Catching Redfish During The Falcon Launch

I didn't expect to be catching redfish during the Falcon launch today but that's exactly what happened.

After getting some groceries and Weed and Feed for the lawn, I decided to drive to the spot where Karen lost a nice redfish yesterday and see if I could pick one up.

Karen went to play with her horse so I loaded up a few rods and headed to the bait shop to pick up some bait.  They had some finger mullet just come in so I got a dozen and headed to Peacocks Pocket road.

As I drove over the bridge, I saw a slew of people parking along the river with binoculars and camera so I suspected that there was a launch of something today.

I pulled up to a couple and asked them what time the launch was scheduled for and learned that it was going off in 20 minutes.  More than enough time for me to set out a couple of baited rods at Karen's spot.

When I drove into Peacocks Pocket road, it was obvious that there was going to be a launch.  There were a lot of out of state tags on the vehicles I saw along the road.  Some were parked checking out the wildlife and others were setting up cameras.

When I got to the spot I intended to fish, I was hoping that the wind would die down but no such luck.

The air temperature was in the low 80s, and the wind was blowing harder than yesterday.  I heard on the radio that a cold front was heading our way for the weekend, so I expected some decent fishing.

I put out two rods with large finger mullet, unfolded a chair and sat down to wait for either the launch or a fish.

It didn't take long for the launch which I managed to video on my smart phone.

Right after the launch, I was going to call my wife but an oversize redfish on the rod with the Okuma bait runner took off down the marsh canal.

I was going to try and video the fight but I decided to catch the fish instead.  I lost Karen's redfish yesterday in the brush and I didn't want to replicate the experience.

It was a heavy fish and it made several nice long runs in the shallow canal before I finally landed it.  I took these pics, removed the hook, and put it back into the tannin stained water to grow even bigger.

The fish actually measured in at 32" to the fork of the tail.

I called Karen and told her that I caught "her fish" and texted her a picture to prove it.  She laughed and said we were going out again tomorrow.

After I called, I baited up with another large mullet and tossed it out into another area to see if I could pick up another fish.

I putt the rod down, set the bait runner to free spool, and picked up my smart phone to check my emails and before I could load up the emails, the 30# Power Pro started peeling off the reel.

Another redfish inhaled the mullet and headed in the same direction as the last fish, only this one was heavier. 

It was at least 30 yards down the marsh canal on the other side of a small island before I could turn the fish around.

This fish put up a great bulldog battle and almost got off in the brush two times before I finally brought it to the bank.  I bent down to pull the fish from the water and one of the out of town visitors to the launch pulled up and asked me if there were any fish on "that side" of the river.

I didn't bother to answer, I just hefted up the fish to show him.

This fish had the 5/0 Owner hooked deep and I had to get my long fish pliers to get the hook out.   I took a couple of quick pics and released the fish into the marsh canal.  It took a couple of minutes before the fish revived and took off, but it was in good shape and none the worse for wear.

This fish measured in at 34" with the tail pinched like you're supposed to measure them.

I texted Karen the pics of the second redfish after I put out another mullet and sat down to check my emails again.

I'd like to say I caught another redfish or two, but I waited an hour without another bite and got tired of the wind blowing in my face, so I packed it in for the evening and headed home.

Catching redfish during the Falcon launch was a blast.  This is no doubt the only place on the planet where you can have a ringside seat of a rocket launch and catch fish to boot.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Why You Should Never Go Fishing Near An Anthill

This afternoon, Karen and I decided to take Elmo and Odie fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge before the "cold front" moves into the area and she learned why you should never go fishing near an anthill.

We loaded up the truck with fishing gear, a bag of frozen blue crabs, and a bucket for live bait that Karen wanted to use.

We stopped for some drinks and to get some live mullet and headed to where she wanted to fish around Peacocks Pocket road.   The air temperature was 83 degrees and there was a brisk wind blowing hard enough to make detecting a bite a problem.

When we got to "her" spot, Karen pitched out a live mullet on her rig, while I set out a cut bait, a half of a blue crab and a live mullet on three rods that I was tending to.

I was fishing on the Indian River side of the road facing the wind and Karen was fishing the marsh canal where the water was calmer.

It didn't take long for me to hook up with a slot sea trout on the live mullet which I quickly released.  I put out a new mullet and sat down for another fish to hit.

I missed either a redfish or black drum on the blue crab and put another crab out in the same area, but after almost an hour of fishing, I never had another bite.

Karen was yelling at me from where she was fishing that she had a fish on so I ran to where she was fishing to take a video of the action.

She had on an oversize redfish on that had taken her line down the canal and around some brush piles.    She wanted me to take the rod but I was on the cell phone taking this video while she fell down the bank and fought the fish.

As the fish went up and down the canal, she walked into an anthill.   At first I thought she just kidding, but when I saw that she really needed help, I gave her the phone and took her rod.  While she shook off the ants from her legs, I let the fish have too much slack and it headed directly to the brush pile along the bank and broke off.

Needless to say, Karen wasn't a happy camper.  I was correctly blamed for losing her fish and I didn't hear the end of it until we got home.

We moved to two other spots and fished live mullet with no more bites until we left the refuge.

Till next time, Tight Lines and remember; you should never go fishing near an anthill.

A Nice Sunday For Sea Trout Fishing

It was a great Sunday for Sea Trout fishing.  The temperature was in the low 80s, there was tolerable breeze blowing, and there wasn't a rain cloud in site.

When I got back to town this weekend, I planned on hitting the wildlife refuge but until Sunday afternoon, I never got a chance to wet a line.

I packed up Elmo and Odie along with a few mud minnows and several rods and we headed out to Peacocks Pocket road to scout out the area.

There were a lot of visitors in the refuge who were enjoying the wildlife and only a few fishermen.

When I drove into the refuge, the usually array of coots, storks, etc. were out in force. 

I immediately spotted a few gators who seemed overly aggressive, no doubt because it is mating season.

Needless to say, I took some pics along with everyone else.

As I slowly drove along the marsh canal along Peacocks Pocket Road looking for some sign of sea trout, I spotted several large soft shell turtles cruising the area.

This one was slow enough for me to take a short video.

Elmo and Odie were enjoying the ride and I really didn't care if I caught anything today so I just kept taking pictures of the area.

When I finally spotted a swirl along the bank, I stopped to flip out a gold Johnson Sprite spoon.  Something tapped the lure but after several casts I moved on to another area where I hooked into a keeper sea trout.

The fish was in the slot but I released it to fight another day.  I didn't really feel like cleaning fish today.

I was expecting to pick up at least a couple more fish but that was the only trout I caught all day.

I switched to a topwater "walk the dog" bait but after wearing out my casting arm, I finally gave up and called it a day.

As we were leaving the refuge, I stopped to talk to a couple of groups of fishermen to see if they were fishing or "catching".  Both groups I talked to were fishing with shrimp and were not having much luck.

Anyway, I forgot to bring along water for my dogs and they were panting like crazy, so I decided to head for the house and come back during the middle of  the week to try my luck again.

Till next time, Tight Lines.