Fishing the Marsh Canals

Fishing the marsh canals in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is an "iffy" situation at best.

There are times when you can load up on sea trout, black drum and redfish. At other times you can fish hard all day long and can't buy a bite.

Late this afternoon my wife, Elmo and I headed for the "swamp" hoping to grab one of the over sized redfish that are now prowling the northern shallows of the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon.

I netted a few medium sized finger mullet for bait and headed for a couple of areas where I spotted some reds in the shallows last week.

Karen skewered a mullet and pitched it out to a likely spot. I decided on a top water plug and started "walking the dog" hoping for some top water action.

The Heddon Zara Spook Jr. I was using immediately attracted a sea trout in the 15" class.

I released it at the bank and continued fishing the plug while my wife patiently waited for a redfish to hit her mullet.

In about an hour of fishing, I managed to attract at least two dozen strikes on the bait.

Most of the fish were undersize sea trout and medium to large ladyfish that acted like small tarpon when hooked.

Karen missed a nice redfish that ate her finger mullet off the hook.

She re-baited and moved slightly up the road to continue fishing. I asked her if she wanted to move on to another spot but she was happy where we were, so I continued walking up the road fishing my top water plug.

I hooked a couple more ladyfish and missed two redfish in the 34" to 36" category that were cruising the bank feeding on small finger mullet.

Once they spook you might as well give up fishing the area.

Meanwhile, Karen watched a fish chase her finger mullet around the shallow canal but it never did bite.

It was getting on towards dusk and the bugs were starting to eat on us so we decided to call it an evening.

Fishing the marsh canals this evening was not a productive as I had hoped but I wouldn't give up the hectic top water action I experienced this afternoon for anything.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Why The Mosquito Lagoon Got Its Name

Now I understand why the Mosquito Lagoon got it's name.

Because of the mosquitoes, I didn't get much fishing in on Friday even though I did give it a half hearted attempt.

When I got home from work Friday evening, my wife didn't feel like wetting a line in the blistering heat so I took Elmo our wonder dog with me to see if anything was biting in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve.

It was late in the afternoon so I headed for Gator Creek road first to check out the water levels.

The water levels in the swamp areas were up, probably due to thunderstorm activity in the late afternoons this past week.

There were a lot of fishermen parked in various locations throughout the area but no one was catching. Everyone was just fishing.

The cutting crews had mowed some time this past week and the mosquitoes were deadly.

Poor Elmo wouldn't leave the safety of the truck and I had the windows closed to keep the mosquitoes out.

I left the confines of the truck two times to make halfhearted casts to a couple of oversize redfish I saw attacking baitfish in the shallows, right on the bank.

Both fish didn't care for the D.O.A. shrimp I offered them.

I saw a lot of sea trout activity but didn't even bother casting to them because of the hordes of mosquitoes.

I took a few of pics of the scenery but unfortunately today I couldn't come up with any pictures of fish.

I'm not sure if the full moon had anything to do with the fishing but it was definitely full as we left the preserve.

Today, Elmo and I should have taken my wife's advise and stayed at home.

Anyway, I'm hoping to try out Playalinda Beach tomorrow for some bluefish that are supposedly hitting in the surf.

Tight Lines.

Another Gator Sea Trout

Late this afternoon, my wife and I decided to try our luck in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for some redfish and hopefully another gator sea trout.

The temperature was 94 degrees when we left the house and settled in at 89 degrees as we pulled into Peacocks Pocket road.

I didn't forget my cast net for a change, so I stopped at a place I know where there are always some small ladyfish and finger mullet.

After netting a few for bait we moved to the first of four stops we made today.

The first was at the culverts just past the Peacocks Pocket kayak launch.

Karen fished dead shrimp and a small ladyfish under a bobber and I used a gold Johnson's spoon.

After about 20 minutes of fishing we decided to move on up the road. I caught a long nose gar fish of about 28" and Karen never got a bite.

The next two stops didn't produce anything but a couple of light taps. We saw feeding redfish but they weren't hungry.

Our last stop proved to be the best spot of today's trip.

I stopped when I saw a lot of feeding activity in the shallows next to the opposite bank of the marsh canal.

Karen tossed out her two rigs and I loaded up a rod with a lively 9" ladyfish on a 4/0 Owner hook.

I put out a second rod with a dead ladyfish cut in half while I tossed a white D.O.A. Paddle tail bait around the opposite bank of the canal.

After about 15 minutes, I hooked onto a nice redfish on the ladyfish baited rod.

I fought the fish for about 10 minutes or so before the fish wrapped around a stickup and broke off. That fish was at least 30" long and definitely not a keeper.

After only a few minutes, Karen yelled that she had a redfish on.

I grabbed my camera and took a few pics of her fish. It was just legal size but we let it go anyway.

I hooked up with a lively fat 7" mullet and tossed it out to where I saw a fish swirl.

It took only a few minutes before the fish took off with the mullet in it's gut.

At first I thought it was a redfish because of it's size but I quickly realized it was a gator sea trout by the way the fish fought. It just sloshed around instead of making a long run like redfish are notorious for.

I landed the fish and had Karen take these pics with my Nikon.

Although I look like hell, it was a nice sea trout (about 24") so I decided to crop the pic and post it. The second pic is what the fish looks like just before I cleaned and ate it.

We were both tired and because it was getting dark we decided to call it a day.

It's nice fishing on a weekday in the Refuge. We only saw two other people in the drive and the fish were feeding just about everywhere.

Weekend fishing is much more challenging because of all the activity. The fish get spooked and you don't usually catch anything until just at dusk.

Till next time.

Tight Lines.

Scrubbed Endeavor Shuttle Launch

Well as you all know by now, the scrubbed Endeavor Shuttle Launch on Friday disappointed not only tons of visitors including the President who drove in from all over the country to see it but also a lot of fishermen who planned to go fishing after liftoff.

The scrubbed launch pretty much killed the bank fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve as well as the surf fishing at Playalinda Beach.

All the entrances to fishing areas in the Preserve will remain blocked until the powers that be find out when the problems with the shuttle can be resolved.

After my doctors appointment Friday, I hoped to video the last Endeavor liftoff and do a little "jump fishing" for redfish in the Indian River.

Instead my wife and I decided to try Shiloh Marsh Road to see if the water levels were up from a couple weeks ago.

The pictures I took speak for themselves.

The water levels in the north Indian River lagoon are extremely low. That, in addition to the brisk east wind which pushed much of the remaining water to the West shores of the river made fishing this area nearly impossible and basically a total waste of time.

There were some open culverts that were draining into the Indian River from the mosquito control canal, but the water was so shallow that no fish could take advantage of the water movement.

My wife had a couple of hits on shrimp which were probably small trout, but other than that the fish just weren't biting.

We drove over to Bairs Cove boat launch at Haulover Canal to see if anybody was having any luck only to find the Coast Guard camped out there.

There were a lot of kayaks in the canal today but it didn't appear that anybody was fishing.

The kayakers were probably there to see the Shuttle Launch.

In any event, I managed to record the afternoon's events.

I hope they take down the barriers for this weekend. The bluefish are supposed to be hitting in the surf and I know that the trout are wacking top water baits early in the morning and just at dusk.

Hope's eternal!

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Friday Night Sea Trout

The Friday night sea trout bite wasn't what I was hoping it would be; nevertheless the trip was still a success in my book.

After leaving Savannah, Georgia's rainy 47 degree weather this afternoon and driving 3 1/2 hours to get home, the weather alone was worth this evening's fishing trip.

Since I had not yet been on the new Max Brewer Causeway fixed span bridge, I persuaded Karen and Elmo to join me in a short fishing trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and see what the new bridge was like.

In a word it was NICE.

People were walking across both sides of the bridge, I guess to just enjoy the new view. It definitely provides you with a good view of the area.

We took the first road into the preserve and aimed for the "duck blind" area where we usually catch some fish.

Along the way we made several short stops, while leaving the truck running, to cast to "fishy looking" spots on both sides of the unimproved roadway. This evening, nothing was interested in what we were offering.

Karen was fishing a Billy Bay bobber with her usual dead shrimp offering and I was tossing a hammered Bagley gold spoon, a CAL DOA jerkbait and after losing the hammered spoon; a small 3/4 oz Johnson Sprite gold spoon.

Although all of these baits normally entice a strike, this evening nothing seemed to be interested
in what we had to offer.

We hit the "duck blind" just as the sun was setting and I took some quick pics of the beautiful scenery before I started tossing around the gold Johnson Sprite spoon.

Karen wasn't having any luck at all and I wasn't doing any better. After about a dozen or so casts, I finally caught the sea trout in the picture that inhaled my gold spoon as I swam it off the opposite bank.

The trout wasn't legal so I returned it and continued fishing. I had a solid hit after about another dozen casts from what I think was a redfish, but I couldn't be sure.

Anyway, I was getting cold and Karen was getting bitten by mosquitoes so we decided to call it an evening.

On the way out, we came upon a large gator that looked like he was sunning himself. With no sun out, he looked like he was frozen on the bank so I took a few pics before heading out.


This is the kind of gator that can cause someone bank fishing a serious problem. They have a unique knack of sneaking up on you when you are casting too close to the water and forget that they're in the area.

The gators in the preserve are not afraid of people and this makes them dangerous.

I was wade fishing Haulover Canal several years ago before they closed the southeast section to vehicle traffic when a ten foot gator popped his head up about 10 feet away from me. I slowly eased out of the canal onto the bank and never again forgot the incident.

Anyway, this evening the scenery was great even though the fishing wasn't up to our expectations.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

Tight Lines.

Another Great Trout Fishing Trip On The Indian River

Today was colder than yesterday and just as gloomy. I had intended to go fishing today with my wife, but she was coming down with something and didn't feel well.

After being pestered to death by my computer cat Morris and Elmo our wonder dog, I decided to get the hell out of the house and try my luck alone.

I figured the mosquitoes shouldn't be to bad, being as cold and windy as it was; so I packed up three rods and made a sneaky departure.

It was windy and cold. The temperature was in the low 50s and there was a moderate chop on the Indian River. In the wind it felt like 40 degrees.

I decided to fish the first entrance to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge off Gator Creek road and stop fishing at the Peacocks Pocket small boat launch.

I had good luck with my DOA jerk bait combo yesterday, so I decided to start with that rod. Because of it's 6" total length, that particular lure usually catches larger fish.

The wind made it almost impossible to cast to the river side of the road, so I concentrated all my efforts on the deeper waters of the marsh side. Since the water was cold and it was late in the afternoon, I figured the fish would be holding in deeper water.

I know from experience where the deep holes are located, so I started with these spots first.

As luck would have it, on my second cast with the DOA jerk bait, I hooked into a nice fat 24" sea trout.

The fish was sluggish and didn't put up much of a fight so I landed it, took it's picture, and promptly released it.

Fishing the same area with an extremely slow retrieve, I managed to catch another sea trout a bit smaller than the first.

I moved on down the road blind casting the DOA jerk bait off the bank into deeper water and landed another sea trout about 22" long.

This one was also nice and fat, so I took it's picture and released it.

The wind continued to blow and I was getting chilled, but since the fish were biting I didn't see any reason to quit fishing.

As I moved into an area I knew held redfish, I switched to my gold Johnson spoon and started peppering the area fan casting.

As I suspected, an over sized redfish hit the spoon but evidently didn't get a barb into him deep enough because it took off like a bat out of hell to parts unknown.

The fish looked to be at least 30" long. Anyway, as I licked my pride I continued fishing the spoon and eventually hooked into another sea trout right on the bank.

The fish was a clone to the other 22" fish, so I took her picture and released her.

To shorten the story; in about a mile stretch of road, I managed to hook and release seven sea trout between 20" and 24" long on the DOA jerk bait and missed at least four more trout and one redfish on the gold spoon.

All the fish were caught on the marsh side of the road with a super slow retrieve right off the bottom.

As it started to get colder, I moved on down the road to leave when I spotted the first otter I have ever seen in the refuge.

I got out of the truck and tried to run ahead of it with my camera to get the video below, but it didn't turn out very good. You can just make out the otter swimming along the far bank.

As I was starting to leave the area, I did manage to get these videos of a crazy heron leading some spoonbills astray .

Just down the road from where these videos were shot, I jumped what I thought was another redfish, but it turned out to be another sea trout.

After a surprisingly snappy battle, I landed the fish, snapped the picture and released it to fight another day.

All in all it was a great day on the Indian River even though I didn't manage to land a redfish for dinner.


Till next time,

Tight Lines!