Tarpon And Ladyfish

Well Tarpon and Ladyfish is what was on the menu this weekend.

I was having trouble with my truck and didn't bother going out on Friday evening so I decided to hit the Lagoons on Saturday instead.

I decided to fish a "secret" spot that my friend Ron put me on last weekend to catch a few ladyfish and juvenile tarpon.

I got to the spot around noon and the air temperature was in the high 80s or low 90s.  

There was a mild breeze blowing in which made fishing almost comfortable.

The spoonbills in the area were certainly enjoying themselves!

I packed a small tackle box with a couple of top water baits, two paddletail baits and  a spare gold hammered spoon.

I tucked a spare rod with the gold spoon in my britches, slowly waded out to where I spotted some topwater action,  and proceeded to toss around a blue backed silver STORM Rattlin Chug Bug.

I smeared the lure up with some Pro-Cure Gel scent and had a strike on the second cast to the area.

The fish was barely hooked and shook off the lure after the second jump.  It was a ladyfish of about two feet long.

Several casts later hooked me up to another larger ladyfish that again shook off the Chug Bug.

I decided to switch over to the rod with a gold Johnson The Original Sprite Spoon and started fan casting from the shallowest area outward to the deeper channel.

It took three casts in water about 20" deep to hook up with a juvenile tarpon.  The fish hit the spoon and quickly tore off to my right making the Power Pro on my reel sing.

The fish jumped twice and on the second jump shook out the spoon.

I didn't expect to hook up a tarpon in only 20" of water and had to compose myself before starting to fish again.

The treble hook on the spoon was straightened out so I reshaped it back into place with my pliers and made a mental note to replace it when I got home.

I continued fishing the area and within an hour hooked and released six more ladyfish. The largest one that I originally thought was a tarpon was close to three feet long.

Thunderclouds were moving across the area and when the sun went behind the clouds, the bite came to an abrupt stop.

I waded back to the truck and decided to see what was going on around Peacocks Pocket road in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I passed up most of the spots I normally fish because the wind made fishing too difficult but I finally pulled into a small marsh pond that was partially out of the wind enough to make casting feasible.

I wasted about a half an hour trying to get a hit before finally admitting defeat and headed up the road to another spot.

To make a long story short; I hit a half a dozen spots and only got one hit on my gold spoon.  I have no idea what the fish was.

Thunderstorms continued to cross the area and when it started lightening close to where I was fishing, I decided to give it up for the day.

All the time I was in the refuge, I saw only four vehicles and they weren't fishing.

I took a few pics of the scenery and some pigs I spotted on the way out of the refuge that didn't turn out, but no pictures of the fish I was hoping to catch today. 
  

If it wasn't for the tarpon and ladyfish that I caught earlier this morning, I would have been skunked today.

If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I may get out.

Till then,

Tight Lines to all.

Post Super Moon Fishing Trip

Today I decided that a post super moon fishing trip should be on the agenda and with the thunderstorms moving through our area like they did for most of the day, it was a good decision.

I always like fishing before and sometimes after a thunderstorm moves through the area.  For some reason (probably the change in barometric pressure) I've always had good luck and today was no exception.

My wife wasn't feeling well so while she was taking an afternoon nap, I packed up some rods and headed for Peacocks Pocket road to see what was going on.

I passed one couple fishing on the first culvert who were catching catfish and nothing else, so I told them about a couple of areas where they could probably do better.

As I left them I met up with Ron, a fellow fisherman who hits this area as much as I do.

He said he wasn't doing much today however, as we were talking about catching tarpon, he told me about a nearby spot where he catches tarpon and ladyfish.

Being the inquisitive person that I am I got him to share the information and even take me out to the location.

We got there and waded out to the spot and started casting top water baits.

He was using a Heddon Zara Spook and I started out with a blue backed STORM Rattlin Chug Bug.

Almost immediately he hooked up with a small tarpon which shook off.

I started casting the plug and hooked up with a small tarpon which also shook off.

I switched to a gold Johnson Sprite spoon and after a few casts hooked up and lost a large ladyfish.

Two casts later I hooked another lady about the same size which I landed and released.

A small gator was getting much too interested in our top water baits and the bite died down so we decided to give it up.

I thanked Ron for trusting me with the spot, which I promised him I would not share with anyone, and decided to continue to Peacocks Pocket road to see if I could catch a redfish.  Ron said that he was heading home.

It was getting late in the afternoon so I passed up most of the spots I normally fish and headed for a shallow pond that usually holds reds and some nice sea trout.

I decided to fish primarily with the gold Johnson Sprite spoon.  I cover more water with the spoon and it cuts down on catching smaller fish.

At the second spot I stopped at I hooked up with a sea trout that got loose at the bank.

After several more casts I hooked and landed a clone to the first fish which I released after taking this pic.

As the wind started to pick up I quickly stopped at several more spots with no luck.

I passed Derek and his wife (or lady friend) who fishes the area on a regular basis.  I asked him how he was doing and we chatted briefly before he moved on up the road.

As he left I moved a few yards up the road and fished an egress from a small pond that usually holds redfish.

After several cast s I had a hit from either a large sea trout or a slot redfish but I missed the hookup.

I passed Derek again as he was fishing an area in the Indian River that usually harbors a school of large redfish.  He tried casting to the school but they were just out of casting range.

As I drove down the road again I noticed some baitfish activity in a bend of the marsh canal so I stopped and started casting my gold Johnson Sprite into the area after giving it a liberal smearing of Pro-Cure super gel. 

After several casts I was about to move on when I spotted a wake coming down the canal.

I tossed the spoon gently well in front of the wake and hooked up with a nice slot redfish.

After a brief fight I pulled the fish from the water with my Boca Grip and took this quick pic.

After releasing the fish I continued casting to another boil at the shoreline and hooked up with another redfish.

The fish took off like a shot and the hook pulled loose.

I'll take a moment to say that Power Pro is great for feeling fish bite but it is unforgiving and does not stretch like monofilament.  Make sure that your drag is set correctly. In this case I had the drag ratcheted down too tight.

The outfit that I use for tossing spoons in the marsh is a 6'6" medium action graphite rod, a 5.2:1 gear ratio 7 ball bearing reel with 30# Power Pro main line and a 6' twenty pound fluorocarbon leader.

I also use the smallest possible ball bearing swivel attached to the spoon with a small split ring to give the spoon more action when fished slowly.

Anyway, I lost the fish because the drag was set too tight.  My error.

As I was licking my wounds I moved up to the next bend and saw a pair of redfish moving down the opposite bank.

I cast right on the bank and one of the fish immediately hit the spoon and headed for a brush pile.

It took about two seconds for the fish to break loose from the spoon.

I was getting ticked off but continued fishing up the road without any more strikes.

As I was about to pack it in for the day, Derek pulled up on his way out of the refuge and said they didn't have any luck with the school of fish they were on.

I told them about my three reds and we parted ways.  He had a long drive to Orlando and I was dog ass tired.

All things considered,  my super moon fishing trip turned out pretty good.

On the way out I took these pics of the area.

 

Enjoy and Tight Lines to all.

Tarpon In The Marsh

As summer fishing conditions come upon us here in east central Florida, tarpon become the target of many Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River fishermen.

Early this afternoon after working around the house, my wife wanted to hit Subway for a couple of subs so we loaded Elmo and Odie into the truck along with a rod (just in case) and headed out to chow down with some late lunch.

We decided to make a quick run around Peacocks Pocket road and eat or subs on the way.

The air temperature was in the low 90s and there was a mild wind blowing over the river. 

About half way down the road it was evident that not many people were out fishing.  We didn't see the usual parade of Refuge visitors checking out the gators and waterfowl.

I stopped at a couple of places and got a couple of hits from sea trout but didn't land any fish.

As we pulled up past an area we call "Bobcat Bay", Ron, a fellow fisherman friend of mine, was putting out a couple of rods rigged with mud minnows.  I asked him how he was doing, and he told me he had caught something he never expected to catch in a pond up the road from where he was now fishing.

He proceeded to show me a fish scale the size of a quarter which was obviously from a tarpon.

He described the tarpon as being around four feet long, which was corroborated by the size of the fish scale he showed me.

As  we parted ways and left the refuge I told Karen we needed to go out later and catch some fish.

Around 4:30 pm I started packing up my rods and headed out to the refuge.

The air temperature dropped a bit but was still in the mid 80s and the wind had died down to a  mild breeze.

I spotted a couple of guys fishing in the middle of the Indian River.  One guy was wading and the other was in the boat. The guy wading caught something but I couldn't make out what it was.

 


I was fishing primarily with a white Creme Paddle Tail SwimBait and a gold
Johnson The Original Sprite Spoon.

I was getting hits in several spots with both baits and managed to catch four slot sized sea trout before the wind totally died down.

 
I had a couple of hits from redfish that I missed before finally hooking up with an oversize red on the gold Johnson Sprite spoon. 

The fish made a nice run up the marsh canal and then headed for the pond that it swam out from.  As it made a run around a grass island, it got caught up in an underwater stickup and broke free.

As it started getting dark I switched over to a blue back Chug Bug and missed two more sea trout before I hooked up with what was to be the last trout of the day.

The "super moon" was out and the bite was coming to a halt.  The mosquitoes were out in force as were the gnats, so I decided to give it up for the day.

Today, the sea trout and redfish bite was pretty decent until it started to get dark.

I didn't see any tarpon in the area I was fishing however, that could be because they prefer and are most active during the hottest time of the day.

All in all it was a productive fishing trip.  Five sea trout and a hookup with an oversize redfish in justy a few hours.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Gator Sea Trout In June

Gator Sea Trout in June are still available but you have to work a bit harder to get them.

Late this afternoon I decided to hit Peacocks Pocket to see what if anything was biting.

The morning's trip to Playalinda Beach was less than what I had hoped for so being the die hard fisherman that I am, I decided to try one last time to hook up with a fish.

It was almost 7:30 pm when I got to Peacocks Pocket road and the wind was picking up on the Indian River since this morning.

I decided to fish a gold Johnson Sprite spoon since I didn't have much time before dusk to fish.

I fished several spots and picked up a couple of slot sea trout but I was hoping for a redfish.

At one of my favorite areas I spotted these guys in shallow water kayaks fishing the marsh pond.

I heard one of the guys yelling that he got hooked up but he lost the fish.

I moved on to an area my wife and I call Bobcat Bay.  The area is usually good for reds this time of the evening on the river side.

Today there were no reds in sight so I fished the opposite marsh canal instead.

In one area at a deep bend in the canal I hooked up with a huge gator sea trout.

I was blind casting the area when a fish nailed the gold spoon on the bottom in the deepest part of the canal.

The fish made a run like a redfish and when I finally got a look at her, she was almost three feet long .

Since I was using 30# Power Pro, I had the drag on my reel set tight and as I was leading the big trout to a brush free area of the bank where I could land it, the fish made a final lunge and got off.  The hook wore a hole in the trout's thin mouth.

I was disappointed to say the least.  I really wanted that pic to post here but today it was not to be.

I continued fishing the area but never got another bite until it was time to go.

That fish will never hit another gold spoon!

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Playalinda Beach Blues

Saturday morning I decided to hit Playalinda Beach for some surf fishing.

I had been spending too much time around Peacocks Pocket road fishing for sea trout and redfish so this morning when my wife announced that she didn't want to go fishing, I packed up my favorite surf rods and headed for Playalinda Beach.

When I checked the tide chart at around ll:20 am, I learned that high tide was in at around 1:15 pm so I pulled some frozen ladyfish chunks and a small bag of shrimp out of the freezer and headed out.

The temperature was in the high 80s and the wind was gusting but my mind was made up.

When I pulled up to the guard shack and showed them my pass I asked the girl at the window about the fishing report.  She was less than helpful.

She said nobody told her anything about the fishing except one guy who caught some small pompano,

I politely thanked her and headed for lot #8 across from Eddy Creek where I decided to start fishing.

The lot was not overly crowded so I lugged my gear to the beach and set up near some other guys who didn't seem to be catching much.

 

The water was rough so I clipped on a 5 oz. pyramid sinker and baited up my first rod with small bits of shrimp.

After I set the first rod I rigged the second for bluefish.  I tied on a wire leader and a 5/0 long shank hook and baited up with a chunk of ladyfish.  I would have preferred a live mullet but I didn't have time to pick up any bait.

I didn't have to wait long before I got my first hit, and miss on the shrimp.

The bite was very slow and I kept missing fish on the shrimp.

The rod with the ladyfish chunks finally took off and whatever hit the bait kept on going.

Another fisherman waved to me and asked me if I wanted to use some of his live bait and I readily agreed.

He had a couple of pilchards in the bucket that he netted in the surf so I put one on and send it out past the breakers in hopes of something big.

To make a long story short, I spent about an hour at the first spot and when the tide was at it's peak I finally decided to give it up.  Nothing was biting on anything.

I guess I'm not patient enough for bait fishing and no one on the beach lot #8  seemed to be doing any better.  The fish just weren't biting today.

I packed up my stuff and headed to the truck in the parking lot when an Aussie asked me if I had any luck.

I told him my tale of woe and he said he caught some whiting earlier in the morning before the tide change and one small bluefish.

He didn't like bluefish so he gave me a barely legal fish which I took home for dinner.

I guess it wasn't a total loss.

Anyway, I took Bio Lab road back home to see how the Mosquito Lagoon looked with the water levels as low as they are.

 

I took some pics of the area and spotted several boaters fishing around Pelican Island, probably on a school of redfish.

Too bad I didn't take the Maverick out today.  Anyway, there's always another day.

I briefly thought about doing some wade fishing but I was tired and didn't feel like trudging out to deep water without proper equipment.

Surf rods just don't cut it in the Mosquito Lagoon.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Fishing Peacocks Pocket In June

Fishing Peacocks Pocket in June is an "iffy" proposition at best.

This weekend I didn't really get a chance to do much fishing but I finally made the effort this afternoon.

Saturday afternoon Karen and I took our two "wonder dogs" out for a spin around Peacocks Pocket road to see if anyone was catching and not just fishing.

Odie and Elmo were in the truck long before Karen and I got situated.

We stopped to get a couple of subs for lunch at Subway and decided to eat them somewhere around Peacocks Pocket.

Odie as usual was trying to "catch" passing cars while cruising out the window.

We drove around the area and took several pictures of the wildlife but there were very few fishermen out and about.

We saw several out of town visitors checking out the gators and taking pics of the waterfowl but the wind, high temperature and probability of thunderstorms evidently kept the fishermen indoors.

As we drove around the area I spotted a few sea trout chasing baitfish and one redfish or black drum cruising down the marsh canal.  I was glad I didn't bother bringing along my fishing rods.

 

I pulled out my camera several times and took some pics of the birds.  The spoonbills are always a favorite.

 

About midway down the road I met up with one of the regular fisherman I know who told me he had been fishing most of the morning and caught a couple of 18" sea trout on mud minnows.  He said he hadn't caught any redfish for the past couple of weeks.

We parted ways and continued down the road towards home.  There were thunderstorms in the area and we decided to finish up some work at the house and maybe go fishing Sunday.

Fishing Peacocks Pocket in June has always been hit and miss.  The weather has a lot to do with it in this area and I hate pitching lures in the wind.

Sunday afternoon Karen decided to stay home so I packed up some rods, pulled out some chunked ladyfish from the freezer and headed for Peacocks Pocket road.

This afternoon was nothing like Saturday.  The air temperature was 86 degrees when I entered Gator Creek road and it was windy enough to cause some problems casting.

I didn't get out until about 6:00 pm so I decided to stop only where I spotted active fish.

I stopped about a half a dozen times while I was in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and fished mainly the marsh ponds and canals.

The water was up from the rain so I started with a gold Johnson Sprite and alternated with a silver and blue backed Chug Bug.

I got a couple of hits on the Chug Bug but it was too hard to work with the wind, so I switched over to the gold spoon for the rest of the time I was out.

I got one bite on the cut ladyfish but the fish dropped the bait.

I got several hits on the gold spoon and landed two sea trout both about 16 to 17 inches.  One was bleeding but when I returned it to the water it took off like a shot so it probably survived.




I stopped at several spots to cast at milling baitfish and got a hit from a redfish in an area my wife and I call "snook point".

The fish swirled on the spoon but I jerked the lure out of it's mouth like a novice.  Lesson learned!

Around 7:00 pm the wind started to die down and the air temperature was down to 81degrees according to my car sensor.

As I was driving out I spotted a fisherman I saw several times in the area.  His name was Derek and was tossing a weighted jerk bait at redfish.

As I stopped to see how he was doing, I noticed that he was on a small school of tailing redfish in an area I call Bobcat Bay.  The fish were no more than 20 feet from the bank and they had lockjaw for lures.

Derek asked me if I wanted to give it a shot with some bait, so I tossed out a chunk of ladyfish on top of one of the tailing reds just to see if it would get it's interest.

The fish stayed in the area but they weren't in the mood for ladyfish today.

Derek said he fishes the area almost daily and drives in from Orlando.  Kind of like me.

I'm out of town most of the time but I fish this area almost every weekend.

Anyway, after a few minutes I knew that catching these reds was a lost cause so I pulled in my bait, parted ways with Derek and headed for home and some much needed dinner.

Maybe next weekend?????

Till then, Tight Lines.