Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Report

The weather in east central Florida was awesome today but the bank fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge left a lot to be desired.

I was working on making an aquarium stand most of the day and as the afternoon progressed I decided to take Elmo and Odie out for a drive around Gator Creek Road.

I took along a couple of rods and headed into the refuge to see if Peacocks Pocket Road was open.  Unfortunately, it is still closed for repairs.

There were a lot of bird watchers, sightseers and bank fishermen out this afternoon but except for one regular, Chuck, no one was catching anything.

I passed several fishermen around Gator Creek and Catfish Creek who were fishing with live or dead shrimp and cut baits, but everyone I spoke with said the water was too cold and the fish weren't hitting. 

When I pulled up to see if Chuck was catching anything, he had just unhooked a nice 20" sea trout that he caught on a cut finger mullet bait.

As I took these pics, Chuck told me that he caught two reds yesterday on cut mullet in the same area.

The redfish were 30" and 33" respectively but today, other than the sea trout pictured above, he had not yet caught any redfish.

The sea trout was nice and fat and was going to make a fine dinner.

Another vehicle was trying to get past me so I pulled up the road and continued looking for fishermen who were "catching".

I talked to two more fishermen before heading out of the refuge and both were just setting up.

The one lady I spoke with said she and her husband fished Playalinda Beach and caught several nice whiting yesterday.  I commented that they are great eating but she told me they gave them away. 

Too bad I wasn't around.  Anyway, after talking with her I decided to head for the house. 

The air temperature on the way out of the refuge was a mild 74 degrees and there was almost no breeze.  It was a perfect afternoon for fishing, bird watching or just getting out to enjoy nature; which is exactly what I did.

I plan on finishing up my tank stand next weekend and also to wet a line.  Late February and March is noted for big sea trout in our area and I plan on picking up a few on top water baits.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Chilly Afternoon On The Indian River

It was a chilly afternoon on the Indian River but when I got home from work today, I had to make a quick run around Catfish Creek Loop to see if anyone was having any luck.

It was almost 6:00 pm when I finally drove into Gator Creek Road and the air temperature was a chilly 48 degrees.    The wind was blowing just enough to make a steady ripple on the water and not many people were in the area.

As I entered the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge the fist thing I noticed was a huge concentration of gulls and other sea birds in the shallows.  

They were obviously chowing down on something in the shallows but I didn't see any finger mullet or signs of fish in the area so I moved up the road to see if Peacocks Pocket Road was open yet.

As I approached the turnoff, the barrier and the sign was still up.  

When I walked the road last week I noticed that they were working on the road but the area was supposed to be open on the 15th. of the month.

Anyway, I parked the truck and made several casts into a flowing culvert with a Johnsons Sprite gold spoon to see if I could stir up a hit.  
All I got for my efforts was a small finger mullet I snagged in the shallows.

It was too cold for me to continue fishing without a coat on so I drove into Catfish Creek Loop to see who was fishing the river.

When I hit the curve I met up with a regular who always fishes with cut baits.  He had four rods set out and didn't seem to be catching anything.  When I asked if he had caught any fish, he told me he caught two reds in the slot yesterday along with another 33 in fish,  but nothing today.

He blamed it on the cold front.

I wished him luck and drove on where I met up with another reader of this site.  He and his friend were fishing the river with cut baits and shrimp and they too hadn't had a bite.  Again, the cold front was believed to be the reason for the lockjaw.

I wished them luck and drove out of the area.  I never saw another fisherman in the areas that Karen and I usually fish until close to the exit where a couple had several rods out with cut baits and shrimp.

When I asked him about the fishing, he told me the same story.  The cold front put down the fish.

These three were the only ones braving the chilly afternoon on the Indian River and as I headed towards the bridge, I was glad I forgot to bring along the rest of my rods.

When I got home and read my emails, I got a fishing report from Craig and Mary Bates. 

They were out last Sunday afternoon and picked up some fish.   Mary was using a shrimp under a popping cork and picked up two middle of the slot Reds and a very nice 23” Trout.

            

Mary out fished Craig who landed a pair of nice trout up to 22” on a Naked Swimmer.

He sent me this pic of Mary with  a couple of slot reds they caught between Christmas and New Years that would up on the grill with some Redfish Magic.  Yum!

Maybe I'll wet a line this weekend if the weather warms up a bit, but tonight it's supposed to be another chiller.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing The Cold Fronts

I usually don't like fishing the cold fronts but this afternoon, Karen and I decided to try a little bank fishing as the front was moving in.

We didn't get out until around 2:30 pm and were on the water about a half an hour later.

I was hoping that fresh dead shrimp and artificial baits would pick us up a few sea trout and reds but as it turned out the fishing this afternoon was pretty much a bust.

The air temperature was in the low 60s and there was a steady wind that made it feel like 40 degrees on the water.

We took Elmo and Odie along and managed to land a favorite spot on Gator Creek about half way down Catfish Creek Loop.  I was hoping that Peacocks Pocket Road would be open as promised, but the barrier was still up and it looked like road work was being done.

Who knows, maybe they will fix the deeper ruts before spring.

Karen and I set out a couple of rods with shrimp and I started tossing a chartreuse and pink D.O.A. Cal jerkbait around to see if I could catch a sea trout or two.

After 45 minutes of fruitless casting, I finally got a hit from what
I thought was a sea trout. 

The fish put up a short dogged fight and as I finally caught sight of the fish, I recognized it as an Oyster Toadfish or "Oyster Cracker".

I never heard of one being caught on an artificial bait but I guess there is always a first time.

Anyway, I showed Karen the fish, took a few pics and returned the fish to the water.

As it turned out, that was the only fish we caught all day.

We had several baits stolen and I missed two fish that took line but dropped the bait when I tried to set the hook.

The wind made it almost impossible to detect a bite and as the sun started to head for the horizon and the temperature began to drop, we decided to head for home.

I talked to several bank fishermen today and none of them were catching any fish.  I don't know if it was the front moving in but the bite was way off for this time of the year.

Anyway, as we drove out on East Gator Creek Road, I took a couple of pics of the sunset.

Fishing the cold fronts  for me has always been unproductive and this afternoon was no exception.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Craig and Mary's Fish

Craig and Mary Bates have been catching some nice fish in the Indian River and when they sent me these pics, I decided to share them with our readers.

They fish from a canoe, and like kayak fishermen, they can get into some very shallow spots that are otherwise overlooked.

These fish were caught in the northern section of the Indian River on artificial lures.

The Bitters Naked Swimmers in Pearl White Silver Flake has been their "go to" bait but Aqua Dream Spoons, Bitters jerk baits, Sebile Stick Shad, Gander swim baits, Mirrodine, Caffien Shad Pearl White and a Lucky Craft Sammy have also been producing some nice fish.

Use bright colored baits in murky water and lighten up as the water gets cleaner.

Last Saturday Mary picked up a 42" red and Craig landed and released a red that hit 36" and 22 pounds.

Evidently Mary fish so hard she now has a touch of tendinitis in her shoulder.

For a 42" red, I don't mind some tendinitis!

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Disappointing Afternoon On The Indian River

It turned out to be a disappointing afternoon on the Indian River for fishing today but we still had a good time.

Karen wanted to take the dogs fishing and get them out of the house so we decided to head out around 3:00 pm.  As usual we were a little late but close.

We stopped at the bait shop and picked up a dozen large shrimp and headed to the fast food place to pick up a hamburger for Karen.

We drove past the entrance of Peacocks Pocket road to see if it was open but the sign that said it would reopen February 15th was taken down and another sign was put up that said the road would be closed for repairs.  No date was indicated, so who knows when it will reopen.

We drove past the barrier and spotted something busting baitfish in the river.  The bait were trying to evade something but as I pulled over to try and cast a couple of lures, another vehicle tried to get through so I decided to pass up the opportunity and look for a spot where Karen could also fish.

The air temperature was 73 degrees and there was little to no wind over the water.  The Indian River was almost flat and the "swamp" area was like a mirror.  Ducks and Coots were everywhere..

Karen wanted to fish the spot where we caught several black drum a couple of weeks ago but it was already taken, so we picked another likely spot and set out three rods tipped with live shrimp.

I'd like to say we nailed the hell out of the drum but we waited for a couple of hours without a bite.

As usual, I got bored and started casting a topwater Chug Bug, a Johnson Sprite gold spoon and a D.O.A. CAL bait trying to gin up some hits.
   

 The only thing I caught was a finger mullet that got snagged on the gold spoon.

While I was casting artificial baits, Karen landed a small stingray which we released.  

We decided to fish until dusk, which is normally when the bite improves and sure enough as dusk neared, a sea trout nailed the finger mullet.

I quickly landed and released the fish after taking a quick pick and continued fishing with live shrimp.

As it turned out, that was the last fish of the day. 

Absolutely nothing was hitting..

When the insects started to make life miserable, we decided to call it a day and head for home.

At least we had the benefit of an awesome sunset!

We didn't get skunked, but it certainly was a disappointing afternoon on the Indian River.

We'll see if Peacocks Pocket opens up next week.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Walking Peacocks Pocket Road

Walking Peacocks Pocket Road seemed like a good idea this afternoon when I finally decided to get in some much needed fishing time.

Since there was only about an hour of daylight left before the sunset, I only packed one rod before leaving the house, and that one happened to be tipped with a Johnsons Sprite gold spoon.

The weather this afternoon was chilly but perfect for fishing.  The air temperature was in the 60s and there was almost no wind blowing across the water.

The sunlight was not hampered by any cloud cover and there were a lot of other visitors in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge taking pictures of the wildlife and trying to catch fish.

I pulled up to the wire rope barrier that crossed the unimproved road to Peacocks Pocket and parked my truck.

I put on my Frog Togs "hoodie" and pocketed a couple of spare lures just in case the gold spoon I was using got broken off or hung on an underwater stickup.

The first culvert at the barrier was open and since there was a strong flow of water, I decided to try a couple of casts.

On my third cast a small redfish nailed the spoon but did not get hooked.  I saw the brief flash of bronze color as the fish hit the lure and the wake as it left the shallow area.

Undaunted, I continued fan casting and after a few more casts hooked up with this sea trout.

 The fish grabbed the gold spoon about three feet away from the culvert and took off like a shot.

After landing the fish and taking a pic it was released to fight another day.

The commotion apparently put down the fish so I started walking up the road and making random casts into the marsh canal.

In the short time available to me, I managed to release two more sea trout about the same size as the first one I landed and missed another larger redfish that for some reason did not get hooked.

Walking Peacocks Pocket Road proved to be great mental therapy.  There was nobody around except for a couple of alligators, some "puddle ducks" and a Kingfisher that kept raising hell with me for some unknown reason.

As the sunset arrived, I took a few pics of the beautiful scenery and started walking back to the truck
. 

As I drove out of the refuge, I decided to stop by the fishing piers to see how well the sport shrimpers were doing.

As I drove into a parking spot the band was playing and there were a lot of people on both fishing piers.  Some were fishing, others were shrimping and many people were just walking around like myself, looking.

I didn't spend much time talking to everybody but the no one seemed to be bragging about a full bucket.   A couple of the guys said the shrimp were big (meaning jumbos) but there weren't many of them. 

After surveying several buckets and walking around for awhile, I wholeheartedly agreed with them.

Till next time, Tight Lines.