Peacocks Pocket Road Is Open

Finally, Peacocks Pocket Road is open to vehicle traffic.

My wife and I took a break this afternoon to drive around Catfish Creek loop and much to our surprise we found the barrier to Peacocks Pocket Road down.

Although we weren't prepared to do any serious fishing, we took the road to take pics of the wildlife that was out in numbers this afternoon.

The temperature was in the mid 70s and there was a slight breeze blowing in the refuge.

The alligators and birds were out in numbers and there was an abundance of vehicle traffic in the area.

In several spots it looked like Grand Central Station.  We saw several trucks carrying kayaks and canoes, and there were several fishermen wading the Indian River casting top water plugs for sea trout.

I briefly talked to a buddy who fishes the area almost as much as I do and he said that the road was open yesterday.

He said he caught a slot redfish on a live shrimp in an area my wife and I named "snook point", but today he was fishless.

The other fishermen we saw along the road didn't seem to be having much luck either.

I stopped at a couple of spots where I usually catch sea trout but today the fish weren't interested in my spoon.

Karen and I counted at least a dozen alligators sunning themselves on the bank and a couple more in the water,.  Makes you wonder about wading!

Anyway, after taking some pics of the beautiful Rosette spoonbills, gators, and herons; we headed home to finish working on our pool.

I finally decided to convert our swimming pool into a garden Koi pond and tapping into the water supply from our shallow well was on the agenda.

Next week if I don't get my Maverick flats boat back from Float On trailers, I'll probably be targeting Peacocks Pocket road with my wife, Elmo and Odie.

Till next time,
Tight Lines!

Get Your Aerobics In While Fishing

You can get your aerobics in while fishing just by walking to your spot and in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge right now, there are many areas where you can avail yourself of the opportunity.

Since hunting season has closed most areas to vehicle traffic until mid February, bank fishermen have limited areas where they can successfully hope to catch a limit of fish.

Last week when I spoke with a fish and wildlife officer about the limited fishing areas, he suggested walking to some of the "honey holes" that now hold large sea trout and redfish.

A trail bike would also be a great option to get your aerobics in while fishing an area.

Saturday would have been a great day to practice but I had to work around my neglected yard.

I did finally manage to get out to our local fishing piers this evening to see if anybody was limiting out on shrimp.

I got down to the lower pier around 10:00 pm and immediately noticed that there were a ton of people there.

The band at the pavilion was packing up their gear and so were some of the shrimpers.

I asked several if they had done any good and to a man they all responded with negative comments.

The temperature was 52 degrees and there was absolutely no wind or tidal movement in the Indian River lagoon.

Although there was a full moon (which is normally good for shrimping) no one was "knocking them dead".

As I walked the lower fishing pier, only a few of the regular shrimpers had any shrimp in their buckets and many "jumbos" for which this area is noted.

There were several people fishing, mostly with live or fresh dead shrimp and the only fish caught were some croaker and a few under size sea trout.

I moved to the upper pier and found it just as populated.  The shrimpers and fishermen who were there gave about the same report as I got from the people down on the lower pier. 

Nothing of any consequence.

I took a few pics of both piers before heading to the house.

 

In short,  unless the water is moving in the lagoon, stay home "cause the shrimp aren't runnin".

In order to get your aerobics in while fishing you need to walk so I plan to do just that tomorrow if the weather permits.

Till then,

Tight Lines!

The Eagles Have Landed

The eagles have landed today in the Catfish Creek area of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Until this afternoon I had not been able to get out and wet a line.

I spent the day Saturday in Jacksonville at the gun show and really didn't expect to stay the day.

 There were thousands of people out there and like myself, almost everyone I spoke with had concerns about their ability to purchase weapons in the future.

The guns and ammo were going out the door faster than hotcakes and I honestly cannot remember being in the company of a nicer bunch of Americans.

Anyway, this afternoon I packed up three rods and headed for Catfish Creek loop to see if anyone was having any luck with the redfish.

Only two other fishermen were in the area; one didn't get a hit and the other gentleman who I see regularly in the area said he had a hit on cut mullet but the fish dropped the bait before he could set the hook.

I moved on and started pitching a gold spoon, a paddle tail bait and a spinner bait into various areas without any hookups.  I had only one hit during the brief time I was in the area before a Fish and Wildlife officer came by.

We chatted a bit about the fishing and the closure of Peacocks Pocket road before he moved on.

The temperature was in the high 60s and the wind was blowing steadily out of the northeast and since I was getting cold, I decided to head for home.

As I was driving down Catfish Creek Loop road, I caught up with the fish and wildlife officer who was taking pics of something in the road.

As I got closer I realized it was an American Eagle, so I got out my trusty Nikon Coolpix and started taking pics of the shy birds.

There were two eagles in the road along with a couple of vultures arguing over some "road kill" and they weren't a bit afraid of us.

After a while the wildlife officer slowly moved on and I edged closer to the two eagles until they took off.

I started to turn around and noticed that the braver of the two birds circled around to continue with it's meal so I edged as close as I could and took a few more pics and the video below.  Hope you enjoy them.


The last time I had the pleasure of seeing an American eagle in the wild was in the middle of Shiloh Marsh road, and that one was extremely wary of humans.   I never could get as close as I did to these two birds.

Although today turned out to be "fishless", the eagles have landed!

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Awesome Sunset

It was another awesome sunset in central Florida even if the fishing wasn't up to expectations.

To make a long story very very short, fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge this evening was short of spectacular.

I didn't get out to the river until after 4:00 pm and by the time I netted up a few finger mullet and mud minnows, it was around 4:30 pm before I even wet a line.

I fished a hammered gold spoon, a redfish magic rig, a Chug Bug, mud minnows, live mullet, and even cut bait without getting even a small bite.  Pittiful!!!

I saw some folks in kayaks launch in the Catfish Creek area but they didn't hook up with anything.
  

 

The only other fishermen I talked to had the same luck as I did.  All bad.

Oh well, that's why it's called fishing.

I took these pics of the awesome sunset on the way out.

 

Maybe, next week I'll have better luck and get out earlier.
Till then, Tight Lines.

Boynton Inlet Trip

Early Saturday morning my wife and I packed up Elmo and Odie and headed for Boynton Inlet.

Our actual destination was Dania, Fl. where I pick up my Koi food in bulk.

We left a little too early so we drove down to Boynton Inlet to see what the fishing was like.

The weather was stellar and lots of people were in the area surfing, sunning and fishing.

We parked next to the Inlet where I took a few pics of the area and some of the fishermen who weren't apparently doing so well.

When I used to work in this area, I used to enjoy fishing Boynton Inlet from the pier.

You can catch snapper, grouper, bluefish, snook, sheepshead, blue runners, croaker, shark and even tarpon when in season.

I stopped one afternoon after work armed with only a jig and picked up a couple of big barracuda from the sea wall and lost a big grouper that ended my short fishing trip.

This trip I didn't bring any rods so it was pictures only.

For those of you who have never been down to Boynton Inlet, it's a tough place to take out your boat.

The current rips through the inlet at about 6 knots on a normal day and can cause problems if you aren't used to it.


Local knowledge is necessary to navigate the inlet, especially during inclement weather.  You need to use a full throttle on most days.

On Saturday, the weather was great but the current was still a challenge to some of the smaller vessels trying to get out.  All in all it was perfect for boating and fishing.

Once you get your boat out past the breakers, you can catch sailfish, dolphin, king mackerel, bonita, and farther out swordfish and even an occasional marlin, courtesy of the Gulf stream meandering close to shore.

After taking some pictures, we met up with our supplier to pick up a few cases of Koi food and headed back to Titusville.

Although I planned to get in a little fishing, the trip kicked my butt so Karen and I decided to just "chill".

If I ever get my Maverick back from the Float On manufacturer in Vero Beach, I plan on taking it down to the Boynton Area to do some fishing offshore.

On calm days, I've seen guys in kayaks fish well past the breakers as well as flats boats that head way past the breakers offshore to the Gulf Stream.

If you ever decide to fish Boynton Inlet from the jetty or fishing pier, here are some tips.

Bring a cast net to catch your own bait.  Usually you can beg some if you forget the net but it's better to bring your own.  You can catch mullet, pilchards or sardines from the sea walls.

You can catch snook on the tide change from the South jetty and occasionally on the south side beach using live bait or artificials.  Jigs, DOAs or plugs all work well.

From the same beach area you can also catch blues, large grunts, croakers, spots and occasionally snapper.

From the north jetty you can catch mangroves and snook on the beach side.  You can also catch mackerel in the fall and winter on chartreuse pompano jigs sweetened with a bit of shrimp.  Pompano are also in this area.
  
Certain times of the year you can catch sheephead from the seawalls.  You can usually see them from the walls when they are in the area.

From the South side back seawall at Boynton Inlet, you can catch tarpon, moonfish, snook, mangrove snapper and other smaller fish.

Small pieces of shrimp on small hooks work for the moonfish and fresh caught sardines work for mangrove snapper.

When tarpon are in the area, the locals catch them using large fish heads or live bait.

Next time I make a trip to Boynton Inlet, I plan on bringing along my rods.

Till next time,

Tight Lines. .

Wading The Indian River

Wading the Indian River is one of the best ways to catch fish almost any time of the year and this afternoon was no exception.

I didn't bother fishing today until I mowed the lawn and took care of some things around the house,  By then, it was almost 4:00 pm but I decided to take a ride around Catfish Creek loop to see if anything was happening anyway.

I packed up a few rods and netted four or five mud minnows before heading to Catfish Creek.

I stopped at a small pond before the turn and picked up a small sea trout on a gold hammered spoon but no redfish, so I drove on to the road closure where I found Byron bank fishing.

I didn't want to infringe on his area so after asking him how he was doing, I moved down the road.

Byron was fishing shrimp and hadn't had any bites all the time he was in the area.

A few yards down the road was another regular who I briefly spoke with and he said he also didn't have any luck.  He was fishing shrimp and live finger mullet.

Opposite where he was fishing, I noticed four fishermen wading in the river blind casting artificial lures and wondered if they were having any better luck than the guys fishing the bank.

I moved on down the road and stopped to fish a swirl I spotted in the marsh.  After several casts with the spoon without a hook up, I put my rod back into the truck and started to move again.

As I was starting the truck I saw the guys who were wading the river walking down the road with their catch followed by two cars.

I asked them their names and what they used to catch the fish on.

Nick and Andrew said they caught the fish on 1/4 oz. and 1/2 oz. gold Johnson Sprite spoons.

I asked them if they minded me taking their pics and posting them on this site and they readily agreed.

Here are some of the pics of their catch that I took.

 

I moved on down Catfish Creek loop and pitched out a couple of mud minnows on my casting rods and started casting my gold Johnson Sprite.

Fishing from the bank severely limits your opportunities even with live bait, but I didn't  feel like getting wet, especially heading towards dusk with the temperature dropping .

As I was fishing another pair of fishermen donned in waders stopped to fish and asked me if I had any luck.

I briefly exchanged information about the other waders and they promptly started fishing the shallows in the Indian River.

Another couple of guys were in a canoe doing the same but they didn't seem to be having any luck.

It was heading towards 5:00 pm and since nothing was happening, I decided to pack it in and head for home.

Wading the Indian River and the Mosquito Lagoon shallows is an extremely productive way to fish, even from a flats boat.

I have seen a lot of fishermen  putting down their Power Pole and wading an area for sea trout or reds, especially during the summer.

Wading and fishing from a low profile platform gives you the ability to see the fish before they see you and spook.

The pictures of Nick and Andrew's fish caught today wading the Indian River are "proof of the pudding".  Way to go guys!

Till next time,  Tight Lines.

New Years Day Black Drum

Catching a New Years day black drum wasn't what I had planned for this afternoon's fishing excursion, but that's exactly what was biting this afternoon.

My wife and I decided to take Odie and Elmo fishing with us this afternoon, so we packed up the truck and headed for where we spotted some tailing fish a few days ago.

We drove into Gator Creek road and headed for Catfish Creek loop road to start fishing.

When we eased up to where we wanted to fish, a friend of mine was packing up getting ready to call it a day.

When I asked him if he had any luck,  he told me he missed a redfish on a gold spoon and didn't get any other hits since.  He had been fishing with finger mullet and dead shrimp on the bottom.

After he left the spot, Karen and I tossed out several baits on four rods.

 We decided to fish the area for a half an hour and to move on if we didn't get any bites.

The temperature this afternoon was in the mid 70s with virtually no wind on the water.

Karen was playing with Odie and I started taking pictures of the area.

After a few minutes we started seeing tails in the water.  The calmer the water became, the more tails we saw.

There was a large school of redfish and black drum in the shallow water and they were feeding with gusto.

This particular spot is primarily a mud bottom with some scattered spots of sea grass.  The fish were feeding on crustaceans and I was pretty sure that shrimp would catch us some fish if we stayed there long enough.

After missing one fish that dropped the bait, I heard the click of one of the bait casting reels take off.

I picked up the rod, set the hook and gave the rod to Karen while I went to the truck to pick up my camera to take some shots.

I gave Karen the camera so she could film some of the action and as you can see by the video below, she did a jam up job.


I fought what I thought was a redfish for about five minutes and as it got closer to the bank, I saw it was a stocky black drum around 28" long.

When I finally landed the fish, I took some more pics and released it to fight another day.

My first New Years day black drum was in the record book.

I re-baited with another shrimp and cast out to where the fish were tailing.

After a few minutes I missed another fish that was either a drum or a redfish.  The fish started to run but dropped the bait before I could set the hook.

It was getting late, Odie was getting restless and Karen and I were both hungry, so we decided to call it a day and come back and fish the spot again tomorrow.

I took a few pics of some spoonbills that were in the area and the always awesome sunset before cranking up the truck and heading home.

 

Hope you enjoy them.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!