SpaceX Launched Four Astronauts Tonight

SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station this evening without a hitch.

I left the house around 4:30 pm this afternoon to fish for tarpon in the Patillo Creek area but when I crossed the bridge and saw all the police in the area, I remembered that a Space X launch was going to occur this evening.

I asked the police officers who were blocking the entrance to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge if I could sneak by so I could fish Patillo Creek, but the guy was obviously not a fisherman and gave me a firm NO.

He turned me and all the other cars behind me around so I decided to put up my gear and watch the launch.

Unfortunately, the launch was around 7:30 pm so I had some time to kill.

The causeway was packed with cars and people but I managed to squeeze into an area.    I made sure my cell phone was fully charged and walked to bridge to get my exercise for the day.

I took some pics of the area as well as the beautiful sunset and parked my butt about half way down the bridge along the railing.

The Titusville Police Department limited traffic on the bridge for the launch and kept everyone occupied by playing tunes over the loudspeaker as they went back and forth over the bridge.

The liftoff was on Pad 39A and it went off without a hitch.  

The Dragon capsule with it's crew of four astronauts were headed to the Space Station with the cheers of everyone who watched the launch below.

The Titusville Police Dept need to learn more about traffic management.  It took almost 45 minutes to get back over the bridge and head back home.

Hopefully, I'll get to try out the tarpon fishing this coming week.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Hurricane Irma Fishing

Evidently Hurricane Irma didn't stop some die hard fishermen from taking advantage of the low pressure associated with the storm.

An exceptional redfish bite in our area often occurs just before a front, especially before a hurricane.

Although I do not recommend anyone picking up a rod to fish this particular storm, it is well known that fish bite like crazy when the barometer drops.

At 2:00 pm this afternoon, I took a quick spin around the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see if anybody was dedicated enough to break out their fishing tackle, and as I suspected, the north side of SR 402 was dotted with guys putting out live mullet to fish for redfish.

I also spotted two really dedicated guys putting away their wind surfing gear.

Parrish Park was empty except for a couple of fishermen under the A. Max Brewer Bridge and the fishing piers were also for the most part uninhabited.

 I spoke to one fishermen as he was leaving the lower fishing pier and asked him if he was doing any good.  He said he caught several small spotted sea trout and a small redfish and was moving to the next bridge to see if he could catch anything larger.

I briefly thought about going back home and picking up a fishing rod, but as I started back to the house, the rain started again.

Hurricane Irma is one storm I take very seriously, so I'm home behind boarded up windows waiting for the hit tomorrow morning.  

The latest track shows the category 3 storm moving through the Florida Keys and Miami tomorrow morning and then turning to Naples and Tampa, but with almost a 70 mile wide swath, we are going to get nailed regardless of the path.

Hope you all took this one seriously and prepared for it.

Till next time I can go fishing again, 
Tight Lines and God bless.

The Shrimp Are Running

When I went down to visit the fishing piers this evening at the A. Max Brewer Bridge to see if the shrimp are running in the Indian River, I ran into a Friday night block party, complete with a live band.

I drove down to the bridge at around 8:30pm and had to run around the parking lot twice before I lucked up on a parking space.

The cars were lined up almost to the park, and there were a ton of people shrimping, fishing, drinking, and generally having a blast at the pavilion.

I noticed several people cast netting for shrimp along the seawall, which is unusual for this area.

You normally see fishermen cast netting for shrimp when they bait a spot.   This is common practice farther up north in the Jacksonville, Fl. area, but I guess they brought the practice down here.

Anyway, the guys on the seawall were cast netting a few shrimp on almost every cast.  The shrimp were in the medium to large category, but they guys told me they usually get a few jumbos every night.

I took some pics for this site and moved on down to the lower fishing pier to see how the guys who were dip netting shrimp were faring.

 Just about everybody had some shrimp in their 5 gallon buckets.  

A few guys had almost a half a pull, and one guy had a garbage can loaded with a bunch of shrimp.

It seemed like the guys dip netting closer to the sea wall were getting the majority of the shrimp, possibly because it was windy and the water was choppy.

The air temperature was in the low 70s, which made shrimping tonight pretty enjoyable and with the live band that was playing, who could complain.

I took a couple of videos, some more pics, and moved up to the higher fishing pier to see how the guys over there were doing.

Again, everybody had some shrimp in their buckets, with a couple of the "regulars" doing much better.  Everybody on the upper pier was dip netting.  I believe you're not allowed to cast net from the piers.

I brought along a rod with a DOA Bait buster and tossed it around a bit.  Got a couple of strikes and hooked two slot size sea trout that I shook off before landing them.

Most of the trout were small in the area, and I didn't want to interfere with the shrimpers so after the second trout, I decided to head back to the house.

I talked to a couple of sport shrimpers on the way out who told me that the shrimping had been going gangbusters for the past month or so and they expected it to continue throughout March.

I compiled this video of the evenings  shrimping, complete with the band.

It almost makes me want to grab my cast net and stake out a spot on the seawall.

As long as the shrimp are running, I might just give it a try.

Till next time, Tight  Lines.

Atlas V Weather Satellite Launch

Went down to the fishing pier this evening to see how the shrimpers were doing and got to see the Atlas V weather satellite launch that blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:42 p.m. Eastern time.

I planned on getting some fishing in this weekend but I got tied up making a custom aquarium stand that took longer than expected.

When I finished the stand this evening, I decided to see how the shrimping was going on the Indian River.

This is the time of the year when the shrimp run starts to get hot in our area but when I got to the fishing pier and started to inspect the buckets, most were empty.

The guys I spoke with said that they[ were waiting for the wind to pick up (in a couple of hours) as the cold front moves into our area.  The weather was a pleasant 70 degrees, but we are expecting 40 degrees tomorrow morning.

Anyway, while the shrimpers were waiting for the wind to pick up and move the shrimp around, I took a few pics and drove up onto the A. Max Brewer Bridge to see the Atlas V launch.


I parked between a couple of cars on the very top of the bridge and after a brief wait took the video below.




The Atlas V launches in my opinion can't compare to the shuttle launches we used to witness, but I still enjoy watching them.

Immediately after the launch, I drove up the road to see if anyone was fishing for reds from the bank.  I spotted a couple of fishermen dunking cut baits but nobody was catching.  Everyone seemed to be fishing.


I drove by the fishing pier one last time before heading home and was serenaded by the band they had at the outdoor bar.


More people were partying than shrimping or fishing this evening.

I may pull out my shrimp net this week to see if I can get a few for the pan.
Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Friday Night Sea Trout

The Friday night sea trout bite wasn't what I was hoping it would be; nevertheless the trip was still a success in my book.

After leaving Savannah, Georgia's rainy 47 degree weather this afternoon and driving 3 1/2 hours to get home, the weather alone was worth this evening's fishing trip.

Since I had not yet been on the new Max Brewer Causeway fixed span bridge, I persuaded Karen and Elmo to join me in a short fishing trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and see what the new bridge was like.

In a word it was NICE.

People were walking across both sides of the bridge, I guess to just enjoy the new view. It definitely provides you with a good view of the area.

We took the first road into the preserve and aimed for the "duck blind" area where we usually catch some fish.

Along the way we made several short stops, while leaving the truck running, to cast to "fishy looking" spots on both sides of the unimproved roadway. This evening, nothing was interested in what we were offering.

Karen was fishing a Billy Bay bobber with her usual dead shrimp offering and I was tossing a hammered Bagley gold spoon, a CAL DOA jerkbait and after losing the hammered spoon; a small 3/4 oz Johnson Sprite gold spoon.

Although all of these baits normally entice a strike, this evening nothing seemed to be interested
in what we had to offer.

We hit the "duck blind" just as the sun was setting and I took some quick pics of the beautiful scenery before I started tossing around the gold Johnson Sprite spoon.

Karen wasn't having any luck at all and I wasn't doing any better. After about a dozen or so casts, I finally caught the sea trout in the picture that inhaled my gold spoon as I swam it off the opposite bank.

The trout wasn't legal so I returned it and continued fishing. I had a solid hit after about another dozen casts from what I think was a redfish, but I couldn't be sure.

Anyway, I was getting cold and Karen was getting bitten by mosquitoes so we decided to call it an evening.

On the way out, we came upon a large gator that looked like he was sunning himself. With no sun out, he looked like he was frozen on the bank so I took a few pics before heading out.


This is the kind of gator that can cause someone bank fishing a serious problem. They have a unique knack of sneaking up on you when you are casting too close to the water and forget that they're in the area.

The gators in the preserve are not afraid of people and this makes them dangerous.

I was wade fishing Haulover Canal several years ago before they closed the southeast section to vehicle traffic when a ten foot gator popped his head up about 10 feet away from me. I slowly eased out of the canal onto the bank and never again forgot the incident.

Anyway, this evening the scenery was great even though the fishing wasn't up to our expectations.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

Tight Lines.

The New Fixed Span Bridge Is Now Open!

As of yesterday, the new fixed span bridge over the Indian River at the Max Brewer Causeway is now open to public traffic.

The new fixed span bridge span that replaces the old troublesome SR 406 swing span bridge, also known as the A. Max Brewer Bridge, has been under construction since May of 2009.

According to inspectors, the old swing span bridge was considered one of the most unsafe bridges in the state of Florida.

The FDOT project that included the construction of a 300 foot long fishing pier on the west bank under the North side of the bridge is apparently right on schedule.

Lane Closure Schedule For January 30, 2011 to February 5, 2011:

1/31/2011
On Monday traffic will be diverted to the new fixed span bridge and the old swing span bridge will be officially be placed out of service.

Various construction activities will continue to occur that may cause stoppages or intermittent lane closures.

02/05/11
On Saturday, the A. Max Brewer Bridge will be closed to motorist traffic from 9am-11am.

The old bridge was the main conduit for visitors to the Canaveral National Seashore, Playalinda Beach, the Kennedy Space Center, and the Black Point Wildlife Drive in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Hopefully when the demolition of the old swing span bridge is complete, there will be enough left of the span for shrimpers and fishermen to use as casting and shrimping platforms.

Cast netting and the use of generators for shrimping is prohibited on the new fishing pier.

It would be nice if the FDOT would leave portions of the old bridge intact for this purpose, like they did when they constructed the St. Petersburg's Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

We shall see.