Friday Morning Launch

Early Friday morning I planned on hitting the refuge to try for some sea trout action but when I got close to the A. Max Brewer bridge, it was obvious that a Friday morning launch was scheduled.

Spectators were all over the area so I decided to take part as well.

I found out that the launch was going off in a few minutes so I pulled into an open spot near the Coast Guard station and walked across the road to find a spot on the Indian River.

I only had to wait a few minutes before the rocket took off from the Kennedy Space Center. 

I took the short video below to commemorate the takeoff before hitting my fishing spot.

After walking back to where I parked my truck, I had a long irritating wait to get out of the area so I decided to pass on the morning fishing and head home to catch up on some overdue chores.

I'll probably head out this afternoon to try for some trout.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Another Nighttime Launch

Went down to the causeway on the Indian River to toss a Chug Bug around the shoreline and wound up viewing another nighttime launch.

After about 20 minutes tossing the bait around the shoreline, I had a hit by what probably was a sea trout but the fish got off.

As more people started gathering and asking me what I had caught, I decided to quit tossing the bait and took this video as the shot went off.

The clouds stopped the viewing of the booster coming back down, but they didn't dampen the excitement of the people watching along the causeway.

I got out of the area as soon as the rocket went through the cloud cover.

Might try some fishing before Thanksgiving Day,

Till next time,

Tight Lines

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket launched this morning from NASA's Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 2:30 a.m. EDT..

It was originally scheduled for liftoff at 11:30 p.m. but when I drove down to a spot on the Indian River to watch the launch, I heard about the re-schedule from one of the onlookers on the bank of the river and headed back home to get a couple hours of sleep

The weather was beautiful and the water on the river was glassy.   Schools of finger mullet were meandering along the bank and I was silently berating myself for not bringing along one of my topwater rods.

I took this video of the launch and the recovery of the boosters returning to the Space Center .

The second go around was a charm and the launch apparently went on without a hitch.

I plan on going out tomorrow night to try some topwater fishing along the banks of the causeway.

I spotted several trout busting on the finger mullet when I took the video.  Till then,

Tight Lines.

Black Drum Are On Fire

The black drum are on fire in our area right now on the flats, along the Klinker Islands, Haulover Canal, and around any of the bridge pilings.

After getting our taxes filed and getting a bite to eat at Victorio's, Karen and I decided to get out for a little bit and wet a line.

I normally prefer using artificial baits but because of the reports I received from the bait shops and local guides, I decided to give bait fishing a shot today and I'm glad I did.

This afternoon we managed to catch and release three nice black drum  all over the slot outside of Haulover Canal in only a couple of hours.    Karen got two nice fish over 24":and I got one about 29"  using fresh dead frozen shrimp.   .

Some of the other fishermen along the banks of Haulover this afternoon were also catching nice size drum mainly with shrimp and pieces of fresh blue crab for bait.

You had to get there early today to snag a spot .   When we first drove up, all the "good" spots along both sides of the canal were taken, but as we were ready to move to another location, Karen said she thought a guy on the other side of the canal was getting ready to leave..  

Karen and I lucked out and got the spot on the north side of the canal just as a guy was driving off in his truck..

It was at a natural coquina rock formation that already had holes for our fishing rods.  Perfect for bait fishing.

I was using 30 pound Power Pro and a 30 pound fluorocarbon leader with a sliding sinker rig and Karen was using the same rig with 20 pound mono as the main line on a Penn combo that I picked up for her at Bass Pro for her upcoming birthday.

We both didn't have to wait long before we had hits and finally hookups.

I didn't have my cell phone charger with me and my battery was almost gone but I managed to get a couple of pics anyway before it died.

I've got some work to do tomorrow morning but I'm hoping to get out later in the afternoon to give it another shot while the bite is still hot.

Till next time

Tight Lines.

Croaker In The River

After being stuffed with way too much turkey, this afternoon seemed to be a good time to hit the river and see what was happening.

My wife went to check on her horse, so I packed up a few rods, a cooler with some frozen shrimp and finger mullet, and last but not least; the dogs.

I wasn't going to take them but Elmo and Odie looked so despondent that I couldn't let them alone.

When I stopped by the bait shop to pick up some live mullet, they were sold out.  So, I headed to the river with only my frozen bait and limited hopes of catching anything worthwhile.

The wildlife refuge was loaded with ducks of all types, alligators just about everywhere, and lots of visitors doing the same thing I was doing; getting out of the house and enjoying the beautiful day.

The weather was great.  The air temp was 73 degrees and there was only a hint of a breeze across the Indian River.

There were limited fishing spots but I lucked out and staked my claim at an area of of  Catfish Creek Loop road where my wife and I picked up some nice black drum last month.

I put out one rod with cut mullet, and two other rods with freshly defrosted medium sized shrimp and almost immediately had a bite on the shrimp.

I missed the first  two hits, but picked up a small croaker on the third round.  It was small but better than nothing.

 In the next half hour or so, I managed to hook and release 11 more croaker on the frozen shrimp which were all in the 8" to 13" range, a small stingray and a couple of river whiting.

The bites were still coming but I had a hit on the rod with the mullet which turned out to be a couple of mating Horseshoe Crabs.

It was getting late and the gnats were killing me so I decided to hit the road and call it a day. 

Elmo and Odie had a lot of fun, and even thought the fish weren't anything to write home about, so did I.

I plan on taking the boat out tomorrow to chase some redfish in the lagoon.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing Catfish Creek

It looks like fishing Catfish Creek will be on the agenda for the near future for bank fishermen in our area.

I tried to find out why Peacocks Pocket road is closed to vehicle traffic, but as of this date I never received a satisfactory explanation.

The Indian River around Parrish Park in Titusville, Fl. today was spattered with bank fishermen who were mostly after Redfish.

The North side of the road seemed to have the most fishermen but as I drove through the first drive, several guys were in the Catfish Creek area catching sea trout and reds.

This guy was fly fishing for "anything that bites" with a baitfish pattern.   When I asked him how he was doing, he said he caught several spotted sea trout in the 15" to 20" range.  I could see the wide tail of a nice sea trout on his stringer that looked like it was over the 24" slot, but I didn't belabor the point.

Some productive baitfish patterns I use listed from top to bottom are Kraimer's Tan, Nice Mullet, Kraimer's Gray/White, and Clouser's Olive White.

As I drove around the unimproved road, I noted that the water levels in the refuge were way up and that the culverts were open and flowing, undoubtedly due to the hurricane.

Several of the bank fishermen I talked to were catching sea trout, and one fellow had a slot redfish that he nailed on a cut bait.

Although I didn't bring along a rod or have time to fish, I might just get out tomorrow to wet a line.

Might even break out my fly rod again if the wind cooperates..

Till next time, Tight Lines.  

Thunderstorm Sea Trout Fishing

Didn't get any fishing in this weekend because of a problem with my truck but I did manage to nail a few sea trout this evening just before the thunderstorm started to roll in.

Friday afternoon on the way back from Jacksonville, Fl. I lost the steering and brakes in my Silverado.

They went out around the St. Augustine exit and I managed to baby the truck back to Titusville on a wing and a prayer or two.

Hopefully it will be repaired tomorrow but in the meanwhile I had to use my wife's vehicle to get out of the house and wet a line on the Indian River.

I loaded up three spinning rods late this evening and drove into East Gator Creek to see if there was any topwater action going on.

After several dozen unfruitful casts with a Chug Bug, I decided to move into the Catfish Creek area and give it a try.,

There was a lot of vehicle traffic this evening, but few fishermen out on the water.

When the air temperature started dropping and the wind started picking up I decided to fish a culvert on the Indian River that is usually productive close to dusk, and this evening was no exception.

I tossed the Chug Bug several times and had two followups and one short strike so I decided to switch over to a gold Johnsons Sprite.

The spoon did the trick.  After only a few casts around some milling finger mullet, I nailed an undersize sea trout which I quickly released.

Several more casts yielded two more fish that were a bit larger but still under the 15" minimum.

As the storm moved in and it started getting dark, I spotted a couple of nice swirls so I tossed the spoon past them and got a hookup with a nice redfish.  The fish hit the spoon on the drop, swam about ten yards and the hook pulled out.

Undaunted, I continued fan casting the spoon and missed two more trout before getting another hit from a redfish.

The fish nailed the spoon about ten feet from the bank and pulled drag off the reel, but again the hook pulled out.

It was almost dark and the wind was getting stronger so I decided to call it a day and head for home.

In about an hour of fishing I managed to land three sea trout, missed at least three more and miss two nice redfish.

I've got to remember to let them eat the spoon when they hit instead of trying to immediately set the hook.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Disappointing Afternoon On The Indian River

It turned out to be a disappointing afternoon on the Indian River for fishing today but we still had a good time.

Karen wanted to take the dogs fishing and get them out of the house so we decided to head out around 3:00 pm.  As usual we were a little late but close.

We stopped at the bait shop and picked up a dozen large shrimp and headed to the fast food place to pick up a hamburger for Karen.

We drove past the entrance of Peacocks Pocket road to see if it was open but the sign that said it would reopen February 15th was taken down and another sign was put up that said the road would be closed for repairs.  No date was indicated, so who knows when it will reopen.

We drove past the barrier and spotted something busting baitfish in the river.  The bait were trying to evade something but as I pulled over to try and cast a couple of lures, another vehicle tried to get through so I decided to pass up the opportunity and look for a spot where Karen could also fish.

The air temperature was 73 degrees and there was little to no wind over the water.  The Indian River was almost flat and the "swamp" area was like a mirror.  Ducks and Coots were everywhere..

Karen wanted to fish the spot where we caught several black drum a couple of weeks ago but it was already taken, so we picked another likely spot and set out three rods tipped with live shrimp.

I'd like to say we nailed the hell out of the drum but we waited for a couple of hours without a bite.

As usual, I got bored and started casting a topwater Chug Bug, a Johnson Sprite gold spoon and a D.O.A. CAL bait trying to gin up some hits.
   

 The only thing I caught was a finger mullet that got snagged on the gold spoon.

While I was casting artificial baits, Karen landed a small stingray which we released.  

We decided to fish until dusk, which is normally when the bite improves and sure enough as dusk neared, a sea trout nailed the finger mullet.

I quickly landed and released the fish after taking a quick pick and continued fishing with live shrimp.

As it turned out, that was the last fish of the day. 

Absolutely nothing was hitting..

When the insects started to make life miserable, we decided to call it a day and head for home.

At least we had the benefit of an awesome sunset!

We didn't get skunked, but it certainly was a disappointing afternoon on the Indian River.

We'll see if Peacocks Pocket opens up next week.

Till then, Tight Lines.

The Black Drum Are In The Creeks

After taking care of some work around the house, my wife and I decided on the spur of the moment to go fishing and try and catch some Black Drum.

It was around 4:00 pm before we finally loaded the truck and headed for the Indian River.  

We decided to hit the local bait shop to pick up some live shrimp,  so we stopped at Captain Hooks on Garden Street and picked up a baker's dozen of "bombers".  

These are super size shrimp in the jumbo  plus category that are great for gator sea trout, snook and big redfish.  

I didn't have a bait bucket so we used the cooler I brought along to keep our drinks in.  

We drove into Gator Creek road and into Catfish Creek Loop and decided to fish a point where I have caught reds in the past.

I baited up a jumbo shrimp for Karen on her spinning outfit,  then set out three bait casting rods  with live and dead shrimp and sat down to wait.  (Not one of my better traits.)

After a few minutes I had a hit on the rod with a smelly shrimp on it but missed whatever was dumb enough to try and eat it.

I re-baited with a live shrimp and after several minutes picked up an undersize spotted sea trout which I quickly released.  Shortly after that, I landed another sea trout that was the smallest I ever caught in salt water.  The little trout was no longer than 6 " and when Karen wanted to take my picture with the trout, I quickly vetoed the idea.

While I was unhooking the little trout, Karen hooked a black drum on a bait casting rod I asked her to watch.  

The fish put up a "sloshing" fight that was atypical of a drum and when she landed the fish we knew why.  The juvenile drum had its tail removed by some predator, probably a dolphin looking looking for a drum dinner.

Tailless Drum

Tailless Black Drum

I took a couple of pics of the tailless fish before  releasing it.

In the next half hour just as dusk was on us, I hooked and released two more black drum and another as it got dark.  All the drum were caught on either live shrimp or some smelly dead shrimp I brought along that was cluttering up the freezer.

We released all the fish and when it got too dark to see, we decided to head for home.   Except for the one black drum that Karen landed, she never got a hit on the live "bomber" shrimp she was using.

Apparently I was in a small school that was just a few feet away from where she had her rod staked out.  The other two bait casting rods I had out never got a hit either and they were to the right and left of where I was catching fish.

We were hoping to catch a redfish, but I couldn't complain about the fishing.  The tally was two sea trout and three black drum in the 22' to 25" range.

After I get through with my projects tomorrow, we'll probably go out again and wet a line or two.

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..... 

Super Moon Fishing Weekend

This weekend's Super Moon made fishing in our area a lot easier but catching was an entirely different matter.

Despite a minor health problem I've been dealing with and some severe thunderstorm activity in our area, I still managed to get out a few hours on Saturday and Sunday to wet a line and try to catch some quality redfish.

When I hit the refuge on Saturday afternoon, the air temperature had quickly dropped from the high to low 80s and the winds were picking up to (what seemed to me) gale force.  Fortunately the extreme conditions didn't last and eventually it turned dead calm towards dusk.

I had been briefly scouting some areas around Bio Lab road before driving into East Gator
Creek road to fish and the rain was literally coming down in buckets.   I slowly drove to Peacocks Pocket road past the culverts and decided to fish the marsh area when the lightning subsided.

|When the rain slowed down enough to fish, I stopped to toss some artificial baits in a couple of ponds but all I managed to score was a couple of small sea trout on a topwater Chug Bug and a DOA CAL bait.

Half way through Peacocks Pocket Road a rainbow appeared and I was positive that the fishing would improve.

Up to this point I hadn't spotted any sign of topwater sea trout or redfish activity but since there was a slight chop on the water, I decided to keep fishing topwater baits.

At a large pond, I finally got a hit from a nice redfish on my trout pattern SkitterWalk.  The fish caught me by surprise when it busted on the lure and I jerked the bait out of the redfish's mouth. The fish didn't come back for a second try.

After making what seemed like a million casts with the SkitterWalk, I finally decided to give up fishing for the day.   It was getting late and the "super moon" was becoming visible through the clouds.

I took several pics of the moon and the beautiful sunset before calling it a day.

All day I had the refuge virtually to myself.  Except for a couple of fishermen who came in as I was leaving, the only other person in the area was a photographer who wanted to get pics of the Super Moon over NASA's VAB building.

Sunday afternoon was another story.

After helping my wife at the stables with her horses I headed for the river to get in some fishing.

It was late afternoon and the usual late afternoon thunderstorm activity was in the area.

I briefly stopped to fish the shallow flats off of US1 near the intersection of Hwy 50 with the SkitterWalk that I had a redfish hit on Saturday.

It turned out to be a fruitless endeavor.  I had something follow the bait but it wasn't hungry.

I drove to Peacocks Pocket kayak launch and stopped at the second set of culverts to watch some wade fishermen out in the river.  

 

While I was tossing a Creme paddle tail bait to some tailing reds, of the guys caught a small redfish on what looked like a topwater bait.

The water on the Indian River was dead calm and I counted five alligators in the immediate area where the two wade fishermen were doing their thing.  The thought of the gators stifled any inclinations I had of wade fishing the river.

I counted at least a dozen redfish tailing in the shallows, but they weren't interested in any of the baits I was offering so I moved on down the road.

At every stop I made, I spotted redfish and sea trout activity on both sides of Peacocks Pocket road.

The water was flat calm and the fish were spooky but they were actively feeding on mullet.  I silently wished I had brought some with me today.

As the sunset approached, I stopped at one of my favorite ponds and decided to spend the rest of my fishing time there.  I untied the SkitterWalk, tied on a frog pattern Chug Bug and started fan casting along a dropoff.

After the tenth or fifteenth cast, a large redfish followed the lure and literally blew it out of the water.

I missed the fish but the ferocious strike made the trip worthwhile.  I continued casting the plug, half hoping the fish would return and after several casts another redfish in the 30" category hit the bait.  The fish was on for a brief time util the hook pulled out.  

Before it got dark, two more redfish took swipes at the Chug Bug before I finally hooked and landed the slot fish below.

I released the fish and after making several more fruitless casts decided to give it up for the day.

Super Moon fishing is unpredictable but Sunday turned out to be worth the effort.  I took some pics of the beautiful sunset before heading home.

Till next time, Tight Lines to your all.

The Fishing Is Hot If You Know Where To

The fishing is hot right now depending on what you are fishing for.

This weekend was great for ladyfish but not so for redfish or gator sea trout.

I didn't do much serious fishing this past weekend but I did manage to catch some nice ladyfish and stir up a couple of small Tarpon in the Mosquito Lagoon.

I only fished an hour or so Friday evening when I got home from work and a couple of hours late Saturday in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Friday I specifically targeted ladyfish and managed to score a half dozen or so in and around East Gator Creek road.

I caught most of them on a ZMann Paddler Z rigged on a 1/2 oz. jig head.   The fish loved the bait when fished super fast or skipped across the sea grass in the shallows.

As it got closer to dusk, I switched to a topwater Skitterwalk and picked up two more ladyfish and missed a nice size sea trout.  The sea trout hit the topwater plug as it was sitting "lifeless" on the surface.

Saturday afternoon I was after anything but only scored on ladyfish and a small sea trout.

I missed a small Tarpon just off the ICW in the Mosquito Lagoon on a DOA Bait Buster while wading and spooked three nice redfish in the clear shallows on a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.

Unfortunately the fish I jumped Saturday all had lockjaw and refused my baits.

My buddy Jason and his friend did much better on the Indian River than I did, as you can see by the pics below.

 

  

He said he saw several large schools of  big Bull Redfish  and caught these on live mullet.

He was skipping mullet to the schools on the edge of the grass flats were they meet up with the big bare sandy patches. 

I need to start fishing live baits more often!

Till nest time, Tight Lines!

Good Friday Shrimping On The Indian River

I planned on going fishing when I returned home from work this evening but instead spent Good Friday shrimping on the Indian River with some old timers.

It was too late to fish Peacocks Pocket when I got home from work so I decided to hit the fishing piers to see if there was any action with the shrimping community.

I arrived a little after 8:30 pm and the pavilion was crowded as usual for a Friday evening.

Lower Fishing Pier

There were several shrimpers and a few fishermen on the lower pier and almost nobody shrimping on the upper (higher) fishing pier.

The sport shrimpers on the lower pier were not doing too good while I was there.

The sea trout were murdering the shrimp and very few of them were escaping to the surface where they could be dipped up.

I walked the lower pier and only a few shrimpers had any in their nets or their 5 gallon buckets so I took a few pics and walked to the upper pier to see how they were doing.

There were three guys at the corner of the pier who had their lights set out in deeper water.  When I checked out their buckets, none of them had any shrimp to brag about.

As I stood there for a while, it was quickly evident why.  There were at least a couple of hundred sea trout over the light sets ambushing the shrimp as they were swimming into range of the dip nets.

Most of the sea trout  were under the slot but several were at least 15" plus.  The larger sea trout were hanging just outside of the shrimp lights down deep.

I mused to myself, of all the times to not bring my fishing rod with me!

There was a slight current moving the shrimp around but it slowed down to almost nothing around 9:00 pm.

The shrimp that were being dipped up were medium size tonight and no jumbos were in anybody's bucket as far as I could see.

There was almost no wind on the water this evening and it was shirtsleeve weather.  All in all a gorgeous night.

I took several short videos that I later edited into this YouTube video that shows mostly sea trout, a small tarpon and a ladyfish chasing shrimp around the lights.


Unfortunately while I was visiting the fishing piers this evening, nobody was dipping any jumbo shrimp that this area is noted for.

This Good Friday shrimping expedition on the Indian River would have been great if I only had the foresight to bring along a light spinning rod and a couple of  D.O.A. Shrimp.

Well, Tomorrow's another day.

Tight Lines.

Gator Sea Trout Are Hitting In the Indian River

The Gator Sea Trout are hitting in the Indian River flats.

After a couple of weeks of being ill, I finally got a chance to wet a line Saturday afternoon.

I wanted to hit the beach to sample the pompano and whiting fishing but the possibility of hooking up with a gator sea trout got the better of me, so I decided to fish the refuge instead.

I stopped at the local bait shop and picked up a half dozen live mullet and a dozen live shrimp, just in case.  The owner said the pompano and whiting were "on fire" along the beaches and that there were still some bluefish in the surf.

He said that the reds and sea trout in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge were also biting well in the ditches and along the river side of the road. 

This is the time of the year when the mullet invade the lagoon systems and with them come gator sea trout, snook and redfish. 

I started out fishing lures around Peacocks Pocket road with limited success.  I picked up a couple of dancing ladyfish on a gold hammered spoon and missed a redfish in the shallows that was a brief hookup.

The finger mullet are just starting to come into the river system and the ditches in the marsh. 

Fishing live mullet or top water plugs is the preferred tactic this time of the year but since I got out late this afternoon, I wasn't expecting much action.  I was just happy to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather in the refuge.

I stopped at one small pond where I often hook up with reds and pitched out a live finger mullet.  The mullet was hooked thru the lips and I pinched a "lake shot" about 18" above the snelled 5/0 Owner hook.

The mullet was in the water about 30 seconds before a redfish picket up the bait and started up the marsh canal.  I gave the fish a moment to run, set the hook and missed the fish. 

From the size of the wake, it looked like a nice fish but I never did get a good look at it.

Undaunted, I moved on up the road and hit another spot I like to fish.

I pitched a gold hammered redfish spoon several times into the shallow flats and hooked up with two ladyfish in that spot before moving on.

As I was putting the rod into the truck, a couple slowly passed me and asked if I had any luck.  He was eager to show me his sea trout in the back of the truck so I took a look.  I should have taken a pic for this post but I didn't think of it at the time, anyway,  he had what I would call a Gator Sea Trout of about 30" in a five gallon bucket.

The guy said he caught the fish near culverts at Peacocks Pocket on a live finger mullet.

As he drove off, I decided to change tactics and start fishing finger mullet and topwater plugs.

I tied on a chartreuse and black Zara Spook Jr. and started tossing the bait around after putting out a live finger mullet on the second rod.

The tactic didn't pan out.  At the next few spots I stopped at, the finger mullet got "mouthed" but never eaten.

It was either small sea trout or a redfish that wasn't very hungry, and that doesn't happen much.

Around 5:30 pm I started getting hits on the Zara Spook but the fish were hitting short.  I smeared Pro-Cure Inshore Saltwater gel on the plug to keep the fish interested and hooked up with a couple of small under size sea tout and one huge sea trout that missed the plug three times before swimming away.

The fish blew the the plug out of the water as I was "walking" it off a shallow flat into deeper water.  I let the plug sit still for a millisecond before jerking it and the fish hit and missed again.  As I was retrieving the lure for another cast it hit and missed the third time.

I probably wasn't holding my mouth right, anyway that was the end of my fishing for the afternoon.

On my last stop, I put out three rods with cut finger mullet and fresh dead shrimp and parked my butt to watch the sunset.

A small school of black drum pushed a nice wake off of the flat I was fishing and one of them took a wack at the fresh dead shrimp, but again the fish didn't get hooked. 

I set the rod back out with another fresh dead shrimp and after a while dragged in a large blue crab which I released.

The sunset was beautiful as usual as I took these pics and headed for home.

Tomorrow is another day.

Tight Lines.

A Lazy Sunday Night Sport Shrimping

It was a lazy night sport shrimping on the Indian River this evening.

I didn't get a chance to wet a line this weekend and by this evening I was eager to get out of the house and hit the river.

I left the house around 7:30 pm armed with a small spinning rod rigged with an imitation shrimp.

Fifteen minutes later I was on the first fishing pier checking out what the sport shrimpers were catching this evening.

It had been raining all day long and it stopped shortly before I got to the fishing piers.  The air temperature was a pleasant 72 degrees and there was no wind on the water as you can see by the video below.

The lower fishing pier had a few shrimpers and no fishermen on it but the upper pier was more crowded at the shallow end.

I talked to a few shrimpers and to a man they all reported a slow evening.  Several had a few shrimp in their buckets but nobody was limiting out this evening.

The guys said they were averaging a couple of shrimp every ten minutes or so.  For this area it was a pitiful evening.

When I got to the piers an entertainer was singing away on the pavilion and despite the slow shrimping activity, everyone seemed to be having a great time.

I pitched my artificial bait at several sea trout that were hovering over the lights and caught two dinky trout before deciding to give it up.

When the small sea trout are schooling like they were tonight, you can be sure there are no big ones in the area.

I took several shots of the "inaction" and when it started to rain again, I decided to head for home rather than taking a chance of getting the flu, or worse.

Anyway, it was good to get out in the fresh air and enjoy the company of some of the locals.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

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Some Shrimping Action On The Indian River

I decided to hit the pier this evening to see if anyone was getting any shrimping action on the Indian River.

As is my habit, I took along a light action spinning rod tipped with a shrimp imitation to see if I could pick up a sea trout or two.

The fishing piers were relatively uninhabited this evening so I took my rod and my trusty Samsung WB150F camera and headed for the lower pier.

The people close to the sea wall were netting shrimp but they were all medium sized, not the jumbos

that are expected in this area.

There were several schools of under slot sized sea trout chasing shrimp, so I took a short video of the action.

The shrimp that made it past the sea trout were being netted by the guys on the pier.  But from what I saw this evening, the sea trout were winning.

I took a few shots and met up with Glen Best, a fellow fisherman friend who also goes sport shrimping on a regular basis.  That's him to the left.

It turned out that a couple of weeks ago, Glen and his friend were the guys who I briefly spoke with in Catfish Creek Loop.

They were sitting in their truck waiting out the rain when I passed them, and had just doubled up on redfish in the marsh area. 

I stopped and shot the breeze with him a bit about the fishing in the area and how the shrimp were running.

While we were talking, I started pitching the shrimp imitation at some of the sea trout to see if I could pick up a legal size fish.

The more we talked, the more fish I caught.  Unfortunately they were all under the slot.

I took these videos of the fish and the picture of Glen that I promised to put on my site.


I continued catching fish and could have gone all night long, but after an hour or so I decided to head for the house.

I was working all day on remodeling my wife's bathroom and I was dog tired.

It was about 10:45 pm when I left the fishing pier and I was home by eleven.

As I was leaving the pier, I took some shots of the evening's catch.

 


If I finish getting the bathroom prepped and painted tomorrow, I might hit the beach and try for some Spanish mackerel or blues.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

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Sport Shrimping Post Thanksgiving Day

Sport shrimping on the Indian River this evening was pretty much only for the hardier types.

Thanksgiving Day is usually when sport shrimping picks up in this area.  At least in previous years that was the trend.

This evening was the first time in quite a while that I bothered visiting the two fishing piers on the river.

It was around 8:30 pm when I drove down to the bridge and it was extremely foggy.  The air temperature was 65 degrees, there was a fine misty rain falling and there was the usual breeze blowing over the Indian River.  Perfect pneumonia weather!

The band that was playing at the Pavilion earlier had already gone home and there were only a few vehicles in the parking areas.

The lower fishing pier was somewhat crowded, but the upper pier had only three people shrimping this evening.

Lower Fishing Pier

Upper Fishing Pier

 I talked to several people who were shrimping on the lower pier and most of the shrimpers had only a few medium size shrimp in their nets.  Nobody had a 5 gallon bucket limit.

I took a few pics of the area and proceeded to the upper fishing pier to see if they were doing any better.

The first guy I spoke with (below) was a "snow bird" who told me the shrimp were not running this evening.  Despite his report, I noted that he and his buddy had at least a couple dozen shrimp in their nets.

The folks shrimping next to him had done better.  They had at least two dozen shrimp each and were still netting them up as I was preparing to head for the comfort of the hacienda.

 




I took a few more pics before leaving and on the way home noted that the air temperature had dropped a couple of degrees.  Definitely a front moving in.

Perhaps that's why the sport shrimping this evening wasn't up to par.

In any event, I'll try to hit the area again in a few days for another report.

Till then,

Tight Lines and Heavy Nets.