Catfish Creek Loop Redfish

Late yesterday afternoon when I was pitching my favorite Chug Bug around the East Gator Creek in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, I drove up to the barriers at Peacocks Pocket and Catfish Creek Loop roads and ran into Mike and Paul Miller as they were walking out from the barriers.

When I rolled down the window and asked Mike if they caught anything, he showed me a video on his smart phone of a nice oversize Catfish Creek Loop redfish that they picked up earlier.

He said that they caught the redfish while bottom fishing with shrimp on  light tackle and that it took around 18 minutes to land and release the fish.

He was using an open face Shakespeare reel with 10 pound test line and a sliding sinker rig as terminal tackle.

Mike said the fish looked like it was 27" to 30" long and probably weighed 18 to 20 pounds, but when I watched the video again, it looked like it was just over the slot and in the 10 to 12 pound range.

Paul is holding the red in the pic to the left, you be the judge but regardless, it was a nice catch and I appreciate him sharing the video (below) with us.

I'm not sure if Mike or Paul caught the fish, but he did it right.

The cove that they caught it in is in the northern part of the Indian River where redfish cruise close to shore in singles and small schools throughout the day.

They are most active closer to dusk, which is when I like to target them with jerk baits and topwater baits like Chug Bugs, worked super slow.

When I left them, I drove back to a small pond where I missed a couple of small sea trout and a redfish earlier.

I spent about 20 minutes fan casting the Chug Bug around the edges of the pond and had a couple of half hearted hits from trout, but nothing of any size hit my bait so I headed back to the hacienda.

I may come back to the area Sunday to see if I can pick up a fish before I leave town again.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Scouting Trip

Finally took the "boys" on a scouting trip around East Gator Creek road to see if anything was happening on the bank fishing front.

The first entrance is still barricaded, but East Gator Creek road is open up to Peacocks Pocket road which is closed seasonally to vehicle traffic from Nov. 1 to Feb. 15th, and Catfish Creek Loop which is still apparently closed because of hurricane damage.

When I turned into East Gator Creek with Elmo and Odie hanging out the window, the air temperature was in the low 70s and there was a mild breeze blowing across the shallow flats.

I drove slowly looking for some topwater action, but nothing was happening, even towards dusk.

I tossed my favorite Chug Bug around a couple of areas where I caught fish in the past, but nothing was interested in the bait this evening.

As we drove around the area, I was surprised to see that the road was nicely mowed for vehicle traffic.  Too bad they couldn't repair Peacocks Pocket with the same funds.

Anyway, it was late in the afternon when we finally made our way up to the barricaded roads,  other than one family who was fishing the culverts, nobody was in the area.

On the way out, I spotted several pods of mullet meandering within casting distance from the road but I didn't bother pitching a bait around them.

Hopefully, after Thanksgiving, I'll be able to wet a line in the area.  There are definitely fish in the area, but the Chug Bug apparently wasn't the best choice.

I'll probably be dunking a finger mullet just like the other guys in the area.

As we drove over the bridge, I decided to make a quick run past the fishing piers.  I was surprised to see that they were closed down by the local government.  Although I didn't see any damage to the piers, I assume that the hurricane was the cause.

I wonder what the local shrimpers are going this time of the year.   I'm definitely going to do some research on it to find out why it has been closed off.

Without a boat, kayak, or canoe; it's getting tough to do any bank fishing in this area.

Too bad, the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge used to be one of the best areas in East Central Florida to fish and observe waterfowl, but apparently those days are gone.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Walking The Ditches

I've been back in town now for a few days and finally got a chance to try walking the ditches in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Since the road closures, walking the ditches has developed a new meaning to me.  You have to park and literally walk a good distance to get in some decent fishing these days.,  It helps with the cardio, but it's a pain in the kishka trying to carry all the gear you think you actually need.

The area I walked the other day was literally barren of fishermen.  I had the entire area to myself.

Most fishermen were either lining the banks of the causeway dunking live finger mullet or cut baits for redfish, kayaking, or fishing the piers underneath the A. Max Brewer Bridge.

I managed to tote a topwater spinning rod with one of my favorite Chug Bug patterns; (Baby Bass) and another rod with lighter line and a Creme Paddletail soft bait that has also been a favorite bait of mine during the cooler months.

The marsh canals still provide a lot of action.

Although I only managed to catch a few spotted sea trout in the 12 to 17 inch range, I spotted two schools of drum cruising down the marsh canal,  several lone redfish that looked like they were well over the slot and a couple of gator sized spotted sea trout.

All the sea trout were caught on soft baits.  Most of the time I fished the deeper areas in the canal very slowly with a freshwater Storm Wildeye shiner.

I only had an opportunity to pitch the bait a couple of times to larger trout that were busting on baitfish along the opposite bank.

The nicest thing about fishing this time of the year is the lack of people and fishing pressure.   All the time I was in the area, I never saw another fisherman.

I expected the fish to be spooky, but the ones I spotted apparently received little to no fishing pressure.

On the walk back to the car, I flipped the Chug Bug to a couple of swirls along the bank and missed a redfish on a short strike, but other than that, the fish weren't too interested in top water baits.

Gotta love the sunsets in this area.

Till next time
Tight Lines.