Great Topwater Fishing For Sea Trout

Topwater fishing for sea trout has always been one of my favorite activities.

You just can't beat the rush you get from a gator sea trout exploding on a topwater bait.

The temperature today was in the low 90s, so I didn't even think about going fishing until late in the afternoon when the mercury started easing up a bit.

My wife Karen didn't want to put up with the heat today so she decided to stay home and work around the house instead of going fishing.

Around 6:30 pm I finally decided to get my ass into gear, so I picked four spinning rods with different lures and loaded them into the back of the truck along with a small cooler filled with some bottled water.

Since I was bank fishing and it was late, I immediately headed for an area I call Pelican Cove where I usually pick up some sea trout and an occasional redfish.

I started fishing with a Berkley Fire Tiger paddle tail bait but quickly changed over to a STORM Rattlin' Chug Bug - 3.25" - Metalic Silver Blue - Branded Topwater bait.

The wind made it so difficult to accurately cast the paddle tail bait that I correctly decided a topwater lure would attract more interest.

I was cussing myself under my breath for not bringing along the gooey fish attractant that I was using yesterday.

As it turned out, I really didn't need any attractant.

After only a few casts with the Chug Bug, a nice slot sea trout exploded under the plug as I was retrieving it from around a grassy island.

The fish almost broke off as it got tangled in the brush at the bank, but I gave it some slack and as it swam away from the bank I managed to bring it back in and land it.

I took a couple of pics and released the trout to fight another day.

Several more cast into the same area hooked me up to another sea trout that was slightly smaller than the first fish.  Again, I took it's pic and released the fish.

I started casting farther out into the marsh pond where I noticed a big fish smacking something on the surface.  As I retrieved the Chug Bug in quick sharp jerks, I let it set for a second and the surface erupted under the lure.

A huge gator sea trout engulfed the lure and started peeling off line from my reel.  As it swam toward me, I could see that the fish was in the 10 pound category.  It was fat as hell and looked to be at least 30 inches long.

This particular rod was spooled with 8# Cajun line and a 12# fluorocarbon leader and when the fish decided it didn't want to be close to the bank, it took off for parts unknown along with my Chug Bug.

I couldn't believe the line broke but when I reeled in I saw that it let go at the leader knot.

Undaunted, I tied on a suspended MirrorLure and started casting to the same area hoping to get another shot at the big sea trout.

After several more casts I hooked up with another slot size trout which I landed and released.

The MirrorLure picked up another trout a bit smaller than the first fish that I promptly released.

I decided to tie on a Heddon Zara Spook Puppy - Bullfrog - Branded Topwater lure that I had in the truck.

The MirrorLure didn't make enough of a splash for me and I figured that a larger lure would get me a larger sea trout.  As it turned out, I was right!

After a couple of casts into the same area where I was casting the MirrorLure, I picked up an almost gator sea trout.

The fish tried to inhale the lure on a slow retrieve and put up a great "tug of war" fight before I finally managed to land the fish.

I had to get into the water to land the fish but it was worth a "wet foot".

I was taking some pics of the fish as another fisherman in an SUV was passing by.  He didn't comment about my catch but he was awfully interested in what I was fishing with.

I released the big sea trout and continued fishing.  I was still hoping to get the big gator trout that took my Chug Bug, but today it wasn't in the cards.

I caught four more sea trout around the same area on the Zara Spook before I decided to try one other spot near a culvert before the sun set.

As I drove up to the culvert, there was plenty of activity.  I flipped out the Zara Spook and missed a nice redfish that hit the bait, but it didn't hook itself.

I continued casting to the same area but only picked up a couple more small undersize sea trout before I decided to head for home.

Topwater fishing for sea trout paid off today as you can see from the short video below.





The total tally was 8 sea trout landed, two missed fish and one fish that took my favorite Chug Bug.

The topwater fishing for sea trout today was exceptional and I was sorry that my wife decided not to come along today and take part in the fun.

Maybe tomorrow!

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Sea Trout Were Biting

The sea trout were biting late this afternoon in the mosquito control canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Even though it was late when I got home from work, my wife and I decided to take Elmo for a little fishing trip.

We didn't even get out until about 6:00 p.m. and then lucked out netting bait.  My first cast picked up several nice fat finger mullet and four ladyfish that were about 7" long.

The thermometer registered 89 degrees and there was a moderate wind blowing in from the west pushing the water in the lagoon to the eastern shore.

There was a stench of rotting vegetation that took a while to get used to which is probably why we only saw one other soul in the preserve.

Karen baited up her rod with a fat 7" finger mullet and I did the same with a ladyfish on one of my other rods.

I pulled out a casting rod and started flipping a 3" - Rootbeer/Gold D.O.A.® TerrorEyz around the opposite bank to see what was causing all the swirls.

There was a lot of activity on the river this evening, despite the balmy conditions. 

On the second cast I missed a sea trout so I flipped the TerrorEye back to the same spot and promptly hooked up with a nice 18" fish pictured below.

I missed several other fish on the same bait before deciding to change tactics.

There were a lot of sea trout hitting the surface, so I tied on one of my favorite Bagley top water baits and started flipping it towards likely looking spots.

I missed at least six fish before finally hooking a small sea trout that slurped up the bait.

The fish wasn't much larger than the top water lure.

Meanwhile, Karen yelled to me for help with a fish she hooked with her big finger mullet but before I could run up to where she was fishing with the boga grip, she lost the fish.

It was one of those big gator seatrout that she said was about 30" or so.  Because of the size of the bait she was using, I don't doubt it.

In our haste to go fishing, I didn't bring along an aerator and the mullet were all laying dead on the bottom of the bucket.

I chunked up a ladyfish and skewered it on to Karen's hook so she could try for one of the redfish that were cruising down the canal while I continued fishing with my top water bait.

I moved down past a culvert that was barely flowing into the marsh and started pitching my bait to an area where a large pond emptied into the canal.

It only took a couple of casts before I missed a large redfish.

The fish was swimming in from the pond as I cast the top water bait into it's path.

The fish gave the bait a half hearted tap with its nose and took off like a shot to where Karen was fishing.

I yelled to her that a nice redfish was coming her way but the fish never took her bait.

I caught a couple more small trout before we decided to call it an evening.

As usual, the mosquitoes were out in force but I bought a couple of those mosquito repellants that you hook on your belt and apparently they work quite well.

Karen wasn't bothered by the flying vampires and I left the other one in the truck so Elmo wouldn't go crazy.

Might have to buy another one for myself!

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Another Gator Sea Trout

Late this afternoon, my wife and I decided to try our luck in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for some redfish and hopefully another gator sea trout.

The temperature was 94 degrees when we left the house and settled in at 89 degrees as we pulled into Peacocks Pocket road.

I didn't forget my cast net for a change, so I stopped at a place I know where there are always some small ladyfish and finger mullet.

After netting a few for bait we moved to the first of four stops we made today.

The first was at the culverts just past the Peacocks Pocket kayak launch.

Karen fished dead shrimp and a small ladyfish under a bobber and I used a gold Johnson's spoon.

After about 20 minutes of fishing we decided to move on up the road. I caught a long nose gar fish of about 28" and Karen never got a bite.

The next two stops didn't produce anything but a couple of light taps. We saw feeding redfish but they weren't hungry.

Our last stop proved to be the best spot of today's trip.

I stopped when I saw a lot of feeding activity in the shallows next to the opposite bank of the marsh canal.

Karen tossed out her two rigs and I loaded up a rod with a lively 9" ladyfish on a 4/0 Owner hook.

I put out a second rod with a dead ladyfish cut in half while I tossed a white D.O.A. Paddle tail bait around the opposite bank of the canal.

After about 15 minutes, I hooked onto a nice redfish on the ladyfish baited rod.

I fought the fish for about 10 minutes or so before the fish wrapped around a stickup and broke off. That fish was at least 30" long and definitely not a keeper.

After only a few minutes, Karen yelled that she had a redfish on.

I grabbed my camera and took a few pics of her fish. It was just legal size but we let it go anyway.

I hooked up with a lively fat 7" mullet and tossed it out to where I saw a fish swirl.

It took only a few minutes before the fish took off with the mullet in it's gut.

At first I thought it was a redfish because of it's size but I quickly realized it was a gator sea trout by the way the fish fought. It just sloshed around instead of making a long run like redfish are notorious for.

I landed the fish and had Karen take these pics with my Nikon.

Although I look like hell, it was a nice sea trout (about 24") so I decided to crop the pic and post it. The second pic is what the fish looks like just before I cleaned and ate it.

We were both tired and because it was getting dark we decided to call it a day.

It's nice fishing on a weekday in the Refuge. We only saw two other people in the drive and the fish were feeding just about everywhere.

Weekend fishing is much more challenging because of all the activity. The fish get spooked and you don't usually catch anything until just at dusk.

Till next time.

Tight Lines.