Plenty Of Drum In The River

Right now there are plenty of drum in the river as well as the Mosquito Lagoon and anglers have been catching them in good numbers from the bank and on the flats.

I haven't been fishing this area for awhile but yesterday when I finally managed to get out and scout the areas around the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, I was pleasantly surprised to see that a good number of bank fishermen were catching slot size black drum and redfish.

As I crossed the A. Max Brewer Bridge towards NASA, I was surprised to see how many people were on the North side of the causeway partying and parasailing.  I was under the impression that gatherings were limited to 50 people but apparently nobody read the memo.

As I drove past all the partying, I spotted the sign that said Playalinda Beach was closed.

I drove into East Gator Creek and planned to fish a couple of spots with a topwater bait, but both of them were already occupied with bank fishermen dunking shrimp and chunk baits.

One guy I spoke with had five rods staked out and said he had been limiting out on black drum along the banks of the Indian River for the past week.  He had been using shrimp for bait and said that all the fish were in the slot.,

I continued driving around the area and stopped a few times to chuck a Chug Bug around some promising areas just to say that I had "wet a line". 

I had one follow up but no takers; probably because the conditions were not great for topwater bait fishing.  The water was too choppy in most areas to work the lure properly.

I decided to check out the exit to Peacocks Pocket Road which is still closed and as I turned into Catfish Creek Loop I stopped to talk to a couple of guys fishing at the culverts.

When I asked Chris and his friend if they had caught any fish, Chris was happy to show me a couple of nice slot size black drum that he had caught on live shrimp.

When I asked for a pic, he happily obliged with the two below.

It was getting dark as I navigated the unimproved road but as I slowly drove around the far side of Catfish Creek, every fishing spot was taken.

A couple of guys who were fishing at the new culverts had several rods staked out and as I drove by, one of them was unhooking an under size redfish.  He told me he was using shrimp for bait and that they were catching a lot of reds and black drum.

By the time I drove out of the Catfish Creek area, I decided to walk over the 1.8 mile bridge before heading home and having to listen to the depressing news about the coronavirus on the television.

State Record Bass

Although the Florida State record bass caught by Billy O'Berry in Polk County in 1986 was a whopping 17.27 pounds, every year we see giant bass caught in our State that come closer and closer to eventually busting his 30 year plus record.

Recent submissions to FWC’s Trophy Catch citizen-science program of giant 14, 15, and 16 pound bass  has a lot of bass fishermen and biologists in our area betting on when and where the next state record will show up.

Nathaniel Scott Kicklighter's huge 14 pound, 11 ounce bass below had a lot of people thinking that he had broken the record but it wasn't in the cards.

If you get lucky and land what you believe is a new State record black bass, you won't get credit for it unless it is certified in person by an FWC biologist. 

To properly certify a new Florida state record fish, an FWC biologist must first identify the fish species, and an FWC employee, usually but not necessarily the same individual, must then witness the fish weighing on a certified scale. 

Anglers can check the current state records at BigCatchFlorida.com and clicking on “State Record”.     If you believe you have caught a record fish, immediately notify the nearest FWC regional office. 

Contact information for FWC regional offices can be found at MyFWC.com/contact by clicking on “Contact an FWC office” then the “Regional Operations” tab.

Do not confuse the state record certification with the FWC’s TrophyCatch program.


The TrophyCatch program is a citizen-science program that partners with industry leaders, such as Bass Pro Shops, to offer rewards for the catch, documentation and release of largemouth bass weighing 8 pounds or more. 

Nathaniel Scott Kicklighter's fish has just become the current leader for TrophyCatch’s eighth season with his 14 pound, 11 ounce bass that he caught from an unnamed lake in Putnam County.

The FWC’s North Central Regional Fisheries Administrator Allen Martin said that  “It’s important to note that while all that is needed to submit a fish for TrophyCatch is a photo of the entire fish on a scale with the weight clearly visible, that photo is not enough to certify a state record”.