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.