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.