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.

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..... 

Catching Gator Trout During A Thunderstorm

Catching gator trout during a thunderstorm is usually productive and this evening was no exception.

When I got home from work late this evening I had fishing on my mind, despite the steady rain that was coming down at the house.

After greeting Elmo and Odie with "busy bones", I loaded some rods into the truck and headed for East Gator Creek road to pick up some bait (ladyfish) for tomorrows fishing trip.

I stopped at the first open culvert and started pitching a "Tennessee Shad" pattern Chug Bug into the shallows.

It only took three casts before this large ladyfish slammed the bait.

After several nice jumps I unceremoniously landed the fish and put it on ice in the cooler I brought along.

 I planned to chunk it up and use it for redfish tomorrow if the weather permits.

I hooked and lost three more ladyfish before moving on to Peacocks Pocket road where I planned to fish a couple of ponds.

Up until now the rain was coming down in a mild "drizzle" but as I drove up to Peacocks Pocket road it really let loose.

I passed only one other idiot in the refuge who stopped and briefly told me about the redfish he just lost in the marsh canal.  He said he hooked it on a live finger mullet and when he set the hook the fish took off down the canal and eventually broke off.

He said he was using 30 pound Power Pro braid and that the fish was in the over 30" category.

As we parted ways I drove up to the first pond I wanted to fish.  I donned my Frog Toggs and started blind casting the same Chug Bug smeared up with Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater formula.

After several casts the rain slowed down and I got a hit on a nice sea trout of about 19 inches or so.

I took a quick pic of the fish and immediately released it.

When it started pouring again, I sat it out in the truck and slowly drove up to the second pond I planned to fish.  It was late and I knew this would be my last stop.

I started methodically blind casting the Chug Bug around the area and finally got a hit from a redfish that missed the plug.  I let the Chug Bug sit for a second hoping the fish would reengage but it was gone.

I must have made at least another couple of dozen casts into the area but only had one followup from

a small sea trout.

The rain was coming down in buckets and although my upper torso was dry and cozy, my shorts were drenched from the rain.

I was getting chilled and the sky was getting almost black, so I decided to head for home.

On the way out, I stopped at one more spot I occasionally fish when it rains.  Karen and I call it our "fish in a barrel" spot.

The growth along side of the road was high but I found a spot to cast and hopefully land a fish if I got lucky.

I smeared the Chug Bug up with more Pro-Cure and started blind casting the plug into the shallows next to a drop off.

On my second cast, a huge sea trout smacked the plug and missed it.  I let it sit but the fish didn't come back for the bait.

I decided to wait a minute or two and smeared some more Pro-Cure on the plug before making another cast.

I pitched the bait back into the shallows and worked it back to the same spot where the fish missed the first time.

This time the trout literally inhaled the Chug Bug.

The big trout peeled drag as it made it's first run into the shallow pond and as it came back it ran down the marsh canal.

I put pressure on the fish to get it in as quickly as possible and the fish got tangled in the brush alongside the road.

I thought I lost the fish and was ready to wade in to retrieve it, but as I gave it some slack line, the

trout took off again in the other direction and untangled itself.

A couple of minutes later I finally landed the fish and took some pictures of it in the rain before releasing it.

Unfortunately, the pics didn't come out as nice as I hoped.  The camera lens was apparently wet.

Anyway, the fish measured 29" long and even though it wasn't loaded with eggs, it had some weight to it.

I was drenched as I sat down in the truck so when Karen called to see where I was, I didn't need any prodding to get my but home.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to get out again tomorrow and do it again.

Till next time, Tight Lines and don't forget that you too can be catching gator trout during a thunderstorm if you're as nuts as I am.

Pissed Off Gator In The Road

My wife and I took Elmo and Odie (our wonder dogs) out for a ride around Peacocks Pocket Road yesterday and came across this pissed off gator in the road.

The air temperature was in the mid 80s and it was raining on and off most of the time we were out there.

The grass in the refuge hasn't been mowed in some time which is probably why there was very little vehicle traffic.

We saw only two other fishermen in the area all the time we were scouting out the area and they were close to Catfish Creek Loop.

The water in the refuge was still high and it was "glassy".  There was virtually no wind at all but I still tried tossing around a Chug Bug to see if I could stir up some interest.

I had several strikes and misses but caught no fish on the top water bait.

I had a couple of hits on a Johnson Sprite gold spoon in the East Gator Creek area as we were heading home but again, no fish.

Since this was planned as an outing for our dogs, Karen didn't even bring along a rod.

Anyway, we had a good time viewing the wildlife and evading the gators.

They were out in numbers yesterday and they were active.

Here's a couple of pics of  our crew enjoying the ride.

Elmo

Odie

    

I really need to get Odie a pair of goggles!

Till next time,

Tight lines.