Fishing The Open Culverts

Normally, fishing the open culverts in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is done earlier in the Spring; but because of all the rain we have had for the past few weeks, the water levels in the marsh are higher than usual and most of the culverts have been opened up.

Needless to say, fishing the open culverts is usually extremely productive regardless of the time of year.

Saturday afternoon Karen and I decided to leave our dogs home and try to catch some redfish.

We left late in the afternoon, loaded up the truck with several rods and the ladyfish I caught for bait yesterday evening and headed out to fish some of the marsh ponds.

We decided to go past Peacocks Pocket boat launch and fish both sides of the road North towards Catfish Creek Loop.

When we hit the boat launch the culvert was open and tons of water was entering the Indian River from the flooded marsh.  Evidently a lot of baitfish was also being flushed through the culverts because there were all types of predatory fish waiting for a free meal.

I pulled off and started pitching a Chug Bug close to the water flow and immediately picked up a large needlefish on the second cast.

Karen wanted to fish with the ladyfish steaks but didn't want to fish here so I told her it would be a quick stop.

I made several casts into the area and spotted a juvenile Tarpon apparently after the needlefish, several sea trout and redfish farther out in the water flow.

Several casts later with the Chug Bug hooked me up with small "rat" redfish which I promptly released.

I missed a small Tarpon and hooked up with a ladyfish which I also released.

Karen wanted to hit the pond so I decided to pitch a Johnson Sprite gold spoon around just for the hell of it.

The second cast hooked me up with this sea trout.  I finally broke down and took out my sports cam but the bite was slowing down.   I was getting followups but no hookups.

We moved off to the pond Karen wanted to fish and pitched out three rods baited with ladyfish steaks that I smeared up with some Pro-Cure "for spice".

I pitched around the Chug Bug while waiting for a bite on the ladyfish steaks and got several followups and one small sea trout.

As I was walking back to check my rod, Karen hooked a bull redfish that was well over 30 inches.

The fish was running with a school down the marsh canal, picked up her bait and never stopped to look back.

Karen tried to stop the fish from running but it was next to impossible.  When she asked me to help her out, I tightened up her drag but the fish kept running.

Finally, Karen asked me to take the rod and fight the fish for her.  I took the rod and finally turned the fish around.  The school was spooked and came back by us but her redfish was still almost 100 yards up the canal.

After another 5 minutes or so I battled the redfish till it was around 30 feet away.  The fish then headed to some brush on the bank where it got hopelessly tangled up.  I tried to get it loose but the line finally broke at the leader.

I shot a video of Karen fighting the fish but unfortunately that's all.

I tied on another piece of 30# fluorocarbon and a 6/0 Owner Circle Hook, re-baited with another ladyfish steak and continued fishing.

During the commotion, the bait on my rod was taken by another red which dropped the bait before I could set the hook.

We fished until dusk and missed three more redfish before calling it a day.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.  We plan to take out Odie and Elmo.  That should be a treat!

Tight Lines.

Catching Ladyfish For Bait In The Culverts

Catching Ladyfish for bait in the culverts can be a lot of fun, especially when you get topwater action like I had this evening.

I only had an hour or so to fish this evening when I got home from work so I tried to make the best of it.

I loaded four rods into the truck along with a cooler full of ice to keep any bait I caught fresh for tomorrow's fishing trip and headed for East Gator Creek Road.

It was 80 degrees when I left the house and it was drizzling.

When I crossed the L. Max Brewer Memorial bridge I noticed a lot of fishermen on the North banks of SR 402 fishing cut baits, shrimp and finger mullet for redfish.  The amount of fishermen on the banks of the Indian River indicated to me that the fish were biting.

I drove into East Gator Creek road and pulled off to the edge of the road and surveyed the area.

The water was like glass with only an occasional light drizzle disturbing the surface.

I noticed that they mowed the grass banks along the side of the East Gator Creek road and silently hoped that they continued up Peacocks Pocket Road.

Evidently there had been a lot of rain this past week. The culverts were opened to let water from the flats back into the Indian River which made fishing the culverts an option for tomorrow's fishing trip with Karen.

I pulled out the rod with a Chug Bug, smeared it up with some Pro-Cure Baitfish formula and started pitching it into the marsh flats past the culvert.

I turned on my sports cam and put it on my visor to catch any action I might have and I'm glad I did for a change.

Catching Ladyfish for bait in the culverts is a blast with topwater baits, and the first cast hooked me up with the two foot long fish below
.

As you can see the fish jumped all over the place before I finally "horsed" it onto the bank.

I took the camera off after catching the first fish and landed two more Ladyfish of about the same size

before moving up the road to fish a small pond.

In my experience, nothing beats fresh cut Ladyfish chunks for catching redfish.

It was getting late and I didn't have much time left for fishing, so I quickly drove to my next fishing spot passing up several good looking areas that I would normally fish.

When I pulled up to the pond, the water was flat.  Nothing was hitting on the surface and there were only a few swirls around the grassy islands that were obviously made by redfish.

I tossed the Chug Bug around the area and had only one followup and missed a sea trout right on the bank.

After fan casting the area without any hits I decided to move to another area before dusk.

I passed five guys in two truck who were getting ready to leave and asked if they had any luck.  The driver of the second truck said they caught "several" redfish on cut baits and live finger mullet on the Indian River side.

I passed left them and pulled up to the last area I could fish this evening.

I'd like to say that I caught several nice fish but I only had one followup from something big on my Chug Bug just as it began to rain.

I was getting bit by the mosquitoes and some ants that I stepped on so I decided to head for home and call it a day.

Karen and I plan to get out earlier tomorrow afternoon and nail a couple redfish if all goes as planned.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Sea Trout In The Marsh Canals

The sea trout in the marsh canals of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge have been on fire this month and this afternoon was no exception.

My wife and I took Elmo and Odie along on our afternoon fishing trip for a "doggie" outing in the refuge.

I packed several spinning rods, some frozen ladyfish for bait and headed to see if I could catch one or two more ladyfish for fresh cut bait.

A nosy gator kept following my Chug Bug at the place where I normally catch ladyfish and since it was late in the afternoon and we had the dogs along, we decided to head to a spot where we could plop down and dunk some cut baits.

We stopped to fish two ponds.  The first was relatively uneventful.  Karen missed a redfish on a ladyfish steak and I missed at least five sea trout on the Chug Bug I was fishing.  The fish were skittish but had no problems following the bait.

I had a redfish swirl lat the Chug Bug around a grassy island but it would not take the lure.

After a wrecker passes us on the narrow dirt road, we decided to pick up our gear and move to another spot.

The water this afternoon was flat in most places and had onlyu a slight ripple in other areas.  The second pond we stopped to fish was mostly flat and the marsh canal was like glass.

Karen put out a cut bait and I pitched one out along with hers.  I set the Okuma bait runner and started casting the topwater bait to likely looking areas in the canal. 

I had a couple of followups but the trout would not eat my bait for some reason. 

As I fished along the canal, a large school of black drum or redfish came down the marsh canal pushing a ton of water along with them.  As they got close to where we were fishing they abruptly turned around and went the other direction. 

We apparently spooked the fish  but I don't know how.  Anyway, a short time later Karen said she had a fish on her rod.

She was using a 7/0 VMC circle hook on the large ladyfish steak and let the fish run until she thought it had swallowed the bait.

After a decent fight, she brought the fish to the bank where I landed it for her.  It was a nice male sea trout, not a redfish.

I took some pics of the fish and planned to release it but the fish had damage to it's gills, so I popped it in the ice chest for dinner.

It was getting dark and the dogs were creating a ruckus so we decided to head home for dinner.

When I got to the house and finished rinsing off the rods, I filleted the sea trout and had it for dinner.

Few fish taste as good as freshly caught sea trout and you can't get it any fresher than we did today.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Karen's Gator Trout In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

This afternoon Karen and I decided to leave the dogs at home and for a change, go fishing alone.

We loaded up some rods and the "bait" I caught yesterday, and headed for East Gator Creek road to see if I could pick up another ladyfish for cut bait.

The plan was to fish for reds this afternoon but we wound up catching a gator sea trout instead.

When we left the house the air temperature was 82 degrees and there was  a mild breeze blowing just enough to put a slight ripple on the water.

When we hit East Gator Creek road, I started fan casting the culverts with a Chug Bug smeared up with some Pro-Cure.

I hooked and lost three large ladyfish before leaving the area.  If the rest of the day turned out like it started, we were in for a disappointing afternoon of fishing.

Good Luck Rainbow

As we left the area and drove into Peacocks Pocket road, a nice rainbow picked up our spirits.

Karen said it was good luck, and apparently it was.

Our first stop was at a large pond where we spotted a big school of redfish pushing a wake in the marsh canal.

There were finger mullet in the area and fish chasing them, but except for a couple of follow ups and one hit, we didn't catch any fish there.

Nosy Gator

I spent most of my time avoiding a nosy alligator that kept chasing my Chug Bug. 

The next spot we fished was at a pond were I usually at least hook up with sea trout and redfish.

I cut ladyfish steaks, smeared them up with Pro-Cure to enhance the "flavor", and set out two rods along a drop off at the edge of the shallow pond.

Karen sat with the cut baits while I proceeded to fan cast the banks of the marsh canal alongside the road.

I was using the Tennessee and Silver/Black Back Chug Bug patterns today on two separate rods.

I had several follow ups from small to medium size sea trout and finally nailed this slot size sea trout to the left.

I released the fish and continued up the marsh canal when I heard Karen yelling that she had caught a redfish.

I got the camera and was ready to take a video of Karen landing the redfish, but when I got close enough to the water to see the fish, it turned out to be a large gator sea trout.

 

The fish took the ladyfish steak and was heading for the middle of the pond when Karen picked up the rod and started fighting the fish back to the bank.

 

She said the sea trout made a couple of long runs that took drag before she could finally get it close enough to the bank where I could "lip" the fish.  The trout was over 30" long and felt like it weighed in at closer to nine pounds.

We took this short video and some of the pics above before releasing the trout to fight another day.

I revived the fish and as it swam down the marsh canal, I told Karen that we needed to catch a redfish to make the day.

After cutting two new baits and setting out the rods, I decided to pay more attention, so I sat down with Karen to watch the baits.

The wind was blowing harder and we had a brief rainfall that made topwater fishing more difficult, so I didn't mind baitfishing for a change.

After only fifteen minutes or so Karen had another hit from a redfish.  The fish peeled off line from her Okuma baitrunner but when she tightened up on the line, she didn't set the hook and the fish spit out the bait.

I took off her 5/0 Owner hook and switched to a 6/0 VMC circle hook and told her to just tighten up on the line the next time she got a bite.

I had a circle hook on a ladyfish head on my rod and I should have listened to my own advice.  A big redfish took the fish head and headed from the shallow grassy pond into the marsh canal towards the Peacocks Pocket boat launch.

I took the reel out of free spoon and when I felt the line go taught, I tightened up on the line.  
As soon as the fish felt the resistance, it hit the surface with a splash and spit out the fish head.

After getting garbage from Karen about losing the fish and not listening to my own advice, I baited up again and continued fishing.

Meanwhile, Karen's bait was picked up by a redfish and was peeling off line from her reel.  She asked me to set the hook so I picked up the rod, let the fish run until it stopped and started again, and slowly tightened up on the line. 

This time the fish was on (or so I thought) so I gave the rod to Karen and told her to keep the line tight while I got the camera from the truck.

When I came back with the camera, Karen told me that the fish came off.   It was probably my fault but alas, it was not ment to be.

Anyway, it was starting to get dark and the wind was blowing harder so when Karen asked if we should leave, I was ready to head for the house.

On the way out of the refuge, I took some pics of the sunset that I hope you all enjoy.

There are some nice gator trout in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge if you know how to fish for them and get lucky enough to land one.  

Tomorrow after getting some work done around the house, Karen and I plan to take Elmo and Odie along with us for another short trip.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Catching Gator Trout During A Thunderstorm

Catching gator trout during a thunderstorm is usually productive and this evening was no exception.

When I got home from work late this evening I had fishing on my mind, despite the steady rain that was coming down at the house.

After greeting Elmo and Odie with "busy bones", I loaded some rods into the truck and headed for East Gator Creek road to pick up some bait (ladyfish) for tomorrows fishing trip.

I stopped at the first open culvert and started pitching a "Tennessee Shad" pattern Chug Bug into the shallows.

It only took three casts before this large ladyfish slammed the bait.

After several nice jumps I unceremoniously landed the fish and put it on ice in the cooler I brought along.

 I planned to chunk it up and use it for redfish tomorrow if the weather permits.

I hooked and lost three more ladyfish before moving on to Peacocks Pocket road where I planned to fish a couple of ponds.

Up until now the rain was coming down in a mild "drizzle" but as I drove up to Peacocks Pocket road it really let loose.

I passed only one other idiot in the refuge who stopped and briefly told me about the redfish he just lost in the marsh canal.  He said he hooked it on a live finger mullet and when he set the hook the fish took off down the canal and eventually broke off.

He said he was using 30 pound Power Pro braid and that the fish was in the over 30" category.

As we parted ways I drove up to the first pond I wanted to fish.  I donned my Frog Toggs and started blind casting the same Chug Bug smeared up with Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater formula.

After several casts the rain slowed down and I got a hit on a nice sea trout of about 19 inches or so.

I took a quick pic of the fish and immediately released it.

When it started pouring again, I sat it out in the truck and slowly drove up to the second pond I planned to fish.  It was late and I knew this would be my last stop.

I started methodically blind casting the Chug Bug around the area and finally got a hit from a redfish that missed the plug.  I let the Chug Bug sit for a second hoping the fish would reengage but it was gone.

I must have made at least another couple of dozen casts into the area but only had one followup from

a small sea trout.

The rain was coming down in buckets and although my upper torso was dry and cozy, my shorts were drenched from the rain.

I was getting chilled and the sky was getting almost black, so I decided to head for home.

On the way out, I stopped at one more spot I occasionally fish when it rains.  Karen and I call it our "fish in a barrel" spot.

The growth along side of the road was high but I found a spot to cast and hopefully land a fish if I got lucky.

I smeared the Chug Bug up with more Pro-Cure and started blind casting the plug into the shallows next to a drop off.

On my second cast, a huge sea trout smacked the plug and missed it.  I let it sit but the fish didn't come back for the bait.

I decided to wait a minute or two and smeared some more Pro-Cure on the plug before making another cast.

I pitched the bait back into the shallows and worked it back to the same spot where the fish missed the first time.

This time the trout literally inhaled the Chug Bug.

The big trout peeled drag as it made it's first run into the shallow pond and as it came back it ran down the marsh canal.

I put pressure on the fish to get it in as quickly as possible and the fish got tangled in the brush alongside the road.

I thought I lost the fish and was ready to wade in to retrieve it, but as I gave it some slack line, the

trout took off again in the other direction and untangled itself.

A couple of minutes later I finally landed the fish and took some pictures of it in the rain before releasing it.

Unfortunately, the pics didn't come out as nice as I hoped.  The camera lens was apparently wet.

Anyway, the fish measured 29" long and even though it wasn't loaded with eggs, it had some weight to it.

I was drenched as I sat down in the truck so when Karen called to see where I was, I didn't need any prodding to get my but home.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to get out again tomorrow and do it again.

Till next time, Tight Lines and don't forget that you too can be catching gator trout during a thunderstorm if you're as nuts as I am.

A Windy Sunday Afternoon Fishing Trip

It was a windy Sunday afternoon fishing trip for Karen and our two wonder dogs, but the dogs were begging to get out of the house and take a ride.

We decided to hit areas we hadn't been to for a while so we headed for the Jones Street boat ramp in Mims for our first stop.   

The bait shop that once stood here was long closed and an old hull that once was inhabited looked like it was being restored.

I was going to fan cast the area but decided to move on to our next area instead.  This particular area is noted for gator sea trout that can be found in the adjacent flats.

We decided to drive up to Scottsmoor and see what the water level at the boat ramp looked like.

I'm still hoping to get my Maverick out for a spin when the weather gets a bit cooler.

When we got to the boat ramp, there was only one other vehicle parked and they were in a pontoon boat.

We let Elmo and Odie out to do their duty and walked around to see if it was worth casting a topwater bait around the area.

The wind was blowing into the shore and there was a layer of sea grass bunched up at the bank which made  fishing a waste of time.

I took a few pics and we decided to ride over to Shiloh Marsh Road and see if there were any Tarpon in the canals.

When we got to Shiloh Marsh Road, they still had the refuge signs up despite the fact that the area will remain closed for the foreseeable future.

A Wildlife Officer I spoke to a couple of months ago told me that until the road gets a makeover, it will remain closed.  As of now it is only open to bike and foot traffic.


In any event, we drove down to the barrier and stopped to fish an area I knew held juvenile Tarpon.

I pulled out a rod with a Chug Bug and started casting into the shallow creek.  I had a couple of followups but no hits.

As I came up to a small pond I spotted a couple of Tarpon cruising in the shallows.

I cut up a chunk of ladyfish and dropped it into the pool but the fish showed no interest.

Normally when they can see you, they will not bite and this was no exception.

I went back to the truck, got my camera and took a short video of one of the fish.

After a half hour or so, we decided to drive over to Patillo Creek and see if any Tarpon were in that area.

Elmo and Odie were in their cruising mode and were having a great time hanging out of the windows on the way over.

 

We drove around the area, took a few pics and fished awhile but didn't catch any fish or spot any Tarpon.  After a half hour without a follow up or a bite on Karen's cut bait we packed up the dogs and our rods and headed for Peacocks Pocket Road.  

I told Karen about the partial road improvements and wanted to show her where I missed a nice sea trout yesterday.

We drove into Peacocks Pocket road and spotted a couple fishermen dunking cut baits with no success so we moved up to the area where I lost the fish.  

I cut up a couple of ladyfish "steaks" for her to fish with and I put on my new sports camera and started casting a Chug Bug smeared up with Pro-Cure offshore formula.

I hooked and lost a nice sea trout in the marsh canal before I even turned on the camera. 

Undaunted, I turned on the camera and started wearing out my arm casting the topwater bait.

Karen missed a huge redfish because she forgot to set the hook and we spotted several other nice reds in the area. 

The weather was getting foul and the fish were beginning to get active.

We spotted three small pods of redfish and two more bull redfish before the bite went down.

Karen missed a second redfish that took the bait and ran towards her.  She didn't know the fish was even on until it turned in the middle of the marsh canal and headed back onto the shallow grass flats.

Meanwhile I nailed a nice sea trout on the Chug Bug just before Karen hooked and lost her fish.

The video from the sport cam is below.

Maybe next weekend the Tarpon will be more willing.

Till next time, Tight Lines,.

Lackluster Fishing Trip In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Today's fishing trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was uneventful to say the least.

The air temperature was 92 degrees when I left the house and there was a slight breeze blowing in the refuge as I drove past the Peacocks Pocket small boat launch.  It was a beautiful afternoon to go fishing.

As usual, I didn't leave the house until around 6:30 pm, and when I finally got on the water the temperature dropped a few degrees making fishing bearable.

As I drove past the first set of culverts I met up with a couple of fishermen who were casting topwater baits and still fishing cut baits for reds.  When I asked them if they had any luck, both guys said the fishing was dead today.  They said they were fishing the spot for a few hours with no luck.

I moved up to a marsh pond that I hoped would be holding redfish and started out casting a Chug Bug smeared up with Pro-Cure.

I finally bought a "sports cam" off of Amazon and decided to give it a try.  I got tired of writing about the fish "I had on but lost at the bank" without some documentation.  The SJ4000 full HD sports cam I picked up was a cheaper version of a more expensive $350.00 sports cam and works just as well if not better.   The wide angle lens picks up a lot of action but I still have to figure out the best way to mount it on a visor.

Anyway, I was hoping to get some decent video to show here but the fish weren't cooperating.

I had two followups at the first pond I stopped to fish and finally hooked a  small sea trout on the Chug Bug. 

The fish was quickly released and as it started getting towards dusk, I moved on to another spot I wanted to hit before dark.

This pond has a relatively steep drop off adjacent to some very shallow grass flats and the fish usually hang right at the drop off.

Today the fish were either out of the area or spooked by the afternoon's vehicle traffic.

As I mentioned yesterday, the feeder roads to Peacocks Pocket boat launch have been scraped to alleviate the potholes.  The main stretch from Catfish Creek Loop road to the boat launch has not been touched.

Personally, I like it because it cuts down on the vehicle traffic from people who are not used to driving on a narrow unimproved trail.

Anyway, the second spot I stopped to fish produced a couple of followups and a half hearted strike from a small sea trout.

All the time I was out in the refuge, I never saw a redfish or sign of redfish in the Indian River or the marsh ponds.

When the mosquitoes started eating me I decided to give it up and call it a day.  I hope to take Karen, Odie and Elmo out tomorrow and try again.

Till next time  Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket Road Is Open Again

When I got home from work this evening, I decided to take a ride down to the refuge and see if Peacocks Pocket Road is open to the public.

I quickly loaded up a few rods and headed for the refuge hoping for the best.

The rainbow I spotted when crossing the bridge was a good omen and when I finally got to the drive I was happy to see that the barriers were down.

As promised, the road was improved from the A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway entrances to the Peacocks Pocket  kayak launch on the easternmost entrance and to Catfish Creek Loop on the western entrance.

Peacocks Pocket road from the kayak launch to Catfish Creek Loop road is still unimproved and pristine complete with uncut grass.

They apparently used road graders to level out some of the nasty potholes which should make a lot of bird watchers happy.

Since time was of the essence this evening, I opted to fish a couple of ponds in the marsh area to see if I could pick up a sea trout or two.

As I drove to my spot I passed only two other fishermen.  The first guy was dunking cut baits on the Indian River side for redfish and apparently wasn't doing too well.

The other guys were fishing midway up Peacocks Pocket road on the river side and caught a nice 30" gator trout.

Tyler and his friend (didn't get his name) showed me a pic of the fish on his cell phone.

After taking the pic, they released the fish to fight another day, so I asked them to email me the pic for a post.

When I moved on up to the pond I planned to fish, there was a slight breeze on the water and the air temperature was 81 degrees.

I decided to toss Chug Bugs to the fish so I smeared up one of my favorites with some Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater Formula and started blind casting to the shallow grass flats in the marsh.

I had a couple of follow ups and finally landed a sea trout of around 22 inches which I released.

Several casts and a couple more follow ups later I finally nailed a nice sea trout that looked to be around the 30" category.

The fish kind of "slurped" down the plug and started running like a redfish.  It made two nice runs before coming in close enough to the bank for me to see how big it was.

The third run was a charm for the fish and the hooks pulled out.

I moved up to the next pond but it was getting dark and after a few casts and several hundred mosquito bites, I decided to head for home.

For some reason the fish abruptly stopped hitting as the sun set.

After I finish working around the house tomorrow, I plan to take our two "wonder dogs" Odie and Elmo along.

I'm glad Peacocks Pocket Road is open again and Till next time, Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket Road Closure

There was an unexpected Peacocks Pocket Road closure this afternoon that kind of bummed me out.

When I got home from work late this afternoon, I immediately packed some rods into the truck and headed to the river to get in some fishing. 

Unfortunately, Peacocks Pocket Road was closed for repairs.

I know those of you who fish the area are well aware of the deep potholes that pock mark the road and evidently the powers that be have decided to do some repairs. 

Personally, I like the potholes.  They serve as "speed bumps" that slow down some of the idiots that run through the area. 

In any event, the Peacocks Pocket Road closure along with the severe thunderstorm activity put a monkey wrench in my fishing plans.

Although it was raining "cats and dogs" I decided to try some other spots before it got too dark. 

I briefly stopped by the Boy Scouts camping grounds but I didn't get a chance to fish the area.  A large gator was in a puddle in the middle of the unimproved road and it would not move. 

I decided to let the gator have the puddle.  I turned around and headed for Patillo Creek Road.
 
As I headed out of the camping grounds, I spotted a couple of wild turkeys in the field that started coming towards my truck but then turned and headed the other direction.

The rain again started to come down in buckets, this time much harder than when I first left the house. 

By the time I slowly drove to the dead end of Patillo Creek, the storm caused the air temperature to drop into the low 70s.  Despite the bad weather, I decided to stop and wet a line.  

This area has always been relatively unproductive for me but since it was raining, I decided to toss a Chug Bug around the mangrove shoreline to see if I could stir up a sea trout or a Snook.

As I was casting the Chug Bug, I spotted several small Tarpon rolling on the surface at the junction of the creek and the shallow pond adjacent to it.  The fish were all about 3 to 4 feet in length and would have been a  lot of fun if I could have gotten a hookup.

I made numerous casts to the fish but none of the Tarpon showed any interest in the lure, so I moved down to fish another area where I sometimes see some nice sea trout.

The rain continued to come down harder and the lightning forced me to stay in the truck until it slowed down enough to fish.

My Frog Toggs saved the day with the rain, but was no defense to a lightning strike.

When it slowed down again I started casting across the canal to the opposite bank and after the fourth or fifth cast, a nice sea trout busted on the Chug Bug but didn't get hooked.

Several casts in the same area didn't get me another hit so when the rain started up again, I decided to head for the house.

I like fishing the fronts during rainstorms, but today I just wasn't in the mood to get hit by lightning.

Hopefully, I'll get another chance to fish tomorrow.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Labor Day Scouting Trip

This afternoon's fishing excursion was actually a Labor Day scouting trip.

Karen and I didn't have anything planned today and since she wanted to spend some time with her horse,  I decided to pack up some rods and head out to see what was happening in our area.

When I finally decided to leave the house, it was around 5:30 pm and the air temperature was 93 degrees.  The weather was perfect for sunbathing or laying around the pool but not very conducive to fishing.

I decided to head over to Playalinda Beach to see if anybody was doing any good surf fishing.  I expected the parking lots to be crowded and most of them were, but compared to other area beaches, Playalinda was not as packed as I expected.

  
Unfortunately because the tide was out, not many people were actually surf fishing and the ones that were did not seem to be catching much.

I stopped at four parking lots and took some pics at each of them before driving through Eddy Creek.

Other than a couple of kayakers out in the Mosquito Lagoon, no one was fishing from the pier or wade fishing the area.

I again took some pics and decided to make a quick run down Bio Lab Road.

Bio Lab Road can be accessed from the beach road, so I took a right and drove parallel to the abundant grass flats adjacent to the Whale Tail.

I was really surprised to see that nobody was fishing the grass flats.  Unbelieveably, I did not see one single flats boat in the Mosquito Lagoon this afternoon.

As I drove down Bio Lab road, I stopped several times to toss a Chug Bug and a ZMann paddle tail bait into some areas I hoped held Snook.  Since today was opening day, I was hoping for a Snook.

Unfortunately, I caught a lot of Ladyfish (which were a blast) but no Snook. 

The shorline of the Mosquito Lagoon along Bio Lab road was packed with grass in most areas which
made wading out  a real pain.

  

I tossed the topwater Chug Bug around in a couple of areas and picked up a couple of trout, but I never saw a redfish or a Snook.

Since I was in the vicinity, I decided to drive past Haulover Canal and check out the Patillo Creek area.

As I crossed the Haulover Bridge I slowed down and took a couple of quick pics of the canal and again was surprised that no boats were anchored at the eastern mouth of the canal entrance.

Usually the deep hole is covered up with black drum fishermen dunking live blue crab.

I entered Patillo Creek road and drove around the area and saw only one fisherman in a kayak at the turnaround.

I stopped to cast the Chug Bug, a paddle tail bait and a gold spoon but except for another small Ladyfish on the Chug Bug, had no takers on any of the other baits.

It was getting late so I decided to take a quick run around Peacocks Pocket Road from the eastern entrance.  The water on the river and in the marsh area was virtually flat, and very little wind was blowing. 

I stopped at several spots to cast lures into likely looking areas and landed three sea trout on the Chug Bug, all about the size as the one below.

 

All the time I was traveling through Peacocks Pocket road, I never saw a redfish.  Since it was late in the afternoon, I suspect it was because of Labor Day traffic earlier in the day, assuming there was any.

Anyway, when my wife called I was more than ready to call it a day.

Before I left the area I took some more pics of the sun going down.

Rather than load up this post with a bunch of photos, ,I compiled this video of my Labor Day scouting trip.

Till next time, Tight Lines.