Topwater Fishing Before The Storm

Left the house this afternoon ito get in some topwater fishing before the storm that was rolling into the area.

The air temperature dropped significantly, well into the 70s, and the wind,which was blowing relatively strong all day was beginning to pick up yet more.

As I crossed the A. Max Brewer causeway bridge, I could see that even the wind surfers were on the banks of the Indian River.  Apparently the wind was too much even for them.

Since ;I was already close to a fishing spot, I decided to brave the lousy conditions and toss what has become my favorite topwater bait around a bit.

As I drove past the wind surfers, there were whitecaps on the water but I was determined to find a spot sheltered enough to fish without too much difficulty.

I entered East Gator Creek road and pulled over at the first bend past the culverts I was treated to a beautiful rainbow, so I took a few pics before starting to toss my XPS Slim Dog around the area.

Although the wind was making a good presentation impossible, I still managed to hook into a small ladyfish that got off after the second jump.

I moved farther into the refuge and started casting into a relatively sheltered spot that I usually manage to hook into fish.

On the third or forth cast I hooked into an undersized sea trout which I quickly released.

The wind was still dragging the Slim Dog bait around but I managed to hook and release three more small trout in the same area.

It started raining so I put on my Frog Togs that were in the truck before continuing.

The rain didn't let up but the wind did, so I started fishing a bend in the creek where I caught a juvenile tarpon last month.

On the first cast to the opposite bank, the Slim Dog was blown out of the water by a sea trout of at least 6 or 7 pounds.    The fish was as long as most of the oversize redfish I catch in the refuge.

In any event, I was so startled by the hit that I literally pulled the bait out of the fish's mouth.

I reeled the topwater bait back and made several more casts into and around the area, but the big trout was not stupid enough to get stung twice.

I caught one more small sea trout before the rain started really coming down, so I released the fish and headed back home for dinner.

I plan on hitting the spot again tomorrow evening.  Maybe the fish will still be hanging around, who knows?

Tight Lines.