12-8-22 Space Shot

On the day prior to my surgery, I was on my daily walk across the A. Max Brewer Causeway Bridge and lucked out to get these pics of the 12-8-22 Space Shot,

I haven't been able to make many posts lately on the fishing in our area, mainly because of my work out of town in the mountains of North Carolina and some health issues I'm dealing with.  

However, my contacts with local fishermen and some area Captains still make it possible to provide monthly fishing reports in our area.

I planned to fish around East Gator Creek when I finished my walk but I decided to come back and watch the launch below.  (Click on Pic)

After finishing my walk, it was a bit too late to fish but I took a brief ride into the refuge to see if anything was going on.

Some bank fishermen were dunking baits for reds and black drum but nobody seemed to be catching anything and when I tried to get into East Gator Creek, the road was still closed due to construction.

Hopefully Peacocks Pocket road will be open this spring for vehicle traffic as promised, but I won't hold my breath.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Thunderstorm Tarpon

The tarpon were still biting this afternoon, before, during, and after the thunderstorms passed across the Mosquito Lagoon.

I managed to wet a line after my Doctors appointments in the southern section of the lagoon where I picked up some fish the other day.   

When I started fishing a D.O.A. Baitbuster, the bite was so good that I never bothered to change baits.

When I pulled up to the area I planned to fish, I immediately noticed that the culverts were open and flowing into the Mosquito Lagoon and that a pod of sea manatees seemed to be having a good time in the current produced by the runoff.

The other side of the culvert was teeming with rolling tarpon of all sizes. 

Most were in the three foot category but I spotted several feeding on baitfish that were in the 80 to 100 pound class out in deeper water.

I started casting the larger baitbuster and immediately got hooked up with a good size ladyfish that I managed to land and release after several nice jumps.

On the next cast, I got hooked up with a juvenile tarpon about 3 feet long that tossed the bait after a couple of jumps.

I continued casting and managed to get at least one hit or a hookup on almost every cast I made.  On several casts, I had multiple hits from fish that missed the bait.

The water was colored from the rain and as the thunderstorm started, the water became more colored making misses from the fish the norm.

After hooking and releasing the first couple of fish, a large gator appeared and started making a nuisance of itself.   I kept fishing around the gator and still managed to get hookups.

When the rainstorm hit, the air temperature dropped, I stopped fishing and sat in the truck until the storm eventually passed by.

I started fishing again and caught a couple more fish before I had to leave the area.

They close the gate at the end of Bio Lab Road at 6:00 pm, and I had about 10 minutes to get my but out of dodge.

I managed to land a couple juvenile tarpon in the 30" category and lost at least 20 fish during the hour I was actually fishing the area.

Fishing the thunderstorms is usually productive and this afternoon was no exception.

Till next time,

Tight Lines

Tarpon In The Lagoon

It was late when I finally decided to see if the Tarpon in the lagoon were hitting.

The late afternoon rains were running south so I packed up a few rods and headed towards Bio Lab Road to see if the tarpon in the lagoon were interested in any of my offerings.

I was hoping that the pumping station was still moving water and bait into the marsh area but I wasn't too surprised to find the area void of fish and fishermen.

I tossed a topwater Chug Bug around for a bit to see if anything was interested but after several fruitless casts, I decided to continue my search.

The water levels in the backwater areas were all up and I spotted several areas where tarpon were rolling and snook were nailing baitfish along the mangrove roots.

I stopped to fish this this spot when I spotted a large snook breaking water along the mangroves after baitfish.

I tossed a Creme paddletail bait and a Chug Bug around without a hit, so I switched to a small topwater SkitterWalk and finally got a couple of fish interested enough to take swipes at the lure.

I fished the spot for about 20 minutes or so before moving on to another spot where I always find tarpon.

When I got there, nobody was around except this Blue Heron on an open culvert fishing for his dinner.

I started casting the Creme paddletail bait around and got a couple of hits without a hookup.  I noticed that some fish were nailing baits on the surface, so I started tossing the SkitterWalk around the area.

I made several casts across a point near some mangroves and coaxed a large tarpon to nail the lure.

The fish was in the 90 pound category and jumped entirely out of the water but missed the bait.

I continued tossing the lure until the fish stopped hitting and decided to switch to a black and silver D.O.A. Baitbuster that I had tied on a heavier rod that I use for snook.

It only took two casts to get a follow up and a miss from a juvenile tarpon right at the bank.  

I continued tossing the bait and finally got hooked up with this 37" tarpon,  

The fish jumped several times and put up a good fight before giving it up at the bank.

I took a couple of pics and returned the fish to the water.

I continued fishing with the D.O.A. bait and picked up another tarpon slightly larger than the first fish right at the bank.  After another jumping battle, I took this pic before sending it back home.

As a group of anglers moved into the area while I was landing and releasing the second fish, I decided to head for home.

They were also after juvenile tarpon and were using Bass Assassin paddletail baits on weighted hooks.

It was around 5:30 pm when I decided to head home.  They close the gate at 6:00 pm, and as I was driving out of the area, a fish and game truck was driving in, apparently to warn everybody out of the area.

Till next time,

Tight Lines

Ladyfish Outing

After dealing with doctors all week, I finally got a chance to get out and wet a line in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. 

Because of thunderstorms in the area, my wife Karen didn't want me to leave the house, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch a tarpon or ladyfish in the "swamp".

I had planned to run Bio Lab road but the rains were upon me, so I headed for the closest body of water in the area which just happened to be East Gator Creek in the refuge.

They have been working on repairing Peacocks Pocket Road so the entrance of it and Catfish Creek Loop are blocked by heavy road grading equipment and literally tons of road gravel.

I entered the work entrance as the rain started and began casting a topwater bait around the area.  

I had several light hits before finally hooking up with a small ladyfish that was not much larger than the Chug Bug that I was using.

I hooked and lost two more fish on the same bait before the lightning started.

I like fishing before and after a thunderstorm but common sense prevailed and I decided to hit the car and head for home when the lighting got closer.

I was the only angler in the area during the time I was fishing in the refuge.

I took a few pics of the area before heading home to get some dinner.

Might get out tomorrow if I get a chance

Till next time, Tight Lines.
 

Tarpon, Manatees, and Mayans on Bio Lab Road

My wife and I decided to take Elmo and Odie for a ride along Bio Lab Road to see if the Tarpon I fished for yesterday were still in the same area.

Although today's trip was a scouting trip I brought along four spinning rods "just in case" anything was hitting.

Normally, I don't even bother wetting a line when air temps are in the 90s and the sun is directly overhead, but for tarpon, you can never be sure when they decide to eat.

We loaded the dogs into the truck and headed to the entrance of Bio Lab.

Along the way, we spotted a blue runner off the side of the road and a tortoise that decided on having a snack next to the highway.

When we drove into the road, I was surprised to see that the pump was still going full throttle moving water from the Mosquito Lagoon into the marsh on the other side of the road.

For a microsecond I thought about fishing but when I saw eight anglers lined up side by side tossing a variety of baits, I quickly changed my mind and continued down the road.

The scene was like opening day trout season on a Pennsylvania  trout stream.

As we drove down the road, I spotted some activity on the marsh side of the road which was enough to get me to try several lures.  At first I thought the fish were tarpon but it turned out to be ladyfish.

I missed one small lady on a soft paddle tail bait and after a few more casts decided to give it up.

We stopped a few times to fish the southern Mosquito Lagoon but I never got a hit on any of the baits I tossed to the fish.  The fish were targeting mullet but none of my lures could get a hit.

I talked Karen into trying an area close to Playalinda Beach road where some larger tarpon call home but she said that there would probably already be people there.

I drove in anyway and was surprised to find that nobody was around.

We let Elmo and Odie out to do their duty while I tossed a Creme paddletail bait around a shallow area where I spotted some juvenile tarpon.

After a few blind casts, I got a hit but missed the fish.  After several more missed I finally hooked and released this Mayan Cichlid.

The little fish put up a surprisingly good battle before giving up and I could have caught several more but I was worried about Odie around the water.  There are a couple of very large gators that could easily make him and Elmo an afternoon brunch.

As I walked back to the car, I spotted some Manatees having a good time in the shallows.  I took this short video before packing it in and calling it a day.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Bio Lab Road Tarpon

Got home from work late yesterday and decided to hit some spots this afternoon to see what the bite was like along Bio Lab Road.

Both sides of the causeway at the A. Max Brewer bridge were loaded with people having a good time swimming, jet skiing, and fishing.    

I thought about driving around Catfish Creek but nixed the idea because of the number of people fishing.  Instead I decided to hit Bio Lab road to see if any of my tarpon or snook spots were open to fish.

As I drove into the entrance to Bio Lab, I immediately noticed that the pumping station was moving tons of water from the Mosquito Lagoon into the backwater marsh areas.  The  video below gives you an idea of the amount of water that was moving.

I also noticed that the area looked like a fish hatchery for juvenile tarpon.

I pulled out one of my spinning rods and started casting on the lagoon side where the water was being pumped from.  There was a good current going but nothing taking my Creme paddletail bait so I decided to move across the road where an angler was tossing a soft bait around the fish.  

I don't usually intrude on another anglers fishing area but when there is a concentration of fish in only one area, it seemed like a good idea.

He mentioned that we might cross lines so I moved downstream from where he was fishing and timed my casts so we wouldn't get tangled.  I don't particularly like party boat fishing for the same reason.

Anyway, we talked for a bit and managed to fish the area without screwing each other up.

It turns out that Miles Howard (below) owns MPH Customs and builds custom fishing rods.

He told me that he had been fishing the spot all morning and had hooked a couple of fish earlier.  

The tarpon that were rolling in the area ranged anywhere from small juveniles to at least a hundred pounds.  Most were in the 20 to 60 pound category, and they were all super picky.

I fished the paddletail bait and had a couple of bumps but after numerous casts I decided to change baits.  

I tried a topwater SkitterWalk, a DOA Bait Buster, a large DOA TerrorEyz, and a larger Tsunami paddle tail bait that finally started producing hits.

I hooked and lost three tarpon in the 30 to 50 pound category and had hits from several fish before a larger tarpon took my lure.

When I lost that bait I switched to a large white TerrorEyze that produced a couple of brief hookups before I lost it to a tree on the other bank.

The discharge from the Mosquito Lagoon was creating an eddy close to the bank with a deeper drop off right at the bank where the fish seemed to be targeting.

Miles was also changing lures trying to "match the hatch" as we talked about the effectiveness of several baits as we fished the area.   He hooked and landed a medium size ladyfish that I would have used for bait, but he returned it to fight another day.

I took several videos of the fish action in the area before I lost all of my productive lures and decided to head up the road to another spot.

There were a lot of bank fishermen along Bio Lab Road all the way down to Playalinda Beach road and when I took the cutoff to a spot I wanted to fish, there were already four trucks parked in the area.  

One group even had a tent pitched where I wanted to fish for larger tarpon, so I turned around and called it a day.

Hopefully, the area will be cleared out during the week.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Early Dog Days of August

The Dog Days of August have come early in east central Florida with temps in the 90 degree mark daily.

This makes for very early and late fishing as I know so well from experience.

Yesterday, my wife and I took Elmo and Odie for a spin around Bio Lab road and the Vistas on Playalinda Beach road.

I tossed a few paddletail baits and a Skitterwalk around until my wrists gave out and only had one bump on the Creme paddletail bait.  

The area we spent most of our time around was in the southernmost section of the Mosquito Lagoon around Pelican Island.  

There were several big tarpon in the area and a bunch of juveniles darting around the shallows.  I spotted two tarpon jumping that were easily in the 100 pound category but nothing was interested in what I was tossing.

After an hour of fishing that area, we decided to hit a couple of Vistas on the beach road.

Both Vistas I fished proved to be a bust.  It was around 4:00 pm when we decided that the 92 degree temps were just too much for us, especially Elmo and Odie.

Both dogs had their tongues hanging out and I was afraid Elmo was going to have a heart attack.  The poor guy is 17 years old, almost blind from cataracts, and deaf as a doornail but he still loves to go with me and Karen for a "road trip" fishing.

I took a few pics of the areas we fished but unfortunately no fishy pics today.

Maybe next time,

Till then, Tight Lines.

Scouting Trip

Got back in town Friday evening and tried fishing the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Saturday afternoon, but many areas were closed to vehicle traffic, apparently because of the road work upgrades.

Gator Creek, Catfish Creek Loop and the flats around East Gator Creek were blocked off to vehicle traffic because of road work.  Unfortunately, these are where some of the best fishing occurs for black drum, redfish, tarpon, sea trout and ladyfish.

The run down Bio Lab road along the southern end of Mosquito Lagoon didn't produce any fish either.

Many spots where I usually wet a line were already staked out by anglers dunking live and dead shrimp or cut baits.

After speaking with a couple of fishermen in the area, I was told that the catfish and stingrays were hitting just fine but nobody except one guy was catching black drum or reds.  He managed to hook a slot size drum on a piece of peeled shrimp.

I planned on fishing a spot at the southernmost portion of the lagoon across from Pelican Island for tarpon but that spot was also taken by a couple groups of anglers.

Angler etiquette required that I move on, which I did.

Moving on to the Vistas along Playalinda Beach road also proved futile.  

I stopped to fish three of the Vistas with paddletail swim baits, spoons, and even a topwater bait to no avail.  

Except for a small gator, nothing was eating.  Even through it was late in the afternoon, it seemed like the fish had lockjaw.

I took a lot of pics and moved on to Playalinda Beach to check out the surf fishing possibilities.

The lower lots were loaded with sun worshippers trying to do their best acquiring a case of Melanoma with not one person trying to fish the surf.

The incoming tide was almost at it's peak and there were several fishy looking spots at lot number 8 with diving birds in the surf but nobody was fishing.

I was going to toss a spoon around to see if I could pick up a blue or jack but I decided to come back when the area wasn't as crowded with beach goers.  

The best times to fish the surf with the air temps in the 90s is in the early morning and later on towards dusk and at night.

I drove up to Haulover to check out the fishing there and again found that most of the spots along the bank were already occupied with bait dunking anglers.  

The other areas were cordoned off from fishing until the palms that were planted begin to grow.  

Apparently the administrators of the refuge are culling out the Australian Pine trees that line the canal and replacing them with palms.

I personally prefer the Australian Pines even though they are an invasive species. They provide much more shade and look neater than the palms they planted to replace them, but that's just the way it is.

I stopped to talk with two groups and both said they were catching a lot of catfish but no drum or reds.  

One angler who was fishing directly across from the boat launch told me that he saw several tarpon in the 100 pound plus range rolling in the middle of the canal but were not hitting.

As I was leaving, I found a spot to park at the bridge so I pulled out a rod with a 4" Swimbait and started tossing it around the pilings.  I hoped to get a shot at a tarpon but nothing but pelicans were interested in my offering.  

I took several pics of the area before calling it a day and heading back towards Titusville to walk the A. Max Brewer bridge before heading home.

I'll probably get out during the week when there are not so many people on the water.  Might even take the kayak out if the weather permits.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Little Tennessee Rainbows

Since I've been working in Highlands, N.C., I finally broke down and purchased an out of state fishing license for a shot at catching some Little Tennessee rainbows.

The river is noted for smallmouth bass but I was told that some sections hold good numbers of rainbow trout, so I picked up some small ultralight lures and headed to a section of the river just outside of Franklin N.C. 

This section of the river is deep, relatively slow moving, and cold which is almost perfect for rainbows.

I found a dirt road next to the river which allowed me to park and rig up a small ultralight spinning rod with a small Little Cleo silver spoon that I thought would suffice for smallmouths as well as rainbow trout.

It took about 5 or 6 casts before I could dial in on where the fish were and get a hit.   A couple of casts later got me a brief hookup with something but the fish shook off the lure before I could determine what it was.

Two casts later got me a solid hookup with a nice rainbow of around 13 inches or so.

I took a quick pic of the fish before returning it to the cold water.

I almost wore out my casting arm before I hooked up with a second rainbow about the same size as the first fish.

The second fish put up a better fight on the 4 pound test I was using, but I managed to get it on the bank, take a quick pic, and release it.

I'd like to say I kept catching fish but I never got another bite on this stretch of river.

As I headed back up the mountain on Buck Creek Road, I considered the afternoon a good day.

I didn't get skunked and that's what counts.

Till next time, Hopefully in Florida,

Tight Lines.

Juvenile Tarpon Fishing

This afternoon seemed like a good time to do some juvenile tarpon fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

The air temperature was in the low 90s and there was enough of a breeze to make fishing in the heat enjoyable.

I decided on riding down Bio Lab road and was genuinely surprised to find nobody fishing along the banks or in the lagoon.

The water looked clearer about 100 yards from the shoreline but in general the water closer to shore was devoid of sea grasses.

I stopped to pitch a paddletail bait on two occasions with no luck and wound up fishing the mangrove roots in the southernmost portion of the lagoon near Pelican Island.

A lone fisherman had launched his canoe and was fishing the area so I started pitching a Creme paddletail bait around several shallow areas where fish were busting glass minnows along the bank.

I hooked and shook off a large garfish that chewed up my bait so much I had to replace it.

After tying on a new lure, I moved to a shallow pond that had a lot of activity.

Immediately I started hooking up with  juvenile tarpon.  The fish were in the two to four foot category and were hitting my bait right on the bank.

I was using light 8 pound test fluorocarbon line and since I wasn't planning to keep any fish, I played them to the bank where I shook them off if they didn't already toss my bait.  

Most of the fish tossed my soft plastic lure back to me after the second or third jump but I managed to take a selfie of this one before returning it.

I spent almost two hours hooking and fighting juvenile tarpon in the area before a large manatee invaded the area and killed the bite.

 

Click on the pic to see the video

I decided to walk the unimproved road that runs along the lagoon and spent a lot  of time fan casting the areas I could access.  

I got one hit that I missed and spooked two nice size redfish that were right tight on the bank.  

After I had enough exercise, I turned around and headed to the air conditioning of my truck.

On the way out towards Playalinda beach road, I decided to hit a few parking lots to see if anybody was surf fishing.

The tide was out and at every lot I stopped at, sun worshippers were on the sand getting baked but I didn't see one surf angler.

Hope to get out again tomorrow to wet a line when I finish up around the hours.

Tight Lines.

New Redfish Rule Changes In Our Area

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved proposed management regions and regulation changes for redfish in state waters. 

The proposed rule changes at it's May meeting would:

Modify the redfish management regions. (See figure 1 below)

Prohibit captain and crew from retaining a bag limit when on a for-hire trip.

Reduce the off-the-water transport limit from six to four fish per person.

Increase the bag limit for the Big Bend region from one to two fish per person

Reduce the eight-fish vessel limit in each of the proposed management regions:

Panhandle, Big Bend, Northeast: four fish.

Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Southwest, Southeast: two fish.

Allow only catch-and-release fishing for redfish in the Indian River Lagoon region.  

The FWC staff plans to continue to gather input on the proposed rules and will return to the Commission for a Final Rule Hearing later this year.

For more information, including the May 2022 Commission meeting presentation, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and click on “Commission Meetings.”

For current recreational redfish regulations, visit MyFWC.com/Marine and click on “Recreational Regulations” and “Redfish.” This page will be updated with the new regulations when they take effect.

Tight Lines.

Port Canaveral Trip

After spending the entire morning at Health First in the Coco Beach Hospital getting an echo and stress test, I decided to take the long route home and check out the fishing at Port Canaveral.

I had my "river rods" with me but no lures so I didn't expect to do any serious fishing.

There were several fishermen and fisher ladies along the sea walls enjoying the afternoon air dunking shrimp and cut baits but nobody was catching anything but "sailors choice".

The buy below was doing the best out of his comfy chair.

After talking to a few people, I found that the tide was flat and just beginning to come in which is why nobody was filling their coolers.

Around the rocks in the shallows there were several schools of large mullet that I would have netted up for dinner if I had brought along my cast net.  (Click on pic below)

I took several pics of the bridge and locks and briefly tossed around a couple of baits before packing it in and heading for the house.  

I plan on getting out to the refuge later on in the afternoon to see if I could pick up a red or a big sea trout closed to dusk.

Till next time, Tight Lines.