Brackish Water Bass

Catching brackish water bass is a pleasant by catch for us in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. 

You never know what you are going to catch in these waters, especially during the winter months.

After I returned from my messed up trip to Haulover this afternoon, Karen didn't feel like walking around the block with me, so I decided to get my daily exercise walking across the A. Max Brewer causeway bridge instead.

I completed my brisk walk, took a few quick pics of the area, and was going to head back home but instead decided to make a quick run around East Gator Creek Road to see if anybody was fishing this late in the afternoon.

I was hoping to see some topwater activity but nothing was hitting the surface.

The air temperature was 65 degrees and there was almost no wind over the water.

I didn't plan on fishing but when I pulled up to a spot where I usually catch fish throughout the year, I decided to unpack my rods and tie on a Chug Bug.

It was almost dusk when I made my first and only cast to the opposite bank of the creek.

I let the bait sit there and made a painfully slow stop and go retrieve.

About 4 feet from the bank a fish smashed the topwater bait and pulled drag from my reel.  I had 10 pound mono with no leader to the Chug Bug and the fish almost immediately headed to the mangrove roots along the bank.

I gave the fish line and as he headed back out to open water I horsed the fish to the bank and quickly landed it.

I wasn't too surprised to see that it was a bass of about 3 pounds or so.

I unhooked the fish and took a few awful pics before releasing it back to where it was better off.

About the time I was going to make another cast, my wife called to remind me dinner was ready.,

That was all it took to get me back into the truck and head for home.

On the way out I just had to take a few more pics of the bridge.  It's definitely a workout.

Not a bad way to end 2019 compared to the skunk I had earlier at Haulover.

Till next year,

Tight Lines and Happy New Year.....

Haulover Misses

Went down to Haulover Canal to fish for some of the bull redfish that are in there right now and wound up breaking my favorite spinning outfit on the rocks.

I managed to slip on a step down coquina outcropping and it was either break a bone or the rod.

 Needless to say, I'm too old to suffer any broken bones so the rod suffered.

Fortunately, I just got the email link below about Bass Pro Shops Annual Clearance Sale with Up to 70% off and free shipping over $50.

The sale already started 12/26/2019 and ends 1/8/2020.

I picked up another graphite spinning rod and a Penn Fierce II baitrunner outfit which should be here before I have to get back to work in Mobile, Al next week.

I fished the canal for about an hour and a half with a smaller outfit that was spooled with 10 pound Cajun Red and had two hits on sections of live blue crab.

The first fish broke off on the coquina rocks after about  a minute or so, and the second fish took off up the canal towards the bridge pilings and also got off.

I usually spool up with 30 to 65 pound Power Pro to handle the bruisers, but I left those rods at the house.

It was chilly on the water today so after losing the second fish I decided to head for the house and try again tomorrow with some heavier tackle.

Till next time,
Tight Lines and have a Happy New Year...........

Redfish In The Creeks

This afternoon when Karen asked if we could take the "boys" for a ride, I thought about the redfish in the creeks near Shiloh Road and immediately agreed.

We left in such a hurry that I had to stop at a bait shop to buy some frozen shrimp for bait.

It was in the mid 70s and drizzling when we pulled into Shiloh Marsh Road but by the time we were half way to where Karen wanted to fish, the rain had stopped.

The water level was up on both sides of the road and we both got wet feet walking to our fishing spot.

Karen was using an Okuma bait runner reel loaded with Cajun Red line and I had a Penn Fierce III outfit loaded with 8 pound mono and only a #4/0 Owner hook.

We put out both rods with shrimp and I pulled out another Penn outfit with a Johnson Sprite spoon and started blind casting the area.   I'm not patient enough to sit and watch a rod for a bite.

I wasn't doing anything with the spoon but Karen had caught and released two hard head catfish in a matter of a half an hour.

I finally gave up on the gold spoon about the time Karen hooked into a nice fish.

I pulled out my cell phone and took this video of the action.

The fish was just inside the slot and would have made a great dinner but Karen wanted to release it. 

The red inhaled the hook so I cut the leader as close to the hook as possible and released the fish to fight another day.

During the fight, I hooked into another catfish that I quickly landed and released.

We were going to stay and fish a little bit longer but it started to rain again so we called it a day.

This area of the Indian River produces some nice redfish, snook, tarpon, and occasionally black drum.  I seldom catch sea trout in the creeks but I'm sure they are here.

I took another pick or two of the area before packing it in and plan to fish the area next week during my vacation.

Till next time,
Tight Lines...

Shrimping On The Titusville Pier

When I got home late Friday afternoon, the first thing I did was pack Elmo, Odie, and my wife into the truck to take a trip around the refuge and see if anybody was catching any fish.

We spotted plenty of waterfowl but only one person who was actually fishing around Catfish Creek Loop, and he was only catching an occasional catfish.

  

I stopped briefly to talk with Don who was from Colorado about the fishing and we shared a few stories before moving along.  He said the redfish were not hitting lately.

After making the rounds we headed home and after a brisk walk around the block, I decided to check out the shrimping on the Titusville pier.

I got there a little after 7:30 pm and the air temperature was 63 degrees.  A light wind was causing a slight chop on the water and I was surprised to see only three or four people shrimping.

The first lady I spoke with said the shrimping was picking up but it was still early in the season.  She had a few in the sock of her net but had just started so I moved on to check out the other sport shrimpers.

Nobody was netting a lot of shrimp but the sea trout and redfish over the lights seemed to be eating just fine.

I took a few pics of the area and tried to catch a couple of the larger redfish on a video (click below) but by the time I got focused, they were gone.

I hit the upper pier and the one person who was shrimping there had about the same amount as the lady on the lower pier.

The shrimp were large, but not plentiful yet.

I took a few more pics before heading home and calling it a night.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket Sight Fishing

Peacocks Pocket sight fishing isn't something we often write about but with the almost crystal clear water we experience during the winter months in our area, I thought a word or two was in order.

My wife and I originally planned to hit the beach and check out the surf fishing for pompano that is expected to ramp up next month but she forgot about her  doctor's appointment, so I decided to check it out for myself.

I loaded up a couple of surf rods "just in case", pulled out some blanched, frozen, sand fleas from the freezer to use as bait and headed for Playalinda Beach.

Being Thanksgiving week, you would assume that the beach would be crowded but except for vehicles touring the area, not many sun worshipers planted themselves on the sand.

The air temperature today was in the 70 s and there was very little wind over the surf.  The tide was already out and there was very little water movement in the surf

Perfect casting conditions bur not so great for the bite.

I stopped at lots numbers 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and drove around Eddy Creek to see if anybody was fishing the lagoon flats and was surprised to see only three surf fishermen on the water.

After talking to them, it was apparent that the Pompano run had not yet occurred in this area of the coast.  

One guy was catching a few whiting and catfish while the other two anglers I spoke with were  just dunking dead shrimp.

I took some pics of each area and decided to head towards home and stop at the northern end of Peacocks Pocket to see if anybody was fishing the flats in that area.

The barrier was up and the water in Peacocks Pocket was clean and clear, which was probably why several trucks and trailers were parked at the shallow water ramp.

I spotted three guys poling around the Eastern shoreline of the Pocket and another angler in a flats boat fishing close to Stony Island in the Banana Creek area.

There are always at least a couple of fishing rods in my truck so I pulled them out and started blind casting a Chug Bug around the calm water in the Pocket.

After a couple of hesitant follow ups, I switched to a gold Johnsons Sprite spoon and repeated the pattern with no hits.

I spied only one wake from a redfish or a black drum that was outside of casting range and several small pods of fingerling mullet, but I never hooked up with anything except a stickup.

It was getting chilly and since the bite from shore was less than enthusiastic, I decided to head back to the house and make something for dinner.

I plan on taking my kayak to the pocket if it stay relatively warm and check out that Eastern shoreline.  Both sight casters that were fishing the area had fish on but I couldn't make out what they were.

On the way out, I took a couple of pics of the sun going down.

Awesome!
Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Clean Water In The Lagoons

Went for a short spin this afternoon and found a lot of clean water in both of the lagoon systems.

The water conditions right now make for almost perfect sight fishing in both the Mosquito Lagoon and north Indian River.

I had three rods with me tipped with a topwater Chug Bug, a Johnson's Silver Minnow, and a Mirrolure suspended bait that I was using on juvenile tarpon earlier this year.

I started slowly cruised around Catfish Creek Loop searching for signs of fish activity and found a plethora of wildlife.  Duck hunting is still in season and it seemed like all the ducks were sheltering in the area to keep away from the hunters.

The birders today would be envious of the different species of waterfowl that I spotted this afternoon.,

I tossed in a pic of the water snake above that was crossing the road around the Peacocks Pocket road barrier, just for grins.

There were a lot of fishermen on the water and along the banks today were dunking fingerling mullet, chunked baits, and shrimp. 

Most everybody I talked to said that the bite was slow and only two guys had caught anything.  A slot sea trout on a finger mullet and a juvenile black drum that another guy picked up on a dead shrimp,

As I was driving around Catfish Creek Loop, I spotted a guy in a flats boat tossing plastic baits around the mangroves.  I watched him long enough to see him finally get a hookup with what looked like a sea trout.   I took a series of pics of the guy and discovered one that had a UFO type object (below) mysteriously show up in the background.

I fished both sides of the road at several locations tossing the gold spoon around the pods of mullet and had one bump but no hookups.

As I drove out of the area, I decided to head back to the house and get something for dinner.

As much as I enjoy fishing in the refuge, I like catching more and this afternoon the bite didn't seem to be on.

Till next time
Tight Lines

 

North Indian River Redfish

The North Indian River redfish bite has been on all month and this afternoon, even though I was beat from working around the house and mowing the lawn, I decided to drive up to Shiloh Road and wet a line.

It was around 3:30 pm when I got to the turnoff at US 1 and the weather was awesome.  The air temperature was around 73 degrees and there was almost no wind blowing over the water.

The water level in the marsh and creeks is way up but I couldn't spot any topwater action so I drove up to the barrier and decided to toss a Chug Bug around the area.

I could hear an occasional shotgun blast from the waterfowl hunters in the area but other than that, it was a peaceful afternoon.

There were a couple of oriental ladies watching the spoonbills that were feeding in the area but they were the only people in the area as I started fan casting the area.

I had one hit from a sea trout but no hookups and after a little while I decided to try another area.

As I was loading up my rod, another lady came walking down the road with a nice redfish that someone in her party had caught.

I asked her if I could take a pic and after finally breaking though the language barrier, found that her spouse caught the red on a finger mullet.

The deeper flats in the north area of the Indian River this time of the year is always good for reds and I made a mental note to try the area tomorrow with some live baits.

I took these pics and took off to try another location.

I headed towards Haulover Canal and decided to pull into Patillo Creek to see if anything was happening.

I drove slowly looking for signs of fish and finally stopped at a wide section of backwater when I spotted some cruising redfish.

I spent an hour tossing a Chug Bug, a Mirrolure and finally a Johnsons Sprite ahead of the wakes before finally getting a hit.

The redfish hit the gold spoon that I smeared up with some Pro-Cure and took off like a shot toward the shoreline where it broke off on some stickups.

It never ceases to amaze me that with all that open water, the fish would head toward the one spot where it could break off,..

Anyway, I tied on another gold spoon and continued casting until it started getting too dark to fish.

I never did get another hit but like they say, that's why its called FISHING.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Bluegill On Chug Bug

Catching a bluegill on a Chug Bug was the last thing I had in mind this afternoon but when I decided to take Odie for a ride around East Gator Creek and toss a topwater bait around, that's exactly what happened.

A brisk wind was blowing when I crossed the A. Max Brewer bridge but since this was just a "scouting" trip I didn't pay much attention to it.

Odie and I drove into East Gator Creek around 5:15 pm looking for any sign of topwater activity on the shallow flats.

The first set of culverts were closed and no fish were moving around so I drove slowly around the area towards a spot I usually catch fish.

I pulled over and let Odie out of the truck to do his duty while I pulled out a spinning rod tipped with a frog pattern Chug Bug.

The wind made casting a bit difficult but I managed with low casts and was able to work the bait enough to make it look lifelike.

About the fourth cast, I had a hit from a small spotted sea trout that rolled on the plug close enough to the bank that I could see what it was.

I continued casting and got a hit on the Chug Bug when it was just floating on the water.  I was looking after Odie when the fish hit.

At first I thought it was another under slot sea trout, but when I started pulling it to the bank, I saw that it was a large bluegill.

I pulled the gill out, took a few pics, and put it back into the water wondering about where it came from.

This was the same spot where I caught a nice bass a couple of months ago, so I presumed that there was either an underground spring feeding this area or the water here was almost fresh.

Anyway, after several more unfruitful casts, I packed in the rod and Odie to continue our "scouting trip".

We drove around Catfish Creek Loop and was surprised that every good spot to fish was taken by guys drowning live or chunked mullet.   A sign that the redfish bite was on.

I took a few pics of the area and headed back across the bridge and decided to check out the fishing piers at the restaurant.

The place was jumping.  A band was playing and there were a lot of people on the fishing piers. 

I couldn't walk them because I didn't have Odie's leash so I drove around the area and headed back to the house.

Hope to wet a line again tomorrow before I have to head back to work.

Till next time,
Tight Lines