Fishing The Open Culverts

Went to the river to check out the water levels yesterday and decided to try fishing the open culverts for a sea trout or red.

I took along three spinning rods rigged with a topwater bait, a paddle tail jerk bait and a gold Johnson Sprite spoon, just in case everything else failed.

The water levels in the marsh and in the lagoons are the highest I have ever seen and the fish are taking advantage of the situation by foraging in areas where they seldom swim.

I spotted several nice size redfish in the marsh areas off of Peacocks Pocket Road foraging with their backs out of the water in the marsh grass.

The weather was great for bird watching but not so great for fishing topwater baits.  The temperature was in the 80s and there was almost no wind blowing in the marsh.  A slight breeze was blowing on the Indian River side just enough to make a small ripple.

I was surprised at the number of bank fishermen in the refuge.  I counted at least a dozen vehicles parked along the river and many more fishermen dunking cut baits and live mullet for redfish.

Two of the guys I spoke with said they caught several catfish and only a couple of reds, but the redfish were definitely biting.

As I drove along Peacocks Pocket road, I stopped several times to blind cast at likely looking areas but got not action.  The fish were spooky and foraging far off from the road beyond casting distance.

As I passed a couple of culverts, I decided to concentrate on fishing the open culverts instead of my usual areas.

From past experience, I knew that the fish concentrate around the culverts to pick off small baitfish and crustaceans that are flushed into either the river or the "swamp" when they are open and today several had strong flows.

At the first spot I fished, I got a hit on a paddle tail bait but no hookup, so I moved on to the next set.

At that spot I pulled over and slowly edged up through the high grass to take a peek at the area.

At first there wasn't much action but after a minute or two I spotted several large sea trout right at the bank picking off finger mullet at the open culverts.  The fish didn't appear to be in a hurry and at times their backs were out of the water.

I took this video of the action before pulling out my fishing rod.

There were at least half a dozen sea trout at the culverts that were in the 20" to 30" category but they were in no mood to hit any of my baits.

I had a bump on the paddle tail bait but nothing on the topwater lure so I decided to go to my favorite Johnson Sprite gold spoon.

That did the trick.  On the second cast along the bank, a nice long (but skinny) 26" sea trout nailed the spoon.  The fish put up a short fight as I horsed it up the bank to take a couple of pics.

The fish was a female that had just come off the spawn, so I quickly released her to fight another day.

After a short wait to let things die down, I flipped the spoon around the other culvert and after a few casts hooked up with another sea trout about the same size as the first fish.

I released the second fish and continued fishing but the fish were spooked.

As I was being eaten alive by the gnats, I was ready to head for home but when I saw a gator trout of at least 30 inches swimming up to the culvert, I had to give it at least a few more casts.

On the third cast in front of the fish, another smaller sea trout nailed the spoon and after a brief tussle was hoisted up the bank.

I kept casting the spoon and the paddle tail bait into the area but the fish were put down and had quit biting.

At this point, home seemed like a good idea, so I slowly drove towards the Kayak launch towards home.

On the way out of the refuge, it seemed like every good spot on the road had a bank fishermen on it.  Most had several rods out, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.   I hope they were catching redfish but for me, I prefer fishing the open culverts.

Till next time, Tight Lines.  

Karen Catching A 38 Inch Redfish In The Swamp

These pictures of Karen catching a 38 inch redfish are only part of the story. The video is the best part. Trust me on this.

This afternoon my wife suggested we take Elmo and Odie to the "swamp" for a road trip.

It was around 4:30 pm when we finally got the dogs and some rods loaded into the truck, and shortly thereafter we were trucking down Peacocks Pocket Road towards the kayak launch.

Karen has been working on her stained glass projects and hasn't been going fishing with me lately, but today she decided to see if she could catch a redfish.

As we drove past the second set of culverts at the kayak launch, I spotted Glenn,  a subscribe to this site and some of his friends fishing in the Indian River.  They had about six rods set out in holders with mullet and cut baits for redfish.

When I asked him if they were catching anything, he reminded me that we had met on the fishing pier one evening as I was compiling a fishing report.  He noted that the shrimping for the most part  has been pretty lousy for the past couple of years.  He also said they had caught several redfish in the slot and a few that were oversize.  The redfish bite has been on fire this month and today was no exception.

We parted ways and headed down Peacocks Pocket Road to find a spot to fish.

Karen wanted to fish an area where she caught some reds this past summer, but I told her they were probably not in the area during this time of the year.  But, we stopped briefly at the spot and set out a couple of rods with cut ladyfish for bait.

After about a half hour or so with not bites on the chunk baits or the topwater XPS Slimdog I was pitching around, I decided to move to a spot where I caught fish the past couple of days.

We pulled up to the area and the culverts were still open and flowing.  There were some mullet in the area so I decided to give it a try.

Karen wanted to try a piece of shrimp, and I baited up with a ladyfish head.  I set her rod out at the culvert so she could get the best shot at a red, and I moved down the road to try another spot.

After a few minutes, Karen said she had a fish on and thought it was a redfish.  I didn't have my camera with me so I pulled out my cell phone and started to video the action.  The results are below for your enjoyment.

The fish she had on was a bruiser.  The red took off down the marsh canal and went underneath some brush on the bank.  I told Karen to keep the line tight and keep pumping the fish in, which she did well.

I can truly say it took some real dedication on her part to land this redfish.  It was tangled in the brush and would not have survived if Karen had not literally went out on a limb to retrieve the fish.

When I finally got the fish to the bank, we measured it at a hair over 37 inches without the tail being pinched.    I had to coax her to hold the fish for a couple of pics and then spent a considerable amount of time reviving the redfish at the open culvert.

Watching Karen catching a 38 inch redfish this afternoon was a blast,  and she fought the fish like a pro.   But landing the fish was beyond a doubt the best part of the outing.

Till next time Tight Lines.

P.S.  By the way, I missed three redfish today, and landed none.  I guess that's why they call it fishing.

Catching A 28 Inch Sea Trout In The Ditches

This afternoon I managed to catch a gator, a 28 inch sea trout in the ditches, a "hard hat" catfish and an oversize redfish that I lost around a brush pile.  Not a bad outing for only a couple hours fishing!

The North wind as blowing up a storm this afternoon which made fishing topwater baits almost impossible, so I decided to fish cut baits for Redfish and whatever else would take a bait.

I loaded up three rods and a cooler with a half of a large ladyfish that I caught a couple of weeks ago and proceeded to Peacocks Pocket road.

I planned to fish an area where I caught some nice reds yesterday evening but someone was already at the spot, so I moved up the marsh canal to another spot where I often see redfish cruising.

I chunked up a couple of pieces of ladyfish and put out two rods without any weights.

It didn't take long before a redfish hit the first bait I set out near an open culvert.  The red was oversize and felt like it was well over 30 inches but I never got a chance to take a measurement.

The fish ran up the marsh canal and headed towards a pile of brush where it managed to break off.

I quickly tied on another 5/0 Owner hook, cut another chunk of ladyfish for bait, and lobbed it into the middle of the marsh canal for another shot at a red.

I put my SJ4000 Cam on my visor in hopes of getting a video of another redfish catch and started fishing again.

The wind made it impossible to keep a tight line and when the next fish hit, it took a while for me to realize I had a fish on.

I turned on the SJ4000 Cam as soon as I saw something on my line and got this video of me catching a 28 inch sea trout in the ditches.


Surprisingly, the big sea trout did not put up much of a fight and after some sloshing around, I finally slid down the bank to get a Boca Grip on the fish.

I took a couple of quick "selfies" and this short video before releasing the fish to fight another day.

 

 After putting the rod out with another fresh chunk of ladyfish, the other rod took off and I thought I had another big redfish on but as the 20 pound Power Pro kept screaming off my reel, I knew it couldn't have been a redfish.

Whatever I caught was about to spool my reel so I tightened the drag to the max, and thumbed the spool to add additional resistance.  I thought the line would break off but the long run finally stopped and I started to pump in whatever was on the other end.

After literally 30 minutes or so of constant pressure and a lot of give and take, I finally got to see what was on the other end.

I saw the tail first, and immediately recognized it as an alligator.  The gator was about 7 to 8 feet long and it was in no mood to stay around me.  When it saw what was on the other end of his tail, it took off again and I decided to break it off.   

I pointed the rod at the gator and held on until the line snapped at the hook.

All the time I was fighting the gator I thought I had turned the camera was on, but when I got home I realized it was shut off.

I was ready to quit fishing and head for home but the line on my other rod was moving out and I thought I had another redfish on.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a hard head catfish which I promptly released.

It was getting dark and the wind never let up, so I packed up the rods and headed for home.

All in all it was a decent fishing trip, at least it wasn't boring..

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Culvert Fishing For Redfish

Culvert fishing for redfish in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge excels during October and November.

Late this afternoon I decided to hit the ditches to see if the sea trout bite was still on.

I brought along three rods with artificial baits and took along another medium action rod to fish cut baits for redfish.  I loaded up the gear and a cooler with some bottled water and one large frozen ladyfish that I caught this past month for bait.

The cool weather was attracting the sightseers and Peacocks Pocket road was beginning to resemble I-95.  There was a steady stream of visitors driving through the refuge, as well as a number of fishermen along the banks of the Indian River.

Most were bait fishermen, but a couple of guys I see in the area on a regular basis were fishing paddle tail baits for trout and redfish.

I entered the refuge via East Gator Creek Road and tossed an XPS Slim Dog topwater bait around the first culvert  to see if  I could pick up another fresh ladyfish for bait.but they weren't in the area today.

I kept fishing the top water bait in several other areas with no luck and no followups.  After an hour  of fishing with absolutely no bites, I was beginning to think today was going to be a bust, so I decided to try fishing a culvert in the southern end of Peacocks Pocket  road close to the kayak launch.

The area is very narrow and when the water is running can be a good spot for sea trout and big redfish.

It was a little after 6:30 pm when I pulled up to the culvert I planned to fish and I was happy to see that it was slightly open.  Water was flowing from the Indian River into the marsh canals slow enough to keep the "hatches" closed but just enough to stir up the water.

I cut a 2" chunk from the middle of the frozen ladyfish and hooked it on a 5/0 Owner hook.  I was using 20# Power Pro with a 30# fluorocarbon leader and no weight.

I watched the water for a while but there was no sign of fish in the narrow canal but since the water was moving, I dropped the ladyfish chunk into the middle of the canal.  It was so narrow, a cast was unnecessary.

Within a couple of minutes the line started slowly moving, so I tightened up on the line and set the hook.

At first, the fish didn't realize it was hooked but after a couple of seconds it decided to head up the canal.  There was no way I could stop the first run.  The drag was tightened up as much as possible but the fish kept going.  I was silently cussing myself for not bringing the GoPro to record the action but I was having my hands full trying to land the fish.

After a while I pumped the fish back to the culvert and it headed the other direction on another long run.  I was beginning to realize that this redfish was not the average for this area.  It was one of the larger ones in the marsh.

After several smaller runs I finally managed to land the fish and pull it onto the bank for a couple of pics.  I estimate the length at 38 inches.  The base of this rod to the black guide wrap in the picture above is exactly 40".

These cell phone pics don't do the fish justice but it's all I had today.

I released the fish and decided to try my luck again at the same spot. With all the commotion, I didn't really expect to get another redfish at the same spot but I gave it a try anyway.

Another chunk of frozen ladyfish, another plop into the middle of the canal, and bang... another redfish.

The second redfish hit the ladyfish chunk almost immediately and headed up the canal in the opposite direction from the first fish.    This one felt as big as the first red but when I eventually landed it, it was about an inch shorter.  I took a couple of "selfies" of the fish and a short video before releasing it.

 

The fish looked like a clone of the first one.

About this time I it was getting kind of chilly out.  I was going to head home but I thought I'd try one more chunk of ladyfish "for the road".

I tossed another chunk towards the far bank of the canal and waited.  This time it was about ten minutes before I got another bite.

This fish didn't dawdle.  It picked up the bait on the run and kept on going.  I didn't have to set the hook but I did just to be sure.

This fish took at least fifty yards of line up the canal before I could slow it down.  I pumped the big red for quite a while until it turned around and headed back towards where I was fishing.

This fish acted bigger than the other two but I couldn't be sure.  I never got to land it.  As I got it close to the bank the third time, it broke off the hook around a brush pile and kept on going.

If I was a gambling man I would bet this fish was close to 40 inches or better but since I never got the Boca Grip on the fish, I'll never know.

Anyway, it was getting dark so I decided to "fish" up the road towards home.

I stopped at two more spots and picked up a nice sea trout in one of my favorite areas with the topwater XPS before calling it a day.

The sunset was awesome, so I took  a couple of pics of the blood red horizon before making my way home.

I hope my next trip is as productive as today's was.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing Peacocks Pocket Road Before A Front

Finally got a chance to wet a line around Peacocks Pocket Road this afternoon, but the conditions could have been a little better.  A front was moving in and the weather was getting nasty.

When I crossed the Max Brewer Bridge heading towards the beach, the wind was blowing steadily out of the North and the air temperature was hovering in the high 80s.  There were white caps on the left side of the causeway and only a couple of fishermen were along the bank.

I was told that the redfish bite was on and that the best baits were cut mullet or fresh ladyfish chunks.

Since I was using artificial baits, I decided to target the sea trout and sight fish the reds if they were around.

I drove into East Gator Creek road and stopped to fish the first set of culverts.  They were closed but the water was up and it looked "fishy", so I pulled out my rod with an XPS topwater bait and started tossing the plug around the mangrove roots.

 After four or five casts I was ready to move on but I decided to try one more cast towards a really shallow area.

Almost as soon as the plug hit the water, a Snook blasted it back at me.  The fish surprised the hell out of me as I jerked the plug from it's mouth.

After several more casts into the area I thought I got another hit from the Snook, but it turned out to be a ladyfish that I landed and quickly released at the culvert.

After the second fish, I thought that the narrow waterway was about done with but I gave it one last shot and as luck would have it, I hooked up and landed a garfish.

The fish was only about 20" or so long, so I shook it off at the culvert so I wouldn't have to mess around with their teeth.

A misty rain started to fall so I decided to drive along the road and check out the area.  I've been out of town working and the water levels are much higher than when I left town.  Fortunately, the fish were still in about the same areas that I usually fish.

When I got to Peacocks Pocket Road, I stopped to fish several places with the topwater plug and a red Berkly Rattlin Jig that I picked up at a WalMart in Mobile, Al.  I got a couple of taps on the jig but no fish, so I decided to concentrate on using just the topwater bait.

The wind was blowing all the time I was out in the refuge and it continued until I finally gave up fishing.  Working a topwater "walk the dog" bait in choppy water with the wind blowing into your face is a challenge to say the least, but I made the best of the situation.

I stopped at several places and fished the marsh canal with the topwater bait.  I picked up three sea trout in the 18" to 22" range and missed a redfish that seemed more inquisitive than hungry to eat.

All the fish were nicely colored and fat.  Apparently they were chowing down for the upcoming winter which explains why they were nailing the XPS Slim Dog topwater bait.  The lure looks like a finger mullet or a small ladyfish in the water and when you smear it up with some Pro-Cure, it even smells like a baitfish.

After passing (and being passed) by several fishermen, I decided to head for the house.  The wind was wearing me out and I got tired of casting into the waves with the wind in my face.

The high grass along Pocket road was also getting to be a pain.  My line kept getting caught in the grass as I retrieved my topwater baits.

I stopped to ask a couple of anglers how they were doing but nobody I spoke with had caught anything, Yet.

One fisherman said that his friends were catching a lot of redfish on cut mullet in the marsh but they were all oversize.    Another guy a bit farther up the road said they had also been catching some nice slot reds on the Indian River side of the road on cut baits.

I was genuinely surprised to see how many fishermen were in the wildlife refuge today until I remembered that it was already October 2nd.   The Hunt for Reds in October was a tournament stop for Titusville.

On the way home, I couldn't help to notice how many more bank fishermen were dunking cut baits and live mullet since I drove into the refuge.   It looked like opening day of trout season on a Pennsylvania limestone stream.

Anyway, as I called Lil Ceaser's to order a Pizza, I made a mental note to bring some mullet along tomorrow if I decide to go fishing.....

Till next time, Tight Lines.