Fishing The Cold Fronts

I usually don't like fishing the cold fronts but this afternoon, Karen and I decided to try a little bank fishing as the front was moving in.

We didn't get out until around 2:30 pm and were on the water about a half an hour later.

I was hoping that fresh dead shrimp and artificial baits would pick us up a few sea trout and reds but as it turned out the fishing this afternoon was pretty much a bust.

The air temperature was in the low 60s and there was a steady wind that made it feel like 40 degrees on the water.

We took Elmo and Odie along and managed to land a favorite spot on Gator Creek about half way down Catfish Creek Loop.  I was hoping that Peacocks Pocket Road would be open as promised, but the barrier was still up and it looked like road work was being done.

Who knows, maybe they will fix the deeper ruts before spring.

Karen and I set out a couple of rods with shrimp and I started tossing a chartreuse and pink D.O.A. Cal jerkbait around to see if I could catch a sea trout or two.

After 45 minutes of fruitless casting, I finally got a hit from what
I thought was a sea trout. 

The fish put up a short dogged fight and as I finally caught sight of the fish, I recognized it as an Oyster Toadfish or "Oyster Cracker".

I never heard of one being caught on an artificial bait but I guess there is always a first time.

Anyway, I showed Karen the fish, took a few pics and returned the fish to the water.

As it turned out, that was the only fish we caught all day.

We had several baits stolen and I missed two fish that took line but dropped the bait when I tried to set the hook.

The wind made it almost impossible to detect a bite and as the sun started to head for the horizon and the temperature began to drop, we decided to head for home.

I talked to several bank fishermen today and none of them were catching any fish.  I don't know if it was the front moving in but the bite was way off for this time of the year.

Anyway, as we drove out on East Gator Creek Road, I took a couple of pics of the sunset.

Fishing the cold fronts  for me has always been unproductive and this afternoon was no exception.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing The Cold Fronts

Fishing the cold fronts has always been productive for me in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge when you time it right.

Usually the bite is hot just as the cold front starts moving into the area and this evening was not exception.

I didn't get home from work until quite late this evening but I still decided to hit Peacocks Pocket Road to see if anyone was catching fish.

I loaded up three spinning rods and headed to the refuge.

It was almost 5:00 pm when I drove up to the intersection of Catfish Creek Loop and Peacocks Pocket Road.  The air temperature was 60 degrees and there was a brisk wind blowing out of the Northeast.

Some idiots tied a couple of "road closed" signs to the entrance of the road but since the barrier was down I decided to give it a try anyway.

The first stretch of water looked fishy as I slowly drove down the road so I stopped and started casting a Bagley paddletail soft bait smeared with Pro-Cure.

I had a couple of taps when I spied a pair of redfish cruising down the opposite bank of the marsh canal.

I lobbed the paddle tail swimbait in front of the fish and let it set.  As the lead fish moved closer to the bait, I gave it a twitch and immediately got a hit.

I didn't need to set the hook and when the fish realized it was hooked, it made a long run towards Catfish Creek road.

The fish ran was about thirty yards down the opposite bank of the canal before I started getting line back.  Luckily, the fish didn't head towards the stickups that lined the near bank.

As I pumped the redfish closer, I could finally see that it was over thirty inches long.   As I admired the fish, it changed directions and made another long run.

The rod I was using was loaded with 8# Red Cajun line and a 15# fluorocarbon leader so I couldn't horse the fish in. 

I played it as best I could and babied it around the brush, but after three more runs it finally managed to wrap itself around some heavy brush as I was getting it closer to the bank.

I left the rod with the bail open and got the camera out of the truck to take some pics if the fish unraveled itself but unfortunately, it was not to be.

I took some pics of the fish in the brush before deciding to pull in the brush that the red was tangled up in.

As I shinnied down the bank and got out on the tree, it gave way and I got a wet foot for my efforts.

I finally decided to break the line as close to the fish as possible.

As the line parted, the redfish felt the slack and slowly swam away none the worse for wear.

The fish hit at 5:05 pm and it was 5:45 pm when I crawled up the bank.

The wind was blowing, my feet were soaking wet and I didn't feel like fishing anymore this evening.

Fishing the cold fronts is productive but this evening, it was getting too cold for me to continue.

As I started the truck, the air temperature was 58 degrees but it felt colder.

Maybe tomorrow things will get better.

Tight Lines.

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Another Great Day Fishing The Cold Fronts

My wife and I had another great day fishing the cold fronts in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I coaxed my wife to go with me today to fish the marsh around the Indian River for redfish.

She saw how well I did yesterday, so I didn't have to coax her much.  Anyway, we hit some of the same areas I fished yesterday.

The air temperature was again in the low 70s and the wind was blowing just like yesterday.  The only difference was the fact that today the sun was out.

The first stop was again in an area most people drive by without ever bothering to fish.

Karen was using a jumbo fresh dead shrimp with a green clicker bobber and I again chose a gold Bagley diamond spoon with a red tag.

My first cast landed on the head of a medium sized redfish. 

The fish spooked and went towards a small pond, so I walked several yards up the road and started casting the spoon towards the flooded grassy areas where the reds were actively feeding.

It took about 20 casts before I hooked up to a sassy 23" redfish.  The fish put up a surprisingly strong battle before I lipped it, took it's picture and released it.

Karen had a bite but missed the fish.  She was hoping to break her losing streak today but so far, no luck.

We moved to a couple more spots where I caught another fat redfish that could have been a clone to the first one I caught.

This fish headed for a brush stickup at the bank almost immediately after being hooked.

I took off my sneakers and waded out to quickly lip the redfish in the picture below.

There was a gator on the bank but I didn't want to lose my favorite spoon so I took the chance.

 

I figured the air temperature would make the gator slow enough for me to beat him to the bank and I was right.  He only eyeballed me.

I released the fish and after a few minutes we moved again to another location.

Here, Karen broke her "dry spell" with a 24" redfish that hit her dead shrimp in the grass.




I took her picture with the fish (below) and we released it to fight another day.

Another move yielded another beautifully colored redfish on the gold spoon, pictured below.

We decided to hit an area just around the corner from "bobcat bay" were I caught some sea trout yesterday.

It was to be our last stop before heading home and as luck would have it, I caught this trout on the second cast into the area.

Karen, missed another fish in that was literally feeding in the grass and I missed another trout before we decided to pack it in.

 

Like yesterday, we saw a few people driving around the area but only two other people were actively fishing.

For some reason, fishermen in the area don't take advantage of the great fishing that accompanies cold fronts.

 

Anyway, Karen broke her dry spell and it turned out to be another great day fishing the cold fronts on the Indian River.

Till next trip, Tight Lines.

Fishing The Cold Fronts

Late Saturday afternoon I tried to get my wife to go fishing with me, but after the crappy luck she had on Friday, she opted to finish a stained glass project she had been working on instead.

Undaunted, I packed up three of my spinning rods each strung with different lures and took off to the river.

I normally do this so I can quickly cast to foraging fish when I get lucky enough to spot them.

Anyway, it was a bleak day on the Indian River Lagoon and a thick layer of fog covered the water. A cold front was moving in and the birds were obviously aware of it. (See the video below.)

As I crossed the bridge and headed towards the entrance to Peacocks Pocket road, tons of seagulls, ducks and pelicans were sitting on the water all huddled together in the main body of the river in anticipation of the front.

The water was dead calm on both sides of the unimproved road as I started jump fishing in several areas.

I missed a nice sea trout on my fourth cast into the marsh canal with my Johnson gold spoon, so I switched to the green DOA jig head with a Strike King 3X jerk bait that had produced yesterday evening.

After two casts I hooked and landed a nice 20" sea trout that after a short fight, I promptly released.

Another 20 yards down the road I had another sea trout that was a clone to the first one I caught. This one put up a better fight and after taking another picture of it, I put it back to grow up.

As I continued jump fishing the glassy calm water, I hooked and released four more sea trout from 20" to 23" and missed two more fish that I'm sure were trout.

I had been hoping for a redfish but the water was so calm the fish were super spooky.

Nonetheless, after spotting a feeding redfish on the Indian River side of the road, (See the video) I shot a well placed cast and hooked up to it using the rod with my Johnson gold spoon. After a brief run, the fish shook off the spoon in the very shallow water right at the bank.

It was getting late and I was becoming the object of affection of thousands of female mosquitoes so I decided to call it a day without a redfish for the dinner table.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be the day.

Tight Lines to you all.