Dog Days Redfish

Got back home just in time for fishing the proverbial Dog Days of August in East Central Florida.

Unlike the Mobile, Al. area where most of the saltwater fishing is timed to tidal changes, most of the areas in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge have no tide movement to speak of.

This has it's pros and cons but generally, I prefer looking for the fish in lieu of having to wait for a tide to bring the fish come to you.

Anyway, I managed to get out yesterday for a bit to try the area around Peacocks Pocket despite the thunderstorm activity in the area.

I drove around East Gator Creek road to check out the water levels and see if there was any topwater action.  I didn't spot any actively feeding fish so I decided to scout the area around the "pocket".

The grass around the side of the unimproved road has not been cut and some of the people not used to pulling off the side of the road to pass another vehicle were obviously having trouble.

The air temperature was in the high 80s and it was raining off and on most of the time I was in the area.

I started fishing with a Yozuri 3DB topwater plug and picked up a couple of small Ladyfish around a shallow pond but nothing of any substance so I switched to a beaten up Chug Bug.

The Chug Bug got a couple of follow ups but no hits,  so I changed out the bait for a new plug and finally nailed a slot size sea trout.  

I don't know if the new lure did the trick, but after I released the fish, I never got another hit on the lure.

Despite the weather, several fishermen were trying their luck in the area, mostly for redfish using live baits and at least one guy with a topwater "walk the dog" bait.

I pulled up to a couple of fishermen who had been kayaking in the marsh canal and asked how they were doing.

One of the guys was in the water at the bank up to his waist with the kayak.  The other guy said they caught a redfish on a gold spoon, but nothing else for the day.   I was going to give him some good advise about the 10 foot gator that calls that area home, but I decided that it wouldn't do any good and moved on.

I spooked several nice redfish that were cruising down the marsh canal on the way out of the refuge and eventually picked up this oversize 30 inch redfish close to dark at the kayak launch on a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.   

I made a bad cast from the bank and didn't expect the fish to take the lure, but it swirled around and nailed the bait as it hit the water.  The fish put up a nice fight but after a couple of good runs I managed to pull the fish from the water

I measured the fish hoping it would shrink a couple of inches so I could take it home to eat, but I put it back to grow bigger and fight another day.

The fishing in our area is vastly different from where I've been working.  In Mobile Bay, everything is geared to the tides.

Anyway, for being the Dog Days of August, the fishing wasn't half bad.  Hopefully, the rest of the week will be just as good.

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.

The Dog Days Of August Are Upon Us!

The temperatures are hovering in the low to mid 90s, and the water temperatures in both the Mosquito Lagoon, and Indian River, are warm enough to harbor the larger tarpon I've been trying to get for the past couple of weeks.

I've been getting reports of tarpon from 50 to 120 lbs in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons, but I've not personally hooked up with one of them yet.

I've seen mostly rolling fish in relatively shallow water, but schools of daisy chaining tarpon and laid up fish are all over the place.

I've missed several good sized tarpon on artificials, but still haven't put one in the boat!

It never ceases to amaze me how you can see a bunch of tarpon rolling all over the place, and every damn one of them with a case of lockjaw! I guess tarpon are acting like tarpon usually do!

Anything resembling a mullet seems to get their attention. My all time favorite lure has become a Chug Bug topwater lure. The big trout and redfish love it, and every now and then I'll get a hit from a tarpon.

The trout in the Indian River have been running in the slot to 24 inches with an occasional gator trout between 5 and 10 pounds being caught. They are everywhere and relatively easy to catch. The best time to get a big one, for me, is just before dusk.

Again, the best baits to use are top water lures, D.O.A. Baitbusters, jerkbaits and live pigfish under a Cajun Thunder bobber, or free lined.

My wife has still been using her tried and true shrimp under a bobber rig, with minimal success.

If you're going fishing during the month of August, better go very early, or late in the afternoon. This is and continues to be the most productive times to be on the water.

Didn't get any good fish pics this weekend except for some trout that didn't come out right so I'll pass on the photos.

Till next week, tight lines!