New Summertime Refuge Hours Are In Effect

Apparently new summertime refuge hours are in effect in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

When I finally got a chance to wet a line this evening, it was around 6:30 pm before I left the house for Peacocks Pocket Road.

The air temperature was 84 degrees and there was just a slight breeze blowing over the Indian River.

Since I got a late start, I only brought one rod with a topwater Chug Bug and a box of topwater baits to use for sea trout.

I entered the refuge via East Gator Creek Road and stopped at the first culvert to toss the Chug Bug at a couple of wakes I spotted in the shallow water.

My first cast spooked a fish when the lure landed right on it's head, so I reeled in and made another cast towards the shallow area where the fish was holding.

As I worked the bait towards the culvert, a gator decided that it looked like something good to eat and started after the lure.  I quickly reeled past the gator and moved on to try another area.

There were several fishermen taking up the usual spots dunking cut baits and shrimp, but nobody I spoke with was catching any fish as far as I could tell.

As I slowly drove around the unimproved road looking for signs of feeding fish, I stopped at several of my favorite spots to blind cast the Chug Bug around the banks in the marsh canal.

I had several follow ups and caught a few under size sea trout which I promptly returned to the water and missed a nice oversize redfish right at the bank in a deeper area of the marsh canal.

As I was working my way out of the refuge, I stopped at one of my favorite ponds and started working the Chug Bug around the mangrove roots.

I picked up another couple of really small sea trout and as I was putting the last fish into the water, a fish and game officer pulled up to check my license and let me know that the refuge was closed.

I was under the impression that it closed at dusk, and even then I've seen groups of bank fishermen staying well after dark.  I normally leave before it gets dark, and I don't ever carry a watch when I fish.

He said that the new summertime refuge hours were 8:00 pm and 6:00 pm in the winter; NOT AT DUSK.

Anyway, we had a long discussion about why the "powers that be" close the refuge just when the fishing gets good.  About this time, he took my drivers license and "put me in the system" with a warning for being in the refuge after hours.  He told me he didn't make the rules, just enforces them.

I took his pic and was going to put it on the website but I decided against it.  Some of the real bad guys might look him up.

Anyway, I packed up my rod and headed for home.  It was 8:29 pm when I left the refuge, and it was still light.

You gotta wonder who makes these absurd rules.

Till next time,
Tight Lines