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.