Fishing Patillo Creek During April

Fishing Patillo Creek seemed to be a good idea after Friday's disappointing trip, so after finishing up with my chores this afternoon, my wife and I decided to take Odie and Elmo fishing.

We loaded up several rods along with our two dogs who were eager to go fishing.

Both Odie and Elmo love riding in the truck in their "cruising mode".

The air temperature was hovering around 80 degrees and there was a decent wind blowing.

Karen wanted to try the "gumball" area around Patillo Creek so I stopped by East Gator Creek road to net up some finger mullet for bait before heading towards the area.

The first cast landed a dozen or so six inch plus baits so I didn't waste much time.

When we got to Patillo Creek road I was hoping that Shiloh road was open but when we drove up to the barrier, it was closed.

I turned around and decided to fish the large marsh pond before the first canal.

When we pulled off the road, I promptly tossed out a couple of live finger mullet on my bait casting rods and a cut bait on another spinning rod.

As Karen tossed her Precision Tackle Cajun Thunder Float rig with a jumbo dead shrimp into the wind, we sat down and hoped for the best.

I pulled out my Chug Bug and started blind casting the topwater bait into the opposite canal hoping for a stray sea trout.

Last March was the last time I fished the area and I knew that the fish are sometimes in the area however, today they were not.

A couple of fish and game officers drove up and checked us for our licenses.  As we chatted, I asked when Shiloh Marsh Road would be open.   Both of them said they doubted that it would be open at all this year because of the condition that the road was in and the littering.

As we talked, they told me about the black drum that are sometimes in the canal.

 

When they left us, Karen and I decided to give the area another hours worth of fishing before moving on.  The wind was blowing just enough to make long casts into the pond a problem and I'm not normally a bait fisherman.  Something to do with patience!

We didn't get any bites, so we moved down the road to fish the deeper Patillo Creek canal.

In the canal, there was a little wind on the water and there seemed to be a light current running opposite the direction of the wind.

Between the two of us, we had five rods out with various baits and after another hour and a half of fishing without a bite, we both decided to pack it in.   

Fishing Patillo Creek evidently wasn't such a great idea after all.

Today, for whatever reason, no one seemed to be catching any fish in the area.

Oh well, at least Odie and Elmo had a good time.

Till 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.

Mosquito Lagoon And Indian River Fishing Outing

This afternoon's Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River fishing outing was more a scouting trip than anything else.

My wife and Ididn't bother leaving the house until late in the afternoon.

We decided to see if Shiloh Marsh road was open to vehicle traffic so we could fish areas that weren't so heavily populated with fishermen.

As we headed up US 1 and crossed the railroad bridge we quickly found that the road was blocked at the first entrance.

We decided to drive over to Patillo Creek and see if the other entrance to Shiloh Road was blocked off.

As we neared the "gum ball" geodetic radar facility,  we found that this too was blockaded with dirt from a backhoe that was parked nearby.

Undaunted, we took the next right and would up driving through a barely passable road that was grown up with all kinds of vegetation.  The road was too narrow to turn around so I continued driving slowly forward hoping for the best.

Finally, I had to drive over a dirt mound that opened up into the blocked road to Patillo Creek that we just passed.

It was quickly apparent that the reason for the blocked road was the road work that was being done. 

The deep shock absorber breaking potholes of March were no longer visible and the road was perfectly graded.  A real blessing to the out of town sight seers.

I was going to turn around and leave but my curiosity got the best of me.  We decided to see if the road alongside the Indian River was still blocked off and as luck would have it, it was not.

Since I was already in the area I decided to see how far I could go up the road.

The water was up and the road was narrow and highly vegetated.  Not something the average vehicle would care to venture into.

The waters looked almost pristine and since most fishermen had not been in this area for at least a couple of years, I'm sure it was loaded with sea trout and reds that were eager to bite.

I drove around the back side of the radar tracking facility until I couldn't go any farther.  There was baked dried mud on the roadbed and I didn't take the chance so I backed up until I could finally turn my truck around.

Karen guided me around and we backtracked to where we broke into the road.

We spotted a big bobcat loping down the unimproved road that didn't seem to care if we were there or not.

When we finally got to the main road, we drove to the Beacon 42 boat launch to see if anything was happening there.

Only one trailer was out on the water so I took some pics of the launch ramp and headed for Haulover Canal. 

 

 

Haulover Canal was relatively unpopulated.  Some bank fishermen were enjoying the afternoon and a bunch of buzzards were having a picnic alongside the road.  It must be a roosting area.

 

We left Haulover and drove to Dumit Cove where the boy scouts camp out for their Jamborees.

Only one fisherman was in the area in exactly the spot (a shallow point) that I wanted to fish.

We parked to let Elmo do his duty while I threw a Chug Bug around hoping for a bite.  There were redfish tailing out in the river but not close enough to cast to.

 

 

Since it was getting late and I didn't feel like wading this close to dusk, we decided to head for home.

On the way, Karen spotted a huge wild boar crossing the road.  The pig looked like it was at least a couple hundred pounds, if not bigger and it wasn't in any hurry.  I fumbled for the camera but it was gone before I could get a shot.

As we crossed the bridge going into Titusville, I noticed that almost everyone was in from their fishing ventures.

I wondered out loud to Karen how the guys in the flats boats fared today.

Although this afternoon's Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River fishing outing was more of a scouting trip  than anything else, I had hoped to catch at least one redfish.

Well, till next time,  Tight Lines.

Fishing Patillo Creek

Fishing Patillo Creek was the last thing I had in mind today, but it turned out to be a productive afternoon fishing.

After I finished weeding the lawn and taking care of some other chores, I decided to give Shiloh Marsh road a try.

It looked like rain and the wind was blowing up a storm so she decided to stay home and work on my sister's stained glass suncatcher project.

I packed up several rods and a cooler to put the fish in and headed for Shiloh road.

As I got on I-95 heading towards the Scottsmoor exit, it began to rain and continued until I got to the barrier that closed Shiloh Marsh road to vehicle traffic.

I don't know why it was closed but I wasn't all too thrilled about it.

I decided to head to Haulover Canal and try for a big redfish.

As I got close to the geodetic tracking dome, I remembered a promise I made to one of my readers and decided to give Patillo Creek a shot.

I turned into the muddy road and headed for the deep canal.  No one was fishing in the area.

 I drove slowly avoiding the potholes, looking for signs of fish and finally decided to stop at a likely looking culvert.

The tannin colored water was clear so I decided to try a natural colored soft paddletail bait that I picked up from Bass Pro.

The lure looked like a Creme lure but I think it was manufactured by Offshore Anglers.

Anyway, it looked real so I tied it on and started blind casting.

I had a couple of taps but no solid hits until I flipped a cast to a culvert opposite where I was fishing.








The bait didn't travel more than a couple feet before a nice 20" sea trout nailed it.

The fish put up a respectable fight on my 10# outfit but I finally landed the fish and put it on ice in the cooler.

I normally don't keep what I catch, but I promised some friends of mine some fresh sea trout or redfish so today was the exception.

I had a couple more hits before I switched off to a topwater Zara Spook Jr.

On the first cast as I was "walking the dog" back, a ladyfish about two feet long hit the plug and danced all over the small creek.

I unhooked the fish and decided to move on to the deeper canal and try for a drum or sea trout.

This area produces some nice sea trout, redfish, black drum and occasionally small tarpon; but today, nothing was hitting any of my offerings.

   

I was wet and getting chilly so I decided to head for home.

On the way out, I stopped at the culvert and decided to try the "pond" side of the road to see if a redfish was in the vicinity.

On my second cast into water that was no more that two feet deep, I thought I snagged some weeds.

When I tried to jerk off the "weeds", a redfish that was at least 36 inches long took off leaving a huge wake.

I ripped the gold Johnson spoon right out of it's mouth.

I made several fruitless casts in the same area before moving on.

I got to the last culvert before the main road to the VAB complex and it looked "fishy".

The water was extremely shallow and colored, so I decided on the paddle tail bait again.

My second cast hooked me up to a 26" redfish that put up a nice battle before giving it up.

I stumbled down the bank, lipped the fish and crawled back up the bank to the road.


It started raining again so I put the fish on ice and headed for the house and some dry clothes.

Although fishing Patillo Creek didn't pan out, fishing the culverts into the area made my day.

Until next time,

Tight Lines.