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.