Skunked!

Well I got skunked this evening. Not a first, but hopefully not the norm.

I didn't get home from work until around 6:30 pm but before 7:00 pm, I was on the water.

I packed several rods into the truck along with a cast net and some lures, and headed for East Gator Creek road to pick up some finger mullet.

My first cast near a culvert snagged me a half dozen 8 to 10 inch mullet which I promptly dropped into a  5 gallon bucket before heading to a spot where I hoped I could catch a red or a gator sea trout.

I passed several spots that I normally would have stopped to fish but  since it was late, I focused on getting to an area on the Indian River where I know big reds feed.

I passed several fishermen before finally pulling up to where I wanted to fish. 

I put two live mullet on casting rods and cut one mullet unto chunks for bait to use on my Okuma bait runner spinning rod.

The air temperature was in the high 60s and the wind was blowing too much for me to mess around with the 9 weight fly rod I brought along, so I started blind casting a gold Johnson's sprite around the marsh canal on the other side of Peacocks Pocket road.

After a half hour without a bite, I was beginning to think I was jinxed but since I seldom fish with live or fresh dead baits,  I decided to give this type fishing a reasonable shot.

About this time a sea osprey picked up one of my live mullet.  I saw the line peeling off the reel on the casting rod  and thought I had a "bull redfish" on until I noticed that the line was going up to the sky.

I got to the truck where the rod was and pulled the mullet away from the Osprey but it wouldn't let go.  Finally, I pulled the ornery bird into the water with a plop, and it still didn't let go of the mullet.

When I started reeling the bird in, I thought I had hooked it but finally the eagle let go of his dinner.

I reeled in the mullet to put some line back onto the spool and decided to let the bait sit far out in the river.

Damned if the Osprey didn't pick up the same mullet again.  This time when I yanked it, the bird dropped the bait and kept flying on it's merry way.

As it turned out, that was to be my only catch of the day.

More waiting and no bites on the other rods.  I finally switched out the gold spoon to a topwater "speckled trout" pattern Skitter Walk and started blind casting the river side around some baitfish pods in hopes of picking off a gator sea trout.

I finally got a hit on the bait from a small sea trout which almost immediately flipped off the plug.

Another fishermen had pulled up a few yards up the road from me with his girlfriend or wife and was also doing the "bait fishing" thing.

He fished until almost 8:00 pm before giving it up.  As they passed me, he said he hadn't gotten any bites and was trying another spot.

I told him about my bad luck and started packing up my gear to also get out of the area.

About the time I finished putting the rods back into the truck, a rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center got my attention.

 

I headed for the truck to get my camera but by the time I set it up, I missed most of the launch.

This afternoon I couldn't even get a good video of the launch.  It just wasn't my day.

On the way out of the refuge, I spotted a pod of black drum swimming up the canal.  I tried to entice them with a jerk bait but again, no bites.

I did manage to get some shots of some roseatte spoonbills and an American crocodile which is uncommon in our area.

 

 


The crocodiles have a very narrow snout and are larger than our alligators.

This one was about 14 feet long and wasn't afraid of anybody.

After finally admitting to myself that I got skunked, I decided to head for home and some dinner.

Although I didn't catch any fish this evening, it was still great to get out and enjoy the wildlife in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Till next time, Tight Lines.