Sharks In The Indian Rvier

I've always know that there are sharks in the Indian River and this afternoon's fishing trip only confirmed my recollection.

Because of the rain, I decided to leave Elmo and Odie home this afternoon so I could pitch some artificial baits around the area without having to watch them.

It was raining when I left the house, which is why I didn't load up the Maverick or a kayak, so I decided to make a quick trip around East Gator Creek to see if I could stir up some fish.

The water levels in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are up from last month and the bait fish were in the lagoon system.

I saw several nice fish in the shallows on both sides of the road but they were not interested in the Baitbuster that I was pitching to them.  I switched over to a Chug Bug and started getting strikes when I worked the bait slowly.

After spending a half hour fishing the first culvert with only a couple of follow ups, I slowly moved down the road looking for some topwater action.

The air temperature had been 89 degrees earlier in the day, but when the afternoon rains started, it dropped into the high 70s.  There was a slight breeze over the water that produced some very light ripples which makes for some good topwater fishing.

I smeared the Chug Bug up with some Pro-Cure Gel and started getting hits in several areas.  I briefly hooked a couple of under size speckled sea trout and was happy to shake them off the bait before landing them.

At a sheltered spot where I often score on keeper trout, I made a long cast to the opposite bank and almost immediately hooked up with a ladyfish that thought it was a tarpon.  The fish made several super fast runs before I could bring it to the bank.

I normally release ladyfish, but because my wife wanted to go fishing tomorrow, I decided to keep it for cut bait.

The fish was over 2 feet long, so I only needed one to keep us fishing.

I moved on to a pond where I spotted several sea trout and one redfish busting on the surface, but after hooking and releasing only one sea trout that just made the slot and spending another half hour of fruitless casting, I decided to fish Catfish Creek.

It was around 5:30pm and as I drove along the Indian River I stopped to talk to three fishermen who were bank fishing with shrimp.  All three said they were catching black drum along the Indian River shallows but no redfish.

I stopped at one of my favorite spots along Catfish Creek and chunked up some of the ladyfish I caught for bait.

As I put out the chunk of ladyfish, I spotted a dead catfish and a small shark in the shallows that someone had killed and thrown back in.

 

I retrieved the fish to take a couple of picks before throwing it back and as I was taking the pics, the Okuma baitrunner reel started free lining line.  I picked up the rod, set the hook and landed a catfish which I quickly released.

I caught three more catfish before I hooked up with a fish I thought was a red.  The fish was shaking it's head and as I got it closer to shore, I saw that it was another small shark.  Apparently, the shark were in the river breeding.

I landed the fish and quickly released the fish to grow up and fight another day.  I think it was a juvenile bull shark but I couldn't be sure.

Anyway, after missing three more fish, I couldn't stand the mosquitoes buzzing around me so I packed it in and headed to the house.

I plan to get out again tomorrow with my wife, Elmo, and Odie, to see if I can pick up a black drum or two or a redfish for dinner.

Till next time, Tight Lines.