Fishing The Windy Days

Fishing the windy days is never easy, especially around a lot of brush and tight cover.

My usual fishing excursions to the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River have been cut short because of prior work commitments and the windy weather.  I don't like to continuously battle the wind to catch fish.

After coming home from work Friday evening, I drove around Peacocks Pocket road just to see if anyone was catching fish.

There were a few people driving around the road but mostly tourists enjoying the waterfowl.  I only saw two other fishermen, one in a kayak, and all they were catching was catfish.

 

Late Saturday afternoon I decided to give the bank fishing a try even though the wind was blowing quite a bit.

When I crossed the causeway bridge over the Indian River Lagoon at about 5:00 pm and saw the wind-board surfers skimming across the north side of the river, I knew it would be a tough afternoon fishing.

I had three rods with me tipped with a bass patterned Chug Bug, a Storm wildeye live sardine paddle tail bait and a "Gabbies" crab imitation.  I brought along a cast net but decided against using live bait today, mainly because I didn't care to waste time catching bait.

As it turned out, I probably should have cast for some finger mullet.

I tried several of my "honey holes" in the marsh side of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge with only limited success.  I saw several sea trout and one cruising redfish but had no hits that I could feel.

I edged up to an area I call "snook point" and started fishing the paddle tail bait around some agitated finger mullet and finally hooked up to a small undersized sea trout.

I let let the fish go and tried for about half an hour to get something to hit my lures.

After the first sea trout hit, nothing was interested in that bait so I started casting the Chug Bug into the area.

When fishing the windy days you quickly realize how hard it is to make a lifelike presentation to the fish.  The topwater bait produced only one follow up and no hits, probably because it was skittering all over the surface.

Finally as it started towards dusk, the wind died down enough to make a half decent lure presentation.

I tossed the topwater bait to three cruising reds in the marsh canal but they had lockjaw.

Finally I decided to call it a day and head for some dinner.  The wind and rain had finally taken it's toll.

As I drove out of the refuge, I didn't bother to stop to fish some reds I saw cruising up the canal.  I figured they were pretty well spooked by now from all the people driving down the road.

On the way I spotted these guys out in the river fishing live bait.  It had been raining off and on during the afternoon, so these guys had to be "die hard" fishermen.

I took a few pics of some of the wildlife and a pretty rainbow over the space center and decided to finally call it a day.

As I passed the kayak launch I spotted a wild boar that I almost hit in the road.  As it was running down the trail I managed to get this quick shot off.  This pig was huge and was probably close to 300 pounds.

Hope you guys who are fishing the same area are doing better than I am.

Going to the gun show tomorrow so I probably will not be fishing, especially if it's windy.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Another Windy Day On The River

It was another windy day on the river and a cold front was moving in to boot, but I had to get out of the house and away from my damn computer, if only for a little bit.

I left Elmo our "wonder dog" and Karen at the house, loaded up four light spinning outfits and headed for Peacocks Pocked road in search of redfish.

I thought about hitting north Shiloh Road, but I didn't feel like making the drive only to find the road closed because of the waterfowl hunting season.

I got a late start (around 4:00 p.m.) so I just headed for the closest entrance.

As I crossed the bridge over the Indian River lagoon, I spotted several wind boarders on the north side of the road enjoying another windy day on the river.  The para-sailors in their wet suits looked worn out and were packing up their gear to go home.

The temperature was in the high 60s and the wind was blowing steadily but the sun was out which made the fishing enjoyable.

I was targeting redfish today but after fishing almost until dusk, I only spotted one one swirl which could have been a red.

On the way into the refuge, I met a nice couple who were subscribers to my website.

They asked where Elmo was and we talked briefly about the fishing.  I'm terrible with names so I apologize that I didn't remember them but they said they were catching sea trout on a white plastic jig with a green tail.

He told me he started using it when he caught a redfish at the "duck blind" with the jig in it's mouth.  Evidently it worked then and is still producing.

I headed on up the road and continued fishing with several baits.

I started with my gold Bagley spoon and switched off to a no name plastic paddle tail swim bait and finally settled on a white Creme bait.

I missed a couple of fish on the gold spoon and switched to the no name bait.

I missed two more fish before a slot sized sea trout finally decided to nail my bait.

I got tired of the short strikes so I got rid of the no name lure,  changed to the Creme paddle tail bait and started hooking fish.

I landed four sea trout in the slot and one that was just shy of the 15" minimum before I started getting chilly and decided to head for home.

 

There were lots of birds out on the marsh as well as a few gators sunning on the bank.  And, as usual there were lots of out of town visitors enjoying the wildlife.

  

Even though this afternoon was just another windy day on the river, all in all it turned out to be a really enjoyable afternoon.

The fishing should be improving during the upcoming month as the finger mullet begin to invade the estuaries and along the beaches.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Peacocks Pocket Pre 9/11 Fishing Trip

In order to prevent the Koi in our front pond from developing hunger pains; my wife, Elmo (our wonder dog) and I decided to drive down to Dania, Fl. to pick up a couple hundred pounds of Koi food from a supplier friend of ours.

After walking his Koi ponds I just couldn't resist picking up a few juvenile show Koi and a small albino Plecostomus for our pond.

On the way back, we drove by Boynton Inlet to see if any of the locals were catching anything, particularly Snook.

Surprisingly, there weren't many fishermen on the piers and those who were fishing didn't seem to be catching much.

Since we didn't get back until late in the afternoon, I didn't get out until about 6:30 p.m. for my Peacocks Pocket pre 9/11 Fishing Trip.

I hurriedly packed a couple of rods and headed for the easternmost entrance to Peacocks Pocket.

The water at Peacocks Pocket kayak launch was like glass and except for some alligators, feeding herons and a few small pods of finger mullet, there was very little surface activity.

Because of the glass like conditions, I really didn't expect to catch any fish but I decided to try a top water Mirror Lure and a Gold 3/8 oz. Nemire Spoon Buzzer Lure just for the hell of it.

My first stop was at the kayak launch area where I spotted this gator snapping up some type of shore bird that was feeding in the shallows.

It's not a very good photograph but I did manage to capture some action. The other birds in the flock are just out of the picture.

After about a dozen casts with only one follow, I moved up the road to the double culverts and started casting on the Indian River side of the road.

A few casts later netted me a ladyfish that flipped off the Nemire Spoon. Two more casts after that and I missed a sea trout.

Thinking that something was wrong, I checked the lure only to discover that the hooks coming right out of the package were as dull as chopsticks.

I sharpened the single hook up as best I could and started working the lure on the surface. It was a lot like bass fishing in the St. Johns river around the lily pads.

I had three more hits and one hookup with a sea trout that was under size. It wasn't much larger than the lure so I didn't bother with any pics.

I fan cast several other areas and as the sun was going down I switched to the Mirror Lure top water plug. Walking the dog with a top water is usually better just before sunset.

I caught two more under sized trout on the plug and had a couple of followups that hit but missed the treble hooks.

Just before sunset, I saw a nice over size Redfish waking down the marsh canal from a small pond where it was feeding. I made a cast past where I thought it was heading and was rewarded with the fish batting the top water bait out of the water. Again, I missed a hookup.

On the way out I talked to two other fishermen who were fishing live finger mullet on the bottom. Both groups hadn't had a bite all day so I didn't feel so bad about not catching a redfish today.

I took these pics of the beautiful sunset and then decided to leave and walk across the bridge to get in some badly needed aerobic exercise before heading home.

The band was jamming at the restaurant but there weren't many people fishing on the big pier.

My Peacocks Pocket pre 9/11 fishing trip wasn't exactly a blockbuster event, but it was still a beautiful evening on the Indain River Lagoon as you can see by these pics.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Oops, I did it again

Oops, I did it again! Got another gator sea trout.

The gator trout are definitely biting in the Indian River lagoon.

It was raining and lightning when I got home from work late this afternoon but when it slowed down a bit, my wife and I decided to go fishing and try for another gator trout or two.

The alligators were out in full force looking for food in the marsh area and there were plenty of fish around for them to feed on.

We didn't get to the river until about 6:30 and the weather was just plain nasty.

I netted up a few 6" mullet for bait and we drove to an area where I caught a near gator trout earlier this week.

We made a couple of stops and I had a few hits on a gold Johnson spoon but missed both fish. It seemed like everything was chasing finger mullet.

The weather got progressively worse as a huge thunderstorm moved in. The wind started really blowing and the temperature must have dropped at least 10 degrees.

Karen was afraid of the lightening and stayed in the car while I pitched out a finger mullet on one rod and started casting to fish with my gold spoon.

After only a couple of minutes, I saw the line with the mullet paying out and after a few seconds I set the hook.

The water exploded as a gator sea trout jumped clear out of the water and made a couple of super quick runs. The fish reacted just like a snook.

After the second run I played the fish to the bank, landed it and got Karen to take a couple of pics. The fish measured in at hair over 27".

I was going to let the fish go but the fish was bleeding and I wanted some fresh trout for dinner so I put it in the back of the truck. It couldn't fit in the small cooler we were using.

The weather didn't let up a bit but after I caught my fish, Karen decided to start fishing despite the lightening.

She pitched out a mullet on her clacker bobber rig and after a brief wait hooked onto a nice sea trout.

As she got it to the bank she tried to pull it up but the fish was too big and broke off at the hook.

For a brief couple of seconds the sea trout just sat there in the shallow water so not thinking about the alligators, I just slid down the bank and grabbed the trout around it's midsection.

The fish was at least 20" and as I tried to stand up I lost my balance and almost slid head first into the canal.

Karen was laughing herself silly and I wasn't having a good day at this point.

As she pulled me out of the water and I figured "what the hell" as long as I was drenched, why not keep fishing.

The thunderstorm activity sparked a feeding frenzy and the baitfish were being chased all over the place by big sea trout and redfish.

We continued fishing and just as it started getting dark, I hooked onto another gator trout that was quite a bit larger than the one I landed earlier. This fish was at least 30" and jumped three times before the hook pulled out.

Karen and I were drenched to the bone and we were both getting cold, so we decided to head for home to change our clothes and fillet the sea trout for dinner.

I believe we could have caught more fish if we had stayed out there but it wasn't worth getting a case of pneumonia.

Maybe we can repeat the performance tomorrow.

Until then, Tight Lines!

The Reds Are Still Biting

The reds are still biting in the Indian River Lagoon as this picture can attest to.

This one we couldn't keep even if we wanted to. It measured in at 32 inches with the tail "squished".

The sea trout I was really targeting today didn't pay much attention to what I was offering, but the redfish were eating just fine.

This one was taken by Karen on a frozen "red shrimp" we picked up at the local fish market. She fished it under a Cajun Thunder popper rig with a 5/0 Owner hook and about two feet of 15# fluorocarbon leader.

I almost didn't get any of these deep water shrimp because of their red color, but the price was right so I picked up a 10 pound bag to eat and for bait.

Evidently the redfish didn't care too much about the color.

I'll be putting down a pallet of sod tomorrow and if I survive, I plan to try again for a gator sea trout.

I guess that's why they call it fishing!

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Skunked

It's been some time since I've been Skunked, but today was just one of those days.

My wife, Elmo and I went to try the northern Indian River Lagoon shallows around Shiloh Marsh road.

We left the house around 3:00 p.m. and didn't get on to the potholed road until about 3:30 or so.

There was a mild breeze blowing and the temperature was in the high 70s.

I fished mostly D.O.A. C.A.L. Series Shad Tails and jerk baits with a couple of gold spoons scattered in just for grins. Karen fished dead shrimp under a Cajun Thunder.

We stopped in several likely looking places and both of us fished hard without even a bite until just before we decided to pack up and leave.

There were a lot of people in the area today and the ones I spoke with weren't having any better luck than we were.

One gentleman and his wife said he fished for several hours in several places where fish were roiling the surface, but never got a bite.

I could relate. In a couple of spots we stopped at, there were tons of finger mullet milling around and every once in a while a large fish would roil just below the surface. If the water was warmer, I would have bet that the fish were small tarpon but I just couldn't tell.

I'm not sure what or if they were feeding, but it sure wasn't anything resembling any of my offerings.

Top water baits, jerk baits, spoons, live bait, and even a tried and true Creme paddle tail bait never got a tap, until about 7:00 p.m.

I was casting into an open culvert with a D.O.A. Jerkbait where finger mullet were milling around and after the third cast or so I missed a hard strike that I was totally unprepared for. It was probably a large sea trout but I can't be sure.

Anyway, so much for catching!

Karen and I still had a nice time just enjoying the area, wearing out Elmo with his Mr. Gear toy and taking pictures of the scenery. Here is a short compilation of the area.

Man, I have got to get my boat out.

Till next time,

Tight Lines!

Late Afternoon Fishing On The Indian River

After driving almost 7 hours from Columbia, S.C., I decided to try my luck on the Indian River Lagoon to catch some trout for dinner.

My wife didn't want to go because of the weather, so I packed up my six trusty rods and took off to the closest location, Peacocks Pocket.

My wife and I had been having some luck there recently with drum and a few trout, so I decided to give it a try.

The water was much lower than last week and there was a slight wind which put a mild chop on the water. Just enough to make the fish less wary than usual.



Because of my bum shoulder, I decided to start out with the rod that was rigged with a Johnson's gold spoon to first locate any trout in the immediate area.

After three casts, I hooked onto an undersized trout that ate the spoon right at the shoreline.

Two casts and two misses later yielded another trout that was a twin to the first one.

From about 7:30 till 8:15 I missed five more trout and caught four more. Unfortunately, all were under the 15" minimum and had to be released.

Great fun but not good for dinner.

I decided to move on towards "bobcat bay" to see if I could spot any feeding redfish and got sidetracked by something feeding in the shallow marsh canal right on the bank.

The fish ignored my spoon, so I picked up my other light rod loaded with a Green striped Creme paddle tail soft bait.

On the second cast to where the fish was feeding, I hooked into a hefty slot sized sea trout that was destined for the dinner table.

I missed two more in that same area and since it was getting dark and my shoulder was acheing from casting, I decided to head for home with my dinner.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

Tight Lines and enjoy the pics.

The Dog Days Of August in July?

With the weather in the mid 90s and very little wind, my wife wanted to go fishing at one of her favorite spots in the Peacock Pocket area of the northern Indian River Lagoon.

On Friday, we hit a heavily fished area near the canoe launch and had some success. I picked up a couple of small trout and a baby redfish that barely ate my CAL DOA bait.

My wife caught a few catfish and missed either a redfish or black drum that took off with her dead shrimp and then dropped it.

You can always tell when a red hits a bait. They normally go from zero to 40 mph in about the length of a rod.

Anyway, we hoped to have some better luck Saturday afternoon.

Toting our regular array of fishing rods and lures; we headed off about mid afternoon for the "swamp" as my wife calls it.

Before going to her spot, I decided to try a couple of places we haven't fished in a long time; so we headed for Bio Lab road on the Mosquito Lagoon and a part of the Indian River Lagoon that the Boy Scouts use for their jamborees.

The Mosquito Lagoon was extremely shallow and the only other person we saw, was in a kayak heading for the canoe launch.



We scouted the area for telltale signs of fish and found none, so we decided to head for the other spot on the Indian River instead.



The water was relatively calm and whatever fish that were there, were stealing our baits with ease. They had to be either small trout or pinfish, but after an hour or so of this nonsense, we headed towards our final destination past "catfish creek" road.

Karen plopped down with her usual Cajun Thunder rig and shrimp; and I took off down the road with a rod rigged with a DOA white paddle tail bait and a green jig head.

I spotted several swirls that I thought were trout but didn't get any hits until about 7:00 pm.

Something was busting baitfish in very shallow water, so I flipped my lure on the bank and pulled it into the fray.

Almost immediately I hooked up to a nice slot sized redfish of about 26" that put up a great fight against my 8# line. I landed the fish and then spent a good bit of time reviving her in the shallow oxygen depleted waters of the marsh canal before letting her go.

My wife missed a nice redfish and landed a catfish a short time later.

Meanwhile, I kept casting at swirls until I picked up a baby redfish that was no larger than my bait.

My wife picked up a couple of trout and I finally gave up casting because of my hurt shoulder.

As the afternoon thunderstorms started doing their thing, we decided to head for home so I could put another ice pack on my shoulder.

The July weather for the past few days is more like the dog days of August, but at least the fish are still biting!

Till next time; Tight Lines!

Shiloh Marsh Road Fishing Trip

Shiloh Marsh road was the target for this afternoon's fishing venture.

The northernmost portion of the Indian River Lagoon is lauded by local fishermen "in the know" for bull redfish, gator sea trout, and a variety of other game fish.

Today my wife and I decided to try the shallows in the marsh area to see if the tarpon were in the shallow water canals along side of the unimproved road.

Except for a mild wind, the weather was superb and schools of finger mullet were everywhere in the shallows on the Indian River side of the road. This heron got his dinner early on the marsh side.

We didn't spot any tarpon, but we did see several large gator trout killing mullet on the surface and some redfish tailing in several areas we normally fish.

With a bum shoulder, I did as little casting as possible but still managed to catch a couple of just slot sized trout on a top water SkitterWalk bait. I missed at least 10 fish before hooking up with the one in the picture.

Still using the plug, I tried to entice a couple of redfish that were swirling in the shallows of a cove we fish a lot with no luck. They seemed to be feeding on crabs or something on the bottom, and my top water plug didn't even get a follow.

My wife was fishing with Elmo and for the first hour or so only got one bite.

At around 8:00 pm the fishing started to improve and she caught a nice slot sized drum on a Cajun Thunder rig with a dead shrimp for bait. After a brief tussle, she landed and released the fish.

Using the same rig, she managed to catch and release a couple of slot sized trout and two catfish.

After landing the second catfish and because my shoulder was killing me; we decided to head for home.

We crossed Haulover Canal and noted shrimpers setting up on the north west bank and at the western mouth of the canal.

There were a few boats anchored at the mouth of the canal on Mosquito Lagoon side, with fishermen that were probably trying to catch one of those bull redfish or oversized black drum that frequent the area.

Coming towards Titusville, we noticed that the lights on the newly completed fishing pier were lit and that the restaurant and lounge was open for business. The place was loaded with customers who were obviously having a great time.

There were several shrimpers on the bridge doing their thing; along with several groups of fishermen who were also doing their thing! We didn't stop to ask them how they were doing but they were dipping up something!

The trip was a success and the weather was great. With any kind of luck and if my shoulder feels better, we hope to duplicate the trip tomorrow in another area.

Till then, Tight Lines!

P.S. I've been getting tons of mail from readers who are sharing interesting bits of information about their fishing experiences, techniques, history of the area, etc.

Although I will answer all your emails, why not just post your comments along with your photographs?

All comments are moderated, but as long as they remain on topic and benefit other readers they will probably be approved.

Top Water Action On The Indian River Lagoon

When fishing the Indian River Lagoon on a June afternoon, sudden thunderstorms are just about a "gimmie".

My wife, our wonder dog Elmo, and yours truly gave it a shot on Friday evening mainly to see if the tarpon were in the area.

Midway to one of our favorite fishing spots, the sky unloaded with a torrent that almost had us heading back to the hacienda.

We waited it out and I started throwing a Skitter Walk top water plug in the marsh canal next to the river. On the third cast, I hooked and briefly fought one of those gator trout you read about in Florida Sportsman magazine. The fish was at least 30" long and had to weigh in the 10# range.

She jumped twice the plug fell out. I tried several more casts with the plug and other plastic baits to get her interest, but it it was not meant to be today.

The rain slowed to a drizzle and we continued fishing down Shiloh Marsh Road.

The fish seemed to be hitting better on the marsh side during the rain and after a couple of stops I hooked into another gator trout of about 27" to 28" that again shook the top water plug.

Fishing for over sized trout in a ditch with top water plugs has its hazards and maneuverability is one of them. When the trout headed left; I couldn't, and the fish left me with my plug.

Finally we got to a causeway that Karen loves to fish; so she continued with her favorite shrimp and bobber rig while I plugged away with my top water lures.

True to form, after a few minutes she caught a slot redfish that she gingerly fought to the bank, and unceremoniously jerked into the roadway.



I used my trusty "Arc" dehooker but the fish was too far gone and even though I tried to revive her to fight another day, I decided to fillet her instead for dinner.

I kept losing fish on my top water, so I changed lures for an oddball soft "Sonic" type lure I think I got on sale from Bass Pro Shop in Savannah. After a couple of casts, I hooked a clone to the redfish my wife caught. This time, I took a few pics (below) and released her to fight another day.

A few minutes later, and my wife again caught her second redfish in the same area. This one was slightly larger, just making the slot; but again we let it go.

As dusk settled on the Indian River, and the mosquitos started really getting blood thirsty, we headed home to clean the fish and write about another beautiful evening on the Space Coast.

Till next time, Tight Lines!