Scouting The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Because of the Peacocks Pocket Road closure, I decided to try scouting the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon to find some other fishing spots.

I knew that the Haulover Canal bridge was closed for repairs for the next month so I headed down SR46 to Mims so I could take US1 towards Scotsmoor.

After I gassed up the truck, I decided to hit the Jones Street Boat launch to see if anybody was fish there.   After driving over the dusty road to Jones Street and crossing the railroad tracks, I parked at the waters edge to check out the area.

The huge abandoned bi-hull houseboat was still in the same spot as last year, but the top was now off.

The water was crystal clear so I pulled out one of my rods with a swimbait and made a few casts towards the boat.   After several casts without a bite, I decided to move on to another potential fishing area.

My next spot up the road was the Scottsmoor Boat Launch.  I hadn't visited that area in about a year so I drove onto Huntington Ave. to see what the water level looked like.

When I pulled up close to the ramp, I was surprised that there was plenty of water at the dock to launch my Maverick, or the kayaks that I picked up last month for my birthday.

The water around the shallow flats looked clean but I didn't bother to fish.  I took a few pics and headed out to Shiloh Road.

I crossed the bridge, took the right turn into the refuge and slowly headed down the dusty road toward the barrier.

When I hit the first culvert, I noticed that it was open and there was a good flow of water coming in from the Indian River.

I pulled over and took a few pictures of the area.  I remembered that this area was good for juvenile tarpon, ladyfish, and redfish during the spring, so I took out a rod with a Johnsons Sprite gold spoon and started blind casting the area.

I caught and released several ladyfish on the spoon before taking this brief video of the action.  The ladyfish were small and I could have used them for bait, but I didn't have anything to keep them fresh in so I returned all the fish.

After the fourth or fifth fish, I had a hit from a juvenile tarpon about 2 feet long, but it flipped off and never took the spoon again.

I tried the spoon, a DOA Baitbuster, and a jighead with a paddletail bait on both sides of the culvert but the fish quit biting, so I moved on up the road to check out where I could launch my kayak.

At the barrier to Shiloh Road where several cars were parked, there appeared to be a small launch area that people had been using for kayaks or canoes.  Just the ticket for my kayak debut.

I turned around and decided to ride over to Patillo Creek and check out the fishing conditions there.

On the way, I spotted a very large Timber Rattlesnake that was crossing the road.  I pulled over to take  a pic of the snake as it crossed safely and laid stretched out on the grass shoulder.

The snake was not in the least bit afraid and just laid there eyeing me up as I slowly took these pics and the brief video.

He started to move under my truck, so I decided to get out of his way and continue my scouting trip.

I drove into Patillo creek and headed to several spots I used to fish on a semi-regular basis.

I fished three spots but never got a hit or a follow up, so I continued to the deeper water area where Karen and I sometimes fished for black drum.

As I pulled into the area, several fishermen were on the bank dunking shrimp and cut baits.

I stopped to ask how one group was doing and Alex and his friend Chico said they had caught 4 nice drum.  He was eager to show me their catch, so I pilled over and took these pics along with a brief video.

Alex said that when they had been using fresh shrimp, they were not getting any bites, but when they switched to old "stinky" shrimp, the fish started hitting.

As I passed by their truck where the bait was being kept and got a whiff of the shrimp, I had no doubt that he was telling me the whole truth.

Alex's friend told me that some fisherman yesterday had caught 14 drum in the same spot.

I bid them farewell and decided to make one more stop before heading home.  I drove past the radar dome that my wife calls the "gumball"  to check out Beacon 42 boat ramp.

 

I was surprised to find the parking area empty.  Nobody was fishing the area.

 

I got out of the truck and checked out the water.  It was relatively clear and the water levels were down only slightly. A perfect day to take out my flats boat.

Anyway, it was getting towards dinner so I headed out towards US1 and the house.

About halfway up the road, I spotted a flock of turkeys on one side of the road and a cleanup crew of vultures on the other side of the road making a dead hog the main course.

I pulled up to the crew of 10 vultures, and they weren't in the least bit intimidated.  I took these pics and left them to their dinner.

As I headed home to my dinner, I was glad I made the scouting trip.  I found several spots to put in my kayak without drowning on the first try, and several more to bank fish.

Till next time, Tight  lines.

Walking Peacocks Pocket Road

It was around 4:30pm when I finally decided to walk Peacocks Pocket road.  

I left Elmo and Odie at the house and packed a couple of spinning rods with a DOA Baitbuster, and a Johnsons Sprite gold spoon, just in case I came across any busting fish.


When I pulled up to the barrier at Peacocks Pocket Road, I immediately noticed that the water in the marsh canal was a dirty brown color.  I assumed it was a brown algae bloom like we have almost every summer.

I packed a few swim baits, spoons, Chug Bugs, and spare jig heads in a portable box and headed down the road to see if I could spot any fish.

Almost from the start, I realized that the fishing today would suck.  The water was stagnant and there was an odor along the road from all the dead garfish that were in the marsh canal and along the bank.

I counted at least two dozen garfish in the canal and on the road, and the vultures were having a smorgasbord, to say the least.

About 40 yards up the road there was a large heap of what looked like dredged muck in the middle of the road.  I assumed it was from the canal but there was no sign of any dredging activity.

I didn't spot any fish but I did see some topwater activity, possibly from sea trout or garfish.

As I walked farther up the road, I came up on another larger pile of dried up muck and as I continued up the road, there were two more piles of the same stuff.

At the first big bend in the road leading up to a small pond I liked to fish, there was a huge load of dried up muck in the middle of the road.  I didn't feel like meandering around the dirt, so I quit walking and headed back to where I parked the truck.

On the way back, I tried blind casting my DOA Baitbuster on the Indian River side and in the marsh canal with not hits or followups.

About half way back to the truck, I spotted a juvenile tarpon of around two feet long that briefly surfaced and quickly dived to the bottom when I got close to the bank.

I made a couple of half hearten casts to the fish with a swim bait that I put on my other rod, but the fish wasn't interested.

With all the dead garfish in the canal and on the road, I was surprised that even a tarpon could survive in the dirty water.

That small tarpon was the only thing that I actually spotted during my walk.

I was glad that the administrators at the refuge were trying to repair the damage done to the road but I was disappointed in the progress.

As I was told, it's all about lack of funding.

Anyway, if the wind doesn't get too bad, I plan to take out my kayak tomorrow.  We shall see.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Atlas V Launch From A. Max Brewer Causeway Bridge

Took the boys for a ride to the marsh this afternoon and stopped on the A. Max Brewer Causeway bridge to check out the Atlas V launch.

Compared to the shuttle launches, it was rather unimpressive but it was still worth stopping.

I took this short video of the launch from Cape Canaveral as it pushed through the cloud cover.

After the launch, I took Elmo and Odie for a drive around East Gator Creek road to see if I could spot any ladyfish in the shallows.

I was surprised to see that the western side of the road was drained almost completely with only a trickle of water remaining in what once was a channel.

The eastern side of the road had a good bit of water in it and for the most part, it was clear and clean.  I spotted a couple of swirls but couldn't tell what the fish were.

I didn't bring any rods with me, so I drove around Catfish Creek Loop to check that area out before heading for the house.

I made a mental note to get out later in the afternoon to walk Peacocks Pocket road and see if the refuge managers did any work to the road.

Tight lines.

My First Dauphin Island Bull Redfish

After work this afternoon, I finally managed to snag my first Dauphin Island Bull redfish.

Even though I told the guys I was fishing with yesterday evening that I would probably return tonight, it wasn't until around 5:30 pm that I decided to give it another try.

The weather was beautiful and there was a neap tide.  Everyone I spoke with told me that the fishing this evening should be good, so I packed up my two surf rods and headed to Wally's World to pick up a folding sports chair and some sinkers.

Walmart had some chairs for sale at around $6.50 each, so I picked one up along with some barrel swivels, a bag of 3 oz. bullet sinkers, and some 6/0 Octopus hooks.

I stopped at Jemison's  Bait-N-Tackle to pick up a couple of large fresh mullet for bait and headed towards the jetties.

I originally planned to stake out a spot on the fishing pier, set up my sports chair, and lay back waiting for something to hit my baits, but when I got to the fishing pier there were a bunch of people there so I decided to see if there were any parking spaces available near the longest jetty.

As I drove towards the beach, I lucked out and got a parking spot directly across from the longest jetty.

I rigged up both rods with sliding sinker rigs, new fluorocarbon leaders, fresh 6/0 Octopus hooks and headed toward the rocks.

The beach was super crowded but almost nobody was fishing the jetties.

A couple of guys walking by asked me if I caught anything and when I told them I hadn't started fishing yet, wished me good luck.

I carefully meandered to the end of the jetty, cut up a mullet into big 3 inch chunks, baited up both rods and sat down on a rock to watch my rods.

I took  a bunch of pics of the rocks and boat traffic to pass the time and as I put down my cell phone, the rod spooled with 30# Cajun Red line started to act like a fish was playing with the bait.

I figured it was a sail cat and thought that a red would take the bait and keep on going like they do in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River, but I was soon proved to be wrong.

The line slowly started to peel off the reel, so I gave it a long minute (literally) and set the hook.

At first I thought I had bottom.  There was no pull, just resistance but as I started to pump in some line, the fish woke up and decided to swim back into the Gulf.

It took around 10 minutes before I could tell I had a redfish on.  I actually thought I had a shark, but when I saw the goldfish color in the waves I knew I finally snagged my first Dauphin Island bull redfish,

I tried to take a video of the battle with one hand and fight the fish with the other hand but it was impossible.  The fish was too strong and kept making runs.

It took about 20 minutes of serious pumping before I could get the big red close to the rocks.   It took three tries before I could skinny down to a spot where I could gill the fish out onto the rocks.

I seldom keep the fish I catch but I planned to harvest one fish for dinner and that's just what I did.

I have no doubt that I could have caught several more reds from the school in the same area, but I was worn out and didn't want to kill myself getting off the rocks.

The redfish was in the 30 pound range and although it was not the biggest I ever caught, it was definitely one of the hardest fighting reds I ever landed anywhere.

When I reeled in my other rod I noticed that the bait had been stripped from the hook, so I carefully grabbed the fish in my right hand, my rods and bait with my other hand and made my way off the rocks to the safety of the beach.

When I got to the beach, a guy who was apparently watching me land the fish congratulated me and then offered me $20.00 for the fish.

I passed up his offer and asked him if he would take a couple of pics of me and the fish with the results below.

When I got to the truck, another guy asked me how big the fish was so I pulled a tape from the truck and measured it at a little over 39".

 
In Florida with the tail pinched it would go 40".

It was getting late and I knew it would take some time to clean the fish so I packed up and headed to the apartment.

The main problem I had cleaning my dinner was the fact that the sink was too small.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Dauphin Island Fishing

Since I've been spending a lot of time working in Mobile, Al., I've been able to sample some of the Dauphin Island fishing spots that the locals talk about.

This evening after I got through with my work I decided to drive down to the Dauphin Island jetties to see if I could pick up one of the bull redfish that the locals catch off the rocks.

 I stopped by Jamisons Bait Shop and picked up  a couple of fresh mullet to chop up into chunk baits and headed for the jetties.

The beach was crowded as usual and the parking spots were pretty much filled up, so I parked the truck, set up my two heavy duty surf rods and headed to the rocks.

I'd like to say that I picked up a couple of reds, but the truth is that I spent an hour and a half on the rocks watching the boat traffic and looking at the oil rigs without a single bite.

  It was getting late, so I decided to park my but on the small fishing pier to see what I could catch there.

When I pulled into a parking space, there were several fishermen already on the pier with light spinning rigs fishing for "white trout", croaker, whiting, and "brown mullet".

I walked to the end of the small wooden pier and tossed out both of my spinning rods with chunks of cut mullet and started making conversation with the guys who were already on the pier.

The guy on the one corner was evidently in a "honey hole" because out of everyone who was fishing on the pier, he was catching the most fish. On almost every cast, we was pulling in either a white trout (sand trout), brown mullet (southern whiting), or a croaker.

White Trout

Brown Mullet

Everyone but myself was using shrimp for bait, and although I had some shrimp with me, I stayed with the cut baits hoping for a bull redfish.

There was a lot of human and avian traffic on the water and on the fishing pier.  One friendly gull that the regulars called "gimpy" had only one leg and kept coming up to us hoping for a free handout.  And there was a green heron that I called "buddy", who was apparently not the least bit afraid of people that kept walking up to us looking for a free meal.

As the sun set and the full moon started to rise over the horizon, I started getting a bite on the large chunk of mullet I was dunking on my Okuma baitrunner.

The line slowly peeled off the reel and after a couple of long minutes I set the hook into a heavy fish.

I fought the fish for a few minutes until the line suddenly went slack.  When I reeled in my rig, the hook was gone and the 30 pound fluorocarbon leader was cut and abraided.  It looked like a shark had hit the bait.

Undaunted, I snelled on another 6/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook and heaved out a larger chunk of fresh mullet.

As I was checking out the full moon and the lit oil rigs, another fish hit my bait.

I let the fish peel off some line and set the hook into another good fish.  This time I horsed the fish in as quickly as my 30 pound Cajun Red line would allow.

After a few minutes I got the fish to the edge of the pier and reached in to bring it out.

It turned out to be a two foot plus Gafftopsail catfish that weighed at least 5 or 6 pounds.

I took a pic of the fish in the dark and offered it to the guy who was catching all the white trout, but he didn't want to clean it and neither did I, so I released the fish to fight another day.

I usually don't keep salt water catfish, but I learned many years ago from a Destin, Fl. captain that the "sail cats" are great eating.  The problem is that you have to skin them and tonight I didn't want the hassle.

The wind was picking up and I was getting chilly so I bid farewell to the friends I made on the fishing pier, packed up my gear, and headed back to my apartment.

I learned that night fishing is when the "regulars" pick up some nice fish, so I told the guys I would be seeing them tomorrow if the weather was decent.

 Till next time, Tight Lines.

Dauphin Island Redfish

Since it was a beautiful day, I decided to head over to Dauphin Island in Mobile, Al. to see if the redfish were biting.

I loaded up a surf rod that I had the foresight to bring along with me from Titusville, a 7 foot river rod that I keep tipped with a jig and grub combo, and a couple of bags of cut mullet I had in the freezer from my last trip.

The half hour drive to the jetties went quickly but when I got to the area, there were no parking spaces anywhere.  I made a couple of rounds around the parking area hoping to snag a space, but after the third trip, I gave up.

The fishing pier and all of the jetties had people fishing from them and the beach was as crowded as I have ever seen it, so I opted to fish at the first bridge going onto the island instead.

I pulled into the road adjacent to the small canal, unloaded the rods and bait cooler from the truck, and started walking underneath the bridge to find a spot.

As I walked over to the barrier, a couple of guys who had just finished fishing were loading their fish into the truck.

They had caught several nice redfish in the slot to 25 pound category, and a couple of nice black drum.  When I asked them what they caught the redfish on, they told me they had been using live "bull minnows" and were fishing on the incoming tide just off the bank.

I took a few pics of their catch below, and headed to where they were fishing.

They told me that the bite had slowed down because of the tide change, but since I was already here, I decided to give it a shot anyway.

I baited up with a large chunk of mullet, pitched out the bait to an eddy at a deep hole and waited for a bite.

I was using a three way swivel with a two foot length of 30 pound fluorocarbon leader on a 5/0 Owner hook, and a 3 oz. bank sinker to hold bottom. 

I lost several baits to fish, and two rigs with 3 oz. bank sinkers to the rocks, before I finally hooked into a nice redfish.  

The red grabbed a whole mullet head that I had baited up with and took off like a freight train.  I had 60 pound Power Pro braid on my surf rod and it still put up a great battle before I finally landed it.

I put the red into the cooler for dinner, baited up with another mullet head, and tried for a second fish.

I was fishing on the last part of the outgoing tide, and was lucky I had any bites at all. 

As I waited for something to happen, another fishermen that had been fishing under the bridge was leaving because the bite had stopped. 

He had a couple of black drum and several sheepshead that he caught around the bridge pilings and said that he lost two redfish along the pilings in the same area.

Like almost everyone else I saw fishing today, he was using live shrimp for bait.

I was going to ask him for a pic, but he was on his way out and I didn't want to bother him.

He told me that if you don't fish the tides in this area, you are wasting your time, and after another hour or so without a single bite, I had to agree with him.

I loaded my redfish into the truck and headed for home and a well deserved fish dinner.

Nothing like blackened redfish!

Till next time, Tight Lines.