Fishing The Marsh Canals In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Fishing the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge during a rainstorm can provide some great opportunities for gator sea trout and big redfish.

After driving in from onion city this afternoon I was eager to get out and fish the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  

After last weeks successful initiation into artificial lure fishing, Karen was also ready to "hit the swamp" and try for another 29" redfish.

It was raining off and on but that didn't stop us from packing up a half dozen rods tipped with a variety of paddle tail swim baits and Elmo our "wonder dog".

Since I didn't get home until late this evening, we headed for a few spots that I knew probably held fish especially since it was raining.

There was little to no wind and the water had only a light ripple on the surface.  Perfect for artificial top water and  soft plastic baits.

Coming into the entrance I stopped at the fourth culvert and started flipping a redfish colored paddle tail bait.

On the first cast I had a good hit but jerked the bait out of the fish's mouth.

Several casts into the same area didn't yield any fish so we moved on to a small pond area that looked "fishy" but didn't give up a hit.

It was still raining pretty heavy and Karen stayed in the truck while I continued trying out likely looking spots.

At a small "honey hole" in the marsh canal, I  changed rods and pitched a natural black backed colored Creme paddle tail lure towards the bank.

The lure didn't go three feet before a nice sea trout hit the bait and started up the marsh canal.

I skinned down the bank  to get the fish away from the heavy brush and after a brief battle gilled the fish onto the bank.

The fish was about 28" and what I call a "near gator trout".

Karen took the picture to the left, before I released the fish to fight another day.

The rain slowed down and we moved off to another pond area to see if we could spot some more fish.

Karen suddenly got interested in fishing and started slowly bouncing her baits to likely looking spots as I did the same with another pattern down the road from her.

I saw two nice oversize reds chasing mullet in the shallows but they weren't taking my baits.

I tied on a fresh Creme swim bait in a different pattern with a loop knot to give it more action and picked up another sea trout a bit smaller but fatter than the first in a pond area down the road from where Karen was fishing.

I got her to take another pic and released the fish.

Karen had the tail of her lure bit off so I tied another lure on her rod with a loop knot so she could continue fishing.

We both saw some nice redfish busting finger mullet in the shallows but they were not interested in our offerings.

It was getting late and the mosquitoes were out in force so we moved on towards the last area for the day.

I cast to a couple of redfish that were cruising down the marsh canal but only picked up another small sea trout.

Karen lost a couple more lures in the shrubbery and I finally lost my lure on an over cast to the far bank.

I was tired from the long drive while Karen and Elmo were fed up with the mosquitoes, so we decided to "pack it in".

The sunset this evening was absolutely awesome and as luck would have it, the battery in my camera gave out after I took this pic of a rainbow next to the Space Center.

Evidently fishing the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge during a rainstorm has become a more popular pastime.

We saw several small groups of fishermen wading in the shallows of the Indian River and fishing from the banks on both sides of Peacocks Pocket road.

I saw one wade fisherman in an area we call "the duck blind" landing a slot redfish and another guy up the road from him picking up a fat sea trout both on the Indian River side of the road.


Fishing the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge can be extremely productive for redfish and sea trout during most of the year if you know how to do it.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Fishing The Marsh Canals In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Fishing the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge this time of the year is an "iffy" proposition.

For the past couple of weeks, fishing has been pretty much "hit or miss" however, today my wife and I changed that scenario.

After mowing the lawn and working in the pond, I wasn't really in the mood to do any fishing but Karen and our wonder dog Elmo talked me into a late afternoon trip.

I packed up the truck with five spinning rods tipped with various lures, a cooler with drinks and some dead shrimp for Karen to use for bait and Elmo.

We didn't leave the house until 4:00 pm and since it was late, we headed for Peacocks Pocket road where Karen wanted to fish at one of her favorite "trees".

We stopped at a couple of places where there was a lot of finger mullet action but didn't get any hits.

Today was Mothers Day, which is why there was very little vehicle traffic.

The weather was overcast, the temperature was in the 70s and we didn't see one single fisherman all afternoon.

When we finally got to Karen's favorite spot, I pulled off the road and she flipped out a jumbo shrimp under a pencil float.

I was dubious about this particular area but I decided to try a Tsunami paddle tail bait to see if any sea trout were willing to get caught.

I walked down the dirt road to leave Karen fish her area in peace and started blind casting to fishy looking areas. 

I counted at least a dozen large red fish or black drum pushing wakes down the marsh canal towards where Karen was fishing around 7:00 pm but they weren't feeding.

I continued casting to fish and blind casting to the far bank when I hooked up to this nice 27" sea trout. 

The fish hit the paddle tail bait as I pulled it off the bank around a grassy inlet and put up a great fight before giving it up.

I got Karen to take the above pics before releasing the fish.

I caught another slot size sea trout and a couple of undersized fish like the one to the left in the same area as it was getting dark.

After several more casts I missed another trout that literally jumped out of the water after hitting the Tsunami bait.

A few casts later in the exact same area, I thought I had hooked another large sea trout until the fish started running down the marsh canal.

I was using 10# Cajun line and a 15# fluorocarbon shock leader with a light set drag to minimize losses from hooks pulling out of the sea trout's paper thin mouths. 

I tightened up the drag but the redfish ran at least 50 yards down the marsh canal before I could start to slow it down. 

The big fish was in the brush and all I could do was keep up the pressure hoping it wouldn't wrap around a stickup. 

Finally, the fish turned around and started to run directly towards me.  I never eased up on the pressure and just when I thought I had the fish in the bag, it made another run up the canal towards where Karen was fishing.

After I stopped the second run, the fish was starting to give up the battle.  Five minutes later, I slipped down the bank and lipped the big redfish out of the canal water.

The fish was well over the limit so I walked quickly so Karen could take these pics before I released it.  The heavy fish measured in at just over 32".

After the brief photo session, I revived the red and let her go on her merry way.  After all it was Mothers Day.

Although fishing the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge this time of the year is "hit or miss", today's outing was definitely a hit.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.