Port Canaveral Fishing

On my way back from the Doctors office today, I decided to stop by the Port to see if any anglers were dunking baits along the sea walls. 

I parked my truck, pulled out a rod with a Creme swimbait and started checking out the fishing around the area. 

 The first couple of guys I spoke with had some pinfish in their bucket and were not doing so great.    

Another oriental guy was netting up baitfish and fishing with live finger mullet around the sea walls and boat docks. He said he was after snook that were hiding around the pilings. 

 I wished him well and started casting my swimbait around the bridge abutments but after several unfruitful casts realized that the lure didn't come even close to "matching the hatch" of the migrating baitfish.

I saw several pods of Atlantic Menhaden under the drawbridge and around the rocks heading away from the locks and a couple of what looked like Spanish mackerel chasing them but they weren't interested in my small lure.

I started walking back to my truck when I heard the oriental guy yelling like crazy.  He hooked and apparently lost a nice size snook that he was targeting underneath the boat dock.

I didn't say a word, just packed my rod up and headed back to Titusviille.

On the way out I drove past the head boats which were both docked.  I was surprised that they weren't out catching fish but what do I know.....

Anyway, I took a few pics of the area, including the large cruise ship that was berthed  at the terminal before heading home.

I made a mental note to come back and fish the area with some baits during the evening, but when I left the house later in the evening, the rain storms prompted me to turn back home.

Till next time,

Tight Lines. 

Pocket Road Mini Slam

Finally got out this afternoon to wet a line in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge around Peacock Pocket Road.

It was around 3:00 pm when I pulled up to the barrier at the lower end of Peacocks Pocket and the air temperature was a cool 90 degrees.

I originally planned to fish Bio Lab Road at the southern end near Pelican Island but when I drove into Gator Creek Road, I decided to walk Pocket Road instead.

There is a lot of vegetation around the banks of the road making casting and landing a fish pretty tough.  Here are a few pics of the area to let you know how difficult the fishing can be.

I was using soft Creme paddletail baits, a Tsunami shrimp, and a small Chug Bug to cover the entire water column.

After tossing lures in several spots prior to parking at the barrier without any action, a walk up the road seemed like a good idea.   I figured I would get my walking in for the day and maybe catch a few decent fish.

My first cast around the culverts hooked me up with a dink rat redfish like the one below.  

The little fish hit the paddletail bait at the bank near the culvert and put up a short fight before I released it to grow up.  

There are a lot of oversize reds that cruise the shoreline along the road, but they are not usually active until dusk or at daybreak.  During the heat of the day I didn't expect to catch any lunkers.

I continued fishing up the road in several spots where I could cast the soft bait and managed to hook into a couple of dink sea trout like the one below.

I lost three more trout around the brush at the bank before hooking into this snook.

The fish hit the lure at the bank and put up a decent fight before I could land and release it.  The snook was in the 20 inch plus category which is unusual for this area.

As I walked down the road tossing baits into areas where I could without getting hung up, I managed to get several more hookups but the fish kept getting off in the heavy brush along the bank.

When I got a relatively clean area near a small pond where I used to catch some nice redfish before the road was closed, I hooked into another snook that I managed to land and release.  The fish wrapped around some submerged brush twice, but each time I gave it slack and it pulled off without breaking off.

This fish was a bit smaller but good sport to catch and release.  

I continued casting the area and lost another sea trout before hooking into a ladyfish that jumped all over the place before I could land and release it.

As the bite stopped I moved up the road to another secluded spot and hooked into another trout that broke off my lure in the brush.  This was my last paddletail bait so I decided to head back to the truck and head home.

With the heat and skinning up and down the bank to get a good casting spot to fish, I was pretty beat.  I had walked about two miles down Peacocks Pocket road and had not brought any water along to rehydrate, so heading back seemed a prudent option.

When I got back to the culvert at the barrier, I was soaked with sweat and light headed.

The air conditioner in the truck was definitely a live saver today.

All in all I had a productive day on the water.  I managed an inshore "mini slam" of redfish, sea trout, snook, and ladyfish, if you count them.

Not Bad....

Till next time,

Tight Lines.