Sea Trout, Redfish and Drum

Fished Bobcat Bay this afternoon for Sea Trout, Redfish or Drum and got two out of three for dinner.

Since it was Palm Sunday and a day of rest, I thought Peacocks Pocket road would be relatively free from visitor traffic this afternoon so I asked Karen if she wanted to go fishing with me, Elmo, and Odie.

I had some mud minnows left over from yesterday's fishing trip but decided to pick up some more in case the fish were biting.   So, we headed to Mosquito Lagoon Bait and Tackle, grabbed a dozen more mud minnows and headed to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Karen wanted to see if any alligators were out so we entered the refuge via East Gator Creek Road.

From the time we entered to the Catfish Creek Loop we spotted a total of seven alligators either in the water or sunning on the bank.

The peaceful afternoon we were hoping for was obviously not in the cards today.  There were a lot of people traveling the refuge looking at the waterfowl, gawking at the gators, and even fishing.

It was a beautiful day and the air temperature was a pleasant 72 degrees.  There was little to no wind blowing and both sides of the road were being fished by a variety of people using a variety of baits.

We passed one guy filleting a black drum he had just caught and it looked like everyone was having a great time on the river.

Karen wanted to fish Bobcat Bay so we headed there hoping that on one took her spot.

As luck would have it, nobody was at her spot so I angled into a spot, parked and set out several rods baited up with the mud minnows we had on hand.

Karen wanted to fish "her spot" in the marsh canal, so she took off with Odie and a couple of mud minnows.

Since I was going back to work tomorrow, I really didn't care if I caught anything today so I unfolded a portable sports chair, turned on the radio and waited for something to bite.

Karen missed a couple of bites and finally picked up this nice 24" spotted sea trout. 

It was gut hooked and it's gills were bleeding so we decided to take it home for dinner. 

Odie can be seen giving his approval in this pic.

He loves to fish and be with us, unfortunately Elmo just sits in the truck like a lump of clay. 

She went back to her spot and about the time she got there, I had a hit that I missed on a minnow.  The line peeled off the Okuma Avenger baitrunner I was using but as I picked up the rod, the fish dropped the bait.

I pulled in a bare hook , but on a fresh mud minnow and sat down to enjoy the afternoon.

Some rain clouds were on the horizon and it started to briefly sprinkle just when I got another hit.  It was a large hard head catfish.

I baited up again and tossed out the minnow closer to shore..  This time I picked up a nice slot redfish that was also destined for the dinner table.

Karen, missed another sea trout and I picked up another smaller red that I released before we decided to head for home.

I'm sure we could have caught more fish but I didn't want to stay till dark.  I had to clean and cook the fish and I was hungry, so we packed it in and headed towards Peacocks Pocket kayak launch.

There were still several fishermen trying their luck on both sides of the road as we left the refuge.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

P.S.  As I make this post, I can honestly tell you that nothing beats freshly caught fish on the table.

Fishing Bobcat Bay With The Gators

Late Monday afternoon my wife asked if I was interested in fishing Bobcat Bay in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and as usual, it didn't take me long to pack up some rods and the bait bucket for the trip.

Karen wanted to take Elmo and Odie along to get some exercise and since I didn't plan on fishing artificial baits this afternoon, I didn't object.

We stopped at the bait shop for some mud minnows, but all they had were some finger mullet and shrimp, so I picked up a half dozen mullet and some medium sized shrimp and headed for the refuge.

We entered via East Gator Creek Road and almost ran across a gator that was sunning itself in the middle of the road.  It was the first of many we spotted before we got to where Karen wanted to fish.

When we got to "Bobcat Bay", we picked our spots, baited up and waited for some action.

I fished the Indian River side of the road while Karen fished the marsh canal.

After Elmo christened several spots in the area, he went back to the truck and spent almost all the time there.  Odie, on the other hand spent most of the time alternating between watching Karen and me fish and scouting out the area.

I had one rod out with live shrimp and another with a live mullet but because of the wind it was difficult detecting a bite.  I missed several fish before I finally started catching hard head catfish.

After the 5th or 6th cat, I finally decided to fish only live mullet.

Karen had a live mullet on an Okuma Avenger Baitrunner outfit I bought for her, but she wasn't getting any bites.

The wind never let up. so I finally moved over to the marsh canal where Karen was fishing just to keep it out of my face.

There was virtually no action until dusk when Karen finally picked up a nice size sea trout on her mullet.

After I unhooked and released her fish, I missed a good fish on my rod.

The line briefly peeled off the reel but the fish dropped the bait before I could set the hook.

I re-baited and within a few minutes picked up a spotted sea trout about the same size as Karen's fish.

We were getting eaten up by mosquitoes, so we both agreed to head for the house and call it a day.

The sunset was beautiful as usual so I took a couple of quick pics.

 
On the way out of the refuge, I almost ran across a gator that refused to get off the road.

I got out of the truck and took these pics as it hissed at me and finally retreated into the marsh canal.

The gators were definitely out in force today, especially around Gator Creek road.  I guess that's why they gave it the name.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing Bobcat Bay

Late Saturday, with the temperatures in the 60's, my wife and Elmo our wonder dog, decided to go fishing and asked me along.

Being the avid fisherman that I am, we decided on the Lagoon for some redfish action.

The wind was whipping, and the conditions were far from great, but even so there were a lot of people fishing the Indian River.  I guess everyone was glad to get some fresh air after the family Christmas get togethers.

I used gold spoons of several types to try to lure a redfish, but only wound up with two legal sized trout.
Since the season is still closed in East Central Florida, I put them both back in to catch another day.

My wife was using her tried and true shrimp for bait and wound up catching a few catfish.

Just as we decided to leave for the comfort of our nice warm home, Karen finally broke her dry spell and

landed a nice slot sized redfish.

The picture is here for your enjoyment.

It's been a good December for fishing the Lagoons.  The water is crystal clear, and the fish are biting when not spooked.

Hope to be out on the water next week.

Till then, Tight Lines!