Life's A Beach

After finishing my chores Friday afternoon I decided to hit the beach to see if the baitfish have arrived.

I left Odie and Elmo at the house, packed several rods for surf or flats fishing, and headed for Playalinda Beach.

As I crossed the bridge and saw all the wind surfers on the river, I knew that surf fishing would probably be out of the question today.

 

There were several wind surfers on the North side of the causeway doing their thing and a couple of fishermen on the other side dunking baits.

I continued to the beach via BioLab road so I could check out the flats in that area.

Both the boat launch and smaller dock were empty and there were no trailers in the parking area.  

I drove towards Playalinda Beach road and was surprised that nobody was in the area.  The shallow flats out from the Whale Tail and across from Pelican Island were clear and with a light chop on the surface, I stopped to fish a few spots to see if I could pick up a sea trout.

I was making long casts with a medium size topwater SkitterWalk around the potholes with little success.   I had two fish blast the plug after several dozen casts, but I never got a hookup.  

I trudged back to the truck intent on seeing if anyone on the beach was catching fish.  

Along the way, I noticed that there had been a controlled burn along the road.  Several areas were burned down and there was an active fire in one area between the canal on the left side of the road and the lagoon.

Apparently it didn't affect the gators.  I saw several along the road and when I hit Playalinda Beach Road, there was a big one in the middle of the ditch not having a care in the world.

When I got to the beach, I stopped at one of the first lots and halfway expected to see someone fishing, but when I got to the top of the boardwalk, other than a couple surfers, I was the only one there.

The surf was rough and after watching the breakers for a while, I couldn't spot any baitfish so I moved on up to lot #8.

That section of beach was literally barren.  Other than a few seagulls, I was alone on the beach.
Normally, I would have been thrilled but with a rough surf, I decided to head back.

On the way out, I spotted a flock of Roseatte Spoonbills feeding in the shallows, so I pulled over and took a few pics.

I thought about stopping at East Gator Creek to fish the shallow flats but the wind was picking up and there was still a chop on the water.

As I got close to the bridge, the windsurfers were still doing their thing.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Biolab Topwater Fishing

I was planning on doing some Biolab topwater fishing this week and after receiving this fishing report from David Holbrook, I'm sure I will be out there before the weeks end.

"Hi John -

As always, great to see your reports.  I've been wading Biolab on a more regular basis the last couple months.  Enough success to stay interested... January and early Feb. consistently seemed to get 4 or 5 trout in the 16 - 19 range on each trip, a rat red mixed in here and there.  Nearly all the trout have been on topwater, the rats on plastics.

Last time at Biolab was a couple weeks ago, 2/10, just after sunrise, on the north end of the road.  Got the red in the attached pic - just shy of 22". Threw a spook jr. for about an hour and a half that morning... had 3 more big blowups but couldn't get another hooked up.  

Hopefully going to get out Sat. am. (although the wind forecast doesn't look to promising at the moment)

tight lines!"

 

As long as the weeds aren't a problem, topwater fishing is my "go to" method for catching fish.  A gold Johnson's Sprite or other weedless spoon is next, and lifelike plastics last.

It all depends on the depth of the water and the amount of sea grasses floating on the surface.

When the March winds hit us, drowning a live bait is the last, but often most productive option.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.