Topwater Sea Trout Over The Weeds

April, May, and June is when topwater sea trout fishing is at it's peak, so I decided to thit the wildlife refuge after mowing the lawn to try catching a few fish.

As I drove over the A. Max Brewer Bridge I was treated with the sight of wind surfers along the causeway.

 

This usually means crappy topwater fishng, but because I only had a  couple more days in town to do any fishing, I continued to the weedy shallows around East Gator Creek.

The water was clear and there was a lot of topwater activity along the far bank in several areas so I opted for a Chug Bug to see if I could pick up a sea trout or two.

I had a devil of a time with the weeds but I finally got a hookup with a slot size sea trout that I lost at the bank.

I moved to another area when a small gator came in to investigate my Chug Bug, and picked up another sea trout that I landed and carefully released.

I continued casting and landed a small ladyfish that I released at the bank. 

The fish were short striking my Chug Bug so I smeared some Pro-Cure on the lure to keep the fish interested.

I hooked and released two more sea trout before another gator came into the area and messed up my fishing.

The next spot I stopped to fish was an area where deeper water along the mangrove bank always harbored black drum and redfish.  It is a good area to fish but really tough to successfully land a fish from the bank once you get a hookup.

I tossed the Chug Bug only a few feet off the bank and had an immediate hookup with a big fish.  I think it was a large sea trout but I never landed it.

The fish made a run to the weeds in the middle of the shallows and then headed straight for the mangrove roots where it broke off with my favorite Chug Bug.

About this time another gator popped up looking to see what all the action was about, so I packed up my rods and headed back to the house. 

Hope to get out again before I head out of town again so until next time, Tight lines.