Another Balmy Day On Peacocks Pocket Road

It was another balmy day on Peacocks Pocket Road this afternoon but I couldn't sit in the house waiting for another thunderstorm.

Instead I decided to try out some new Pro-Cure scents that I picked up on eBay.

When I got down to the river it was windy as hell so I decided to spend some time catching ladyfish around East Gator Creek road.

I loaded up a topwater Chug Bug with some Pro-Cure and started casting into the wind.

I'd like to report that I caught the hell out of the ladyfish but all I got were several followups and two fish. The wind was making a decent presentation almost impossible and I was getting hung too frequently, so I decided to head for a couple of ponds that I fish on a regular basis.

On the way, I stopped to throw a gold spoon at something that was busting baitfish on the bank but the fish had a case of lockjaw.

I passed a couple of fishermen at the pond I planned on fishing but since they were already set up and fishing, I just asked them how they were doing and continued on my way.

One of the guys said he had just caught a small redfish on a dead finger mullet so I became somewhat enthused.

I hadn't seen any sign of reds up to this point. In fact all I spotted were some big mullet jumping in the marsh canal.

I started back fishing a top water Chug Bug in the "ditches" and had a couple of shy hits, but no fish of any substance.

As I was tossing the plug around, a fellow angler and his lady friend stopped to see how I was doing.

He told me about some small tarpon he caught around Bio Lab road but he hadn't seen anything around the Pocket. He told me his name and I said I would mention him in my blog but I forgot it. Sorry my friend, (leave me a comment).

As he slowly drove away in his SUV I began tossing my gold Johnson's Sprite around some grassy islands.

About the third cast I had a hit but missed the fish, whatever it was.

I smeared on some Pro-Cure Inshore Salt Water formula on the spoon and shot the spoon out again at the same spot. This time a nice sea trout nailed the lure about half way to the bank.

I took it's pic above and promptly released the fish to grow into the "gator" category that I love catching.

I caught two more before the weather started getting really ominous.


The wind was causing me too much difficulty casting and when I stepped into an ant hill, it was the last straw.

I packed up my rod and headed back home for some dinner.

There's always tomorrow.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

The Fish Hook Back

This afternoon I learned first hand that occasionally the fish hook back.

My wife wisely decided to stay home this afternoon and let me try and catch another snook or redfish in the "swamp" alone.

I loaded up my usual array of rods and headed for the spots where I caught fish yesterday.

I started fishing around East Gator Creek Road in the shallows using Chug Bugs and small silver spoons.

I should have known it would be a weird day when I hooked a small 5 foot gator on my third cast into the culvert.

I was using a silver Johnson's Sprite spoon and hooked the gator midway in it's side.

The gator swam off three times and all three times I managed to bring it back close enough to try and get the spoon out.  Finally, after the third time, I got the gator close enough to reel the line all the way to the spoon.

When I shook the rod back and forth a few times, the spoon dropped out of the gator's hide and I continued fishing.  The gator swam off probably wondering what the hell just happened.

I continued fishing and caught several ladyfish in all sizes on both topwater Chug Bugs and on the spoon before another larger size gator got too interested in my topwater baits.

I moved on up to Peacocks Pocket road and just past the first Catfish Creek entrance, I spotted some action in the narrow shallow marsh canal alongside the road.

It turned out to be a couple of redfish feeding off the bank, so I picked up the rod with a silver and black backed Chug Bug, smeared on some Pro-Cure fish scent and shot a cast past the fish.

One of the redfish hit the Chug Bug and I set the hook hard.  Much too hard in fact.

The Chug Bug flew back at my head and as I turned to avoid getting a hook in my face, the topwater bait hooked me with both hooks in my right side.

At first I didn't even know that the hooks were embedded in me but when I tried to take the hook out of my tee shirt, I realized I was bleeding.

I went to the truck and got my fishing pliers to pull the hooks out.  The rear treble hook came out without any problem but the front treble hook was embedded to the curve.

I tried to reach around and yank the hook out but I couldn't get any leverage so I snipped off the leader, got into the truck and headed home to get Karen's help.

When I got home I pried her away from her stained glass project and showed her my dilemma.

I asked her to get the pliers and pull out the hook or run the hook all the way through so I could clip the barb off but she was too queezy to do it.  She insisted I go to the hospital to have it removed.

Since I hadn't had a tetanus shot in a while I decided not to argue and went down to the hospital.

When I got to the emergency room and the girl asked what my problem was, I lifted my tee shirt and showed her the would. 

She said she would get me in quickly so I sat down and waited.  After I signed in, it took 20 minutes before I talked to anyone and the first thing they asked was Insurance.

I gave them my card and asked them how much it was going to cost.  The first girl didn't know and after talking to some more people, I was told that my Insurance had a $300.00 deductible.  So, I asked them what it would cost out of pocket.

Finally I talked to a nice lady who told me it would be much cheaper to pay out of pocket instead of through the Insurance provider.  About $150.00 to be exact, so I told her I'd pay via Amex.

Finally, I was taken to another room where after a short wait the lady doctor came in to assess the situation.  I told her that my wife couldn't get the hook out and that I probably needed a shot for tetanus.

She told me she was also a fisher woman and we quickly hit it off.  She got a sterile pack of tools which astonished me.  The stainless pliers were the size of lineman's pliers.

After giving me a shot that I didn't really want, she started trying to pull out the treble hook, lure attached.  She couldn't get a good grip and after several tries decided to pull the hook through and cut it off.

Finally, the deed was accomplished and I got a shot which was good for tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria.  The damn shot hurt worse than the hook.

After I got my antibiotic scrip for any infection, the lady doctor came back in with her smart phone and showed me pics of a very nice red snapper she caught during the mini season out of Port Canaveral.  She also showed me a pic of a sailfish that she caught in the islands.

We parted ways, I paid my bill and headed home.  It was too late to go fishing and I wasn't really in the mood after spending $150.00 on the fish that hooked back.

I mused to myself why it was so hard to hook a fish in the water when it was so easy to get hooked by the same bait.

Remeber that some fish hook back.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Snook In The Marsh

Around 4:00 pm this afternoon, catching snook in the marsh was absolutely not on my agenda however, that's exactly what transpired.

I just managed to finish manicuring the lawn before a thunderstorm rolled over our area and unlike most of our late afternoon thunderstorms, this one lingered on.

Karen wanted to go fishing but when I was ready to leave, she didn't care to go out to the swamp and deal with the weather and the bugs.  This time of the year they go hand in hand.

Anyway, when I left the house at around 4:00 pm it was raining steadily so I decided to hit east Gator Creek Road to see if any top water action was happening in the shallows.

I noticed that the culverts were open and water was flowing so I stopped and started pitching a gold Johnson The Original Sprite Spoon
I was rewarded on my second cast with a nice 24" ladyfish which I photographed and released to fight another day,.

The fish jumped all around the culvert like a small tarpon before I could landed it so I continued casting the spoon into the area hoping to catch another one.

To make a long story short, I caught, hooked and released 21 ladyfish of all sizes.

All of them were in the 10" to 24" category and most were larger than the one I caught on a Chug Bug to the left.

I was about to move on when I noticed a snaky wake that I thought was a redfish so I picked up the rod with the Johnson's Sprite and mad a cast in front of the fish.

The gold spoon traveled about two feet before a needlefish exploded on the bait.

The toothy fish tried to inhale the spoon and was hooked solidly.  I landed the toothy critter and took this pic before releasing it.

I could have caught and released another dozen or so ladyfish but I decided to try for a redfish or a sea trout instead.

It was raining steady and the air temperature was around 79 degrees with only a light wind blowing.

I moved up to some of my favorite spots but the only thing I could catch seemed to be ladyfish.

I was soaked but the fish were still hitting so I moved up to a small pond where I usually pick up some sea trout.

I started casting the Chug Bug but it wasn't producing today.  The fish were following it but they were either short striking or turning away at the last minute.  One small redfish bumped the Chug Bug but didn't eat it.

Since it was getting late and I didn't feel like wasting any more time I stayed with the gold Johnson's Sprite.

It finally stopped raining and the water got calm as glass.  Fish in the middle of the pond were sloshing around after baitfish and a few closer to the road started chasing bait.

I heard several fish busting bait on the Indian River side so I changed rods and opted for a black back and silver Chug Bug.

The third cast into the river side rewarded me with a hit that blew the Chug Bug out of the water.  It landed and the fish hit it again but didn't get hooked.  At first I thought the fish was a sea trout but it was silver sided and broader.  It didn't dawn on me that it was a snook.

I tried several more casts but the fish was wise to the Chug Bug so I changed back to the gold spoon.

After a few minutes rest, I started carefully casting the gold spoon into the very shallow ditch around a small island and another snook nailed the spoon.

The fish acted like snook act.  It started jumping and making runs all over the place untill I finally lipped it from the water.

After taking these pics, I returned it to fight another day.

The feisty fish was a little over 25 inches long and in good shape.

I continued casting the spoon for a little while hoping for another one but that turned out to be the only snook of the day.

Catching snook in the marsh isn't common in this area.  They normally like fast moving water where they can better ambush their prey but I wasn't complaining.  You never know what you're going to catch in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Dog Days Fishing In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Well it was definitely dog days fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge this evening.

After working around the house all day, I was dog tired but not beat up enough to pass up the possibility of catching a redfish or big sea trout in the refuge.

I left the house at a little after 6:00 pm and headed straight to the closest entrance to Peacocks Pocket road.

The air temperature when I left the house was 92 degrees and there was no wind blowing.

When I got to the entrance of Peacocks Pocket road the air temperature dropped down to 82 degrees and a light wind was blowing across the Indian River.

Compared to the heat we endured all day, it was down right pleasant.

Although I brought my usual array of rods, I decided to fish with top water Chug Bugs and gold spoons to eliminate smaller fish.

I briefly fished a few ditches with a gold Johnson The Original Sprite Spoon and picked up a ladyfish and an undersized sea trout.

As I was pulling the fish out of the water, I noticed a big gator under a bush on the opposite bank that was getting interested in what I was doing.  I took a couple of pics and decided to move on up the road.

Fishing was much easier this evening because the powers that be finally mowed both sides of the unimproved road.

The high grass caused me to lose almost as many fish as I landed.  Anyway, since it was getting late, I headed towards a shallow pond in the marsh where I missed some nice sea trout last week.

There were a flock of roseate spoonbills feeding in the area but there were also fish busting baits on the surface so I started pitching a black back/silver Chug Bug around the ditch.

My second cast hooked me up briefly with a small sea trout that flipped off after the first jump.

Two casts later and I landed a small ladyfish on the same Chug Bug.

I decided to pass on the smaller fish and try for another gator trout in a small pond farther up the road.

When I got to the spot I started pitching the Johnson's spoon from the opposite shallow flat across a dropoff where I usually pick up some fish.

I had a couple of bumps but no hookups so I switched back to the Chug Bug.

It was getting late and I stupidly stepped onto an ant hill.  The nasty buggers bit the hell out of my feet before I knew they were there so I pulled off my sneakers and continued fishing.

After several casts I was about to call it a day but I decided to try the "one last cast" and I'm glad I did.

I pitched the Chug Bug as far out into the middle of the pond as I could towards where a fish blasted some baitfish.  The lure didn't travel more than two rod lengths before a nice sized sea trout blasted the bait.

The fish put up a nice fight and I could tell there was some weight on it as I slowly steered it to the bank.

I had to skinny down the bank to land the fish and would up in the water.  I gilled the fish and took these pics before releasing it to fight another day.

The fish measured in at 23 inches and was a nice female loaded with eggs.

I went back down the bank and revived the fish and watched it slowly swim off into the coffee stained water.

The mosquitoes were beginning to get nasty and I was still stinging from the ant bites so when my wife called me to tell me it was getting dark, I didn't argue.  I just headed for the hacienda.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Still Fishing The Ditches

Saturday, after mowing the lawn and working around the house during the heat of the day. I decided to see if anyone was still fishing the ditches in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

My wife originally wanted to try her luck for redfish but it was still too hot for her so I packed a few rods and some water into the truck and took off for the Indian River.

The air temperature was 92 degrees when I crossed the bridge and there was a slight wind blowing across the river.

There were a few people jet skiing and wind sailing on the north end of the causeway and several anglers trying their luck on the south end.

It was around 6:30 pm when I decided to go fishing, so I headed directly to Peacocks Pocket to see if anyone was kayaking in the area.

When I got to the kayak launch, there was absolutely no one around.  In fact, I was the only person in the wildlife refuge all the time I was out there which is really strange for late afternoon.

Usually there are out of town visitors looking for alligators and rosette spoonbills but today I didn't see one car on the unimproved road.  I attributed it to the high grass along side the road.

Anyway, as I drove bast the kayak launch and the first set of culverts, I started casting a Johnson's Silver minnow primarily into the marsh canal.

I hooked a couple of ladyfish but they were small and flipped off after a couple of jumps.

I decided to switch over to a Chug Bug to see if I could stir up some action with bigger sea trout or a redfish so I tied on my tried and proven black back silver bodied Chug Bug.

In the first stretch just past the culverts, I caught two more small ladyfish and finally picked up a slot size sea trout.

The sea trout blasted the plug and headed for the bank and into the lush grass where it promptly got hung up.

I shimmied down the grassy bank and pulled the gill hooked fish along with a pound or so of sea grass up the bank.

I was going to return the fish but it's gills were bleeding so I put it in the cooler for dinner and started casting up the marsh canal.

The wind was picking up which made controlling the Chug Bug more difficult, so I targeted areas in the ditches which were relatively calm.

I quickly found that a fast retrieve was the ticket for success today.  A slow stop and go retrieve never got me a bite, but as soon as I picked up the pace, the fish started hitting again.

I hooked and released two more smaller sea trout and landed another nice over slot sea trout before calling it a day.

As it was getting towards dusk and the light was fading I spotted several big redfish cruising down the marsh canal and swimming into the ponds for the evening.

I made several casts to the fish and had one follow the Chug Bug but it turned away at the last moment.

I was heading out past "bobcat bay" and decided to make one last cast at the bend before calling it a day.

I shot a black back and silver Chug Bug as far as I could up the canal and started gurgling it back to the bank when a large sea trout blasted the plug.

The fish made a half hearted run but I put on the pressure to get the fish in as soon as possible.  As it was headed to the bank it veered off towards a brush pile but I turned the fish back as I again shimmied down the bank.

At night this gets interesting. You never know if a gator is in the vicinity eying you up for dinner.

Anyway, I landed the trout as my wife was calling me on the phone letting me know it was dark outside.

I didn't bother taking another pic of the fish because it was pretty ragged out, so I put it back into the canal to fight another day.

The mosquitoes and no see-ums weren't all that bad this evening but the damn green backed horse flies were viscous.  The actually draw blood when they bite.

Any fishing the ditches in the refuge is still productive so I hope to get out again tomorrow for some more action.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Fishing The Ditches For Sea Trout

Since it was late when I got home from work this evening, I decided to try fishing the ditches for sea trout with top water plugs instead of dunking spoons or soft baits for redfish.

It was around 7:15 pm when I got on the water and I didn't waste any time fishing my usual "oddball" spots.  I headed straight for the deeper holes in the marsh canal.

The air temperature was 82 degrees when I drove up Peacocks Pocket road and there was a brisk wind over the water.

I wasn't sure I could control top water baits along the marsh canal but I gave it a shot anyway.

The first ditch I fished produced some small (very small) ladyfish and after hooking, snagging and releasing three fish in a row,  I decided to move up the road to fish another spot.

Ladyfish are a blast to catch on top water baits but when they are this small, they're just a pain in the but.

The next spot produced another larger ladyfish that hit my newly acquired Chug Bug as soon as it hit the water.

The fish jumped twice and threw the Chug Bug several feet into the air back to me.

Two casts later and I managed a hookup with a slot sea trout that looked to be about 20 inches or better.

I got the fish to the bank and made the mistake of trying to haul it up through the brush instead of scooting down the bank and landing it the proper way.  The fish flipped off the treble hooks half way up the bank and was returned to the water.

Fishing the ditches for sea trout is great fun but landing the fish through all the brush is another story.

Anyway it was getting late and I moved a few yards up the road to another deeper spot near a bend in the marsh canal.

I changed rods and Chug Bug patterns.  I decided to try a black back silver Chug Bug instead of the frog pattern I had been using.

I smeared on some Pro-Cure Super Gel and shot a cast to the opposite bank of the canal.  About half way back to the bank, a nice "almost gator" sea trout literally inhaled the Chug Bug and jumped halfway out of the water.

I could see it was a good fish as it took off up the canal and headed almost immediately to the safety of a brush  pile.

I could feel that the fish was still on the bait but the line was underneath a bush at the bank.

Giving the fish some slack didn't do much except make the fish slosh around in the water so, I opened up the drag and left the rod at the bank while I skinnied down the bank to the brush pile.

After a few minutes of balancing on the bush, I finally got out far enough to grab the fish by the gills.

After snapping the leader off the Chug Bug, I pulled the fish out of the water and crawled back up the bank to take some pics.

 

The fish was a little over 26 inches and was none the worse for wear when I returned it back into the marsh canal.

 

I missed two more nice sea trout around the same size before the green back horse flies made me leave the area.  They seem quite fond of my blood type.

On the way out I had to take a pic of the sunset.

Hope you enjoy,

Till next time,   Tight Lines.

The Ditches Are On Fire

The ditches are on fire in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, for topwater sea trout that is!

This afternoon when I finally got through with the chores around the house, I again made my way into the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to do a little topwater fishing for sea trout and redfish.

The air temperature was in the mid 80s and there was virtually no wind to screw up casting.

I didn't leave the house until around 6:00 pm and when I finally got to Peacocks Pocket road, I headed straight for the first of two ponds I planned to fish.

I started out using a small Johnson silver minnow and picked up a couple of ladyfish and missed two sea trout before changing to a topwater Chug Bug.

There were a couple of nice redfish in the first pond busting baitfish around the bank that I was trying to catch, but except for a follow up they weren't interested much in my bait.

As I slowly drove up the road to my next spot I noticed a lot of topwater activity so I decided to stick with the Chug Bug.

I met up with a fellow angler who I see on a semi regular basis in the refuge who said he caught a 29", a 25" and a larger sea trout in the ditches within the past couple of days on topwater baits.  He drives in from Orlando almost every weekend to fish the refuge and is a good fisherman, so I take his word for it.

In his words, "the ditches are on fire".

We parted ways and I started paying more attention to the "ditches" (marsh canals) instead of the ponds.

It took exactly three casts with my Pro-Cure smeared black back and silver Chug Bug to nail these 26" sea trout.

 

 

The first fish hit the Chug Bug as I changed over to a faster retrieve along the bank in the marsh canal.

I caught the clone to this fish a little way up the road from where the first trout blasted the bait.

Both of the fish above hit on a faster than usual retrieve.  I guess it jarred them into chasing a baitfish trying to escape.

After releasing both fish, I continued fishing the ditches until I got to the next pond where I missed a huge sea trout near the middle of the pond.

I used the same fast retrieve and when I stopped the bait, the fish exploded on it, knocking it clear of the water.  I made several more casts to the area where the fish hit but it was apparently gone for the day.

I caught three more smaller sea trout and two small ladyfish before the bugs started getting vicious enough to make me want to quit fishing and go home.

I made one last cast for the day and packed it in for the weekend.

As my fellow angler said, The ditches are on fire for sea trout in the refuge.

Till next weekend, Tight Lines.

More Late Afternoon Thunderstorms On The Indian River

There were more late afternoon thunderstorms on the Indian River today but it didn't stop me from trying out my luck in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

My wife Karen wanted to get a couple of subs and take Elmo and Odie for a ride around the "swamp", so I packed up some rods (just in case) and headed to Subway.

We decided to check out Haulover Canal and eat our meal under the relative coolness of the pines that line the waterway.

When we got to Haulover Canal, it was still closed for repairs so we found a spot to park near the bridge to eat lunch.

Elmo and Odie were enjoying the opportunity to scout out a new territory while I was casting a Gold Johnson's Sprite into the waterway.

There was virtually no current in the canal today and little boat traffic, however, there were several boats anchored at the mouth of the Mosquito Lagoon side of the canal fishing for the black drum and bull redfish that congregate there.

I didn't get any hits so I ate my lunch and headed home via the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

We entered Peacocks Pocket road to drive past the kayak launch and take a quick tour of the nine mile stretch of unimproved road.

The grass was still chest high in most areas and the fishermen we did see weren't catching anything.

The temperature was in the high 80s and there was a slight wind over the water which made "catching" difficult.  The fish just don't bite well during these conditions.

As we headed home, Karen said she was interested in going out later on in the afternoon.

As late afternoon arrived, we had more late afternoon thunderstorms on the Indian River and over Titusville, so Karen decided to stay home and work on her latest stained glass project.

Despite the thunder and lightning, I decided to give it a shot.

I packed some water bottles and five rods into the truck and headed out to Peacocks Pocket road again to see if the fishing was any better than earlier.

It was around 6:30 pm and raining hard when I got to the culverts at East Gator Creek Road and Peacocks Pocket road but there were fish dimpling the surface, so I stopped and started casting a baby bass pattern Chug Bug and a gold Johnson's Sprite.

The second cast with the gold spoon produced this small barely legal sea trout which I promptly

released.

Several casts later, I switched to a silver spoon which produced a small ladyfish.

I moved to the first pond and wasted my time trying to catch a redfish that was busting bait along the bank.

Since it was late, I decided to slowly drive the muddy road and see if I could spot some reds or sea trout.

It was raining steady, lighting, and the wind was blowing as I meandered the road and I didn't spot any fish so I slowly pulled up to a large pond where I caught the gator trout that didn't get away a couple of weeks ago.

At first I didn't get any hits but as the rain let up I hooked a slot size sea trout in the marsh canal which I quickly released.

As it got more calm, the fish started getting more active.  I spotted at least a dozen feeding redfish in one pond and a few of them were feeding in such earnest that half their bodies were completely out of the water as they were foraging.

I don't know what they were eating but they refused my Chug Bug, jerk bait and spoon offerings.

I caught and released several small ladyfish on a silver spoon which I probably could have used for bait before moving on.

As I drove to my next spot, I spotted a cruiser on the river that had apparently run aground in the shallows during the storm.  

I sympathized with the captain, I've done it myself in Savannah, Ga.

  

At the next pond I stopped to fish, there was more redfish activity similar to what I saw in the previous pond.

The redfish were eagerly feeding on something in the shallow grassy areas and in several cases, their tails were coming half way out of the water as they were foraging..

Like the other ponds, the reds were not in the mood for artificial baits.  I do believe that a live shrimp strategically plopped near a feeding red would have made the difference.

As it was getting closer to dusk, I finally hooked up with a redfish that surprised me at the bank and promptly disgorged my gold spoon.

The insects were not bad until the wind died down but then they came out in hordes to suck my blood, so I decided to call it a day.

Here are some pics of the awesome sunset.

 

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Stormy Fishing

Stormy fishing in August is not unique to Central Florida fishing and this weekend was no exception.

Although I always suggest fishing the early hours prior to dawn during the summer months, I usually can't get out on the water until late in the evenings as was the case this weekend.

After I got home from work Friday evening there were thunderstorms throughout the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and I was only able to get in an hour or so fishing time in before sunset.  In fact on Friday evening, I was the only person fishing in the entire refuge.

Along with some bug spray, four spinning rods loaded tipped with a gold Johnson Sprite spoon, a Chug Bug, a soft bodied plastic jerk bait and a Nemire Red Ripper Spoon were loaded into the back of the truck and I was off to the "swamp".

There was a steady rain falling when I left the house along with some thunder off on the horizon and the air temperature was a "cool" 72 degrees.  A strong breeze made casting difficult.

When I pulled into the refuge, the wind had died down and it became very calm, so I headed for a small pond where I spotted some sea trout and redfish last weekend.

The Chug Bug I started fishing with produced a couple of short strikes so I switched to a silver Johnsons Sprite and started catching some very small ladyfish. 

After catching the fourth ladyfish on the spoon, I changed rods and switched to the Chug Bug pattern I was using last weekend.

I started blind casting to the banks around the grassy islands and picked up a couple of sea trout before moving on.

Both fish were caught at the grassy islands as the retrieve was over the drop off.

I kept getting hits from small ladyfish on the Chug Bug, so I moved up to another larger pond where I spotted some really big redfish last week.

It started raining and for a short time it was stormy fishing again so I switched to a 1/4 oz. gold Johnson's Sprite spoon that I could control more easily in the wind.

After several casts around another grassy island, I hooked and lost a slot sized redfish.  The fish made a long run and broke off my gold spoon when it got hung around some brush at the bank.

I was using a 15# fluorocarbon shock leader on green 20# Power Pro line and the leader parted at the knot.

After losing the red and making several unfruitful blind casts into the same area without any hits, I moved on up the unimproved road and started fishing the marsh canal with the jerk bait with no success.

The grass is almost chest high along both sides of the road in most areas, making fishing difficult. 

You can't see the entire marsh canal unless you drive dangerously close to the edge and when you do hook a fish, the chances of landing it are diminished because of all the brush.

Anyway, I eventually hooked a nice sea trout but couldn't get down the bank to land the fish, so I shook it off.

The gnats and mosquitoes were getting to me and it was getting dark so when my wife called, I told her I was heading home for dinner.

As I was driving out of the refuge and scratching my mosquito bites, I took some pics of the sunset.

Hopefully, Saturday will be more productive.

Till then, Tight Lines.