Sea Trout Are In The Ditches

The sea trout are in the ditches in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

My wife has been sick for the past week and I haven't been feeling much better so I broke down and visited the local walk in clinic and discovered that I had a severe upper respiratory infection.

After getting the antibiotics scrip filled, I took one and decided to hit Peacocks Pocket road to see if anyone was catching fish.

There were several vehicles in the area bird watching with only two people actually fishing and they were not catching fish.

I brought along a couple of rods that I hastily tossed into the back of the truck and started blind casting to likely looking spots in the marsh canal.

The Berkley power bait produced a couple of light taps but no hookups so I decided to tie on an old gold diamond spoon to see if I could dredge up a redfish.

I was feeling pretty crappy and I didn't plan on fishing long, especially since the wind was blowing steadily and the air temperature was beginning to give me a chill.

I tossed the gold spoon into a couple of areas and got a quick hookup with what I thought was a redfish.

The fish made two nice runs and then started sloshing around like the big sea trout that it was.

When I got the fish close enough to identify it, I played it carefully to a sparsely brushed area of the bank, grabbed it by the gills and landed the fish up the steep bank.

A couple in a small coupe stopped by to ask me what I was using and if there were any fish on "that side of the road".

I explained to them that fish are in very skinny water this time of the year almost anywhere and they are hungry.

I decided to take the sea trout home for dinner so I dispatched the fish, put it in the back of the truck and headed home.

On the way out of the refuge, I took these pics of what the "bird watchers" were looking at.  There were several more gators that I didn't bother photographing and tons of other birds in the area that I'm blessed to see on a regular basis so I didn't bother putting them up here. 

I particularly like the spoonbills and pelicans.

 

 

 

 

On the way home, I stopped by the local Exxon station to gas up and a fellow angler walked over to chat with me about the fishing conditions.

I showed him the sea trout in the back of the truck that I was keeping for dinner and we talked briefly about where he was fishing and what he was using.

I don't remember his name, but he told me he came here from the west coast of Florida to visit his family.

I suggested some flats for him to fish for a bull redfish with cut baits and we parted ways.

When I got home and started filleting the fish, it measured 23 inches long.  Not a real "gator trout" but fun to catch and good eating.

Till next time when I hope to be feeling better, Tight Lines.