Gold Spoon For Big Sea Trout

I've always known that using gold spoons for big Sea Trout was just the ticket for early spring fishing and this afternoon's catch proved the point.

I spent three hours at Parrish Medical Center getting tests and paperwork in order for a minor operation I have to undergo next Friday, so when I finally got out of there I decided to grab some rods and spend an hour or two scouting out Peacocks Pocket for redfish.

It was raining when I left the house and the thunderstorms continued all the time I was out in the Wildlife Refuge.

Because I was in a hurry, I only brought along three spinning rods and a couple of small boxes of lures.

As I entered Peacocks Pocket road via East Gator Creek Road, it started coming down in buckets but I quickly put on my Frog Togs hoodie and started "jump fishing" the marsh canal and small ponds on the marsh side of the road.

For a Friday afternoon I expected to see a lot of fishermen in the area but all the time I was out there I only saw two other guys bank fishing.

The first leg of the scouting trip was unproductive.  I spotted several swirls and had a redfish follow up a 5" Strike King soft bait right up to the bank but it veered off when it spotted me.  I made several more casts to the area with the bait but it had moved on.

In two other areas of the marsh canal, I saw baitfish being chased but nothing was taking my baits.

I started fishing a Chug Bug in several areas and switched out to a sea trout colored SkitterWalk but the topwater baits kept getting fouled up with moss and algae from the shallow waters.

The water levels in the marsh are way down right now.  The areas that were productive last month are high and dry, so I was actually grateful for today's thunderstorms.

I spooked a nice redfish in a small pond with the SkitterWalk and decided to switch to a gold  Johnson Sprite spoon.  This is one of my "go to" lures for big sea trout and reds in tannin stained water.

I didn't spot many fish but when I stopped to fish a deep hole where I caught sea trout in the past, I spotted a good fish busting finger mullet at the opposite bank.

I shot a cast across the marsh canal which landed in the grass and yanked it into the water.  It went about two feet before it was nailed by this 26" sea trout.

The fish put up a nice fight and I almost lost it in the brush along the road but I took its pic and released it to get bigger for next time.

I was hoping for a redfish so I continued casting the gold spoon into every likely looking spot I felt was holding fish.

Finally I decided to head for home.  The rain started up again and although the top part of my body was dry, my shorts and feet were soaked and clammy.

As I was getting close to the Peacocks Pocket kayak launch, I spotted what I thought was a redfish busting on some finger mullet just into a marsh pond.  I grabbed the rod with the spoon and even though the water was shallow and weedy, shot a cast ahead of the fish.

I started reeling the lure before it even hit the water and made it skitter across the surface.  Evidently this is what the fish wanted because it nailed the spoon like it was a topwater bait.

A short fight later, I pulled this nice 27 " sea trout up the bank, took it's pic, and quickly released the fish.

I thought about taking the trout home for dinner but decided to let it grow into one of the ten pounders that inhabit the area this time of the year.

As I left the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge I was wondering how many storms it would take for the marsh to fill back up.  I love topwater fishing but its next to impossible with all the weeds and moss in the shallows right now.

Till next time, Tight Lines to you all.