September Fishing In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

September fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge can be productive if you can adjust to the weather.

This afternoon I didn't plan on going out but I decided to see if Shiloh Marsh Road was open.

When I left the house it was around 5:30 pm and by the time I crossed the bridge at the entrance to Shiloh Marsh Road, it had started to rain.

I drove down the road towards the gate and found that the powers that be still had the barrier up.  No motor vehicle traffic today.

On the way out, I noticed some action in the shallow creek that is the northernmost portion of the Indian River Lagoon.  Several casts with a silver spoon, a gold Johnson's Sprite and a Zara Spook Jr. didn't produce any hits, so I decided to head for Bio Lab road where a fellow angler said he caught a tarpon yesterday afternoon.

I started down the road towards Haulover Canal and had to turn around because the bridge was being worked on.  The sign said it would be closed until Sept.6th or the 9th., I'm not sure which.

Anyway, I had to drive down to Titusville to get to Bio Lab road so I did.  I was interested in playing with a tarpon or two.

When I drove to the shallow water boat launch, I was treated to a beautiful rainbow over the Mosquito Lagoon.  I took a few pics and drove around looking for tarpon.

 

After checking out all possibilities, I was sure there were none in the area today.  I saw some ladyfish chasing baitfish in the shallow pond so I pulled out a Chug Bug and managed to catch two before I decided to move on.

September is supposed to be the cooling down month but today the air temp was still in the low 90s until the rain dropped it into the 80s.  It was hot and balmy.

I decided to hit Peacocks Pocket on the way home and entered the eastern entrance.  As I drove past the kayak launching area, I saw the only other fishermen other than myself in the refuge today. 

The two guys were tossing Chug Bugs into the marsh canal at the first set of culverts and were not catching anything that I could see. 

I started fishing with the gold Johnson's Sprite and after not getting any hits, I changed over to a frog pattern Chug Bug.

It started blowing too hard to make a decent presentation with the top water bait, so I changed rods and fished the gold spoon for the balance of the time I was in the refuge..

I caught a couple of ladyfish and two sea trout that just made the slot, and released them all to grow up and fight another day.

It was tough fishing this afternoon but at least I didn't get skunked.

As the rain started, I decided to head home, get something to eat and watch Breaking Bad.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

December 29, 2011 Fishing Report

The fishing for Dec 29th could according to the Almanac should have been pretty good, unfortunately the Almanac isn't gospel.

Today the air temperatures were in the low 60s and there was absolutely no wind on the Indian River.

The water in the marsh areas was dead flat which made for challenging conditions.

 The few people that were fishing around Catfish Creek loop were not catching anything, neither were the fishermen around Peacocks Pocket road.

My wife didn't want to go fishing with me this afternoon so I took Elmo our "wonder dog" along to give him some fresh air.

There was very little traffic this afternoon on the unimproved road and the people who were out were taking pictures of the wildlife.

To make a long story short, I fished several areas around Peacocks Pocket road with my favorite Bagley gold spoon, a "gold sardine" colored Heddon Saltwater Super Zara Spook Jr. -Black Shiner top water plug, a Creme Lures Spoiler Shad Swimbaits  and even dead shrimp without getting even a half hearted tug.

I spent the most time fishing "Bobcat Bay" where I missed two oversize redfish yesterday, but today they were either not in the area or they just weren't interested.

A FWC came by as I was getting ready to call it a day and we chatted a bit about the fishing.

 

Cody introduced himself and after a while continued down the road.

I took my time driving very slowly looking for signs of fish but the water was so calm that nothing except finger mullet were moving around.

As I drove up to the kayak launch, I stopped to talk to a fisherman that I occasionally see kayaking the area.

He reported that he caught some sea trout around the shallow flats near the creek to the Space Center and a couple of small reds on live shrimp under a cork.

He mentioned that the resident population of Black Drum were all over the place but that they were hard to target because of their erratic swimming patterns.

He spotted a lot of tailing redfish but they just weren't biting today. It could be the cold front or the lack of wind but whatever the reason, today's fishing report was dismal.

He mentioned that the fishing in the northern Indian River lagoon flats east of Scotsmoor wasn't that great right now and that there were a flock of fishing guides poling the Tiger Shoals area in the Mosquito Lagoon. This is a dead giveaway to where the big schools are located.

Tiger Shoals and the Whale Tail area in the southern Mosquito Lagoon are always good for redfish and sea trout.

I thanked him for the fishing report and headed for the house.

The temperature was 58 degrees as I left Peacocks Pocket road.

Tomorrow's another day, Tight Lines!