Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Sightseeing Venture

Late Friday evening in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge turned out to be a sightseeing venture rather than a fishing trip.

Although I had several rods with me in the truck, I did little casting.

The grass in the refuge hasn't been mowed in quite some time which is both a pro and a con.

Higher grass means fewer visitors to contend with, but it also makes spotting and landing fish much more difficult.

It's difficult and almost impossible to skinny down a bank and retrieve a fish when you can't find it!

Anyway, when I traversed the refuge Friday evening, only two other groups of people were cruising Peacocks Pocket road and only one of them was actively fishing.

Midway up Peacocks Pocket road I fished several deep water areas trying for a sea trout or two and I did manage to briefly hook up with two fish.  Both were lost at the bank.

The refuge was thick with gators this evening.  From East Gator Creek through the end of Peacocks Pocket road I spotted over a dozen gators in the marsh and in the river.

This evening would not have been a good time to wade fish.

This particular gator was cruising the marsh canal and got in the way every time I stopped to cast.

Close to the kayak launch I met up with Craig and Mary.  Two friends who fish the area on a semi-regular basis.

Today they didn't have much luck but they shared some pics of recent catches they made of redfish, sea trout and Red Snapper they picked up last week during the short opening season.

I asked them to email me the pics so I could post them here, so when I get them, they will be posted.

Anyway, I left them to their fishing and headed out of the refuge.

On the way out I spotted two nice redfish and a couple of sea trout but didn't bother trying to catch them.  The brush was entirely too high and I value my Chug Bugs too much to lose them along side the bank.

The bugs in the refuge were insane.  They seem to zone in on anything remotely breathing or having a circulatory system.

On the way out of the refuge, I spotted several wild hogs rooting along side the road and a couple of coons.

The wildlife was in abundance this evening in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, as were the insects.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.