Life's A Beach

After finishing my chores Friday afternoon I decided to hit the beach to see if the baitfish have arrived.

I left Odie and Elmo at the house, packed several rods for surf or flats fishing, and headed for Playalinda Beach.

As I crossed the bridge and saw all the wind surfers on the river, I knew that surf fishing would probably be out of the question today.

 

There were several wind surfers on the North side of the causeway doing their thing and a couple of fishermen on the other side dunking baits.

I continued to the beach via BioLab road so I could check out the flats in that area.

Both the boat launch and smaller dock were empty and there were no trailers in the parking area.  

I drove towards Playalinda Beach road and was surprised that nobody was in the area.  The shallow flats out from the Whale Tail and across from Pelican Island were clear and with a light chop on the surface, I stopped to fish a few spots to see if I could pick up a sea trout.

I was making long casts with a medium size topwater SkitterWalk around the potholes with little success.   I had two fish blast the plug after several dozen casts, but I never got a hookup.  

I trudged back to the truck intent on seeing if anyone on the beach was catching fish.  

Along the way, I noticed that there had been a controlled burn along the road.  Several areas were burned down and there was an active fire in one area between the canal on the left side of the road and the lagoon.

Apparently it didn't affect the gators.  I saw several along the road and when I hit Playalinda Beach Road, there was a big one in the middle of the ditch not having a care in the world.

When I got to the beach, I stopped at one of the first lots and halfway expected to see someone fishing, but when I got to the top of the boardwalk, other than a couple surfers, I was the only one there.

The surf was rough and after watching the breakers for a while, I couldn't spot any baitfish so I moved on up to lot #8.

That section of beach was literally barren.  Other than a few seagulls, I was alone on the beach.
Normally, I would have been thrilled but with a rough surf, I decided to head back.

On the way out, I spotted a flock of Roseatte Spoonbills feeding in the shallows, so I pulled over and took a few pics.

I thought about stopping at East Gator Creek to fish the shallow flats but the wind was picking up and there was still a chop on the water.

As I got close to the bridge, the windsurfers were still doing their thing.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

East Gator Creek Redfish

This afternoon I finally got a chance to hit the refuge and wet a line, so I left Elmo and Odie at the house and headed for East Gator Creek to see if I could spot a sea trout or redfish.

WhenI got to the area the wind was up and after running the road towards Peacocks Pocket, I decided to park and walk the opposite side of East Gator Creek.

I brought a rod with a Chug Bug, and a second tucked into my waist with a gold Johnson Sprite spoon.  I figured if I couldn't raise a fish with either of these lures, I might as well go back home and make something for dinner.

I spotted a rattlesnake crossing the road but before I could get a pic, it disappeared into the marsh grass.

The back path meanders parallel to East Gator Creek and the water is generally deeper closer to the bank, so it's not necessary to make long casts.

I spotted a couple of fish but I couldn't tell what they were and casting the spoon didn't get a rise.

I continued walking and blind casting with the spoon and finally got a hit from a slot size redfish about a dozen feet from the bank.

The fish put up a nice fight and I didn't have much of a problem landing it.  A gator was eyeing me as I released it and I was surprised than I was the only person in the area fishing.

I did spot a couple cars on the opposite side but nobody stopped to wet a line.

I continued walking the bank blind casting the spoon and the Chug Bug, but I never saw another fish or got a follow up.

Since it was getting late, I decided to pack it in and head for the house for some dinner.

I'll be home all week and if I can get all the work done around the house that I need to, I'll probably hit the refuge again before I have to get back to work.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Spacex Atlas V Rocket Launch

I wasn't even aware that the Spacex Atlas V Rocket Launch with the GOES-S next generation weather satellite was going today until I started to cross the A Max Brewer Bridge and saw all the people lined up.

 I didn't plan on taking Elmo and Odie with me to Haulover Canal to do some bank fishing today, but they started going crazy when they saw me opening the closet to take my fishing rods.

I loaded up the rods and as soon as I opened the door the boys were in their respective positions at the windows.

I drove down to Mims the get some blue crabs from the bait shop on US1, just around the corner from SR 46.  The guy had a ton of blue crabs for bait both dead and alive so I picked up a couple live ones and four fresh dead crabs, just in case.

We drove into town and as we hit the bridge I was surprised to see all the people lined up the the launch.   I stopped and asked a guy about it and was told it was launching at 5:02 p.m. ET, about 30 minutes to go.

I was going to pass it up but decided to put a couple of rods out in the marsh canal to see if I could lure in a redfish.

The wind was blowing steadily and I wasn't sure the launch would go but I decided to stick around anyway.

At about 5:02 pm I took this short video, then packed up the rods and headed over to Haulover Canal to fish for black drum.

Elmo wasn't feeling well so he sat in the truck, but Odie stayed with me while I was waiting for something to eat my blue crabs.  He loves to fish.

The wind wasn't bad at Haulover and it was a beautiful afternoon to fish but I only had one bite on my lightest rod and the fish dropped the bait.

I was using a surf rod with an Okuma baitrunner and 30 pound Power Pro for the live blue crab and the other two rods both had Okuma baitrunner reels spooled with 12 pound Cajun Red mono.

There was a lot of activity in the canal.  The Pelicans were diving on baitfish, some snook were busting baitfish right on the opposite bank, and there were a lot of Manatees munching on sea grasses and getting in the way of my lines.

I stayed with it until about 7:30 pm and decided to pack it in.

Several people came in late to bank fish for drum and redfish, but Elmo wasn't acting very happy and I figured that if a black drum didn't eat that beautiful, fresh, blue crab all that time we were fishing; it was time to go.

As most of my readers already know, I'm an artificial bait fisherman.  On a good day, my attention span live bait fishing is about an hour or two at the max, and today was no different.

Job would not be proud of me.

Anyway, we headed home fishless but I still enjoyed the trip.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Biolab Topwater Fishing

I was planning on doing some Biolab topwater fishing this week and after receiving this fishing report from David Holbrook, I'm sure I will be out there before the weeks end.

"Hi John -

As always, great to see your reports.  I've been wading Biolab on a more regular basis the last couple months.  Enough success to stay interested... January and early Feb. consistently seemed to get 4 or 5 trout in the 16 - 19 range on each trip, a rat red mixed in here and there.  Nearly all the trout have been on topwater, the rats on plastics.

Last time at Biolab was a couple weeks ago, 2/10, just after sunrise, on the north end of the road.  Got the red in the attached pic - just shy of 22". Threw a spook jr. for about an hour and a half that morning... had 3 more big blowups but couldn't get another hooked up.  

Hopefully going to get out Sat. am. (although the wind forecast doesn't look to promising at the moment)

tight lines!"

 

As long as the weeds aren't a problem, topwater fishing is my "go to" method for catching fish.  A gold Johnson's Sprite or other weedless spoon is next, and lifelike plastics last.

It all depends on the depth of the water and the amount of sea grasses floating on the surface.

When the March winds hit us, drowning a live bait is the last, but often most productive option.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.