Catfish Creek Loop

My wife told me yesterday that Catfish Creek Loop was open, so when she asked if we wanted to take the "boys" for a ride around the swamp, I loaded up a few rods, packed Elmo and Odie into the truck and headed to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

As we were driving into East Gator Creek road, the wind along the causeway was strong enough to bring out a crowd of wind surfing enthusiasts.

There were several groups of people watching the wind surfers and several more fishing along the causeway for redfish and black drum that are running right now.

Karen and I didn't bring along any bait, but I had my back seat stocked with tons of artificial baits that I always carry around.

We stopped at a couple of spots to blind cast Chug Bugs and Slim Dogs but the wind made working a good presentation almost impossible so we drove past the small pond towards Peacock Pocket road into Catfish Creek Loop.

The wind slowed down a bit so I started bind casting a small size Chug Bug smeared up with Pro-Cure and had a couple of hits from pint sized sea trout.

As we drove around the loop, I complimented the refuge managers for doing a good job fixing up the road.  They filled in the ruts and apparently installed a couple of new culverts.

We fished a couple of spots without any luck and saw a few people driving around going way over the speed limit.   

It's a shame to report that after being open only a short time, people have already started leaving their garbage around the fishing spots instead of taking it with them.

As we were leaving the refuge, Karen spotted a large sea trout busting on the surface but because of the wind, I didn't bother casting to the fish.

I'm glad that Catfish Creek Loop road is finally open to vehicle traffic and plan to fish the area later in the week during the evening to see if I can raise a Redfish or two.

Till next time,

Tight Lines