IFA Redfish Tour In Titusville

The IFA Redfish tour in Titusville occurred yesterday with the usual great turnout.

The registration was at Crackerjacks Tiki Bar and the weigh in was at their mobile facility at Parrish Park.

Because I was engaged in completing some much needed work at home, I didn't make the 3:00 pm weigh in at Parrish Park but I did manage to make a quick run around the area as they were closing down.

I left the house at around 7:00 pm armed with a couple of spinning rods and headed for a new spot in the Indian River where I've been catching reds and sea trout.

When I drove into the area, the air temperature was around 63 degrees and there was a slight breeze on the water.

I chose to pitch a gold spoon and a Chug Bug and started with a gold spoon to locate some fish.

After a couple of dozen casts, I managed to spook one redfish and missed two small sea trout.

I spotted a school of black drum pushing water in a trough near the bank but they weren't in the mood for eating.

As the sun started to drop down to the horizon, it started getting chilly and I decided to head for home.

As I passed Parrish Park, I noticed that most everyone had left the Redfish Tour area so I didn't bother driving around the lot.

I wondered if all the fishing pressure had anything to do with my lack of luck but decided that since I only fished for half an hour, it probably didn't make any difference.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Oak Hill Shrimping Is Still On Fire

If you hit the tide right, Oak Hill shrimping is on fire right now.

When I hit the two fishing piers in Titusville, Fl the other night, the guys were doing OK but most of the comments were about how the shrimp were running up at Oak Hill.

November through May are the best months to find Pink River Shrimp in Oak Hill's Intracoastal Waterway and almost everyone said that when the tide and temperature is "right", now is the time to go shrimping.

Some of the guys I spoke with said that the shrimping is best around a full moon and others said it didn't matter.  The consensus seemed to be that the best time to go is a few days before a full moon until a few days after.  

What they all seemed to agree on is the fact that at Oak Hill, a North flowing, outgoing tide is when most of the "full pulls" are made.  Everyone I spoke with agreed that an outgoing tide is a must and that a Southeast or South wind helps the shrimp run.

Although Oak Hill shrimp are historically smaller than those caught in the Titusville area, the size of the shrimp being caught right now are medium to jumbos.  Most were medium size (see below).

The biggest complaint from the guys I talked to was that they couldn't drink a beer and shrimp at the same time.  I can dig it even though I don't drink.

When I visited the two fishing piers at Titusville, the shrimping was sporadic.

Some of the guys were dipping medium to jumbo shrimp and others had empty buckets. None of the buckets I looked at were full, although some were close to it.

To sum it up, sport shrimping on the Indian River and in Oak Hill is a hit and miss proposition but if you like the taste of really sweet fresh shrimp, pack up your net, lights and family members and give it a shot.

Till next time, Tight Lines

Indian River Sea Trout

Indian River Sea Trout are on the prowl this month and some really big "gators" can be had if you fish early and late.

As usual, I got home from work late this evening, so I immediately loaded up three rods and headed for the nearest water to wet a line.

Coming home from Georgia today was a mess.  It was raining on and off all the way and as I pulled the truck into Catfish Creek Loop; it was still raining.

I stopped at the third set of culverts and started tossing a gold Johnson Sprite to see if anything was interested.  Sure enough, after only four or five casts, a nice slot sea trout hit the spoon almost at the mouth of the culvert.

As I unhooked the fish and put it back into the water I was pumped and was hoping for some good fishing before it got dark.

A dozen casts later without a hit made me revise my expectations, so I moved up to see if Peacocks Pocket road was open yet.

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is expected to be totally open on April 1st, which means Peacocks Pocket road should be decent for bank fishing.

Anyway, as I  I drove past the barrier I decided to fish the Indian River side to see if I could wake up a gator sea trout.

The wind was blowing in from the southwest and it was still raining pretty hard.  The air temperature dropped down to 63 degrees and I didn't see any fishermen in the area.

I pulled out the rod with the Johnsons Sprite and started fan casting the area near a culvert.

After a few casts I had a miss right at the bank from a small sea trout and a couple of casts later I landed another undersize fish which I promptly released.

The Indian River Sea Trout were hitting but they were small.fish.

I switch to a top water Chug Bug and after a couple of dozen casts in several areas decided that the fish were not interested in top water baits this evening.

I moved on to fish the next area in a cove and started fan casting a ZMann paddle tail bait on a chartreuse jig head.  

Several casts later I picked up another undersize sea trout that inhaled the bait.  I took a quick pic, released the fish and moved up to another spot just as it was getting dark.

The rain was still coming down so I decided to switch back to the gold spoon before heading home,.

After several casts I picked up this Rat Red just off a point in shallow water.  The fish put up a surprisingly decent fight for it's size so I took a pic and released it into the marsh side to grow up in relative peace.

I missed one other redfish that had some size to it but the hooks didn't stick.

Finally, I had enough fishing for one evening.  I packed up the rods and started to head out of the refuge.

I saw only one other fisherman in the area who was sitting in his pickup truck with four rods out.  He didn't seem to be catching anything and I didn't want to disturb his serenity, so I didn't ask.

It seemed like a perfect time to get a Little Ceasers Pizza, which is exactly what I did.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Thunderstorm Sea Trout Fishing

Didn't get any fishing in this weekend because of a problem with my truck but I did manage to nail a few sea trout this evening just before the thunderstorm started to roll in.

Friday afternoon on the way back from Jacksonville, Fl. I lost the steering and brakes in my Silverado.

They went out around the St. Augustine exit and I managed to baby the truck back to Titusville on a wing and a prayer or two.

Hopefully it will be repaired tomorrow but in the meanwhile I had to use my wife's vehicle to get out of the house and wet a line on the Indian River.

I loaded up three spinning rods late this evening and drove into East Gator Creek to see if there was any topwater action going on.

After several dozen unfruitful casts with a Chug Bug, I decided to move into the Catfish Creek area and give it a try.,

There was a lot of vehicle traffic this evening, but few fishermen out on the water.

When the air temperature started dropping and the wind started picking up I decided to fish a culvert on the Indian River that is usually productive close to dusk, and this evening was no exception.

I tossed the Chug Bug several times and had two followups and one short strike so I decided to switch over to a gold Johnsons Sprite.

The spoon did the trick.  After only a few casts around some milling finger mullet, I nailed an undersize sea trout which I quickly released.

Several more casts yielded two more fish that were a bit larger but still under the 15" minimum.

As the storm moved in and it started getting dark, I spotted a couple of nice swirls so I tossed the spoon past them and got a hookup with a nice redfish.  The fish hit the spoon on the drop, swam about ten yards and the hook pulled out.

Undaunted, I continued fan casting the spoon and missed two more trout before getting another hit from a redfish.

The fish nailed the spoon about ten feet from the bank and pulled drag off the reel, but again the hook pulled out.

It was almost dark and the wind was getting stronger so I decided to call it a day and head for home.

In about an hour of fishing I managed to land three sea trout, missed at least three more and miss two nice redfish.

I've got to remember to let them eat the spoon when they hit instead of trying to immediately set the hook.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Fishing Report for 3-14-2015

Got this Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River Fishing report from one of our avid kayak fishermen last week and just got around to posting it.

I haven't been able to get out as much as I'd like to lately for a number of reasons, but I plan on making up for lost time in a week or two.

Meanwhile, Craig Bates sent me this report along with the pic below.

Eat your heart out guys!

Hi John,

            We haven’t been out for a few weeks so we didn’t have much to report until yesterday. We went back to Ducks Roost to see if the fish were still there with the recent warming weather.

            The owner at the bait shop by the bridge said he hadn’t heard much but fish were still biting. We picked up a couple dozen shrimp to improve our karma.

            We left Orlando after 8 so we didn’t get on the water until about 10:00. Pretty late start considering the temps and the blue bird sky.

            When we got to the launch 3 yakkers were loading up to try the intercoastal as they had been out since the butt crack of dawn and struck out.

           

We launched and rowed down to Ducks Roost. 4 yakkers and a skiff were up in there. My thinking was to fish water that hadn’t been run over yet as we got a late start.

            We have a small spot that seems to always have a trout or two on it we wanted to get to.

A second skiff was coming around the corner so we hustled over to secure the spot.

           

The wind was coming in at the wrong angle so I just paddled and pointed Mary in

the right direction to make a few casts to the sweet spot.

            Sure enough on her second cast she dropped her Gander Pearl White 5” Swim Minnow on the trouts nose in about 12” of water.

            She did an excellent job of playing the fish as it tried to tangle her on everything possible. The hook was well placed and we got this monster into the net.

           

I have to say I have yet to catch a 28” gator. Mary now has 2 of them.

            She caught the one we showed you in Peackocks Pocket and now this monster.

Girl Friend has some serious skills! Yes sir, that is some trout envy on my part!

            She caught another nice slot trout on the shrimp. Me? Nothing! The temperature was becoming uncomfortable so we paddled back.

           

We didn’t get any reds this trip so we are thinking they have moved out of the basin with the warmer temperatures.

            Weather permitting we may go up to Patillo next weekend and try our luck.

            Hope you had a good weekend too.

            Keep Yer Tip Up!

Craig Bates

I was planning to take my boat out this weekend and as luck would have it my 1500 Silverado Hybrid went on the fritz.  

The computer went out on the truck on I-95 at the St. Augustine exit and I lost the brakes along with the power steering.    I managed to baby the truck back to Titusville, but that put the kebosh on my fishing for this weekend until it gets repaired.

Maybe next week I'll get a shot at one of those gator sea trout that are hitting right now on the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Another Windy Evening In The Refuge

I knew it was going to be another windy evening in the refuge when I got home from work, but I decided to wet a line anyway.

It's bike week in Daytona and the traffic on I-95 was as expected.  Bikes everywhere.

It was late when I rolled in so I unpacked the truck and loaded up four spinning rods with a couple of top water baits, a paddletail bait, and a gold Johnson Sprite spoon.

When I crossed the causeway bridge over the Indian River, I knew fishing would be tough.  There was a "parking lot" on the north side of the road loaded with spectators watching the kite boarders.

The wind today was blowing out of the southwest and everybody except the fishermen was having a blast.

Anyway, I drove into East Gator Creek Road and tried fishing some of the sheltered areas close to the bank with no success.  I had a couple of follow ups, but no hits.

As I was driving towards the barrier at Peacocks Pocket road, I was going to stop and talk to a guy who was pulling out his flat bottomed boat, but when I saw that he hadn't caught anything, I left him and his son and headed for the spot where I picked up a nice redfish last week.

When I got there, the wind was blowing strong enough to make fishing more of an effort than fun.  I started fan casting the gold Johnson Sprite but after fifteen minutes with no hits, I moved on up the road.

I continued fishing several spots using the different rods I brought along and finally caught an under size sea trout that I didn't bother taking a picture of.

There were a couple of guys wading Gator Creek tossing hardware around, but as I watched them fish, they didn't seem to be having any luck.

I passed on of my "buddies" who was knee deep in the river watching the four poles he had staked out in rod holders.   When I yelled to him if he had any luck, he said he had been fishing for an hour or so and didn't have a bite.

He was fishing cut baits and is a regular at this particular spot.  A couple of  weeks ago, he caught a 33" red, a couple of slot reds and a big sea trout at the same location on cut baits, but today was a skunk.

It was getting late and I didn't feel like fighting the wind anymore so I decided to pack it in.

As I was leaving the refuge, the wind died down in a sheltered cove where I caught this stupid needlefish on a top water Chug Bug.

The little needlefish had the heart of a gator trout so instead of chopping it up and using it for bait, I released it and continued on my way out of the refuge.

On the way out, I talked to three more fishermen who were fishing with cut bait, live mullet, and shrimp.  None of them where having any luck fishing this evening but everybody seemed to be enjoying the beautiful weather.

Since today is Friday the 13th, I'll chalk up the lousy fishing to the day.

Maybe tomorrow evening the wind will let up and the fishing will be better.

Till next time, tight lines.

A Windy Evening In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

It was a windy evening in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge but I decided to wet a line anyway.

By the time I got home from work this evening it was after 5:30 pm so I didn't waste any time deciding if I should bother going fishing or not.  I just picked up three rods and headed to the refuge.

As I crossed the causeway bridge, the wind was blowing the truck around so I knew fishing would be difficult.  There were two guys in wet suits wind boarding and nobody fishing the shorelines.

The drive through Gator Creek road was uneventful.  A dude was trying to cast net some baitfish at the second set of culverts and I admired the fact that he could get the net to open against the wind.

I only spotted two other fishermen this evening and both had several rods set out with live finger mullet.  I don't know if they were having any luck but they didn't look very happy as I drove by.

The air temperature according to the truck sensor was 58 degrees and the wind was blowing in at around 14 knots.  There were white caps on the Indian River and I knew casting would be a problem.

As I drove past the barrier to Peacocks Pocket road, I slowed down at the culverts and spotted a swirl in the shallow water.  I couldn't tell if it was a sea trout, a black drum, or a red but from the amount of water that was pushed around, I could tell it was a size-able fish. 

I pulled the truck over to the side of the road as far as I could and pulled out the spinning combo that was rigged with a gold Johnson's Sprite.

I picked up the "Tight Line" rod and reel combo that I bought on sale at Bass Pro, spooled it up with Cajun Red 15# line and a 20# fluorocarbon leader.  Perfect for casting a relatively heavy lure in windy conditions.

The first cast I made landed a foot or so away from the fish and spooked it.  As I reeled the spoon back I was cussing my luck. 

I followed up with a second cast about ten feet away from where I thought the fish was headed and brought the spoon back in a slow, jerky retrieve.

The spoon didn't travel more than ten feet before a nice oversize redfish inhaled the lure.

I fought the fish carefully and after one long run and a few short bursts gradually steered the red into the shallows where I could get a Boga Grip on it's lip.

The fish was definitely over the slot, it measured in at 30" so I took a few pics and released it in the very shallow water.  There wasn't enough water to revive the red so I pushed it out a bit into deeper water until, with a little prod from my rod tip, it took off.

After several more casts into the area without any luck, I moved on up the road to see if I could stir up some more action.

I had one other hit from a large fish, but it wasn't hooked well and got off.   From the wake it left behind it was probably a red, but I couldn't be sure.

Anyway, it was a little after 6:15 pm when I decided to head for home.  The weather was not conducive to fishing this evening and I was getting chilly.

Tomorrow is tax time for me so if I survive the sticker shock, I may just want to wet a line.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.