Tarpon In The Creeks

Late this afternoon I decided to get out to North Shiloh Road this afternoon to see if there were any tarpon in the creeks.

I brought along four rods tipped with topwater baits; a Johnson Sprite gold spoon, a Creme paddletail bait, a Badonk-A-Donk, and a SkitterWalk that I caught some nice sea trout on the other day.

There was almost no wind over the water when I started fishing and the air temperature was still around 93 degrees. 

When I pulled up to the culverts I spotted a couple of fish blasting baitfish along the shoreline so I grabbed a rod with the paddletail bait and started casting ahead of the marauding fish.

On the retrieve I immediately had a hit that I missed hooking up with so I continued fishing with the bait for a while.  After several more casts and three more misses, I switched over to the SkitterWalk and tried the other side of the culvert.

That bait proved to be worthless.  No bites or even a followup, so I switched rods again and after smearing the Johnson Sprite spoon up with some Pro-Cure, I resumed casting to the fish that were tearing up and down the bank.

On the third or fourth cast I had a hard bump on the spoon.  I knew it wasn't a redfish, or I would have had a hookup; so I continued casting.

Finally after casting ahead of another fish that was feeding along the bank, I hooked up to a tarpon that immediately jumped and broke off my spoon.

The fish was easily three feet long and would have weighed in at around 25 pounds, so I didn't feel too bad about losing the fish.

I didn't expect a juvenile tarpon that large to be in the shallow creek this time of the year.

I continued casting with another silver spoon that I juiced up with Pro-Cure, but I never got another hit.

My arm was getting tired from casting and a large green horsefly was feasting on my ankles so I decided to head for home and hit the area tomorrow.

Hopefully, the fish will be more eager to eat.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Topwater Action On The Flats

When I hit the water late yesterday afternoon to get some topwater action on the flats, all I managed to do was wear out my casting arm.

The fish just were not in the mood to eat any of my offterings.

This afternoon was an entirely different scenario.

I left the house at around 6:00 pm and hit East Gator Creek a short time later.

There were tons of people still having social distancing fun at the causeway but along the road I was fishing, only three or four vehicles drove by during the time I was there.

I bought another new Penn Fierce III liveliner from Bass Pro that was delivered Friday afternoon, so I decided to give it a workout.  

I loaded it up with 30# Power Pro, tied on a 20# fluorocarbon leader, and finished it up with an old trout pattern SkitterWalk.

After juicing up the lure with some Pro-Cure Gel, I was ready for some action.

The wind was coming towards the South and there was enough of a chop on the water to make walking the dog a challenge.

At my first spot, my very first cast produced a small ladyfish that I quickly released after snapping this pic.

The release piqued the interest of this gator that decided to stick around the neighborhood.

After several casts without even a followup, I moved to another spot where the water was less choppy.

I hooked a small juvenile tarpon that flipped off the bait after the second jump and after a few more casts, landed a slot sea trout that nailed the SkitterWalk at the bank.

I was going to change baits but the trout pattern seemed to be the ticket today, so after another followup from something real small, I moved to a third spot to try my luck.

This area is one of my favorites and if you can cast to the opposite bank without getting into the bushes, you can usually pick off either a ladyfish, tarpon, or sea trout.

It took me three casts to pick up another trout that I almost didn't bother capturing on my phone.  

But, I took this quick pic before I released the fish and decided to head to Catfish Creek Loop.

I made one stop at the culvert when I saw that the water was flowing into the marsh canal and decided to walk the SkitterWalk around the edges of the mangroves to see if anything was hungry.

The second cast produced a nice sea trout was a little over 22 inches.

The fish nailed the topwater plug half way down the middle of the marsh canal right in front of a Green Heron and a large alligator.

The fish sloshed around a bit before I landed it and decided to try to make a "selfie".

I'm not really into selfies, but this is the best I could do.

Anyway, after several more unfruitful casts into the area, the gator was getting too interested in my plug, so I drove towards Catfish Creek Loop.

As I entered the road, I spotted a fellow angler with a tight line so I decided to video the action.

I thought he was hooked into a big black drum, but after taking almost forever landing the critter, the "fish" turned out to be a large soft shell turtle.

The guy, his wife (I assume) and I were surprised at the catch and I made a stupid crack about how not to land a fish.

Anyway, I took this rather lengthy video of the entire action that you might, or might not, enjoy.

By the time the turtle broke off, it was time to leave the refuge, so I drove around the loop and made my way to the house.

Till next time, Tight Lines.