Where Did The Flats Go?

Me and my wife decided to take Odie for a ride this afternoon to check out the fishing spots in our area.

It was mid afternoon when we loaded up a couple of rods and headed into Gator Creek Road.

There was a slight breeze on the water and the air temp was in the mid to low 80s.  Not great for topwater fishing but acceptable for swimming a few paddletail baits.

When we drove into Gator Creek, I was surprised to see a lot of dried up mud flats.

  The areas where I had been catching redfish and sea trout a few weeks ago were now drawn down to unfishable trickles.

Undaunted, we drove out of the area and decided to hit Bio Lab Road to see if the flats in that area were fishable.

The water levels in the lagoon were way down and the water was almost crystal clear making sight fishing the thing to do for the rest of the week.

I stopped to fish a couple of spots where I spotted a single fish and picked up an under slot sea trout on the Creme paddletail bait I had on the rod.    I took a a quick pic and released the fish.

The water on the other side of the road where there is normally a few ladyfish, snook, and juvenile tarpon was virtually dried up and fishable only to the waterfowl that were wading the shallows.

A few brown pelicans, roseatte spoonbills, and cormorants were in the area along with the usual shore birds dining on small crustaceans.  We took a few pics of the birds and decided to head to the house for dinner.

I was not thrilled catching only one small sea trout but compared to the other anglers dunking baits along the bank, I seemed to be out fishing them.  

All in all it was a pleasant afternoon in the refuge.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Rat Reds On The Flats

After shopping at WalMart this morning and stocking up on some Storm paddletail baits, I decided to sneak off and do some late afternoon fishing at Gator Creek for some rat reds on the flats.

It was pretty windy this afternoon when I crossed the bridge so topwater fishing was definitely out of the question.

I took a few pics of the construction that is ongoing along the causeway before turning into Gator Creek road.

 

As I entered the refuge there were four groups of anglers wading the shallows fishing with live shrimp.

One of the guys had a fish on but I didn't take the time waiting to find out what it was.

I meandered to the spot I fished yesterday and although I didn't see any signs of fish, I decided to give it a try anyway.

I tied on one of the Storm baits I picked up this morning at WalMart and began blind casting the area.

After about 10 minutes, I hooked into a redfish on a dropoff.   The fish was small enough to be considered a "rat" so I took a pic, removed the hook, and put it back into the clear water to grow up.

After several casts I hooked into a larger fish that I  also released.

After missing a couple more taps, I moved up the road to another spot in the same general area of the mud flat and began blind casting.

Almost immediately, I hooked and released a sea trout that just made the slot.  The fish was hooked deep but I got the bait out and the fish was none the worse for wear.

After a couple more casts I hooked into another red that was about the same size as the previous fish.  I took another pic before releasing it.

To make a long fish story shorter, I hooked, landed and released five more rat reds on the flats before the bite died off.   The largest two fish were slot size or slightly larger.

On the way out of the refuge, I drove around East Gator Creek to pitch a few casts in likely looking areas but never got a hit.

I took some pics of the receding waters on the flats before heading home for some dinner.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

 

Fishing Low Water In The Mud Flats

After a long 8 hour drive from Highlands, N.C. I had to take Odie out for a drive in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I was beat but my loyal little dog insisted on a road trip so we packed up my rods and headed out to the nearest water which happened to be Gator Creek.

The weather today was in the 70s and there was only a slight breeze on the water.  A good day for submerged baits.

The water in Gator Creek was very low exposing several acres of mud which provided the waterfowl a smorgasbord of exposed crustaceans  

There were several groups of anglers fishing live baits from the shore and two guys wading near the entrance of Gator Creek fishing with fly rods.

As Odie and I drove around the unimproved road, I spotted a pod of baitfish breaking on the surface so I pulled over and started fishing with the rod tipped; with a Storm Wild Eye Swim Shad.  This is my "go to" bait for dirty water conditions that usually produces hits.

I was fishing the paddletail bait on 10 pound mono and started casting to the area where I spotted the baitfish.

I started pulling the plastic bait from the shallow mud flat onto the dropoff and after the third or fourth cast, hooked up with a nice redfish that looked like it was just over the slot.

The fish was solidly hooked, so I foolishly decided to record the fight with my cell phone.  Bad idea!!

Click on the pic to see the results of a portion of the fight is below.  

The red put up a great battle before finally pulling the hook at the bank.   I had the fish on for several minutes while I was trying to get a video but as it got to the bank, I almost dropped my cell phone and in the process of catching it managed to get my feet wet.

Undaunted, I went back to the truck with Odie, ditched my socks and continued fishing the area.

After several casts around the area, I got another solid hit from what I thought was a good red but after again trying to video the fight realized it was a large stingray.

This time the fish stayed on longer but managed to break off on the brush at the bank.  

Since this was the last paddletail bait I had with me, I decided to head home and dry off my wet feet.

All in all fishing the low water in the mud flats proved to be a good idea.  The bite was on and Odie had a nice ride.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

A. Max Brewer Causeway Restoration Project

For those of you who have been wondering about the huge triangular shaped concrete objects along the road and the work that is being done along the A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway causeway in Titusville; here is a brief synopsis. 

Since I relocated to Titusville over 30 years ago, the wave action from tropical storms and hurricanes in the Indian River Lagoon has been steadily eroding the shoreline acreage along the dike roads and the causeways, particularly during tropical storms and hurricanes. 

Peacocks Pocket Road and several other "dike" roads used to be a great drive for bank fishermen before the hurricanes washed them out making them unsafe for vehicle traffic. 

Finally the erosion along the causeway is being addressed by the powers that be. 

DRMP engineers of Gainesville designed the $4.2 million project that is being built by the aquatic restoration firm Sea & Shoreline. 

The project involves removing the rip-rap rocks along the shoreline and installing approximately 2,000 feet of large pyramid shaped concrete structures called Wave Attenuation Devices or WADs. 

The WADS are are now being located about 400 feet off the shoreline to break up the waves before they hit the causeway and will be visible about a foot and a half above the water at high water levels. 

They are expected to absorb the wave energy generated during hurricanes and tropical storms, and should promote the accumulation of sediment. 

The hollow pyramid shaped concrete WADs are being installed with enough space for manatees and dolphin to swim through and will have navigational lights for boater safety.    

After the concrete WAD installation has been completed, the project includes the restoration of approximately 4,150 cubic yards of sandy material along the existing shoreline along with the planting of new palm and mangrove trees, the planting of approximately four acres of seagrass, and the seeding of one million clams to filter and purify the water in the lagoon. 

After completion, which is expected to be in the spring of next year, the project will be monitored for a three year period to see how well the WADs, seagrass planting, and clam seeding have affected the area. 

Seagrass is the underwater rainforest habitat that provides the diversified underwater nursery for fish, shrimp, mollusks, and crustaceans in our lagoon system. 

We sincerely hope the project works as projected. 

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Snook In The Mangroves

After my dentist appointment this afternoon, I finally got a chance to wet a line in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge>

I brought four rods tipped with plastic swim baits, a Chug Bug, and a Badonk-A-Donk topwater lure and headed to the nearest water which happens to be Gator Creek.

At 4:15 pm the air temperature was around 70 degrees and dropping. There was a good breeze over the water which made for a chilly outing.

There were plenty of fishermen on the banks dunking fingerling mullet, live and dead shrimp but nobody I spoke with had caught anything.

After fishing with Creme paddletail swimbaits at several spots with only one hit, I decided to drive around East Gator Creek to fish the mangroves along the opposite side of the creek.

I switched to the Badonk-A-Donk and started tossing the bait as close to the opposite side of the bank as possible without catching a limb.

I started tossing the bait around the mangroves and retrieving it as slowly as possible around several spots until, I got an immediate hit when the bait landed just underneath a mangrove.

The fish jumped completely out of the water and pulled drag for a second or two until it shook the bait.

I immediately recognized it as a snook of about 30 inches or so.

The bite was unexpected to say the least so I waited a few minutes before tossing the bait around the same area.

After about 15 minutes or so, I got around to fishing the same spot.  This time a fish  of about the same size hit the bait as it hit the water and again jumped completely out of the water.  

I had the snook on for two more jumps before it pulled off.

I waited a while before casting to the same area again but the fish was definitely spooked, so I moved on down the road to try another spot.

I had a boil under another mangrove bush but after making several more casts, never got another hookup.

As I was leaving East Gator Creek, I stopped to talk to another fishermen who said the fish were hitting but the weather was crazy.  Although he and his daughter were from Orlando, he said he fished this area for over 20 years.

I forgot his name but he told me that the bite for black drum, redfish, and snook bite was on fire.

The upcoming cold front should only improve the fishing on the muddy shallow flats along the area.

As I was leaving the refuge, I crossed the bridge and took a pic of the temperature inversion over Titusville.  The cold front is upon us.....

With any kind of luck I'll be able to get a few more days of fishing in before the new year.

Until next time,

Tight Lines and Merry Christmas