Croaker In The River

After being stuffed with way too much turkey, this afternoon seemed to be a good time to hit the river and see what was happening.

My wife went to check on her horse, so I packed up a few rods, a cooler with some frozen shrimp and finger mullet, and last but not least; the dogs.

I wasn't going to take them but Elmo and Odie looked so despondent that I couldn't let them alone.

When I stopped by the bait shop to pick up some live mullet, they were sold out.  So, I headed to the river with only my frozen bait and limited hopes of catching anything worthwhile.

The wildlife refuge was loaded with ducks of all types, alligators just about everywhere, and lots of visitors doing the same thing I was doing; getting out of the house and enjoying the beautiful day.

The weather was great.  The air temp was 73 degrees and there was only a hint of a breeze across the Indian River.

There were limited fishing spots but I lucked out and staked my claim at an area of of  Catfish Creek Loop road where my wife and I picked up some nice black drum last month.

I put out one rod with cut mullet, and two other rods with freshly defrosted medium sized shrimp and almost immediately had a bite on the shrimp.

I missed the first  two hits, but picked up a small croaker on the third round.  It was small but better than nothing.

 In the next half hour or so, I managed to hook and release 11 more croaker on the frozen shrimp which were all in the 8" to 13" range, a small stingray and a couple of river whiting.

The bites were still coming but I had a hit on the rod with the mullet which turned out to be a couple of mating Horseshoe Crabs.

It was getting late and the gnats were killing me so I decided to hit the road and call it a day. 

Elmo and Odie had a lot of fun, and even thought the fish weren't anything to write home about, so did I.

I plan on taking the boat out tomorrow to chase some redfish in the lagoon.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Chilly Afternoon On The Indian River

It was a chilly afternoon on the Indian River but when I got home from work today, I had to make a quick run around Catfish Creek Loop to see if anyone was having any luck.

It was almost 6:00 pm when I finally drove into Gator Creek Road and the air temperature was a chilly 48 degrees.    The wind was blowing just enough to make a steady ripple on the water and not many people were in the area.

As I entered the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge the fist thing I noticed was a huge concentration of gulls and other sea birds in the shallows.  

They were obviously chowing down on something in the shallows but I didn't see any finger mullet or signs of fish in the area so I moved up the road to see if Peacocks Pocket Road was open yet.

As I approached the turnoff, the barrier and the sign was still up.  

When I walked the road last week I noticed that they were working on the road but the area was supposed to be open on the 15th. of the month.

Anyway, I parked the truck and made several casts into a flowing culvert with a Johnsons Sprite gold spoon to see if I could stir up a hit.  
All I got for my efforts was a small finger mullet I snagged in the shallows.

It was too cold for me to continue fishing without a coat on so I drove into Catfish Creek Loop to see who was fishing the river.

When I hit the curve I met up with a regular who always fishes with cut baits.  He had four rods set out and didn't seem to be catching anything.  When I asked if he had caught any fish, he told me he caught two reds in the slot yesterday along with another 33 in fish,  but nothing today.

He blamed it on the cold front.

I wished him luck and drove on where I met up with another reader of this site.  He and his friend were fishing the river with cut baits and shrimp and they too hadn't had a bite.  Again, the cold front was believed to be the reason for the lockjaw.

I wished them luck and drove out of the area.  I never saw another fisherman in the areas that Karen and I usually fish until close to the exit where a couple had several rods out with cut baits and shrimp.

When I asked him about the fishing, he told me the same story.  The cold front put down the fish.

These three were the only ones braving the chilly afternoon on the Indian River and as I headed towards the bridge, I was glad I forgot to bring along the rest of my rods.

When I got home and read my emails, I got a fishing report from Craig and Mary Bates. 

They were out last Sunday afternoon and picked up some fish.   Mary was using a shrimp under a popping cork and picked up two middle of the slot Reds and a very nice 23” Trout.

            

Mary out fished Craig who landed a pair of nice trout up to 22” on a Naked Swimmer.

He sent me this pic of Mary with  a couple of slot reds they caught between Christmas and New Years that would up on the grill with some Redfish Magic.  Yum!

Maybe I'll wet a line this weekend if the weather warms up a bit, but tonight it's supposed to be another chiller.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket Road Is Open Again

When I got home from work this evening, I decided to take a ride down to the refuge and see if Peacocks Pocket Road is open to the public.

I quickly loaded up a few rods and headed for the refuge hoping for the best.

The rainbow I spotted when crossing the bridge was a good omen and when I finally got to the drive I was happy to see that the barriers were down.

As promised, the road was improved from the A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway entrances to the Peacocks Pocket  kayak launch on the easternmost entrance and to Catfish Creek Loop on the western entrance.

Peacocks Pocket road from the kayak launch to Catfish Creek Loop road is still unimproved and pristine complete with uncut grass.

They apparently used road graders to level out some of the nasty potholes which should make a lot of bird watchers happy.

Since time was of the essence this evening, I opted to fish a couple of ponds in the marsh area to see if I could pick up a sea trout or two.

As I drove to my spot I passed only two other fishermen.  The first guy was dunking cut baits on the Indian River side for redfish and apparently wasn't doing too well.

The other guys were fishing midway up Peacocks Pocket road on the river side and caught a nice 30" gator trout.

Tyler and his friend (didn't get his name) showed me a pic of the fish on his cell phone.

After taking the pic, they released the fish to fight another day, so I asked them to email me the pic for a post.

When I moved on up to the pond I planned to fish, there was a slight breeze on the water and the air temperature was 81 degrees.

I decided to toss Chug Bugs to the fish so I smeared up one of my favorites with some Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater Formula and started blind casting to the shallow grass flats in the marsh.

I had a couple of follow ups and finally landed a sea trout of around 22 inches which I released.

Several casts and a couple more follow ups later I finally nailed a nice sea trout that looked to be around the 30" category.

The fish kind of "slurped" down the plug and started running like a redfish.  It made two nice runs before coming in close enough to the bank for me to see how big it was.

The third run was a charm for the fish and the hooks pulled out.

I moved up to the next pond but it was getting dark and after a few casts and several hundred mosquito bites, I decided to head for home.

For some reason the fish abruptly stopped hitting as the sun set.

After I finish working around the house tomorrow, I plan to take our two "wonder dogs" Odie and Elmo along.

I'm glad Peacocks Pocket Road is open again and Till next time, Tight Lines.

Memorial Day Weekend Redfish On Topwater Baits

Next to sea trout, catching redfish on topwater baits is one of my favorite activities and this evening turned out to be one of my better fishing excursions.

I got home late from work and didn't hit the wildlife refuge until around 6:30 pm.

The air temperature was in the high 80s and there was almost no breeze blowing when I entered East Gator Creek road.

As I was tying on a new Skitterwalk topwater bait that I bought at Bass Pro in Savannah, a Fish and Wildlife officer drove up for a license check.

We chatted about the fishing and when some of the roads would be opening, if ever, before he continued down the road.

I started casting the new Skitterwalk into the shallows over the weeds and was eventually rewarded with a hit from a large sea trout.  The fish missed the bait and didn't come back for a return hit so I continued fishing the area casting into likely looking spots.

It took about twenty casts and two more misses before I hooked up with and landed a nice ladyfish.

I took a pic and returned the fish to the shallows before moving up the road towards Peacocks Pocket road.

I spotted a slot redfish in the shallow marsh canal and started pitching a Zman jerkbait to the fish when a "fisherlady" I see in this area on a regular basis drove up and started chatting about the fishing possibilities.

Beatrice told me she was catching some nice sea trout and redfish in the area on various baits and I shared some of my reports before she moved on to her spot.

The fish were not in the shallow ditches this evening.  They appeared to be in the shallow grassy ponds chasing baitfish around, so I decided to target a large pond that I knew harbored some nice reds.

This pond usually produces some nice sea trout and reds but only early in the morning and later on towards dusk.

I "jump fished" my way to the spot and had a couple of nice hits on the way but no fish landed.

When I got to the area I intended to fish, I started fishing a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon but after many fruitless casts, I put the rod up and changed over to the Zman jerkbait.

I briefly hooked a small sea trout but it spit out the bait.  I continued fishing the jerk bait without any luck until the evening topwater action started.

It was like a light switch that just turned on.   The fish started busting baitfish in the weedy shallows and they weren't small fish!

I changed rods and started casting the new Skitterwalk bait as far out into the pond as I could.

I had two misses before remembering that I neglected to smear up the bait with some Pro-Cure.

The Pro-Cure made the difference.

I made two more casts around a big fish that was busting bait around a small grassy island.  On the third cast, the fish inhaled the Skitterwalk and started peeling line off my spinning reel.

On the first run the redfish almost spooled me but I increased the drag enough to pump back line.

The second run wasn't as long but the fish showed no sign of giving up.  It continued making shorter and shorter runs until I was beginning to think I could land it.

After 20 minutes or so I crawled down the bank with my Boca Grip and finally lipped the fish to the bank.

 

The stocky fish measured just over 30" and was in great shape.  By it's girth it was obvious it had been feeding on mullet.

I took a few quick pics before reviving the fish and letting it go to fight another day.

 

It was getting late and I decided to head for home.

On the way out I spotted Beatrice.  She told me she had just caught a 25" black drum on a "rancid" shrimp in the shallows around Catfish Creek Loop.

I told her about the red I caught and headed for home and some dinner.

Hopefully this Memorial Day weekend will prove to be as fruitful as this evening's trip was.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

A Great Day For Ducks

Today was a great day for ducks, not so great for fishing.

It was around 1:30 pm when I finally decided to go fishing this afternoon.

It was raining sporadically all morning at the house and when it finally slowed down I packed up some rods and headed for Peacocks Pocket to make a quick run around the area.

As I entered Gator Creek road, the water was calm and there were rafts of ducks all around the area.

The air temperature was 71 degrees and as I pulled up to the first set of culverts at Catfish Creek Loop, the heavens opened.

I briefly thought about turning around and going home but I decided to give it a try despite the downpour.

Unfortunately, all I got for my efforts was a soaking wet hoodie.  I did not get a single bite all the time I fished the area, but I did get soaking wet.

I met up with several fishermen on the way into the refuge and stopped briefly to talk to Ron who despite the torrent, had a nifty setup to watch his rods.

He had a sheet over his truck to block some of the rain but was still pretty soaking wet when I pulled up.

When I asked him if he had caught any reds, he told me he missed a couple on mud minnows.

As we were chatting, he had a bite and again missed the red.

I was fishing artificial baits and didn't have the luxury of sitting in the truck waiting for a bite.  Instead, I was casting an array of spoons, soft baits and topwater lures trying my best to get some kind of interest going.

When we parted ways, it really started coming down.  I took a few short vids of the nasty weather but today was truly a great day for ducks in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

After an hour or so of heavy rain and I was on my way out of the refuge, the rain slowed down enough for me to try fishing again.

I tried tossing a gold Nemiere Red Ripper and a Bagley paddle tail swimbait for a while with no success.

As I neared the end of Peacocks Pocket road and came to the shallow water launch, I discovered where all the fishermen were.  The area was pretty crowded and apparently people were catching fish.

I talked to a couple of guys who had already loaded their Gheenoes onto their trailer and  another guy who was coming in with his kayak and both reported good catches of redfish, black drum and sea trout in the area directly adjacent to the Space Center barriers.

One pair had two slot reds, two black drum and two nice over slot sea trout.  The other guy had a black drum and a redfish.  He said he caught several others but only harvested the two fish.

The guys in the Gheenoe were using artificial soft baits with an "assist".  They were rubbing the baits in a bag of clams they had brought with them.  I much prefer using Pro-Cure.

Anyway, as it was starting to clear up, I made up my mind to head for home.

I was soaked and getting chilled even though the air temperature was a pleasant 69 degrees.

If the weather is decent tomorrow, I may take out my Gheenoe out for a spin.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

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Weekend Fishing Blues

Didn't get a chance to any fishing until late Saturday afternoon and then only for a couple of hours.

The weather was great but the fish weren't cooperating worth a hoot.

I planned to fish artificials but stopped by the local bait shop and picked up some fresh dead shrimp to use as a backup.

The guy at the bait shop said that a couple of guys fishing Playalinda Beach came in with a report of catching several Spanish mackerel, a couple of Pompano and a "ton" of blues.  He said nobody had given a good report on catching redfish.

Since Peacocks Pocket road is closed for the season and I didn't want to stay away from the house too long to hit the beach, I drove through East Gator Creek road and around Catfish Creek loop to see if anything was going on.

At the barrier to Peacocks Pocket road, I spotted a small school of black drum but they were well out of casting range.  I wasted about a half an hour hoping for a bit on some dead shrimp but nothing was taking.

I continued down Catfish Creek loop and fished several likely looking areas with no success.

I finally stopped at a small pond where a couple of guys last week caught some reds.  I flipped out three baits and started casting a small Creme paddle tail swimbait around.

After about an hour, an old fishing friend of mine drove up and we chatted a bit about the fishing and an accident he recently had in Orlando. 

He was rear ended, sandwiched between a bus and was lucky to still be with us. 

He took a video of me landing a redfish last year in an area where he had been catching some black drum, but this afternoon he was having no luck.  

We parted ways and after about another 15 minutes or so I decided to pack it in and head home to see how my wife was feeling.

She is still recuperating from surgery but doing much better than she was.

I took some pics of the awesome sunset as I was leaving the refuge. 

Hope you enjoy.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Seasonal Road Closure

The annual Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge seasonal road closure is now apparently in effect.

After my Doctor's appointment this afternoon, I decided to wet a line in the refuge however, as I meandered up to Peacocks Pocket road, I was greeted with the closure notification below.

Peacocks Pocket road will be closed from November 1st thru February 15th of next year to vehicle traffic.

I guess I'm going to have to either start walking in earnest or find another mode of transportation to get into my favorite winter fishing holes.

From my conversations with a couple of wildlife management officers, I learned that the closure coincides with the waterfowl hunting season.

Years ago there was no closure however, someone who had a few bird shot pellets land on them complained and now the area is closed for everyone.

In any event, I fished the Indian River and marsh areas around Catfish Creek Loop hoping for a redfish.

During the time I fished Catfish Creek Loop,  I saw a small school of black drum feeding in the shallow marsh area and two redfish that obviously had a case of lockjaw.

I started fishing with a topwater Chug Bug but had no takers or follow ups, so I switched over to a Johnson's Sprite and a Gold Neimire Red Ripper spoon.  Both pieces of hardware didn't produce anything either.

Evidently the fish were either not in the area, or they were feeding on crustaceans.  I suspect the latter.

There was a slight wind was coming out of the east this evening and the air temperature was in the high 70s and dropping as I decided to leave the area. The gnats and mosquitoes were out in full force and I forgot my insect repellent, so fishing became a torturous endeavor and not much fun.

I did manage to get some nice pics of the area before calling it a day. 

 

 

On the way out, I decided to drive through East Gator Creek road.  I saw some topwater action just at dusk and missed two sea trout on the Chug Bug.  Both fish were short strikers.

Except for those two fish, it remained an unproductive trip but it was still great to get out in the air and enoy the great scenery.

The sunset was awesome as usual.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

The Eagles Have Landed

The eagles have landed today in the Catfish Creek area of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Until this afternoon I had not been able to get out and wet a line.

I spent the day Saturday in Jacksonville at the gun show and really didn't expect to stay the day.

 There were thousands of people out there and like myself, almost everyone I spoke with had concerns about their ability to purchase weapons in the future.

The guns and ammo were going out the door faster than hotcakes and I honestly cannot remember being in the company of a nicer bunch of Americans.

Anyway, this afternoon I packed up three rods and headed for Catfish Creek loop to see if anyone was having any luck with the redfish.

Only two other fishermen were in the area; one didn't get a hit and the other gentleman who I see regularly in the area said he had a hit on cut mullet but the fish dropped the bait before he could set the hook.

I moved on and started pitching a gold spoon, a paddle tail bait and a spinner bait into various areas without any hookups.  I had only one hit during the brief time I was in the area before a Fish and Wildlife officer came by.

We chatted a bit about the fishing and the closure of Peacocks Pocket road before he moved on.

The temperature was in the high 60s and the wind was blowing steadily out of the northeast and since I was getting cold, I decided to head for home.

As I was driving down Catfish Creek Loop road, I caught up with the fish and wildlife officer who was taking pics of something in the road.

As I got closer I realized it was an American Eagle, so I got out my trusty Nikon Coolpix and started taking pics of the shy birds.

There were two eagles in the road along with a couple of vultures arguing over some "road kill" and they weren't a bit afraid of us.

After a while the wildlife officer slowly moved on and I edged closer to the two eagles until they took off.

I started to turn around and noticed that the braver of the two birds circled around to continue with it's meal so I edged as close as I could and took a few more pics and the video below.  Hope you enjoy them.


The last time I had the pleasure of seeing an American eagle in the wild was in the middle of Shiloh Marsh road, and that one was extremely wary of humans.   I never could get as close as I did to these two birds.

Although today turned out to be "fishless", the eagles have landed!

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Slow Bank Fishing For Reds

Bank fishing for reds this weekend has been extremely slow.

Since Peacocks Pocket Road is closed until next year, fishing pressure in the areas around Catfish Creek Loop road and East Gator Creek has increased.

Even though the fish shouldn't be affected, the bite is not as good as it should be for this time of the year.

I went fishing this afternoon on the Indian River around Catfish Creek Loop with only limited success.

After cast netting some mud minnows to fish with a couple of bait casting outfits that I brought along specifically for live bait, I staked out a spot along the river and chucked out three baits.

This afternoon the weather was just perfect for laying back and waiting for something to run into my baits.

After an hour with absolutely no hits, I started casting a hammered gold spoon that was on one of my spinning outfits into the opposite marsh canal.

After several casts into different areas of the marsh I finally hooked up with a small sea trout which I promptly released.

I'd like to say I continued catching fish but I didn't get another bite for the rest of the time I was out there.

Pretty dismal fishing, but it was still a great day to be out on the river.

It was getting late and I was getting hungry so I dumped the remaining mud minnows into the marsh canal, packed up my rods and headed home.

On the way out of the refuge, I checked with several other anglers and only one other fisherman had any luck.  He picked up a 20" redfish on a cut bait after fishing three hours on the river side.

Oh well, maybe next time!

Till then, Tight Lines.

Skunked Again!.

Well I got skunked again this afternoon.

It's been one hell of a week.  I've been sick with the flu all week and this weekend when I finally felt good enough to get some fishing in, I got skunked.

Saturday afternoon my wife and I took Elmo and Odie fishing around Catfish Creek.

Odie is to the left, Elmo to the right.

I figured that since Peacocks Pocket road is closed to vehicle traffic until February, we might as well try some bank fishing around Catfish Creek loop.

I netted about a dozen large mud minnows and we headed to an area that I knew would have a lot of bank fishermen trying their luck.

After we parked the truck at a likely looking spot, Karen and I put out five rods and baited them up with live mud minnows at various locations around the bank and proceeded to wait.

After about 30 minutes or so I saw a large mud minnow that was on one of my bait casting rods frantically trying to get away from a fish.  About the same time I noticed the bait, the line started peeling off the rod.

I'm used to fishing artificial lures and instead of letting the fish run with the bait, I tried to set the hook to quickly.

To make a short story shorter, I missed the fish.  When I reeled in the mud minnow, it had teeth marks half way around it's midsection.  The sign of a big redfish.

I cast out another mud minnow and proceeded to wait.

My wife asked me to cast out a mud minnow for her on a bait casting rod and after only a few minutes she had a nice 22" sea trout on the line.

She landed the fish and I took this pic.  I was going to release the fish but decided to have it for dinner instead. 

Times are getting tough!

As it turned out, the sea trout was the only fish of the day.  Karen out fished me again.

We packed up our rods as it started getting towards dusk and headed for the house and dinner.

I was going to ditch the rest of the mud minnows but decided to keep them and see if they could make it another day, and I'm happy to report they all did.

Sunday, my wife decided to ride a horse instead of going fishing and it turned out to be a great choice.

I got skunked again!

I left the house with five rods and the mud minnows in back of the truck and headed for the same general area I got skunked on Saturday.

I got to the area around 3:00 pm and tossed out three rods all baited with live mud minnows.

Mud minnows are supposed to be redfish "candy" but today either there weren't any reds in the area or they didn't like "candy".

I sat, walked around, sat some more, shot the bull with a few fishermen, sat some more and never got a bite all the time I was on the Indian River.

Clearly a crappy day for fishing.

About 5:00 pm I had enough fun and started packing up my rods. One rod was bait-less and a mud minnow on the other rod looked like it went through the war and lost.

Anyway, I loaded up the truck, said my farewells to Neil Clark and his neighbor and continued down the loop to head for home.

I talked to several fishermen who were using either finger mullet or shrimp and no one except one guy caught anything.

The one fisherman who caught the slot redfish said he was fishing since 1:30 pm and this was his only fish.

I'm not sure whether it was the cold front or what, but the fish definitely were not in the feeding mood today or yesterday.

It's times like this that make me remember why I prefer fishing artificial lures.

Oh well, at least there was a beautiful sunset.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!

Chilly Day For Redfish

Sunday turned out to be a chilly day for redfish but they were biting pretty decent in the river and in the marsh areas of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I wasn't sure I was going to wet a line today because I'm coming down with a chest cold or something, but I decided to go fishing anyway.

My wife went horseback riding so I packed up some casting and spinning rods and headed for Catfish Creek Loop road where I saw some guys catching reds yesterday.

I decided to fish with ladyfish chunks so I went about catching a ladyfish for bait.

At the first set of culverts where I usually pick up a fish or two, the water was crystal clear and there didn't seem to be any fish in the vicinity.

I drove down the road past a marsh creek and started casting a gold
Johnson The Original Sprite Spoon to see if I could come up with a ladyfish or two.

This is the same area where I occasionally pick up some reds as they cruise the shallow marsh canal into the pond.

After several casts into the deeper marsh canal, I started pitching the spoon past a shallow point into the pond hoping for a possible redfish.

As luck would have it I hooked into this nice red on the second cast into the shallows.

I was using one of the baitcasting rods I bought Friday and the fish was a perfect test for it's effectiveness.

The red was bigger than I thought and it made several long runs into the shallow pond before I could finally lip it onto the bank.

I took a couple of pictures for this site and measured the fish before releasing it back into the pond.

The male redfish measured in at 29" and was beautifully colored from the tannin water.

I tried several more casts to see if I could pick up another red but the commotion put down any other fish in the immediate area, so I moved up the road and continued casting for a ladyfish.

It only took a few more casts before I landed what was to become my bait for the afternoon.

Neil Clark and his wife drove past me while I was casting for bait and we chatted a while before he moved on to the spot he was catching fish yesterday.

I followed him to the same general area where I planned to fish chunked ladyfish.

I almost never bait fish but this afternoon the wind was whipping up so I decided to park by butt and bank fish with Neil and his wife.

I opted to fish two bait casters and rigged them up with enough weight to cast the ladyfish chunks.

After pitching out both baits, Neil came over and we shot the breeze a bit to pass the time.  This is why I don't like still fishing.   For me it's boring as hell but I decided to give it a shot.

After about half an hour or so the short rod with 10# test Cajun Line got a hit.

The tip bobbed and I briefly had the fish on but the hook wasn't set and it got off after a brief tussle.

The other rod jerked but I didn't think anything was on the line so I let it set.

After a while, I got bored and pulled in the rig with a bare hook.  No bait.  Not a plan for catching fish!

I re-baited and continued waiting.

Meanwhile, Neil picked up a redfish on a chunk of ladyfish.  After a brief fight he landed the fish that measured in at a long 22".   Notice the nifty measuring board he has mounted on the tailgate of his truck!

I took some pics that unfortunately didn't turn out as good as I hoped.  The lens was clouded up because of the difference in temperatures inside the car and I didn't discover it until it was too late.

Anyway, below is the best one that I could salvage.

The wind continued to blow and I was getting cold.  About this time my wife called and I decided to call it a day.

I don't mind bank fishing when the weather is right and the fish are biting, but as the temperature dropped the fishing also slowed down.

As I reeled in both rods, the air temperature was 69 degrees but with the wind, it felt like 59.

It was definitely a chilly day for redfish and I told Neil I had enough fun for one day.

I'm taking vacation this week and hope to make it to the Keys if I don't get sick.

Till next time, Tight Lines.