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.