Ladyfish In The Refuge

Monday afternoon seemed like a good time to hit the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and catch up on my fishing.

I was going to bring along Elmo and Odie but they are a handful to deal with so I left them home looking sad and forlorn.

Anyway, I loaded up five rods and headed for Peacocks Pocket to see if I could pick up a few sea trout on topwater lures.

The air temperature was about 90 degrees and there wasn't much of a wind blowing.  The water for the most part was flat.  Not a good day for topwater baits....

I entered the wildlife refuge via East Gator Creek Road to see if anything was moving around.  I spotted a couple of wakes and several small gators but no topwater action but decided to toss a Chug Bug around to see if anything was interested.

After the third stop, I had an explosive hit on the Chug Bug from a big sea trout.  The fish missed the first time and was briefly hooked when she hit the second time but shook the plug off.

After several more casts into the spot without a hit, I decided to move on to Pocket road.

I picked up a couple small sea trout at the next stop and moved on to a section that sometimes has redfish.  While I was fishing a couple of followers of my blog pulled up and we started talking about the fishing in the area.

They said they enjoyed the website and showed me some pics of their recent catches.  I forgot their names but got this pic on my cell phone (forgot my cameras) and asked them to send me the pictures of their fish to post here.  (Don't forget!)

Anyway, after they moved on I worked my way up the road and picked up a nice ladyfish that thought it was a Tarpon.

The fish put up a great fight jumping all over the narrow canal but I finally managed to land it to the bank.  The fish measured in at 27" and is one of the largest ladyfish I've caught in this area.

After landing the fish I was going to move up the road to fish a small pond but the truck wouldn't start.  The battery was apparently discharged because the cell phone charger and radio were both on while I was fishing.

Anyway, I called Karen and asked her to drive over and give me a jump.

While I was waiting, I continued walking up the road and tossing the Chug Bug around.  I picked up another small sea trout and this very small ladyfish that hit the plug and got foul hooked.

    

After the small ladyfish, nothing was hitting but fortunately my wife drove up and we jumped off the truck.  My heroine!

She asked me if I was going to keep fishing but I thought I'd better not take a chance of having the battery go down so I helped her turn around and we both headed home.

Hopefully, I can resolve the problem tomorrow and wet another line.

Till next time.  Tight Lines.

High Noon Sea Trout

I generally don't advise fishing for Sea Trout at high noon especially with a Chug Bug, but that is exactly what I did today with great results.

I've been out of town in Mobile, Al. for the past couple of weeks and haven't been able to do much fishing but this morning I decided to take Elmo and Odie to the "swamp" to see what the conditions were like.

I packed up the dogs and three spinning rods and headed to East Gator Creek road and eventually Peacocks Pocket.

The water levels in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are way down which is concentrating the fish into the deeper ponds and holes along the unimproved roadway.

The dogs as usual enjoyed the ride and when we finally worked our way to Peacocks Pocket Road, I let them out to do their "duty" while I tossed an artificial bait into the area.

The conditions today would normally make topwater fishing out of the question. 

It was 95 degrees with no clouds and a slight breeze that barely put a ripple on the water.  The birds were enjoying the easy fishing and were concentrating on the baitfish in the weedy shallows.

The first "pit stop" didn't get me any action so I loaded up the boys and slowly headed down Peacocks Pocket Road.

We hadn't gone far before I spotted some baitfish in the shallows of the marsh canal getting beaten up by something big so I pulled out my Chug Bug rod and started pitching the bait around the area.

My first cast had a follow up and on my third cast I picked up a slot size sea trout that I quickly released.  Several more casts into the area only got me a follow up so I moved up the road to the next "hole".

This stop was a repeat of the first.  I hooked and released two sea trout in the 18" category before moving on up the road.  Both fish were quickly released to fight another day.

On the next stop near a small pond, I picked ;up this 26" sea trout on the same Pro-Cure smeared Chug Bug.

The fish put up a nice fight and I planned on returning it to the water but it was gill hooked and bleeding so I wrapped it up in a rag to keep it cool and took it home for dinner.

It was exactly high noon when I caught the fish which is totally against every fishing recommendation I ever got from the professionals.  Anyway, before the heat got to me, I managed to nail two other sea trout in the 24" category before heading out of the refuge.

The scouting trip to Peacocks Pocket Road today turned out to be one of my better fishing trips despite the heat.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Topwater Fishing For Sea Trout

Topwater fishing for sea trout is one of my favorite pastimes and this evening was a good day for it in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I didn't get home from work this afternoon until after 6 pm so I decided to hit the refuge and pitch a few topwater baits around to see if I could pick up a  trout or two.

I wasn't going to take the dogs along but at the last minute I gave in and loaded Elmo and Odie into the truck for a ride around Peacocks Pocket.

Odie is a handful but he loves to cruise in the truck with me when I go fishing.  

Anyway, the air temperature was 85 degrees when I entered East Gator Creek Road and the wind was blowing steadily out of the southeast creating just enough of a ripple on the water to make topwater fishing feasible.

When I entered the refuge I stopped to pitch a few casts with a Bass Chug Bug in the shallows around East Gator Creek Road.  This area is relatively sheltered and usually produces fish. 

About the fourth or fifth cast, I got a boil from a fish, and one cast later I hooked and released a ladyfish that was about two feet long.  The fish put up a great aerial battle before giving it up and lady luck kept the fish from getting tangled in the brush along side of the road.

Several casts later in a couple of other spots produced another ladyfish about the same size as the first fish.

I had three or four hits in this area from other fish but missed on the hookup.

The dogs were getting restless, especially Odie so I moved on up the road and kept tossing the Chug Bug into likely looking areas.

Several stops and several misses later hooked me up with this nice, over slot sized sea trout in a pond just off of the marsh canal.  The fish hit the Chug Bug at a dropoff and at first I thought I picked up a redfish.

 

After a decent fight, I took a quick video and a couple of shots of the fish before releasing it and moving on.

About half way up Peacocks Pocket Road, I got tired of missing strikes on the topwater Chug Bug so I switched over to a gold Johnsons Sprite spoon when I spotted a wake in the marsh canal.

I made a well placed cast and was rewarded with another nice sea trout that nailed the spoon as it was leaving the opposite bank.

I took the quick pic below and released the fish along with the others I caught this afternoon.

I could have kept on fishing and if I had not brought along the dogs, I probably would have but my wife called and Odie was driving me nuts.  He loves riding along when I go fishing but doesn't like to stay in the truck.

If the gators weren't as thick as they were this evening I would have let him out, but I didn't want to take a chance of having him on a gator's menu.

Anyway, I was dog tired from the ride back from Vidalia this afternoon so I packed up the rods and headed home.

Maybe after I finish up working around the house tomorrow I'll get the urge to wet another line.

The tarpon are still in the river and the snook have been hitting.

Till next time, Tight Lines.
  

Peacociks Pocket Snook

Although the season is now closed, Peacocks Pocket Snook fishing is still available on a catch and release basis.

Luis Rivera was kind enough to send me this pic of a linesider he caught in Peacocks Pocket, so I decided to post it along with his email.

"Hello there, just wanted to share this photo with you. I recently started reading your blog and have founded very helpful, I went to Peacocks today and after reading your post from last Sunday I decided to throw a Johnson spoon, I was throwing a "sprite" at first but I was getting a lot of weeds on it so I decided to switch to a "weedless" and just cast a bit move on and cast a bit and so forth, eventually I found a nice deep pocket and casted for a bit and then Boom I got hit by this nice Snook. so, thanks again for posting and hopefuly someday I can hook up with you so you can teach me how to "really" fish the area."

The gold spoon is one of my favorite "go to" baits for big sea trout, redfish and snook.

If you know how to work one correctly, they can draw strikes from fish when live baits and other types of artificial lures get turned down and as you can see, Luis apparently knows how to work one well.

With any kind of luck I'll be able to get out this afternoon.

Till then, Tight Lines.