Fishing Playalinda Beach

Since the conditions today were supposed to be optimal for surf fishing, I decided to try fishing Playalinda Beach where I  scouted some areas yesterday with my wife and the "boys".

I headed out around 9:30 am to hit the falling tide with a trio of surf rods, a cooler, and my newly purchased sand flea rake.

I stopped at Mosquito Lagoon Bait and Tackle to pick up a bag of "fresh dead" shrimp in case the sand flea rake didn't pan out and headed out to lot #10.

There were a few cars parked at the lower numbered lots but only one at #10.

As I walked the ramp to the beach, I reminded myself to pay attention to the rips in the area.

These are great to fish but not so much fun if you get caught up in one.

I know because it happened to me once at lot #8.

Anyway, when I got to the lookout at the top of the walkway, I took a bit of time to read the waves and decide where to fish.

A man and his son was catch fishing north of the walkway, so I decided to fish south of him where I spotted a decent looking area yesterday.

I picked a spot where the Sanderlings were picking around in the surf and where there were a lot of shells.  It looked like a rip area so got out the rake and started searching for sand fleas.

Although they were smaller than I'd like, it didn't take long to get some for bait.

I rigged a double hook rig with 3/0 Eagle Claw circle hooks and finished it off with a 3 oz sinker at the bottom.

I was using a Penn Fierce 8' surf combo I picked up on sale at Bass Pro to fish the closest trough and an Okuma Coranado bait runner reel on an Ande Tournament 11' 0" rod for the outer troughs.

It took several casts to locate where the fish were but I finally started to catch fish on the sand fleas.

I caught 5 pompano that were all undersized, one really small black drum, and several nice size whiting that I took home for dinner.

When the bite slowed down around 1:30 pm, I decided to pack up and head to Haulover Canal.

On the way to the truck, a game warden on a four wheeler pulled up and asked me about my catch.  I told him what I caught and that I didn't need a fishing license due to my age.  I offered to get my wallet from the truck to prove my age and thanked him for the complement when he said I didn't look it.

When I got to Haulover Canal, it took a while to get a parking spot.  There were fishermen lining both sides of the canal and most were catching fish.

I hooked a large fresh dead shrimp on my other Okuma rig and sent it to the middle of the canal.

It didn't take long before I caught a small stingray which I quickly released.

I had two more bites which I missed and finally hooked into a large redfish.  The fish made three really long runs and got tangled with another line before breaking off on the rocks, at least so I thought.

A minute later, the fisherman next to me, Vlados, started hand lining the fish I had on my line that had just broken off.  I walked over to help him and his friend  bring the fish in and after a few minutes we had it right at the bank.

The redfish was well over 40 inches long and had a couple more fishing lines tangled up with it.

As it got close to the bank and I was pulling out my camera to take a video, the fish broke off.

I was going to continue fishing but I had enough of the close quarters for one day, so I packed up my gear and headed for the house.

On the way home, I decided to give East Gator Creek a try.  It was getting close to dark and the mosquitoes were viscous as usual, but I just had to give it a try.  The full moon makes fish do crazy things, especially in the refuge.

I pulled into an area where I caught a few tarpon earlier in the year and started casting an XPS Slim Dog topwater bait that I smeared up with some Pro-Cure gel.

It took two casts before an under size sea trout nailed the bait.  I released the fish and continued fishing.

Two or three casts later, I hooked into another larger sea trout that got off when it got tangled in the sea grass.

I wanted to fish a small pond on the way to Catfish Creek Loop before it got dark so I drove up the road to that area.

The first cast hooked me up with a small "rat" redfish that I thought was a large sea trout.

The fish put up a respectable run for it's size before giving up the fight.  I took a quick pic and released the red to grow into a bull some day.

The skeets were killing me and I was getting weak from loss of blood and nourishment, so I headed back to the house

.

Took a couple of pics on the way of of the sunset.

Tight Lines.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving and tight lines to everyone this coming year.

Garfield was patiently waiting for Thanksgiving Day dinner so after stuffing ourselves with turkey, dressing, etc., Karen and I decided to take a ride with Elmo and Odie around the area to see if anybody was catching fish.

It was beautiful weather and a good day to wet a line, but it was getting late in the afternoon and I didn't particularly care to fish with the two dogs in tow.

We decided to hit the beach first to see if any fishermen were after Pompano in the surf.

We drove around Eddy Creek and headed farther north to lot number 12 to check it out first.

There were a couple of cars parked there and a lone fisherman who was leaving as we pulled up.  He told me he was fishing since noon and only had a couple of bites with no hookups.  

He said nobody else was fishing the area so instead of checking out the area, we drove up to the turnaround at lot #13 and headed back south.

I pulled into lot #10 and parked.  Karen stayed in the truck with the "boys" and I walked to the beach to check out the surf.

Except for some Sanderlings scooting along the beach, there was nobody around.

The waves were manageable and the surf looked very fishable.   I spotted a rip and made a mental note to try fishing the spot tomorrow.

After taking a couple more pics I headed back to the truck to check out some more areas.

The beach at Lot #8 was also void of human activity so I decided to head to Haulover Canal and see how the bank fishermen were doing there.

There were a few people at Bair's Cove watching a gaggle of manatees frolicking around near the boat ramp, so I drove around and pulled over at the first open space we could find to let the dogs out for a spell.

The area was loaded with bank fishermen who were after black drum and bull redfish.

As I was taking some pics of the area, several manatees came right up to the bank apparently looking for sea grass to eat.

I took a few pics and a short video before we decided to head for the house.  I didn't bring along any bait or I definitely would have tried fishing the area.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Playalinda Beach Pompano

The Playalinda Beach Pompano run was supposed to be going hot and heavy by this time in November, so even though I got a late start, I decided to head on out to the beach and see what was being caught.

It was around 4:30 pm when I left the house and it wasn't until I stopped at Mosquito Lagoon Bait & Tackle before I realized I forgot to bring along my surf rods.

I picked up several 2 oz. to 5 oz. Sputnik type surf fishing weights and a pack of 2/0 Eagle Claw circle hooks to rig up some Pompano rigs.

I asked Phil about the fishing at Playalinda and was told that the surf fishermen this past week were bringing back coolers full of Pomapano, Whiting, and Bluefish.

The higher numbered lots seemed to be producing the most fish but Phil said he was getting reports of fish caught from almost all areas.

I thanked him for the information and decided to head to the beach and see if I could see for myself.

It was a little after 5:00 pm when I drove past the guard booth and the sky was gloomy to say the least.

The air temperature was 68 degrees F. and there was a moderate breeze blowing when I drove into lot #11.

When I walked up the ramp to the beach, I spotted two lone people on the beach who looked like they were getting ready to leave.

There was absolutely nobody on the beach fishing, anywhere.

It was low tide so I took some pics of the waves so I could tell where the sand bars were if I decided to go fishing tomorrow. There was a nice rip and a double sand bar which showed some potential.

Playalinda Beach closes at 6:00 pm sharp, so I headed back to check out lots #9 and #8 before leaving.

Both of the areas were void of human life and all the areas I stopped at had nice, deep troughs that could hold Pompano.

I made a quick swing around Eddy Creek and took some more pics before being run off by the authorities.

If the weather holds, I plan on fishing the beach at least by Friday of this week.

Till next time,
Tight Lines

Scouting Trip In The Refuge

Got back home Friday night but couldn't wet a line until this afternoon when I took the "boys" out for a scouting trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I loaded up Elmo, Odie, and three spinning rods tipped with soft and topwater baits and headed out to north Shiloh Road to see if anything was happening.  

Taking the dogs fishing alone is great for the boys, but not so much for my success at fishing.

I drove down the unimproved gravel road to the barrier with high expectations.  The air temperature was in the 70s, and there was little to no wind over the water.

The weather was beautiful but the fish apparently had lockjaw.

I pitched a couple of topwater baits around the first set of culverts for about 15 minutes without a hit or a follow up before moving up towards the barrier.

The water at the culverts was a dingy brown color which was undoubtedly brown algae.   In every spot we stopped to fish, I never had a hit or even a follow.

There was plenty of wildlife around the area and only one car parked close to the barrier. 

I spotted a coon, a wild pig, and tons of different bird species wading in the shallow ponds so I just had to take a few pics.

I spotted a guy on the other side of the barrier fishing from the bank but I didn't want to intrude, so I packed up Elmo and Odie and left the area.

We headed into the wildlife refuge towards Haulover Canal but on the way I decided to check out Patillo Creek.

Again, only one group of people was fishing the area close to the dead end along the northern part of the road.  The flats were dead calm and although both anglers were reeling in their rods, I didn't see anyone catching any fish.

I pitched around an XPS Slim Dog and a Chug Bug for awhile but never got a hit.

It was getting towards dusk and the sunset on the Indian River was absolutely beautiful.  I took a few pics of the scenery and the "boys" before heading out of the area.

As we crossed the Haulover Canal bridge, I couldn't believe the amount of people fishing the banks of the canal.  Apparently, that is where the fish were.

I drove past several bank fishermen before taking the opportunity to ask one angler who was leaving the area what the bite was all about.

He said everyone was catching black drum and redfish.  The drum bite was apparently on fire in the deeper waters of the canal.

He said shrimp and fresh crab sections were the baits of choice and that the drum were in the 12 pound plus category.

I thanked him for the information before leaving the area and heading for the house.

Till next time,

Tight Lines

Veterans Day In Mobile

Veterans Day in Mobile, Al. was a chilly 63 degrees this afternoon, just the right temperature for redfish in Mobile Bay.

I got tired of listening to the same old Sunday morning talking heads spinning the mid term election results and beating up on Trump, so about 4:30 pm I packed up a couple of rods and headed towards the closest waterway to wet a line.

I stopped at the local tropical fish shop first to see if they had any oddball species in, but except for a few high priced Shovelnose catfish that max out at over 3 feet in length, they had nothing of interest to me.

I picked up an air stone, some fish food, and headed towards the causeway.

I stopped at Battleship Park and took these pics of the area where they placed flags in memory of our fallen heros at the entrance.

I paid my respects and headed to where several fishermen were dunking shrimp along the bank.

The tide was super low and a few boats were fishing for reds along the submerged flats.   I saw two guys in separate boats hookup with fish and land them but I have no idea what they were.

I took a couple of pics and decided to head out to Bass Pro and pickup some hard topwater baits.  I've been using XPS Slim Dogs and since they were on sale, I decided to stock up.

When I got there, I talked myself into buying another Penn Bait runner outfit that they had on sale for my Veterans Day present.   Even got a Veterans discount out of the deal.  Who knew...

It was getting late when I left Bass Pro but I managed to toss around one of the XPS baits on the new outfit near the bridge before Battleship Park.

I made several casts and really didn't expect to catch anything but on the fifth or sixth cast a nice fish boiled under my bait.   

One of the guys fishing the area with shrimp said that the redfish bite was getting hot because of the cold weather moving into the area and that they were hitting shrimp, fresh cut mullet, and top water baits early in the morning and close to dusk.

Although I didn't get another hookup, I kept on fan casting the area for another 15 minutes or so without another hit before I decided to head back to the apartment where I was staying.

I took a few more pics of the area before heading out.

As I crossed the bridge to get back onto I-10,  I just had to get another shot of the Battleship at sunset.

Till next time,

Tight Lines

Playalinda Pomps and Permit

I've been in Mobile, Al this past week and haven't had much chance to wet a line but Javier Cuazo was kind enough to shoot me some pics of fish he caught this Thursday at Playalinda Beach.

He was fishing in Lot 12 using shrimp for bait and caught about 6 Pompanos/Permits and several  Whiting between the hrs of 0700 through 1300.   

That's 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. for you non-military types.

He also sent me this short video which I decided to post despite the fact that I do not speak Spanish and haven't a clue about what is being said.

They look happy so if it is offensive, which I'm sure it is not, just click out.

The surf in the pics looks much more fishable than the last time I visited Playalinda.

I'll love eating Pompano and will definitely be heading to the beach as soon as I get back home again.

Till next time,

Tight Lines