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.