November Redfish Are In The Grass

November redfish are in the grass and they are hungry this time of the year.

I didn't get home until late this evening so I headed straight to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to get in a little fishing before dusk.

After unloading my work stuff from the truck, I packed three rods and took off to the swamp.

I decided that fishing Peacocks Pocket road from the easternmost entrance would give me the most fishing time, so I didn't waste any time getting to Peacocks Pocket and the small ponds just past the area.

This evening the air temperature was a pleasant 82 degrees and there was a slight breeze blowing.

I had one rod tipped with a Metallic Silver Black STORM Rattlin Chug Bug, one rod with a custom made DOA spinnerbait, and the third tied to a Nemire Red Ripper Spoon.

After tossing the topwater bait around several areas, I decided that the fish would probably be more interested in the gold spoon.

The Red Ripper when fished slow looks a lot like a crab and when retrieved quickly resembles a small wounded minnow.

The water was glassy in most areas so I decided to fish the newly submerged grassy areas around some small islands that were previously high and dry.

It didn't take long before I had a bump on the spoon but I missed the hookup so I decided to smear some Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater formula on the spoon to "spice it up" a bit.

I continued moving up the road taking pot shots at every area that I thought a redfish might be searching for a crab dinner.

After several casts to likely looking spots, a redfish nailed the Red Ripper and took off  up the marsh canal.

As I fought the fish, I slipped down the bank just as a couple of guys in an SUV stopped to see what I was battling.  The one fellow asked me if I needed any help as I was on my butt, but I told him I was doing just fine.

I had the Boca Grip in one hand and was fighting the fish on my but on the bank.

Finally after three or four nice runs, the fish started getting tired.  The red headed for the brush piles alongside the bank several times, but each time I managed to slowly lead the fish away from the problem areas until I could finally lip the redfish onto the bank.

When I told the guys in the truck that the fish looked like it was too big to keep, they said it looked like a slot red to them, so I pulled out my tape to prove them wrong by one inch.

 


It turned out that the fish was a fat 28" and just oversize.

I took a couple of these pics and a brief video of the release all the while listening to the two guys telling me to keep the fish.

They departed and I kept fishing the grassy areas with the spoon until it started to get too dark to fish.

I had two more bumps and missed another redfish in the grass just at dusk before deciding to call it a day.

As I was heading out of the refuge, I spotted a familiar couple fishing in the same spot where they caught a nice gator trout last year.

As I pulled up to Craig and Mary, they immediately recognized my truck, so we shot the "bull" a bit about the fishing in the refuge.

Craig said he caught two 15" sea trout on soft baits earlier and that Mary lost two nice redfish on shrimp right before dark.

Mary told me that they went deep sea fishing out of Mayport in Jacksonville during the three day red snapper season and did quite well.

Mary caught two red snapper in the 14 pound range, an amberjack and a nice flounder.  Craig said that they also caught a bunch of black sea bass on the trip.

I fished the St. Johns River in that area several times and caught some flounder but I never took a trip on one of the "head" boats up there.  However, I may do so in the future.

Anyway, when Karen called me on my cell phone telling me it was dark,  I decided to head for home and get some dinner.

Just about every November redfish are in the grass during the higher water periods eating shrimp, crabs and other crustaceans, and this year is no exception.

Till next time, Tight Lines.