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.