Fishing Port Canaveral

Fishing Port Canaveral isn't my usual forte' but since the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge has been closed until further notice, it seemed the thing to do this Weekend.

I heard from several readers that fishing in and around Port Canaveral was getting better, probably because of the fall baitfish run.  So, after I finished working in our spare beedroom, Karen and I packed some rods,  our two "wonder dogs" and some drinks into the truck and headed for a drive.

We confirmed that the barriers were still up in the refuge and took Banana River Drive to see the scenery along the river.

I was surprised that Paul's Steak House and Corky Belles were both out of business.  Probably because of the crappy economy.

We didn't see many fishermen on the river so we headed down the causeway to Coco Beach.

There were more fishermen on the Banana River but nobody seemed to be catching anything of any consequence.

After we stopped at Micky Ds for some grub, we decided to head to the port to see what was happening there.

It was a pleasant day Saturday and by the time we got to the Port, it was around 5:00 pm; just in time for the party boats to come in.

As we passed the Miss Cape Canaveral, people were unloading their gear but Karen didn't want to stick around and wait for them to unload the fish.

The one guy I spoke to said they did pretty good on the usual bottom species, so we decided to head to the bridge at the boat ramp to see if anybody was fishing there.

The Disney Micky Mouse cruise ship was just leaving port so we stopped to take a few pics and this short video.  You don't realize just how huge these vessels are until you're up close and personal.

At the bridge to the cruise ship basin, several fishermen were dunking cut baits and dead shrimp.     

Although I saw several schools of mullet near the locks, no one was freelining a live bait.

I was thinking about flipping a spoon around the bridge pilings to see what I could stir up but the dogs were driving us crazy so I decided to just make this trip a photo outing.

The guys in the boat with an umbrella were fishing for flounder and as far as I could determine were dunking live mullet.

All the time we were there, only one person caught anything.  She was happy with a sailor's choice.

As we crossed the Banana River towards the house, there were a lot of fishermen along the bank cast netting mullet and fishing.

Apparently the sea wall next to the bridge seems to be a hot spot.

Anyway, Karen and I were both tired so we headed to the comfort of our Hacienda for a good meal.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!