Night Fishing In The Refuge

It was late when I left the house this evening, so a little night fishing in the Refuge seemed to be in order.

I had three spinning rods in my truck all tipped with topwater baits, so I figured I couldn't go wrong tossing around a few Chug Bugs and Zara Spooks.

When I got to East Gator Creek, a couple of gators were in the spot where I had intended to start fishing, so I left them the area and moved up the unimproved road to another spot where I knew I could land a fish when it got dark.

The water over the shallow grass flat was like glass.  Perfect for topwater fishing so I started tossing a small Chug Bug around the mangrove roots to see if I could gin up some interest.

I had a couple of followups and a little boil but no hookups.

About 20 minutes after I started fishing, I was cussing myself for not bringing along some Deet bug spray.  The gnats and mosquitoes were eating me alive.

I had to get into the car and turn on the air conditioner for a bit to get comfortable before I could continue fishing.

I had been alternating between a Chug Bug and the smaller size Skitterwalk, but I couldn't gauge how far to cast with the Skitterwalk, so I started tossing the Chug Bug as close to the mangroves on the opposite bank as I could.

As soon as it got dark the bite turned on.  Almost like flipping a light switch, the fish started blowing up on my Chug Bug.

I missed three fish before hooking up with a very nice sized sea trout that blasted the Chug Bug.  I heard the fish hit the bait and then felt it on the line.

I got the fish close to the bank but lost it to a mangrove root as I was trying to get the fish out of the water.

The very next cast I hooked and lost another fish in the sea grass but a couple of casts later I hooked up with a big ladyfish that made several runs and jumps before I could horse it to the bank.

I took a couple of pics, released the fish, and continued casting into the darkness.  

I hooked and released a smaller ladyfish and missed another fish that I think was a sea trout before the insects had their way and drove me out of the Wildlife Refuge.

All the time I was in the area, only one other vehicle crossed my path.

My kind of fishing!

Hope to get out tomorrow after working around the Hacienda.

Till next time,

Tight Lines

Bio Lab Flats Fishing

After my dentist appoint this morning, I decided to make a scouting trip around the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see if Bio Lab flats fishing could be on the agenda this week.

It was raining slightly at the house so I decided to hit Shiloh Marsh road to see if any juvenile tarpon were in the area.

I brought along my 8 wt fly rod, three spinning rods, and a 10 wt. fly rod just for the hell of it.

When I got to Shiloh Road, I didn't see any sign of fish but I stopped anyway to toss a couple of Chug Bugs around the area.

There was a slight breeze over the water on one side of the road but the water on the other side was completely calm.

After several casts to the calm side, I never got a hit or a follow up so I changed over to the smaller size Chug Bug and started casting to likely looking areas on the windy side.

The third cast was a charm and an under size sea trout hit the bait.  I took a pic, released the fish and continued casting.

I caught and released three more sea trout about the same size and two medium sized ladyfish before the bite stopped.

I moved up the unimproved road and stopped to cast into several areas along the way to the barrier and managed a couple of boils, but no fish.

When I got to the barrier, I parked and started fan casting the area with a small size SkitterWalk that I picked up at Bass Pro.

The change in baits produced two small sea trout and a miss from a garfish about two feet long.

I wanted to hit BioLab road before Snook season to scout the area so I left Shiloh and headed to the refuge entrance off of A1A.

Haulover Canal looked desolate.  There were no boats in the canal and I didn't notice anyone fishing from the banks from the bridge so I moved on to Bio Lab.

The road was open and there was a guy parked at the culverts with a fly rod trying to catch snook.

It was around 5:45 pm when I entered the road and there was a lot of fish activity along the weedy shoreline.  The wind was blowing towards the road and the weeds were piling up along the shore where baitfish were apparently hiding.

I spotted three redfish that I tried casting a Chug Bug to but the weeds made a good presentation pretty impossible.

Farther down Bio Lab towards the Whale Tail flats, the water was clean and there were a lot of baitfish schools in the area.  Several times I noticed fish busting on the mullet causing the entire school to scatter.

I stopped twice to cast another Chug Bug towards the schools and caught a couple more sea trout that I quickly released before moving on down the road towards Playalinda Beach road.

I was going to wade another flat farther south but there were two large gators on the flat around the mullet pods that I didn't feel like messing with.

The refuge manager made a wise decision when they made Bio Lab road one way.  The grass alongside the road in several areas was shoulder high and would definitely cause problems with traffic coming in from the beach road.

I found several spots that looked like prime snook water and mentally filed them in my worn memory banks for the opening of Snook season Saturday.

As I exited Bio Lab, I was tired and hungry, so I headed to the house for something to eat.

Hope to get out again before Saturday to firm up a couple more snooky looking spots

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Its Hard To Beat A Chug Bug

Over the years I've learned that its hard to beat a Chug Bug for topwater fishing under almost all conditions and this afternoon's trip to Gator Creek again proved my point.

I got back to town late Friday, but didn't get a chance to wet a line until late Sunday afternoon.

The weather was typical for late August.  Hot, slightly breezy, with late afternoon thunderstorms being the norm.

I brought my usual array of spinning rods, all tipped with Chug Bugs and XPS Slim Dog topwater baits to fish the grassy flats in Gator Creek.

The slight breeze on the shallows made the Slim Dog a bit difficult to present properly, so I spent most of my time tossing a couple of Chug Bugs around the deeper drops.

I was hoping for some tarpon, but I never saw one roll all the time I was on the water.  I did manage to do quite well on ladyfish and sea trout.

The first couple of spots I stopped at produced some followups and a couple of medium sized ladyfish which I took some pics of and quickly released.   

I spent some time fishing an area in the shallows where I nailed a tarpon a few weeks ago when I was last home and was rewarded with several spotted sea trout ranging in size from 14" to 25", all on the Chug Bug

I was fishing two sizes and found that the smaller size was getting more fish.  The larger size Chug Bug got less hits but in every case, larger fish.

I spent a total of about two hours on in the area before the wind picked up and I got tired of casting to fish.

The huge horse flies that made a meal of my shins also had a lot to do with me giving it up early.

Although there were plenty of gators in the area, I think they really need to rename Gator Creek, Horse Fly Creek.

Anyway, I fished all the way up to the entrance of Catfish Creek Loop which for some unknown reason is still closed to vehicle traffic.

I managed to catch and release 7 ladyfish, 6 spotted sea trout and I missed a small redfish and several more sea trout in a small pond all in a couple of hours.

I plan on getting out this week with my fly rod and see if I can still jump some juvenile tarpon and snook in the Mosquito Lagoon.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Topwater Snook In The Creeks

Got a late start today but after cleaning up my somewhat neglected Maverick flats boat and doing some work around the house, I got out for some topwater snook action in the creeks.

The snook are anywhere there is fresh water entering the lagoon system and they are eager to eat.

Because it was late in the afternoon, I only brought one rod tipped with a Chug Bug.  The temperature was cooling down a bit so I decided to hit one of the "secret" creeks I like to fish in the refuge along the Volusia County line.

To make a long story short, I managed three snook in a feeder creek near an open culvert in about an hour's time.

Not bad for a late start...

Only got one video of the action, below:

Hope to get out again tomorrow before going back to work again.

Tight Lines and bent rods.