Topwater Fishing In The Refuge

Around 5:30 pm this afternoon, my wife asked if we could take the "boys" out to the swamp for some topwater fishing in the refuge.

Since it had just rained and the temperature was tolerable, I quickly agreed and started loading up the truck.

Today I brought two spinning rods with Chug Bugs, one rod with an XPS Slim Dog, and one rod with a sliding sinker rig for redfish.

The dogs were in the truck almost before I opened the door, and when my wife finished loading the cooler with some drinks and a single frozen ladyfish for bait that I caught the other day, we were off to the "swamp".

My wife was in charge of watching Elmo and Odie so she opted for fishing a chunk of ladyfish on the redfish rig.  Meanwhile, I walked the banks of East Gator Creek with my topwater rods looking for signs of fish.

I started casting with the Slim Dog bait but "walking the dog" was difficult with the slight wind and chop on the water.

I switched to a new Chug Bug I bought to replace my favorite Baby Bass pattern and started fan casting in several areas.

After getting a couple of half hearted hits, we decided to move to another less windy spot.

There were a lot of gators on the bank croaking away and only a few in the water which made topwater fishing a pleasant experience.  I hate when the gators follow the bait.

The last stop we made was at a small pond where I missed a nice spotted sea trout the other day.

Karen set up her chunk bait at the bend of a small island and I again started walking the bank, fan casting, to cover as much water as possible.

I missed a large ladyfish on the XPS Slim Dog and because it was so hard to fish, I switched to the Chug Bug.

I started fan casting and catching fish almost immediately.  The trick today was to let the bait sit perfectly still for a minute or so after a couple of quick jerks, and repeat the process to the bank.

I managed to catch and release seven decent sized sea trout in the next hour, and missed at least that same amount.

I took a few pics and a short video of the action before releasing the fish.

About 6:45 pm the bite abruptly stopped.

I started walking back to the truck when I heard Karen ask for help with a large fish she had just caught.

When I got closer I saw that she had caught a large garfish.

I got my pliers but the gar had swallowed the chunk of ladyfish, so I cut the line to let the fish digest the hook instead of my fingers.

After a few pics, I released the gar, packed up our gear and headed to the house for dinner.  There were a couple of pork chops with my name on them and I hadn't eaten all day.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.