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