Redfish In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Although the redfish in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge that are being caught are mostly above the slot, there are still many that can be taken home for dinner.

This past week has been killer for reds in the refuge for anglers using live or cut baits and arfiticials when the conditions are right.

These pics below were taken last Thursday in the refuge by my friend Jason Cooper of Sarah with a 25" redfish (her first red ever) and a 32 1/2" red.

Sarah's 25" Red

Sarah's 32 1/2" Red

Both fish were caught in the Indian River shallows on large live mullet.

They also nailed a nice 24" sea trout on this trip using live finger mullet for bait.  I didn't get the pic but I'm sure you all have seen plenty of trout pics.

April in both of our lagoons is a peak time for gator sea trout and large redfish.  These pics prove the point.

When I get my truck back from the shop and I take my wife out to the refuge on our next trip, I may get her to start fishing with live finger mullet. 

She loves to fish fresh dead jumbo shrimp under a Cajun Thunder float.

Unfortunately when the mullet pods move into the river in the early spring, the bigger fish target the mullet and often let a perfectly good shrimp lie on the bottom.

My wife has the patience of a Saint when it comes to fishing and she doesn't mind waiting for hours on a bite.

I on the other hand DO NOT!

I'll stick to my tried and proven gold Johnson's Sprite spoons, Chug Bugs and soft plastic baits.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Towed Out Of The Refuge

When Karen and I decided to take the dogs fishing this afternoon, the last thing we expected was to be towed out of the Refuge.

This afternoon started like most of our Sunday afternoons. Karen and I went fishing at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to try for some redfish.

We left the house rather late and when we entered East Gator Creek Road we encountered our first bit of lousy luck. The was a barrier up at the end of East Gator Creek where it joined Peacocks Pocket Road.

I backed up until I could find a turnaround and we drove down to the easternmost entrance to Peacocks Pocket to see if the barriers were up there.

When we left Titusville, we noticed a heavy burn and with the wind as brisk as it was today, we thought the entire refuge would be closed off, but it wasn't.

Although this trip was mostly for Odie and Elmo, we did try to catch some fish along the way.

Karen was fishing with some jumbo size shrimp under a Cajun Thunder float and I was using a variety of artificial baits.

The first two places we stopped at were a bust. No bites, no followups, no nothing except a lot of feeding waterfowl.  I took this brief video of the beautiful Rosette Spoonbills we spotted feeding alongside some egrets.


The third place had me briefly hooked up with a large ladyfish that got off after a couple of spirited jumps. The fish nailed one of the Z-Man Scented Paddler baits I picked up last week at Bass Pro.

After almost an hour of no hits, Karen wanted to move up the road to "Bobcat Bay" where she caught a few reds last year.

I tossed around a gold spoon for awhile without any success and finally settled on a gold and black back Rapala Skitter Pop that proved successful around several pods of mullet.

The fish were being chased all over the area by large Ladyfish and Sea Trout.

After several misses, I finally connected with a large Ladyfish that I released.  I thought about cutting it up for redfish candy but it was getting late and Karen was happy using shrimp.

We decided to pack it in and make one more stop where I connected with a nice redfish yesterday.  Karen wanted to know where I caught the fish, so I showed her the place.

There were several vehicles fishing nearby "our spot", so we decided to head for home.  She was tired and the dogs were getting "ansy".

As we were passing the cars, I noticed my friend Jason Cooper who was fishing with his friends at a spot where I missed a tailing redfish on Friday. 

I stopped to see if they were catching anything and he pulled this slot red from the river.

Naresh Melaram with his first redfish!

Jason and his friends managed to catch four reds on finger mullet and cut baits. 

Evidently a school of reds were in the area.

Jason's told me that his friend Naresh never caught a redfish before in his life,  well today little Daniel and his uncle Naresh managed to score. 

Daniel's fish was 28" and Naresh's measured in at the slot, 23".

I took some pics of him proudly holding up "dinner" as we headed out of the refuge.

As we got to Catfish Creek Loop road, the truck's oil sensor indicated low oil pressure. 

About the same time this happened, the truck made a couple of clanks and shut down.

I checked the oil and it was full but the truck would not start.

It was pure poetic justice.  Just before this happened, I was telling Karen that the engine should be good for at least 600,000 miles.  With 384,000 miles on the odometer, I didn't expect it to give up the ghost, especially in the wildlife refuge on a Sunday evening.

I called Herb Daniels wrecker service and got no help.  They were booked until Monday, so I called Jason and asked him if he could drive me to my house so I could pick up Karen's truck so I could unload my gear.

It was late and he was ready to head home, so he agreed to help me out of our predicament.

I finally got C & L Wrecker to pick up the truck and take it to the local Chevy dealer.

Jason drove me to the house and in between conversations with the wrecker driver we swapped fish stories and talked about fishing as Karen and our two "wonder dogs" waited for the wrecker to arrive in the refuge.

Jason told me that he and a buddy of his had nailed some nice dolphin in the 120 ft. depths out of Port Canaveral.  His friend has a 25 foot boat and they were pulling seven lines in their trolling spread. 

When we got to the house, I took Karen's truck and drove down to Fisher's Nissan to wait for her and the wrecker.

After a long wait, my truck with Elmo and Odie finally arrived at the dealer where the truck now resides.

When I asked about the wait, the driver said that he couldn't turn around on the narrow dirt road without the possibility of turning over so he drove all the way up Peacocks Pocket road, past the kayak launch to the highway.

I didn't envy him as I paid for the tow and moved our gear from one truck to the other.

Being towed out of the Refuge is not what I would wish on anybody but thanks to a good friend and some luck, it could have been a lot worse.  The truck could have gone out on I-95 on my way to Savannah.

Jason said he would send me some pics of his fish which I will post when I receive them.

Until next time, Tight Lines.

Bull Redfish In The Marsh

Catching a Bull Redfish in the marsh was something I didn't have on the agenda this evening but that's exactly what happened just before dark.

When I got back in town from work this evening, I planned on going fishing either at Playalinda Beach or in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.   Since it was late and the refuge was closer than the beach, I decided to fish the refuge and see if I couldn't snag a redfish or a gator sea trout.

Karen had plans with her girlfriend so I packed up five spinning outfits, some new Z-Man PaddlerZ baits I picked up at Bass Pro Shops in Savannah and headed for East Gator Creek road.

 The air temperature was 88 degrees when I crossed the bridge and there was almost no wind blowing.

I drove to East Gator Creek road and stopped a couple of times to work a silver and black Chug Bug off the flats to see if I could stir up some action.

I had a couple of follow ups but no hits, so I headed up to Peacocks Pocket Road to fish some of my favorite spots.

I've been working on the house and haven't been fishing as much as I like to, so this evening I decided to target redfish instead of the usual sea trout that I love fishing for.

I threaded an "electric chicken"  Z-Man jerk bait on a light red headed jig and started pitching the bait into likely looking areas on both sides of the road.  The Z-Man baits are already scented but I added some Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater formula just to make it more attractive to the fish.

I had a couple of hits before finally landing a small sea trout which I quickly released.

Evidently the fish loved the bait because it engulfed all 5" of it up to the jig head.

I had two more good hits on the bait but missed both fish before I decided to switch rods and fish with a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.

I knew I wouldn't be catching as many fish with the spoon, but the fish I would catch would be larger.

There were tons of spoonbills and alligators in the refuge this evening so I took a few pics before moving on to the last area I planned on fishing before dusk.

I spooked a couple of nice tailing reds on the Indian River side of the road before catching a larger sea trout on the spoon.

At first I thought the sea trout was a red, but a fish is a fish.

Anyway, as I released the fish I noticed some topwater activity on the river so I switched rods and started popping the Chug Bug around the turmoil.

I briefly hooked a sea trout that got off and after a couple more casts snatched the Chug Bug away from a nice fish that hit the bait.

I missed the fish but the Chug Bug came back to me and hit me in my right  forearm.  Hooked Again!

I got my fishing pliers out of the truck and tried to jerk the hook out of my arm, but it was in too deep.

I was pissed to say the least and didn't want to repeat the emergency room stay I put up with the last time I hooked myself in the side, so I pulled the hook all the way through, cut off the barb and switched back to my other rod with the gold Johnson's Sprite spoon. 

My wound was bleeding profusely so I let it bleed to clean out the puncture.  I dabbed on some antibiotic that I had in the truck and continued fishing.

It was getting dark when I noticed a push of water in the marsh canal at the entrance of a shallow pond.

Several casts with the spoon didn't get me a hookup so I pulled out the bottle of Pro-Cure and smeared up the spoon to give it some additional fish appeal.

It took three more well placed casts to the opposite bank before a bull redfish inhaled the spoon.

At first I thought I just spooked the fish because it swirled around and swam straight towards me.  When I noticed that the line was slack I knew that the fish had the lure so I quickly reeled in the slack and set the hook, just to make sure.

The bull redfish literally went crazy in the shallow water.  It made a long run up the marsh canal with me running behind it trying to keep it away from the stickups.  Every time I got close to the fish it took off again like a freight train.

The battle continued for about one hundred yards or so up the road and about 25 minutes later I was beginning to believe I could actually land the fish.  It took several more minutes before the bull redfish was tired enough for me to land it.

I had the boga grip with me and as I led the fish to the bank I stepped into the canal to grip the fish out of the water for some pics.

 

I quickly got the tape out of the truck along with the camera and took some pics of the fish before releasing it.

The fish measured in at almost 38 inches and probably weighed in at over 20 pounds.  The pics don't do justice to the girth of the bull redfish.

Anyway, I unhooked the fish and after reviving it let her go back to where she belonged to fight another day.

I took some pics of the sunset before calling my wife to let her know she should have gone fishing with me this evening. 

There really are some nice bull redfish in the marsh!

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Good Friday Shrimping On The Indian River

I planned on going fishing when I returned home from work this evening but instead spent Good Friday shrimping on the Indian River with some old timers.

It was too late to fish Peacocks Pocket when I got home from work so I decided to hit the fishing piers to see if there was any action with the shrimping community.

I arrived a little after 8:30 pm and the pavilion was crowded as usual for a Friday evening.

Lower Fishing Pier

There were several shrimpers and a few fishermen on the lower pier and almost nobody shrimping on the upper (higher) fishing pier.

The sport shrimpers on the lower pier were not doing too good while I was there.

The sea trout were murdering the shrimp and very few of them were escaping to the surface where they could be dipped up.

I walked the lower pier and only a few shrimpers had any in their nets or their 5 gallon buckets so I took a few pics and walked to the upper pier to see how they were doing.

There were three guys at the corner of the pier who had their lights set out in deeper water.  When I checked out their buckets, none of them had any shrimp to brag about.

As I stood there for a while, it was quickly evident why.  There were at least a couple of hundred sea trout over the light sets ambushing the shrimp as they were swimming into range of the dip nets.

Most of the sea trout  were under the slot but several were at least 15" plus.  The larger sea trout were hanging just outside of the shrimp lights down deep.

I mused to myself, of all the times to not bring my fishing rod with me!

There was a slight current moving the shrimp around but it slowed down to almost nothing around 9:00 pm.

The shrimp that were being dipped up were medium size tonight and no jumbos were in anybody's bucket as far as I could see.

There was almost no wind on the water this evening and it was shirtsleeve weather.  All in all a gorgeous night.

I took several short videos that I later edited into this YouTube video that shows mostly sea trout, a small tarpon and a ladyfish chasing shrimp around the lights.


Unfortunately while I was visiting the fishing piers this evening, nobody was dipping any jumbo shrimp that this area is noted for.

This Good Friday shrimping expedition on the Indian River would have been great if I only had the foresight to bring along a light spinning rod and a couple of  D.O.A. Shrimp.

Well, Tomorrow's another day.

Tight Lines.

The 2014 Winter Shrimping Season Is Officially ON

From Titusville to Oak Hill, Florida, the 2014 winter shrimping season is in full swing.

The sounds of five gallon buckets echo throughout the night on both of Titusville's  fishing piers as sport shrimpers of all kinds try to load them up with jumbo "crickets" as they are called by the locals .

So far this April, Volusia County has been on fire with reliable harvests and predictable action night after night from the Lopez area of Oak Hill to as far North as the New Smyrna Beach pier.

The Oak Hill area, noted for their small size shrimp, has been providing sport shrimpers of late with some impressively sized shrimp that have  not been seen in years.

The shrimp are averaging from 4-3/4" to over 5" and most of the boats are making full pulls (30lbs/5 gallons) .  Volusa County shrimpers in general have been harvesting a minimum of 1 to 2 gallons of shrimp on any given night under the lights.  This video shows how easy it is to get a cooler full when you hit the tide right.

Although Oak Hill shrimp occasionally reach impressive sizes during late February through March, usually in April the size of the shrimp harvested gets considerably smaller.

You'll still be able to cull out some large shrimp, but the majority will be 4" or smaller; much less than the preferred size.

If you're shrimping in Volusia County, plan to hit Oak Hill.   Edgewater has not

been as productive as Oak Hill and if you hit the back end of the tide, you can still get a shot at some of the big 8" shrimp in Oak Hill before the "smallies" take over.

From February to date, Brevard County shrimping remains moody.

Titusville shrimpers from Haulover Canal, to the railroad bridge, to the fishing piers on the Indian River are having a more difficult time filling their buckets.

It has been reliably either very hot or totally cold since the first of April.

The shrimp in Brevard County seem to run when they feel like it and some of the die hard shrimpers on the rails dip all night only to harvest a half bucket.

The difference between a good and bad night shrimping during the shrimp run seems to boil down on how well you set up your underwater light field.

The old timers who shrimp on a regular basis know that a badly laid out light field makes for a bad night on the pier.   They also seem to know when to go shrimping and when to stay at home.

Knowing when to go obviously gives you an advantage.   If the winds are blowing in over 10 knots, don't bother loading up your shrimping gear.

Timing is everything, and March and April are magical in Brevard County.

The cold fronts for the most part are a distant memory and the pleasant evenings make the two fishing piers a gathering place for sport shrimpers, night fishermen and party-goers alike.

Although the shrimp in Brevard County are by far much larger than anywhere else in Florida, you have to put in your time on the rails and plug in to local shrimping information to make it worthwhile when you schedule a trip to our area.

Brevard remains King of the slobs (jumbos), and when the stars are lined up perfectly, Titusville pier shrimpers can load up their buckets with mediums and jumbos of over 5".

April is also the best month to load up on blue crab and shrimp at Haulover Canal.

I've been told that as Volusia County shrimping starts to wind down, North Brevard will be the best seat in the house.

It appears it's time to get out and enjoy the 2014 winter shrimping season.

Topwater Sea Trout Action

My wife and I didn't get a chance to get out this weekend until late this afternoon.

I was hoping for some topwater sea trout action but the windy conditions this afternoon made it look like a lost cause.

We left the house around 4:00 pm and headed for Karen's favorite "tree" in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. She likes this popular area because there are almost always black drum and reds in the shallows.

Odie Looking Cute!

We took Elmo and Odie with us to give them some play time and as we approached the area, both dogs were eager to get out and sniff around.

Karen was fishing with jumbo fresh dead pink shrimp and I took along a live bait rod for myself, just in case the topwater baits didn't pan out.

I tossed out my shrimp around some mullet activity and started casting a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon around the shallows in the Indian River side of the road.

Karen opted to fish the marsh canal where she saw a fish tailing as we pulled up to our spot.

After numerous casts and a lot of dead grass on the spoon I was just about ready to change lures when I spotted a nice redfish tail around a startled school of mullet.

I shot a cast just ahead of the red and almost immediately the fish swirled around and hit the lure.  Unfortunately, it didn't eat it.

As the fish swam off, I continued casting the spoon but never got another strike.

About the time I decided to change lures, another angler pulled up in a big black pickup truck and put in next to where I was fishing. 

It was then when I got a hit on the jumbo shrimp.  I thought I had a red or a drum but instead hooked up with a large puffer fish.  The 13" long puffer was the culprit that was robbing my baits so I put up the rod, went back to the truck and changed lures.

I got the rod with a black and chartreuse Zara Spook Jr. and smeared on some Pro-Cure just for good luck.

Numerous casts around the mullet pods got me a couple of half hearted hits so I decided to fish the "ditches" on the other side of the road to see what was biting.

Several casts later I missed a nice sea trout that struck the topwater bait three times before giving up.

A few casts later I hooked up with another sea trout that hit the bait at the bank.

After Karen took a quick pick I returned the fish and continued fishing the plug up the road.

It was close to 7:00 pm when the trout started biting and in the next hour I hooked and released three more fish all around the same size before Karen wanted to call it a day.

My back was killing me from painting our bedroom so I quickly agreed with her to call it a day.

The dogs had fun and although Karen didn't hook up with a red she had a nice afternoon in the "swamp".

On the way out of the refuge we spotted a huge flock of white pelicans and several alligators.

I took these pics near Peacocks Pocket before leaving the refuge.

Next weekend I promised Karen to take the boat out for a run around the islands near the boat launch.

Till then,

Tight Lines.

Gator Sea Trout Are Hitting In the Indian River

The Gator Sea Trout are hitting in the Indian River flats.

After a couple of weeks of being ill, I finally got a chance to wet a line Saturday afternoon.

I wanted to hit the beach to sample the pompano and whiting fishing but the possibility of hooking up with a gator sea trout got the better of me, so I decided to fish the refuge instead.

I stopped at the local bait shop and picked up a half dozen live mullet and a dozen live shrimp, just in case.  The owner said the pompano and whiting were "on fire" along the beaches and that there were still some bluefish in the surf.

He said that the reds and sea trout in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge were also biting well in the ditches and along the river side of the road. 

This is the time of the year when the mullet invade the lagoon systems and with them come gator sea trout, snook and redfish. 

I started out fishing lures around Peacocks Pocket road with limited success.  I picked up a couple of dancing ladyfish on a gold hammered spoon and missed a redfish in the shallows that was a brief hookup.

The finger mullet are just starting to come into the river system and the ditches in the marsh. 

Fishing live mullet or top water plugs is the preferred tactic this time of the year but since I got out late this afternoon, I wasn't expecting much action.  I was just happy to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather in the refuge.

I stopped at one small pond where I often hook up with reds and pitched out a live finger mullet.  The mullet was hooked thru the lips and I pinched a "lake shot" about 18" above the snelled 5/0 Owner hook.

The mullet was in the water about 30 seconds before a redfish picket up the bait and started up the marsh canal.  I gave the fish a moment to run, set the hook and missed the fish. 

From the size of the wake, it looked like a nice fish but I never did get a good look at it.

Undaunted, I moved on up the road and hit another spot I like to fish.

I pitched a gold hammered redfish spoon several times into the shallow flats and hooked up with two ladyfish in that spot before moving on.

As I was putting the rod into the truck, a couple slowly passed me and asked if I had any luck.  He was eager to show me his sea trout in the back of the truck so I took a look.  I should have taken a pic for this post but I didn't think of it at the time, anyway,  he had what I would call a Gator Sea Trout of about 30" in a five gallon bucket.

The guy said he caught the fish near culverts at Peacocks Pocket on a live finger mullet.

As he drove off, I decided to change tactics and start fishing finger mullet and topwater plugs.

I tied on a chartreuse and black Zara Spook Jr. and started tossing the bait around after putting out a live finger mullet on the second rod.

The tactic didn't pan out.  At the next few spots I stopped at, the finger mullet got "mouthed" but never eaten.

It was either small sea trout or a redfish that wasn't very hungry, and that doesn't happen much.

Around 5:30 pm I started getting hits on the Zara Spook but the fish were hitting short.  I smeared Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater gel on the plug to keep the fish interested and hooked up with a couple of small under size sea tout and one huge sea trout that missed the plug three times before swimming away.

The fish blew the the plug out of the water as I was "walking" it off a shallow flat into deeper water.  I let the plug sit still for a millisecond before jerking it and the fish hit and missed again.  As I was retrieving the lure for another cast it hit and missed the third time.

I probably wasn't holding my mouth right, anyway that was the end of my fishing for the afternoon.

On my last stop, I put out three rods with cut finger mullet and fresh dead shrimp and parked my butt to watch the sunset.

A small school of black drum pushed a nice wake off of the flat I was fishing and one of them took a wack at the fresh dead shrimp, but again the fish didn't get hooked. 

I set the rod back out with another fresh dead shrimp and after a while dragged in a large blue crab which I released.

The sunset was beautiful as usual as I took these pics and headed for home.

Tomorrow is another day.

Tight Lines.