Pre Hurricane Dorian Fishing

After completing my preparations for Hurricane Dorian and loading up the cans with gas for the generator, I dropped off the gas at the house and headed out to wet a line.

I discovered that all the access roads in the Merritt Island National Wildlife refuge, Bair's Cove, Bio Lab road, Patillo Creek, and Playalinda Beach were closed today to vehicle traffic even though hurricane Dorian is still a day or so out from us.

I past Shiloh Road, but by the time I got there, I didn't even bother driving into it.

Hope the hurricane misses us and I pray that where ever it hits, people stay safe.

Till I can wet a line again,

Tight Lines.

Beach Trip

This afternoon, my wife went to visit her horse, so I loaded up my truck and headed for the wildlife refuge to wet a line and hopefully snag something.

I decided to head over to North Shiloh Road to check out the area for tarpon and swing by Playalinda Beach on the way back to see if the mullet were in the surf yet.

When I got to the first set of culverts on Shiloh Road, I stopped to see if any fish were moving around.

The shallow water in the first pond had a slight wind blowing over it from the North but after making several casts with a Chug Bug and a Saltwater Assassin swimbait on a jig head smeared up with Pro-Cure with no hits, I decided to head up to the barrier at the Indian River to see if anything was swimming around up there.

The water in the shallow ponds was tannin stained but clear, and there was a little ripple on the water.

I tossed around several lures and had only one hit from a very small sea trout, so I decided to drive into Bio Lab road to hit Playalinda.

During the week, Bio Lab is pretty desolate.  I spotted one guy in a kayak tossing a cast net around, I assume to get bait, but he was the only other person on the road.

I stopped a couple of times to toss baits around and caught a couple of ladyfish that I didn't even bother taking pics of.  I returned the fish to the water and continued looking for signs of fish.

The water in the lagoon was a little choppy but the algae bloom made sight fishing in the shallow flats a bad idea.

I drove past the Vistas to Playalinda and around Eddy Creek.  The fishing pier at Eddy Creek has been totally repaired and looks great, but nobody was taking advantage of it today.

I pulled into lot #8 to check out the surf and found only a few people on the beach.

I immediately noticed that the water was a dingy brown color that went out about 100 yards from the beach and realized that it was probably what was left of the slimy brown algae bloom that the surf fishermen around Cocoa were talking about.

I took a few pics, walked around for a while and briefly noticed some finger mullet in the surf but nothing in the numbers that would make me break out my surf fishing outfit.   

Nobody was fishing except the couple on the beach, and they were obviously not catching.

I left the area and decided to head for the hacienda.

On the way back to the house, I decided to check out East Gator Creek road as my last stop.  

I pulled into the area and slowly drove around the loop looking for signs of feeding fish.  Nothing was moving that I could see, but I decided to make one last stop at an area that has received a lot of fishing pressure lately.

I cast my trusty Chug Bug and started catching ladyfish on almost every cast.

After catching and releasing 6 or 7 fish, I packed up my rod and head home for something to eat.

All in all it turned out to be a decent beach trip.

Till next time,

Tight Lines. 

Bio Lab Scouting Trip

Went on a "scouting trip" with Karen, Elmo, and Odie to check out the Mosquito Lagoon fishing.

Odie assumed his position on the center console as I loaded up the truck with four spinning rods, just in case.

We took off rather late in the afternoon and headed past Gator Creek and the Black Point wildlife drive towards Bio Lab road.

The game plan was to make a quick run around Bio Lab to see if juvenile tarpon were still around the area.

We drove around the Bio Lab boat launch parking area and headed to the first set of culverts at the entrance to Bio Lab road that usually hold small tarpon during the hot months.

Today, after checking out the area, it was obvious that no juvenile tarpon were in the area.

As we headed down Bio Lab road, we saw only one other person who was fishing in the Mosquito Lagoon on a kayak with a full sized cooler.

I wanted to ask him if he had any fish or adult beverages in the cooler but my wife was too embarrassed and made me move on down the road.

It was a hot day with little to no wind on the water and most of the areas in the lagoon that we drove by had some serious brown algae which made sight fishing pretty much impossible.

When we got to Playalinda Beach road, I decided to drive toward the beach and check out some of the Vistas to see if any tarpon were in the vicinity.

We stopped briefly at two Vistas that were stained with brown algae and saw no tarpon. 

I was going to head to the beach but Karen wanted to head back, so I decided to stop at the last Vista on the way out and toss a Chug Bug around just for the hell of it.

After several casts I was ready to pack it in but a nice ladyfish nailed the Chug Bug and started dancing all over the place.

I landed the fish, took a quick pic and added some Pro-Cure to "flavor" up the bait.

A couple of casts later I hit another ladyfish that quickly shook off the lure.

I caught two more ladyfish in the same area before I decided to leave the area.

Although Karen was in the truck with the "boys" with the A/C going watching me catch fish, she couldn't leave the dogs out of the car in this area to fish herself.

It was getting late so we decided to head home and pick up a Pizza for dinner.

We left the area, headed over to Lil Ceasers and home for din din.

Elmo and Odie were happy to get out for a "ride" and I was ready to calm my growling stomach.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Weekend Topwater Action

Got some late afternoon topwater action in yesterday around East Gator Creek road in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

In an hour of fishing, I nailed six ladyfish, mostly all dinks, and one very stupid sea trout on Chug Bugs and and XPS popper I picked up at Bass Pro while I was working in Mobile, Al.

None of the fish were outstanding so I didn't bother taking any pics, but I plan to get out tomorrow or Monday to target tarpon in the ditches.

The vehicle traffic in the refuge was heavy and a lot of anglers were on the water pitching a variety of artificial baits and fishing cut baits for reds.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Shiloh Road Topwater Tarpon

Late this afternoon after working on my Husquvarna lawn tractor, Karen persuaded me to take Elmo and Odie for a ride.

Never being one to lose an opportunity to wet a line, Karen and I loaded the "boys" into the truck and headed out to check out some areas she hadn't seen in a while.

We stopped at MickyDs and grabbed a couple of milkshakes before heading to Shiloh Road.

We pulled into the first culverts at the road and found the water levels had risen substantially.  Karen spotted some fish pushing wakes but we couldn't tell what they were and since it was late, I didn't bother tossing a lure around.

We drove up to the barrier and let Elmo and Odie out to do their thing and walked to where a lot of bank fishermen live bait for big redfish.

I took a spinning rod along with me and when I spotted some tarpon rolling, decided to throw a couple of casts to them.

After the third or fourth retrieve, I had a tarpon bust on the topwater XPS series popper that I had tied on. 

The fish blasted the popper entirely out of the air but didn't get hooked.

I made a couple more casts into the area with no hits so we headed back to the truck that I parked at the barrier.

Before leaving, Karen took the boys to relieve themselves, so I started blind casting near the barrier.

As luck would have it, I finally hooked up to a tarpon that was about 4 feet long on the second cast.  The fish jumped several times before I could get Karen to use my cell phone to video the action.

The results below were pretty good considering the circumstances.

I almost lost the fish in the brush and just when I thought I could bring it to the bank for a couple of pics, the tarpon made one last jump and tossed back my popper.

After losing the fish I made several more casts around the area, but with all the commotion, the tarpon bite was put down.

We got back to the truck and drove into the refuge towards Haulover Canal and decided to run down Lab Road.  When we crossed Haulover Bridge, there was a large group of Kayakers around Bair's Cove and several boats fishing the deep holes at the mouth of the Mosquito Lagoon.

We drove into Bio Lab and saw only two other people fishing the area.  One gentleman was in a kayak with a large cooler enjoying the afternoon, and the other guy had several rods out for reds.

Karen wanted to see where I have been catching juvenile tarpon so when we got to Playalinda Beach road, I stopped briefly to check out the Vistas where the tarpon had been.

It was around 7:30 pm, so I only made a few quick casts into the area just for the hell of it and as expected, did not get a hit.

Karen was hungry and so was I, so we headed back to the house and put on some pork chops for dinner.

Till next time
Tight Lines

Topwater Action In The Wildlife Refuge

Went out this afternoon around 4:30 pm for some topwater action in the wildlife refuge.

It was raining lightly and the air temperature was 83 degrees when I left the house.

I started fishing the first culvert at East Gator Creek with a Chug Bug, but moved on after not getting any hits.

There was a slight wind on the shallow grass flats that made casting somewhat difficult but just right for topwater fishing.

Fan casting the area around the first bend proved fruitless, so I decided to hit every stretch where I could make a reasonable cast and have a chance at landing a fish.

At the next spot I stopped to fish, I hooked a large ladyfish that thought it was a tarpon.  The fish jumped all over the flat and put on a great fight.

I landed the fish, took a couple of quick pics, and returned it to the water,

I smeared up my Chug Bug with some Pro-Cure Inshore formula and after a couple more casts hooked up with another ladyfish about the same size as the first one.

It started raining again and the fish started hitting my bait on almost every cast.

I caught a couple more ladyfish about the same size as the first two and another that was slightly larger than my Chug Bug.

Around the next bend, I made a cast to a large fish that I spotted nailing a bait on the surface.    

It took three casts to catch the interest of the fish, but it finally blasted my Chug Bug completely out of the water.   I let the lure sit and the fish came back and hooked itself on the second go around.

The fish turned out to be a big sea trout.  I got the fish close to the bank to where I could see it, but it broke off in the brush along the bank and took my favorite Chug Bug along with it.

Over the years I've learned to come prepared and I carry a small tackle store in the back seat of my truck.  I decided to tie on a topwater XPS series bait that I picked up at Bass Pro in Mobile, Al.  

I smeared up the bait with some Pro-Cure and started casting it to some Pro-Cureooking spots.

It didn't take long to pick up another under slot sea trout that I quickly released after taking a couple of pics.

It started raining again and I decided I had enough action for this afternoon.  I was tired, hungry, and the mosquitoes were beginning to get to me.

I managed to catch five ladyfish and land one spotted sea trout in an hour of topwater fishing.

I plan to get out again tomorrow and try for some tarpon.

Till next time,
Tight Lines