Catfish Creek Redfish

Catfish Creek Loop is always a good area to target redfish and sea trout.

This afternoon, Javier Cuazo picked up this nice redfish on a live shrimp in the same general area where I usually fish Chug Bugs.

He was kind enough to send me this short video of his catch.

Can't wait till I get home again.

Nice job Javier,
Tight Lines

Lazy Thursday Afternoon On The River

It was a lazy Thursday afternoon on the river this week and despite all the rains we had, we caught a good number of fish.

Karen suggested a scouting trip around the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge so we could take the "boys" (Elmo and Odie) for a ride and to see if Peacocks Pocket Road was opened up yet for vehicle traffic.

I knew that the road would probably not be open, but I never pass up a chance to go fishing so, I loaded several rods, a cooler full of water and some bait into the truck and headed out to the refuge.

We entered via East Gator Creek road and as the name implied, was greeted by several gators along the road.  I couldn't fish a top water bait without having one of these guys follow it up to the bank, so I took a pic and headed towards "Pocket road".

As I suspected, Peacocks Pocket road still had the barricade up, so we drove to a spot along the river, set out a couple of rods with shrimp and cut ladyfish, and sat down to wait for a fish to come along.

I was fishing an Okuma Avenger bait runner with 30 pound Power Pro and Karen had the same reel spooled with 14 pound Cajun Red line.  We both opted for small #2/0 hooks on a light weight sliding sinker rig.

I immediately missed a couple of bites and hooked up with a small river whiting.  I thought about keeping a few fish for dinner but since the whiting was small, I tossed it back and continued fishing.

Not long after catching the first fish, I picked up another whiting that was larger than the first fish.  I unhooked the fish and tossed that one back.

This continued for several more fish and I was silently cussing myself for not keeping any of the whiting for dinner.  They are great eating with garlic butter, salt and pepper.

Anyway, Karen kept missing bites but finally picked up a stingray that she thought was a black drum.

I unhooked the ray and as I tossed it back, rushed to pick up my rod.  I expected another whiting but it turned out to be a small sea trout.

I released the fish and continued fishing as a slight rain started.

Making a long story short, Karen and I managed to catch several more  whiting, sea trout, and a couple of nice size catfish before the mosquitoes started to become a problem.

Although I was after redfish or a black drum, we had a great time fishing with Elmo and Odie.

Elmo usually comes along for the ride and stays in the truck while Karen and I fish, but Odie likes to check out the territory as we fish.

While we were fishing, a porpoise swam by late in the afternoon looking for his dinner and managed to stir up the fish.  I took this video of the action..

Odie was watching the porpoise and when it came too close, he started growling to warn it off.

Cool dude...

After  the porpoise left the area, we were still catching fish but the bites were not coming as fast as they had been so we decided to pack it in for the day.

On the way out, I stopped at a culvert at East Gator Creek and tossed a Chug Bug at some cruising fish.  I had three hits from either a trout, ladyfish, or snook, but I never got a hookup.  After several more casts without a follow up, I packed up the rod and headed for home.

Anyway, even though we didn't catch any trophy fish today, we did catch a good variety fishing a lazy Thursday afternoon on the river.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket Road Is Still Closed

Although Peacocks Pocket road is still closed, bank fishermen along the causeway and the open dike roads are still picking up good numbers of redfish and black drum.

Javier Cuazo and his friend Luis were good enough to send me these pics of their trip to Gator Creek Thursday morning.

 They got out early and around 8:00am Luis picked up a nice slot black drum on a live shrimp and later on, a rat redfish on a dead shrimp which was quickly released to grow up into a bull red.

Around noon they moved on to Catfish Creek and fished around an area where this crabber was picking up his cages.    Usually if there are crabs in the area, it's a good area for reds.

He said they were fishing into the wind, but he did not what they caught in that area.

Yesterday, another reader said that the reds in that area were nailing fresh dead shrimp and chunks of cut mullet and ladyfish.

In my experience, an 1 1/2" thick steak cut from a freshly caught ladyfish on a 4/0 or 5/0 Owner hook is hard to beat for big redfish.

Right now, fresh dead or live shrimp is the bait of choice for black drum.

Till I get back into town again, Tight Lines and don't forget to vote.

New Years Fishing In The Wildlife Refuge

Fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge new years day was lackluster to say the least, but considering the weather change, I really didn't expect much.

My wife and I decided to take Elmo and Odie out to the "swamp" for a ride and to do a little fishing.  We started out at around 3:00 pm loaded up with a few rods and some shrimp for bait.

We were originally going to try fishing in Haulover Canal, but because it was late in the day and I didn't want to waste time driving so far, we decided to fish the Catfish Creek area in the refuge instead.

Because "Pocket Road" is closed to vehicle traffic for the waterfowl hunting season, I expected the area to be covered up with bank fishermen but as we drove around the "loop" I was surprised to see only a few guys on the river.

We picked a spot where the dogs couldn't get into too much trouble and staked out several rods with fresh dead frozen shrimp and began to fish.

We didn't have to wait long before both Karen and I got bites.  I'm not normally a bait fishermen and I managed to miss the first three bites before finally hooking up with a nice hard head catfish.

Karen kept missing fish and finally landed a spotted sea trout that was just legal.

She released her fish and continued fishing.

As it started getting towards dusk, several fishermen started coming into the area to stake out their fishing spots.

I briefly hooked and lost a heavy fish that was probably a drum and Karen had several more bites before hooking an releasing another catfish.

As the light over the river waned, I hooked into a "rat redfish" that put up a brief tussle before being unhooked and released.

That turned out to be the last bite of the afternoon, so after the gnats started to gnaw away at my legs, we decided to call it a day and head home.

Elmo and Odie had a ball, Karen and I both caught some fish, and we all enjoyed New Years fishing in the wildlife refuge on a beautiful afternoon.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing For Black Druim In Catfush Creek

Fishing for Black Drum is always fun, so  Karen and I decided to head for Catfish Creek and do a little Black Drum fishing this afternoon after finishing our chores were completed.

The weather was chilly this Saturday morning but as the temperature began to improve, so did my desire to go fishing.

I packed up several rods, a 12 volt battery, a home made aerator and a cooler large enough to keep a couple of dozen shrimp live for a few hours.

As soon as Elmo and Odie saw me picking out the fishing rods, they knew it was time to "head for the swamp" and help us catch some fish.  Both dogs were in the car as soon as I opened the door.

We didn't get to the bait shop until around 4:00 pm, but I usually don't bother fishing until late in the afternoon anyway.

I picked up a couple dozen of medium shrimp and headed for a spot in Catfish Creek where Karen and I caught some drum a couple of weeks ago.

As luck would have it, the spot was open so I pulled in and set out three spinning rods with live shrimp on standard sliding sinker rigs.

The weather was beautiful this afternoon.  The air temperature was in the low 70s and there was no wind to speak of.   The weather report announced the possibility of some rain but we never experienced any.

I missed two fish within the first 20 minutes and finally landed a small spotted sea trout.  I put on a new shrimp and missed another couple of fish on both rods that I had out before finally landing a barely over size slot black drum that hit just as the sun was starting to go down.

The fish below was a hare over 24" long and put up a decent fight on the light tackle we were using.  Karen took a couple of pics before I released the fish.



As I was putting on a new shrimp,  Karen had another fish on that turned out to be a Black Drum.

I took a quick video of the action before landing the fish for her.  This fish was shorter than my drum but stockier.  After taking a couple of pics, Karen released the fish and we both continued fishing.

It took less than five minutes before Karen and I had another fish on.  I had mine almost in before the hook pulled out, so I picked up the sports cam and tried to take another video of Karen landing her fish but it came out much too dark to bother posting.

After she landed her fish and I took another pic, she released it and we both decided to head for home.

It was getting chilly and both Elmo and Odie were ready to leave.

I packed up the gear and drove around Catfish Creek Loop to see if anyone else had any luck.

On the way out of the refuge, we spotted nine other vehicles and almost everyone seemed to be catching fish.

With any kind of luck, Karen and I will get a chance to get out again tomorrow.

Till next time,  Tight Lines.

Catfish Creek Sea Trout

Except for the day before New Years, my wife and I didn't get much fishing in so, this afternoon, Karen and I decided to take Elmo and Odie fishing at Catfish Creek.

Catfish Creek sea trout are smaller than what I normally catch around Peacocks Pocket Road but since that area is still closed, we had to make do with what was readily available.

We loaded up the dogs, several fishing rods and headed to Captain Hooks Bait Shop on Garden St. to pick up some live medium sized shrimp for bait.  Because it was late in the afternoon,  I only picked up a dozen and headed out to find a spot where we could fish and still keep a tight leash on the dogs.

Most of the spots were already taken when we got to the area but we managed to find one spot on a shallow point to set up our rods.

I baited all the rods with live shrimp on standard sliding sinker rigs and sat down to wait.

Karen got the first bite and landed an undersize sea trout which we promptly released. 

 


I got two sea trout about the same size on live shrimp on two other rods I had set out.  Both were undersize and released to grow up.

In the next hour Karen and I caught six undersize sea trout on live shrimp, a large hard head catfish that Karen caught, and an undersize "rat" redfish that I caught.

 
We didn't get out on the water this afternoon until around 4:00 pm, and by 5:15 pm the sea trout bite stopped entirely. 

As it was getting dark, I started pitching a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon and missed another redfish on the third cast.  A couple casts later I picked up another juvenile sea trout that was a hair longer than the spoon I was using for bait.

The mosquitoes were getting nasty so when it got too dark to tie on a hook that I lost, we decided to head for home.

It was a beautiful afternoon on the Indian River and Elmo, Odie, Karen and I had a good time. 

We certainly didn't catch anything to write home about, but the action was steady all evening.  Anyway, we got to enjoy the awesome sunset on the river.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Captain Hooks on Garden Street

Captain Hooks on Garden Street

Captain Hooks on Garden Street

Captain Hooks on Garden Street

The Black Drum Are In The Creeks

After taking care of some work around the house, my wife and I decided on the spur of the moment to go fishing and try and catch some Black Drum.

It was around 4:00 pm before we finally loaded the truck and headed for the Indian River.  

We decided to hit the local bait shop to pick up some live shrimp,  so we stopped at Captain Hooks on Garden Street and picked up a baker's dozen of "bombers".  

These are super size shrimp in the jumbo  plus category that are great for gator sea trout, snook and big redfish.  

I didn't have a bait bucket so we used the cooler I brought along to keep our drinks in.  

We drove into Gator Creek road and into Catfish Creek Loop and decided to fish a point where I have caught reds in the past.

I baited up a jumbo shrimp for Karen on her spinning outfit,  then set out three bait casting rods  with live and dead shrimp and sat down to wait.  (Not one of my better traits.)

After a few minutes I had a hit on the rod with a smelly shrimp on it but missed whatever was dumb enough to try and eat it.

I re-baited with a live shrimp and after several minutes picked up an undersize spotted sea trout which I quickly released.  Shortly after that, I landed another sea trout that was the smallest I ever caught in salt water.  The little trout was no longer than 6 " and when Karen wanted to take my picture with the trout, I quickly vetoed the idea.

While I was unhooking the little trout, Karen hooked a black drum on a bait casting rod I asked her to watch.  

The fish put up a "sloshing" fight that was atypical of a drum and when she landed the fish we knew why.  The juvenile drum had its tail removed by some predator, probably a dolphin looking looking for a drum dinner.

Tailless Drum

Tailless Black Drum

I took a couple of pics of the tailless fish before  releasing it.

In the next half hour just as dusk was on us, I hooked and released two more black drum and another as it got dark.  All the drum were caught on either live shrimp or some smelly dead shrimp I brought along that was cluttering up the freezer.

We released all the fish and when it got too dark to see, we decided to head for home.   Except for the one black drum that Karen landed, she never got a hit on the live "bomber" shrimp she was using.

Apparently I was in a small school that was just a few feet away from where she had her rod staked out.  The other two bait casting rods I had out never got a hit either and they were to the right and left of where I was catching fish.

We were hoping to catch a redfish, but I couldn't complain about the fishing.  The tally was two sea trout and three black drum in the 22' to 25" range.

After I get through with my projects tomorrow, we'll probably go out again and wet a line or two.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Catfish Creek Was Hot This Evening

The bank fishermen around Catfish Creek were catching this evening, not just fishing.

When my wife asked me to pick up a prescription for her, I packed up a few rods and took Elmo and Odie along for a spin around Catfish Creek in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

As we crossed the A. Max Brewer Bridge it looked like everyone had at least one fishing rod out in the river.

I drove around Catfish Creek and stopped to talk to several fishermen to see what was biting and what the fish were biting on.

The first guy I spoke with was landing a slot size redfish as I drove up to him.  He and almost everyone I spoke with was using shrimp for bait, and catching either slot size and under Redfish, or slot size Black Drum.

 I didn't want to waste his time so I drove up the road and talked with another couple who were fishing a culvert.  They said they had just got there and were using shrimp for bait.

I brought along three rods this evening each tipped with different lures but I didn't expect to do much fishing with the dogs along. Elmo usually chills out in the back seat but Odie is a handful and has to explore and watch everything that is going on.

The air temperature was in the high 70s and the river was like glass. There were several people paddling kayaks and a couple of guys at the mouth of Catfish Creek fishing from a shallow draft flats boat. The scenery this evening was awesome.

I spotted several pushes of water that were probably Black Drum and a couple of redfish in the shallow marsh area. I tossed a gold spoon for awhile with no luck and switched to an Electric Chicken paddletail bait and got one hit from a sea trout.

As it got closer to dusk I made a few casts with a Chug Bug and got a follow up from something but no hits.

I used my camera this evening more than my fishing rods and took these pics of the sunset before moving out of the refuge.

As I was driving past one area I like to fish, a fisherman was landing this slot size Black Drum that he caught on a piece of shrimp. I took his pic but forgot to get his name.

 
Anyway, after taking a few pics of his fish I packed up Elmo and Odie and headed home.

Karen and I plan to go fishing tomorrow with the "pups" and I plan to hit the spot where I spooked the reds this evening.

Hope you enjoy the pics,

Till next time; Tight Lines.

Drum, Drum and More Drum

Drum, Drum and more Drum has been the name of the game for the past few weeks on the northern part of the Indian River.

Several fishing fanatics that I talk to on a semi regular basis said that everyone fishing shrimp was catching Black Drum  in the river, so I decided to see if I could pick up  a couple.

Late this afternoon I finally decided to check out the river and see what was being caught in the area.

I hastily packed a few rods, some bait and my cameras and headed for Catfish Creek.

I left the house around 4:30 pm and got to the river about 10 minutes later.

On the way into the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge I spotted a pair of Great Blue Herons doing their mating ritual.

I stopped to take a pic but before I could pull out a camera, the female took off and left the male courting himself.

I took this quick pic and continued up Gator Creek towards where I hoped to get a fishing spot.

There were a surprising number of fishermen on the Indian River and around both sides of Catfish Creek had fishermen staked out at their favorite spots.

At one spot I hoped to fish I spotted Bernice, a fishing acquaintance who always seems to catch some fish.

She was fishing next to a couple of other guys and when I asked her if she was catching anything, she show me these pics of juvenile Black Drum that she had been catching for the past couple of weeks.

 

I took these copies from her actual photos and continued down the dirt path looking for a spot to fish.

The next opening was free and since it was almost dark I decided to put out my poles and fish with frozen cut bait and shrimp.

There was a mild wind blowing and all my rods were rigged without sinkers.  I baited up one outfit with a medium fresh dead shrimp and was going to add a sinker to hold bottom when I realized I didn't bring along any tackle. In my haste to get out of the house, I forgot everything so I tossed the bait out as far as possible and let it set.

I baited the second rod with a cut ladyfish steak and again tossed it out as far as I could and sat down to enjoy the overcast weather.

After several minutes, it was evident I needed a sinker.  I was fishing braid and it acted like a float pulling the baits with the wind.  Not a good way to fish for reds or drum!

I saw a couple of guys fishing the entrance of Catfish Creek with artificial baits in a shallow draft boat so I decided to give that a try.

I pulled out another rod and tied on a gold spoon hoping to entice a cruising redfish, but after a couple dozen casts, I realized it was a losing proposition.

It was around 5:30 pm when I finally decided to put everything up and head home.  

As I drove around the loop a kayaker was loading up his kayak so I asked him if he was catching or fishing.   He tole me he caught a  few small sea trout but had no luck with the Black Drum or the redfish.

I thanked him for his report and headed home for some more turkey.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get out earlier and pick up some drum for dinner.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

The Redfish Were Biting This Weekend In Catfish Creek

The Redfish were biting this weekend in the Indian River on live shrimp and cut baits.

Saturday afternoon I took Elmo and Odie out to the river and ran around Catfish Creek Loop to see

Odie

what people were catching.

I wasn't exactly on a fishing trip with the two dogs along, but I brought along a couple of rods just for the heck of it.

Saturday the weather was perfect for bait fishing along the shoreline.  The air temperature was in the mid 70s and there was very little wind on the water.

As I drove past the gate into Catfish Creek Loop I saw several fishermen with rods set out fishing finger mullet, cut baits and shrimp.  

There were schools of mullet milling around in the shallows and every once in a while something would bust up the school sending baitfish off in a flash.

The two spots I planned to fish were occupied so I drove past them and met up with Beatrice, an avid fisherwoman, who had a couple of rods set out in the shallows. 

She said she caught four small redfish on shrimp and a few black drum the day before in another area of Catfish Creek.

Elmo kept barking so I didn't spend much time swapping fish stories with her.  Instead, I moved on to check on some other anglers.  

Evidently Saturday was a "hot" day for reds because everyone seemed to be catching them, mostly on cut baits.

I tried fishing a couple of spots with artificial lures but gave it up after a short time.  The dogs, especially Odie were uncontrollable.  I took some pics of the area and talked to a couple other fishermen before leaving for the house.

Sunday turned out to be a bummer.  I left the house late and decided to pick up some live shrimp to fish with.  I'm not usually a bait fisherman but when everyone is catching and I'm just fishing, it's time to get it on.

I picked up some live shrimp at the local bait shop and was told that the fishing hadn't been that great today.  The owner told me that "yesterday they were tearing them up" in Catfish Creek.  

I didn't bother telling him I already knew that and was wondering why he didn't tell me that the fish were not hitting until after I paid for the bait.  Oh well, you can always freeze the shrimp.

When I drove into Gator Creek Road I immediately noticed the lack of fishermen in the area.  The air temperature was 65 degrees and the wind was blowing constantly.  It was tough fishing for anyone using artificial baits so I decided to try shrimp and cut ladyfish.

I only saw three other fishermen while I was in the area and only one said that he had caught any fish.

I fished for an hour in a small cove without a strike before pulling in my baits and moving on up the road.

A couple of guys in a kayak were fishing the cove but they weren't getting any hits either.

I was going to fish a spot on the river where I caught fish in the past, but another fisherman had five rods out at the spot.  

When I pulled up to him and asked him how he was doing, he showed me a 22" redfish he was taking home for dinner that he caught on a cut bait.

He introduced himself as Charles Actice and he reported that the redfishing had been hot for the past few days in this area.  He said he caught his limit every day on cut baits and that he fishes the area on a daily basis.

Since he was packing up to leave the area, I pulled in past where he was fishing and tossed out a chunk of ladyfish on one rod and another rod with a large shrimp.

I'd like to tell you that I nailed a couple of nice redfish, but I only had one bite and that turned out to be this catfish who picked up a chunk of  Ladyfish.  

At least I didn't get skunked!

Anyway, I fished until it was almost dark and it finally got to chilly for me to hang around, so I packed it in and headed for home.

I took a couple pics of the sunset before heading out and you can see from the pic that it was a chilly afternoon on the Indian River.

I bought the 50 shrimp special today and could have gotten away with only a half dozen but when I got home and finished rinsing off my rods, I tossed them in the freezer for another day.

Till next time,

Tight Lines..... 

Sunday Afternoon At Catfish Creek

Late Sunday afternoon I decided to hit Catfish Creek to see if the fish were biting.

I left the house at around 3:30 pm and was driving in the refuge 10 minutes later.  As I drove past the second set of culverts, I met up with Ron, a friend of mine who had his canoe in at the first pond.

He hadn't caught anything but said there were some nice oversize reds busting baitfish around the shoreline.  They apparently weren't hitting what Ron was offering.

I left him and drove into Catfish Creek Loop to see who was fishing that area and met up with a couple more anglers who weren't catching anything but catfish.

I tossed a Chug Bug and a gold spoon around several areas but didn't get any takers, so I continued until I met up with Bernice.

Bernice was fishing live shrimp and had picked up a couple of small redfish in a cove that I sometimes fish.  I stopped to talk awhile and while we were talking, another redfish hit on one of her rods.

 

She asked me to grab the rod until she could reel in the Badonk Donk topwater bait she was fishing wtih, so I set the hook and gave her the rod when she was ready.

A short time later she landed this 17" redfish which was promptly released after the pictures were taken.

It was getting late so I moved on up to another shallow cove and started fishing with cut ladyfish steaks.

In about 15 minutes a redfish hit the bait and dropped it just as quickly.  Evidently it felt the rod pressure.

I re-baited and watched as several redfish cruised along the shoreline in the shallow cove.  None were interested in the cut bait, and I was silently kicking my butt for not picking up some live shrimp.

Anyway, I took a brief video of some of the fish that were cruising by and a couple of the sunset as I waited in vain for another bite.

It was getting dark and people were leaving the area.  Bernice drove by and said she had caught three more redfish about the same size as the one in the picture.

I was getting bit up by gnats so I reeled in the ladyfish steak, packed up the rods and headed for home.  I took this last pic of the beautiful sunset.

My back was still killing me and I couldn't sit and wait for another bite.  Maybe next weekend I'll be more into fishing.

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.

Indian River Fishing - Fishing The Mud Bottom Shallows

February is a good month for Indian River Fishing, especially when fishing the the mud bottom shallows on the northeast portion of the river.

This weekend was the first really warm weekend in a long time that my wife, my wonder dog Elmo, and I got to enjoy fishing both the lagoons without taking a chance of contracting a case of pneumonia.

The fish are cruising the shallows over mud bottom areas around the Merritt Island National Wildlife refuge, and they are very spooky.

If you care to wade these areas and are careful about not making too much commotion; you can pick up slot sized redfish in singles and small schools using fresh cut bait, live shrimp, and slow moving soft baits.

I watched one wade fishermen catch a nice sized black drum on a white CAL bait wading north of Peacock Pocket, and just south of Catfish Creek. A couple other fishermen, not so interested in getting their feet wet, picked up slot redfish in the same area.

I was targeting sea trout for a friend of mine who wanted the fish and didn't fare so well. I picked up a couple of undersized fish on a natural colored Creme paddle tail bait, along with on legal fish of about 17" that I didn't bother keeping.

The trout weren't biting in their normal haunts for this time of year, which I believe is partially due to the recent cold snap fish kill. Last year, I was picking up good numbers of sea trout and even a couple of snook during this time period.

I predict when the water warms up a bit, the fish will move back into their old hunting grounds.

Towards evening I started targeting redfish that were cruising the mud bottom shallows. I tried gold spoons, a new Rapala "twitch" bait, and the usual array of soft bodied baits. I missed one slot redfish on a DOA CAL white paddletail swimbait and spooked two others because of badly placed casts.

On the way out of our fishing area, we found the road closed at the causeway bridge and had to get home via the long route over Haulover canal. Thank the Lord that the new bridge construction and fishing pier construction seems to be going full speed ahead. It seems like the every other week they can't get the turnstyle bridge to close and they have to redirect traffic.

Well, we hope to get out Sunday providing the bridge is open. Perhaps I'll have a better report.

In the meantime, enjoy the pics.

By the way, I have absolutely no idea why the house was being pushed down the ICW. If anyone knows about this please post a comment, I'd love to know.

Meanwhile, Tight Lines To All!

Nice Evening Slot Redfish

Went to the Catfish Creek area with my wife and wonder dog Elmo to take a little ride.

My wife caught the fish and I took the pics.

Nice slot redfish; they were coming into the mud covered shallows after mud minnows.

Karen caught this one on a dead shrimp near dusk; which is the best time to fish for them this time of year.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!