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.