Late Afternoon Tarpon Fishing

Went out to the Canaveral National Seashore to do some late afternoon tarpon fishing in the ditches and Vistas along the road.

I had lost my favorite topwater Chug Bug on a poon the other day so I re-stocked with a couple more bugs and a Mirrodyne lure that Cayden was so successful with while fishing the Vistas the other day.

It was late and the air temperature was in the low 90s with very little wind blowing to cool me off.

I stopped along several spots to check for rolling fish and finally found a pod that was chasing finger mullet close to one of the Vistas.

I started fishing with my new Mirrolure and promptly caught and released a  ladyfish on the third cast.

I kept casting ahead of a couple of rolling tarpon but they had lockjaw and wouldn't hit my bait.  

The ladyfish were more than accommodating though and I caught and released at least 8 or 9 fish before a tarpon finally hit my bait and broke it off.

I switched over to a small size Chug Bug that I brought along and promptly hooked another tarpon that jumped about 5 feet into the air and shook the bait off.

I had three more tarpon that took the Chug Bug but I couldn't get a hookup to save my butt.

Finally the fish moved off and I moved to another spot to fish.

I switched to my other rod with an XPS Slim Dog and caught another ladyfish that was almost as big as the lure.  I released the fish after taking this pic and changed back to my Chug Bug.

It was getting late and I stopped to fish a ditch near a Vista that I never expected anything to be in, but to my surprise I briefly hooked into a small juvenile tarpon on my Chug Bug that promptly tossed the lure back at me.

I spent the rest of my short trip tossing lures at tarpon in the dirty water ditch without landing a single fish.

I guess I just wasn't holding my mouth right because I was getting boils and good hits, but I just couldn't hook into a tarpon long enough to land one.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Till then, 

Tight Lines and a happy 4th.

High Noon Sea Trout

I generally don't advise fishing for Sea Trout at high noon especially with a Chug Bug, but that is exactly what I did today with great results.

I've been out of town in Mobile, Al. for the past couple of weeks and haven't been able to do much fishing but this morning I decided to take Elmo and Odie to the "swamp" to see what the conditions were like.

I packed up the dogs and three spinning rods and headed to East Gator Creek road and eventually Peacocks Pocket.

The water levels in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are way down which is concentrating the fish into the deeper ponds and holes along the unimproved roadway.

The dogs as usual enjoyed the ride and when we finally worked our way to Peacocks Pocket Road, I let them out to do their "duty" while I tossed an artificial bait into the area.

The conditions today would normally make topwater fishing out of the question. 

It was 95 degrees with no clouds and a slight breeze that barely put a ripple on the water.  The birds were enjoying the easy fishing and were concentrating on the baitfish in the weedy shallows.

The first "pit stop" didn't get me any action so I loaded up the boys and slowly headed down Peacocks Pocket Road.

We hadn't gone far before I spotted some baitfish in the shallows of the marsh canal getting beaten up by something big so I pulled out my Chug Bug rod and started pitching the bait around the area.

My first cast had a follow up and on my third cast I picked up a slot size sea trout that I quickly released.  Several more casts into the area only got me a follow up so I moved up the road to the next "hole".

This stop was a repeat of the first.  I hooked and released two sea trout in the 18" category before moving on up the road.  Both fish were quickly released to fight another day.

On the next stop near a small pond, I picked ;up this 26" sea trout on the same Pro-Cure smeared Chug Bug.

The fish put up a nice fight and I planned on returning it to the water but it was gill hooked and bleeding so I wrapped it up in a rag to keep it cool and took it home for dinner.

It was exactly high noon when I caught the fish which is totally against every fishing recommendation I ever got from the professionals.  Anyway, before the heat got to me, I managed to nail two other sea trout in the 24" category before heading out of the refuge.

The scouting trip to Peacocks Pocket Road today turned out to be one of my better fishing trips despite the heat.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Dog Days Topwater Fishing

Dog days topwater fishing can be productive when conditions are favorable and apparently this evening they were.

Fishing Peacocks Pocket Road is one of my favorite pastimes when I get off work in time to enjoy the evening bite.

East Gator Creek Flats

This evening when I drove into East Gator Creek Road the air temperature was 93 degrees and there was almost no wind to speak of.  Not exactly great conditions for topwater fishing, but I decided to focus on tossing Chug Bugs and SkitterWalks until either I caught something or the bugs bled me dry.

Fortunately, I didn't have to endure the latter until I was ready to head home.

When I drove past the first set of culverts at the junction of Peacocks Pocket Road, I decided to test out a Chug Bug to see if anything was interested.   It took five casts before I hooked, landed and released a nice ladyfish that jumped all over the place before giving up the fight.

It was a great start and I had high hopes of duplicating the result so I headed to one of my favorite deep water ponds where I knew some nice sea trout were prowling around the drop offs.

The pond was flat in some areas and had a slight ripple in others.  I started casting close to the bank and gradually extended my casts outward towards the choppier water.

I spent a lot of time fan casting the area and finally got a hit from a nice sea trout.  The fish nailed the plug right out of the water but didn't get hooked.

I continued casting the area and was about to move on up the road when a nice 17" sea trout nailed the Chartreuse/Metallic Silver Chug Bug. 

The fish put up a respectable fight before I shimmied down the bank to land it.

I took a couple of pics and released the fish to grow into a "gator".

Several more casts into the same area produced another smaller sea trout that I also returned to the marsh canal.

It was getting late so I moved up to another pond that I occasionally fish and started fan casting to likely looking areas.

The bugs were getting to me and after making several casts I was about to give up and head for home but a Snook nailed the Chug Bug close to a submerged grassy island.

The fish caught me by surprise and hooked itself before I had a chance to set the hooks.  At first I thought I had hooked a ladyfish but after the second jump when I saw the telltale lateral line along it's side, I had no doubt that it was definitely a nice Snook.

The fish jumped two more times and started to head towards deeper water in the marsh canal when the hooks pulled out.

Some guys on the other side of the pond were watching the battle and were more upset that I lost the fish than I was.

I made several more casts before moving on up the road.

As I passed an area called the "duck blind" I noticed a couple sight casting the Indian River shallows for reds or sea trout.

Indian River Sight Casting

Their boat was in a foot of water and they were fishing the exact spot where I picked up a redfish a couple of weeks ago.

I took a couple of pics before moving on, but the bugs were becoming particularly viscous as it got closer to dusk and I wasn't equipped with bug spray.  Dog days topwater fishing can be a blast but not when you're covered with mosquitoes.

As I headed for home I took a couple of pics of the beautiful sunset.  Enjoy.

 

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Playalinda Beach Whiting

After my doctor's appointment this afternoon, I decided to head over to Playalinda Beach to see if I could catch a few whiting for dinner.

 

I picked up some shrimp at the local tackle shop and headed east to the beach.

Parking Lot #11

The air temperature was hovering in the mid 90s and there was very little wind on the water.

The tide was coming in and there were thunderclouds in the area.

There was almost no one at the beach today and those who were, parked at the closest parking lots.

I stopped briefly at lots # 2, 4, 8, 9, and 10 to see if anyone was fishing, and finally decided to fish lot #11 where I was the only one on the beach.

Shark Fishing

There was one surf fisherman who had a kayak and a shark outfit in a sand spike who was obviously fishing for shark at lot #8.

A couple of other guys who looked like they were fishing for whiting were with their families but other than that, there were no other fishermen on the beach today.

I took along a 12' Tournament surf rod mated to an Okuma bait runner reel and a 7' spinning rod that I use for sea trout along Peacocks Pocket road.

Since the surf was calm, I decided to try the short "river rod" for whiting.

I tied a small number 4 hook  on a short  piece of fluorocarbon leader above a small swivel and 1/4 oz. egg sinker and baited up with a "pinkie" size piece of peeled shrimp.

To save walking back to my cooler, I loaded up a baggie with fresh dead shrimp, stashed it in my pocket and waded out to a small rip.

There were a lot of glass minnows in the surf and some pogies here and there so I started out by flipping my bait only a few feet ahead of the dirty water in the surf.

My strategy paid off immediately.  A small whiting nailed the shrimp and was quickly landed and released.

I was hoping for some "bull" whiting but unfortunately all the fish caught today were 12" and under.

I used the same strategy to catch about two dozen whiting, some of which were placed in the cooler for dinner.

Just for the hell of it I decided to try casting out past the breakers but after wasting a half an hour without getting a single bite, I continued flipping peeled shrimp just past the dirty water in the surf.

After a thunderstorm passed by I caught and released a small black tip shark that ate a piece of shrimp right at my feet.  The pretty fish was only about two feet long but it put up a nice fight on light tackle before giving it up.

I was getting tired of fighting the waves in the rip so I packed up my two rods and headed for the truck.

On the way home I decided to see what Peacocks Pocket road had to offer in the way of fish.

The air temperature was 90 degrees when I drove up to the first set of culverts past the kayak launch and there was absolutely no air movement.  The water was like glass in both the Indian River side of the road and in the marsh.

I tried a gold spoon and a topwater "Bass" Chug Bug on the river side but the only thing it attracted was a large gator that finally caused me to leave the area.

Alligators were grunting and croaking all over the place this afternoon making topwater fishing a challenge.

They followed my Chug Bug at almost every stop I made.

A little way down Peacocks Pocket road I started pitching the Chug Bug around the deeper pools in the marsh canal and was rewarded with a nice slot size sea trout that blasted the lure right out of the water.

I took this pic and released the fish to grow up into a "gator trout".

 

At the next spot my Chug Bug stirred up some action but the fish would not eat the bait , so I switched to a gold spoon and after a couple of casts picked up this slot size trout.

Several casts later into the same area produced another sea trout on the same gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.

The fishing continued like this until I finally decided to give it up for the day.  In the course of an hour and a half, I managed to hook and release six sea trout on Chug Bugs and gold spoons.

The rains we had this past week has caused the water in the marsh areas to rise substantially.  This is causing the sea trout to spread out from their normal feeding areas.  

The redfish are still in the deeper pools of the salt marsh, the Indian River and the Mosquito Lagoon.

With any kind of luck I'll be able to take the boat out this weekend, weather permitting.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Chug Bugs For Sea Trout

Fishing Chug Bugs for sea trout is one of my favorite pastimes when they are biting and this afternoon for the most part, the sea trout were eager to please.

I haven't been able to get as much fishing in as I normally do but this afternoon I decided to hit Peacocks Pocket road to see if anything was moving around after the rainstorm.

Fishing the fronts is usually productive and this afternoon was no exception.

It was raining when I drove into East Gator Creek Road and it continued on and off until around 6:30 pm.  The air temperature dropped to 71 degrees and there was a mild breeze blowing until dusk.

There were several flocks of Rosette Spoonbills in the marsh and the alligators were pretty much everywhere I stopped to fish.

 

I didn't bother fishing around East Gator Creek because I usually spend too much time on the ladyfish that inhabit the grassy shallows, so I drove to Peacocks Pocket road to fish some of my favorite ponds instead.

There were a lot of fish moving around but they were spooky.  I started fishing a ZMan soft bait and missed a couple of small sea trout so I decided to start fishing a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon to cover more water.

After several dozen unfruitful casts to some very active fish I decided to start fishing topwater baits.  The fish were hitting finger mullet on the surface in several areas so I pulled out a Skitter Walk and started casting around the mullet pods.

I had a couple of follow ups but no hits so I decided to change over to a freshwater Frog pattern Chug Bug.  

I smeared on some Pro-Cure to enhance the bait and started casting to the banks of the marsh canal and other likely looking areas. 

As the water became a lot calmer, the Chug Bug was the trick.  After only a few casts I had a nice hit with a sea trout of about 20 inches.  The fish nailed the topwater bait at the bank and put up a brief fight before I released it.

Things were looking up.

I moved to a large marsh pond where there were some large sea trout and redfish chasing mullet on the surface.

I started blind casting the area and after several casts managed to briefly hook up with another nice sea  trout.

I missed two more sea trout and spooked a nice redfish before I hooked up with this 26 inch fish.

The fish hit the Chug Bug as soon as it hit the water, missed the bait and hit it again.  It hooked itself on the second strike.

After taking a pic I released the fish and moved to another spot.  When I got to the pond, an oriental gentleman already had the spot staked out.  Literally.  He had five rods out with live finger mullet.

When I asked him if he caught anything, he told me he landed and released a 41" redfish and a 28" sea trout both caught on live mullet.

For some reason, I wished him more good luck and moved on to another location.

It was getting closer towards dusk and it started to rain again but the fish also started to bite.  

I hooked and released two more sea trout on the Chug Bug.

The largest fish was 27" and  I missed one that was well over that size as I was leaving the refuge to head for home.

That fish hit the Chug Bug in the marsh canal right at the bank.  I thought it was a redfish when it hit and I set the hook so hard it pulled the plug out of it's mouth.

One of these days I'll learn.

Until next time, Tight Lines.

Topwater Action In The Marsh

Some topwater action in the marsh was my original plan for this afternoon's fishing trip to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, but I didn't get a chance to get out until around 6:30 pm.

I originally planned on fishing Patillo Creek but the area wasn't completely open to vehicle traffic.

Friday on the way home from work, I decided to take a detour to see if Shiloh Marsh road was open for vehicle traffic.

I took the Scottsmoor exit on I-95 and headed up to the unimproved road only to find that there was still a barrier across the road.  Although I was happy to see that the "powers that be" fixed the potholes that were all over the road up to that point, I wasn't happy about the road being closed.

This time of the year is killer for the really big bull redfish that inhabit this area of the Indian River but it can't be fished without a boat unless he road is open.

I saw four trucks parked at the barrier and talked to one guy who was pulling two kayaks across the gravel to launch.  He said the reds were hitting pretty good on finger mullet, shrimp and cut baits.

Anyway, I turned around and made a mental note to take my Gheenoe next time I decide to make the trip.

I drove towards Haulover Canal and headed into Patillo Creek to see if this section was open.

As I neared the road I was happy to see that the barrier was down and the road was open.

I drove as far as I could in both directions to scout out the area and found no one else around.

It was absolutely peaceful and did spot a couple of redfish in the large pond at the first culvert.

This afternoon when I finally got to Peacocks Pocket road, the first person I saw was a friend of mine who fishes the area about as much as I do.  He was pulling in a slot redfish that he picked up on a live finger mullet under a small float.

I briefly stopped and asked if he had any luck anywhere else in the refuge and he told me about a bait stealing red that he just couldn't seem to hook.

The area where he was fishing was at the first culvert in the refuge and this was the first time I saw anyone catch a red from this area.  Most of the time I catch sea trout and ladyfish.

I moved up the road while there was still light and decided on fishing topwater baits.

I spotted a total of five redfish but they all had a bad case of lockjaw.

In the hour that I had to fish the area, I stopped at five locations and picked up two sea trout on a blue and silver Chug Bug and one trout on a Berkley Fire Tiger paddle tail bait.

All the reds I spotted were busting baitfish on the opposite bank of the marsh canal and probably could have been fooled with a live mud minnow or finger mullet.

One thing was certain, they were in no mood for the Chug Bug, gold spoon or paddle tail baits I was tossing to them.

The trout started hitting the Chug Bug just as it started getting dark and when the wind started slowing down.

I apologize for the lousy pics but both my Nikon Coolpix and Samsung cameras are in the shop for repairs and I'm still in the learning curve with my IPhone.  Evidently I'm tough on cameras.

I hope to get out again tomorrow and give Patillo Creek a try.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Labor Day Weekend Fishing Report For The Refuge

I hoped that the Labor Day fishing report for the refuge would be more promising than it is but that's why everyone calls it fishing and not catching.

Friday evening and Saturday afternoon fishing in and around Peacocks Pocket road in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge produced nothing but ladyfish and sea trout.

I saw several redfish but they were extremely spooky and refused every artificial bait I threw at them.

Friday evening in the refuge was nothing more than a scouting trip for the Labor Day weekend.

On Friday evening, my wife and I (along with Elmo our wonder dog) drove through Peacocks Pocket road from the easternmost entrance.

The air temperature was in the high 80s and there was almost no wind over the water.

There were very few vehicles on the unimproved road, which was probably due to the fact that it had not been mowed for at least a month.  The grass remains high alongside both edges of the road which makes for difficult casting.

When you do catch a fish, landing it becomes a major challenge in most areas.

My wife fished with jumbo fresh dead shrimp on Friday evening in several locations with no result.

I tried casting top water Chug Bugs and paddletail baits to a couple redfish but only picked up a couple small sea trout and a ladyfish in an hour and a half fishing.

Saturday afternoon, Karen didn't fee well so I went solo.  I decided to try the super shallows around Gator Creek road and play with the ladyfish until close to dusk when I planned to target reds.

 

 

The air temperature was again in the low 80s and there was almost no breeze.

I used a baby bass pattern Chug Bug for most of the time I fished the area and picked up a couple slot sea trout (below) along with at least a half dozen ladyfish.

A fast retrieve seemed to excite the ladyfish into striking even though they miss the plug half the time, but they are great fun to catch.

As the sun set on Saturday evening, I spotted a school of black drum in the area but they refused my paddle tail bait offering.

I saw only one redfish that was busting baitfish in a small pond near the second turn off to Catfish Creek Loop road and wound up concentrating too much time trying to get it to bite instead of moving on to fish some other areas.

As dusk closed in, the mosquitoes and green headed horse flies became unbearable even with bug spray, so I gave it up and headed for home.

So far this Labor Day weekend was turning out to be a bust for redfish.

At least I didn't get skunked!

Till next time, Tight Lines!