were on the piers were all wearing heavy clothing while hanging over the rails looking for their quarry.

I spoke with a couple of guys on the lower pier who didn't seem to be doing much however, it didn't seem to dampen their spirits a bit.

One shrimper had about a dozen shrimp on the bottom of his 5 gallon bucket and another guy I talked to had a few less.  Nothing outstanding for this time of year to say the least.

I took a few pics of the crew and moved on to the upper fishing pier to see how they were doing this evening.

The upper pier was entirely different from what I saw on the lower pier.

These guys were netting more shrimp, although not in the quantities one comes to expect from this area of Florida.

I talked to a couple of guys who were just setting up who were so busy netting shrimp, they looked like they didn't have time to set out all their shrimp lights.

During the brief time I was on the upper fishing pier, the guy I was talking to netted at least a dozen shrimp.  A few were in the "jumbo" category.

The shrimper I spent most of my time with said that this was only the second time he tried shrimping.  His net was obviously brand new, but he knew how to spot and net shrimp.

The air temperature this evening was in the lower 60s and dropping, and the water temperature, according to one of the "die hard" shrimpers was a "perfect" 66 degrees.

He evidently thought that this was the optimum water temperature for the shrimping to pick up and I didn't know enough about it to argue the point.

I walked both piers and saw a couple of guys fishing but they were only picking up small undersize sea trout.

I was still feeling crappy so I decided to head for home before I picked up a case of pneumonia on top of the flu.

I compiled this video of the action, or lack of it, during the time I was there.


Everyone I spoke with said the shrimping should get better as the month progresses and the temperature drops.  We shall see!

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Chilly Day For Redfish

Sunday turned out to be a chilly day for redfish but they were biting pretty decent in the river and in the marsh areas of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I wasn't sure I was going to wet a line today because I'm coming down with a chest cold or something, but I decided to go fishing anyway.

My wife went horseback riding so I packed up some casting and spinning rods and headed for Catfish Creek Loop road where I saw some guys catching reds yesterday.

I decided to fish with ladyfish chunks so I went about catching a ladyfish for bait.

At the first set of culverts where I usually pick up a fish or two, the water was crystal clear and there didn't seem to be any fish in the vicinity.

I drove down the road past a marsh creek and started casting a gold
Johnson The Original Sprite Spoon to see if I could come up with a ladyfish or two.

This is the same area where I occasionally pick up some reds as they cruise the shallow marsh canal into the pond.

After several casts into the deeper marsh canal, I started pitching the spoon past a shallow point into the pond hoping for a possible redfish.

As luck would have it I hooked into this nice red on the second cast into the shallows.

I was using one of the baitcasting rods I bought Friday and the fish was a perfect test for it's effectiveness.

The red was bigger than I thought and it made several long runs into the shallow pond before I could finally lip it onto the bank.

I took a couple of pictures for this site and measured the fish before releasing it back into the pond.

The male redfish measured in at 29" and was beautifully colored from the tannin water.

I tried several more casts to see if I could pick up another red but the commotion put down any other fish in the immediate area, so I moved up the road and continued casting for a ladyfish.

It only took a few more casts before I landed what was to become my bait for the afternoon.

Neil Clark and his wife drove past me while I was casting for bait and we chatted a while before he moved on to the spot he was catching fish yesterday.

I followed him to the same general area where I planned to fish chunked ladyfish.

I almost never bait fish but this afternoon the wind was whipping up so I decided to park by butt and bank fish with Neil and his wife.

I opted to fish two bait casters and rigged them up with enough weight to cast the ladyfish chunks.

After pitching out both baits, Neil came over and we shot the breeze a bit to pass the time.  This is why I don't like still fishing.   For me it's boring as hell but I decided to give it a shot.

After about half an hour or so the short rod with 10# test Cajun Line got a hit.

The tip bobbed and I briefly had the fish on but the hook wasn't set and it got off after a brief tussle.

The other rod jerked but I didn't think anything was on the line so I let it set.

After a while, I got bored and pulled in the rig with a bare hook.  No bait.  Not a plan for catching fish!

I re-baited and continued waiting.

Meanwhile, Neil picked up a redfish on a chunk of ladyfish.  After a brief fight he landed the fish that measured in at a long 22".   Notice the nifty measuring board he has mounted on the tailgate of his truck!

I took some pics that unfortunately didn't turn out as good as I hoped.  The lens was clouded up because of the difference in temperatures inside the car and I didn't discover it until it was too late.

Anyway, below is the best one that I could salvage.

The wind continued to blow and I was getting cold.  About this time my wife called and I decided to call it a day.

I don't mind bank fishing when the weather is right and the fish are biting, but as the temperature dropped the fishing also slowed down.

As I reeled in both rods, the air temperature was 69 degrees but with the wind, it felt like 59.

It was definitely a chilly day for redfish and I told Neil I had enough fun for one day.

I'm taking vacation this week and hope to make it to the Keys if I don't get sick.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket Road Is Closed

Unfortunately Peacocks Pocket road is closed to vehicle traffic from November 1st thru February 15th of this year.

I say unfortunately, because this is the time of the year when redfish in the marsh areas seem to bite the best.

My wife wisely decided to stay home this afternoon and work on a stained glass project, so I packed  up some spinning and bait casting rods that I just picked up and headed for Peacocks Pocket road.

When I entered Gator Creek road, I decided to try out the bait casters to see if I made a bad deal on the rods.

I stopped just past the first set of culverts at East Gator Creek road and tried out the rods with spoons, top water plugs and a suspended Mirror Lure.

I'm happy to report that I didn't get screwed.

I was returning from Vidalia, Ga. Friday evening and decided to stop by a vacant parking lot in Callahan, Fl. where this guy always has a ton of new and used fishing rods set up by the road.

I spotted several nice bait casters and finally settled on an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5000A, 6000, 5600C4 and a high speed Ultra Cast.  All were in good shape and on graphite rods or Ugly Sticks.

The guy wanted $40.00 each but settled on $150.00 for all four outfits.

None of the reels had problems that some oil and some regular use couldn't cure.

As I was checking out the Ultra Cast with a gold spoon I hooked a slot sea trout that I promptly released.  Several casts later and I hooked up with a ladyfish that I shook off at the bank.


About this time, a friend of mine who fishes the refuge regularly was on his way out and stopped to tell me that Peacocks Pocket road is closed.

He said that a ranger told him that people were complaining about BBs hitting them.  (From duck hunters in the area)

He also told me that he had fished the marsh area around Catfish Creek Loop road using live finger mullet but didn't hook up with anything however, he did see one fishermen catching a redfish on a live finger mullet in the same area.

I decided to drive down Catfish Creek Loop road and give it a try.

The wind today was moderate and there was a good chop on the water all the while I was in the area.

The air temperature when I entered the refuge was a pleasant 73 degrees and when I left at about 4:30 pm, it had dropped to 69 degrees.

I stayed with gold Johnson Sprite spoons but never hooked up with a red.  I did manage to snag another small sea trout that was under the 15" minimum which I promptly released.

I stopped to talk to several fishermen and noted that a couple of them were catching reds in the slot.

The guy in this picture caught what looked like a slot red while I was talking to another fishermen down the road.  

Another couple I talked to said they were "killing" the redfish using fresh chunked ladyfish on a sliding sinker rig, but today, since they couldn't catch a ladyfish for bait, they were using live finger mullet.

They said they only caught one redfish today, which I assume they released..

I wished them well and moved down to the point where I saw this guy in his boat fishing the same area.  As I watched, I saw him miss a fish but I obviously couldn't make out what it was.

Blind casting into the Indian River shallows wasn't producing anything but weeds on every other cast and it was getting chilly. 

I didn't feel like battling the wind with hardware until dusk and since it was getting cooler I decided to give it up for today and come better prepared for live bait fishing tomorrow.

As I was leaving the area, I noticed that someone evidently had a great day fishing for sheepshead.

Several cleaned sheepshead remains were left on the bank for the vultures to scavenge.

Who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll catch a ladyfish and sit on the bank with Karen waiting for a redfish to bite like everyone else was doing today.

It does look relaxing.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Rainy November Afternoon On The Indian River

Today turned out to be another rainy November afternoon on the Indian River but despite the weather, I still decided to wet a line in the salt marsh.

As I was crossing the Max Brewer Memorial Parkway Bridge I could see rainstorms on the horizon and in the area of Peacocks Pocket kayak launch.

It was beginning to drizzle and the wind was picking up.

The air temperature was in the low 70s and dropping.  All good indicators for a decent fishing trip.

I was greeted by several vultures as I entered Peacocks Pocket road.  For some reason they love to roost in this tree.

 

As I got to the kayak launch I noticed some top water action in the pocket.  I couldn't tell if the fish were sea trout or reds but they were well out of casting range so I continued to the first set of culverts.

I started casting a gold hammered redfish spoon on the Indian River side of the road and had a couple of taps but no solid hookups.

The wind stopped and the water in the marsh areas became dead calm so I switched rods and started pitching a Chug Bug to the opposite bank.

I stopped at several areas to fish the top water plug and was eventually rewarded with a nice 22" sea trout.

The fish nailed the Chug Bug half way across the marsh canal and put up a respectable fight before I hauled it up the bank.

I took a couple of pics and released the fish to grow into a Gator trout.

I missed three more sea trout in the slot and landed another fish about 20 yards down the road that was a clone to the first fish.

The wind started up again and the calm water disappeared for the afternoon.

I switched back to the gold spoon and got a hit from a red right at the bank but couldn't hook up the fish.

About this time it started to rain in earnest and the temperature began to drop.

I changed back to the Chug Bug and hooked up with another smaller sea trout just as the rain started coming down in buckets.  I landed and released the fish and headed for the truck to get out of the rain.

 

It was starting to get dark so I decided to try one last spot where a reader caught a nice redfish several weeks ago.

By the time I pulled up to the spot, it was dark and the rain was still coming down steadily.

I pitched the Chug Bug several times into the area and missed a sea trout twice that was a short striker before calling it a day.

Fishing generally improves just before and sometimes after a rainstorm but this evening another rainy November afternoon on the Indian River wasn't that appealing to me.

I was damp, cold and hungry so I headed for home and a nice meal.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Gators Everywhere

This evening there were gators everywhere in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

When I say gators everywhere, I literally mean gators everywhere!

Late this afternoon I decided to give the refuge another shot and try to catch a redfish or two.

I picked up an off brand gold redfish spoon last week at the Bass Pro Shops store in Savannah, so I tied one on and started blind casting for reds.

This weekend there is a seafood and arts festival in town and most everyone seemed to be there.

As I crossed the bridge, the grounds were packed so I didn't anticipate much visitor traffic in the wildlife refuge.

The air temperature was a pleasant 72 degrees, there was no possibility of rain and there was almost no wind on the water.

The water in the marsh area was like glass which makes for some difficult fishing.  The fish spook easily when the water is too calm.

I drove slowly down Peacocks Pocket road blind casting at likely looking spots that I know held redfish this time of the year.

I was casting using my long graphite rod with a gold Johnson Sprite Spoon - 3/ 4 oz near a large 10 foot gator where I spotted a boil and promptly hooked up with what looked like an oversize redfish.

The fish turned on the spoon and headed for the bank towards the gator and all hell broke loose.



The gator turned on to the redfish, the spoon flipped out of the red and hooked onto the tail of the gator, and before I was even sure of what happened, I was hooked on to the tail of the gator.

It took a few seconds before I realized that I was firmly hooked on the the alligator but when I realized it, I tried to pull the spoon loose.

Bad move.  The gator felt the pressure and exploded all over the marsh canal.

I lost the redfish and the spoon to the gator so I moved up the canal a bit, tied on another spoon and continued fishing.

About this time a reader of this website drove up in his van and introduced himself as Mike Zeno.

I was surprised that someone remembered my name so we talked a bit about the fishing in the area.

As we were talking, a small school of redfish was making their way down the canal past the pissed off alligator.  I tried a few casts to them but they were not in their feeding mode.

Mike moved on and a few casts later I picked up a small sea trout which I promptly released.

As I moved on down the road I noticed some guys fishing the shallows of the Indian River in a small boat.  They were catching something but I couldn't make out what it was.



I lost the redfish spoon to a stick up and tied on a gold hammered spoon to see if it would get me better results.

It was getting late so I decided to try one last spot of mine before heading for home.

As I drove up to where I planned to fish, the spot was already occupied by another reader of this site.

Craig and his girlfriend Mary were already fishing the area.  As I was talking to my wife on my cell phone, Craig asked me if I wanted to see "something".

I hung up with Karen as Craig pulled out another gator; this time a gator sea trout.

Craig said that Mary caught the gator sea trout on a live shrimp under a popping float in the very same spot where he caught a nice redfish during the hunt for reds in October several weeks ago.

I took this series of pics to show that big fish do reside in areas where you would never expect them to frequent.

 

After I took the pics my wife reminded me that there was a ham in the oven I had to attend to so I packed it in for the evening.

On the way out of the refuge, I took these pics of the awesome sunset.

I can honestly say this evening that there were gators everywhere in the refuge 

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Catching Sea Trout On Spoons

Catching sea trout on spoons this evening wasn't exactly what I had in mind but in the absence of redfish, I didn't complain.

When I got home this evening, I grabbed three spinning rods and headed directly to the Indian River to get in some fishing before dusk.

I was greeted by a group of wood storks as I entered the wildlife refuge that reminded me of supreme court judges, absent their robes.

 

I stopped to take these pics before heading to my favorite spots.

The first stop produced a couple of ladyfish on a gold Johnson Sprite.

The first fish was released and the second one which was a bit larger flipped off the treble hook at the bank.

There was some wind in the marsh this evening and the temperature was in the low 70s when I drove into the refuge.

The ripples on the water made me stick with gold spoons but I did catch a small sea trout on a silver and black Chug Bug.

I spent some time blind casting the gold spoon to likely looking spots that I thought would hold redfish, but this evening the only fish I managed to catch besides the ladyfish were a trio of small sea trout.
  
Catching sea trout on spoons is fun, but not as much fun as catching redfish on spoons.

The only other people I saw in the refuge this evening was a guy on a small motorcycle and a couple of guys driving out of the refuge as I was entering.

I spotted this guy fishing in his kayak but he didn't seem to be catching anything except a good breeze.  I took his pic anyway because he seemed so relaxed.

As the sun started to set, I spotted several large redfish tailing in the river.  Unfortunately, they were just out of casting range but I still lobbed a couple of casts close to where they were feeding.

I didn't get any follow ups so I decided to take a few pics of the beautiful sunset and call it a day.

Hope you enjoy them.

 

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Gold Spoons For Redfish

It pays to use gold spoons for redfish this time of year.

For some reason redfish just love to eat gold spoons.

I've asked several guides and have done some research on the web but no one seems to know why redfish in particular go crazy over the color.  All I know from experience is that gold spoons for redfish during the winter months will hook you up when everything else fails. 

I listened to politics this morning and didn't bother to wet a line until about 5:30 pm.

My wife went horseback riding so I packed up a few spinning outfits and headed for the areas where I picked up some reds yesterday afternoon.

The air temperature was 78 degrees when I entered the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge and like yesterday, there was no appreciable wind on the water.

The marsh areas were almost dead calm and the river was flat.

I decided to use gold spoons for redfish this afternoon to cover more water so I tied on a modified Johnson Sprite Spoon - 3/ 4 oz and started blind casting to likely looking spots around the submerged grass.

I began modifying my spoons with a small split ring and a small barrel swivel to give them more of a wobbling action at slow speeds.  I got the tip from a professional guide who usually gets his share of fish.

The first couple of spots I targeted apparently had no fish, but the third spot where I nailed a 31" redfish the other day produced a hit on my first cast past a grassy point.

The fish nailed the spoon and made several strong runs in the shallow water of the marsh canal before it got tired enough for me to land it.

  

The water in the area where the fish hit the gold spoon was flat as glass.  Most fishermen would have passed up fishing the spot but I knew that towards evening the reds hang on that point to feed on baitfish.

I skinned down the bank and used the boca grip to lip the redfish.

The fish was smaller than what I thought it was but it still measured in at 28" to the tip of a "squeezed" tail.

I took some pics and released the fish to fight another day.

I forgot about daylight savings time and realized that it was getting darker faster than usual.

I hit two more spots and missed two fish.  One was probably a sea trout but the other was definitely a redfish.  The fish swirled on the gold spoon, bumped the lure with it's nose and showed me it's broad tail before taking off up the marsh canal.

I spotted a couple of fishermen on the Indian River anchored in a flats boat in very shallow water but I couldn't see if they were catching anything.

 

I met up with one other fisherman and his wife who read this website and I apologize that I don't remember his name. He was using a Chug Bug and was releasing an under size sea trout as I passed by.  His wife said he caught a redfish earlier on the same bait a bit farther up Peacocks Pocket road.

I wished him luck and decided to head for home.

I hit one other spot on the way out of the refuge, but nothing seemed interested in my spoon or the Chug Bug that I started using near dusk.

The bugs weren't too bad this evening and it was a beautiful sunset which capped off another great fishing trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

 
If you haven't tried them lately, you might consider using gold spoons for redfish in the marsh canals or in the Indian River shallows.

Till next time, Tight Lines.