Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge Hogs

Thanksgiving Day was the first time in a couple of months I was able to wet a line along Bio Lab Road in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge.

Odie and I loaded up a couple of rods and headed to the Patillo Creek area to see if anyone was having luck with the black drum that usually inhabit the area this time of the year.

Several anglers were bank fishing with live and fresh dead shrimp but only one fisherman reported having any luck.  The water was dead flat and the bite was slow.

After surveying the area and tossing a Creme paddletail bait around several likely looking spots without even a tap, I decided to move on to Haulover Canal to see if anybody there was catching fish.

The water in the canal was barely moving and although I spotted several anglers fishing around the bridge fenders and north side of the canal from the bank, only a couple of guys reported catching mangrove snapper.   Nobody was catching redfish or black drum from the bank.

There were a couple of boats anchored at the mouth of the canal on the Mosquito Lagoon side fishing the deep holes but I couldn't see if anyone had any fish.

I moved on to Bio Lab Road and found the water levels there way down.  The Mosquito Lagoon looked like a mirror with only an occasional surface commotion from feeding sea trout.

I stopped at several areas to fish a Chug Bug and the Creme paddletail bait that I had with me and had only one half hearted strike on the topwater bait.

Odie and I continued on Bio Lab road until we spotted a commotion along the bank which turned out to be two sow hogs and a trio of piglets.  

I've always known about the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge Hogs, but until the refuge managers cut down the vegetation along the road, I have never actually seen them.   The hogs were totally unafraid of  humans and acted almost domesticated.

I took a couple of pics and a short video of the pigs before moving on to fish another spot.   Click on the pic below to see the video.

After tossing my baits into a couple more "fishy" looking areas, I decided to head home and grab some turkey for dinner.

Hopefully I won't have to wait another month or so to get out and do some more fishing in the area.

Till next time, Tight Lines.