Haulover Canal Bridge Closure

The drawbridge at Haulover Canal has been closed over the weekend for vehicle traffic, much to the dismay of many anglers, including myself, who forgot about it and had to go the long route via US 1 .

Although I had intended to float my Maverick flats boat this weekend, it was not meant to be.

Instead my wife and I, and of course our wonder dog Elmo, fished one of her favorite spots on the northern Indian River.

We tried several locations on the Mosquito Lagoon, but the water was extremely shallow and crystal clear in the areas we visited, and the fish didn't seem interested in anything we offered.

Going down Shiloh Marsh Road from US 1 seemed the best path to take, so we took it.

Several boats were fishing live mullet in very shallow water that was only a couple of feet deep and seemed to be having a good time, but no fish.

I have to say that I cast my heart out and only caught two awfully dumb trout that didn't even quality to get their pictures taken for this site.

My wife on the other hand, using dead shrimp for bait under her favorite bobber, did better with the trout. See pics.

She caught a couple of sea trout over the slot limit and missed several others, not counting a couple of stingrays and a blue crab that she caught.

My wife has a tendency to catch weird things other than fish.

Last year she hooked a loggerhead turtle that had to be at least 250 pounds in the Mosquito Lagoon ICW, north of the clinker islands. And last week, she managed to hook a snail along with her nice redfish.

I fished soft paddle tail baits, a gold Bagley spoon for a short time, skitter walks, CAL jerkbaits, and even a Chug Bug with only a couple of strikes.

The redfish were cruising the shoreline in very shallow water after bait fish, but were super spooky for some reason, and were not biting.

The fish just didn't like me this weekend! Must have been my B.O. or something.

Well, we did enjoy the weather and the beautiful sunset.

Anyway, next week should be better with a three day weekend coming up.

Till then, Tight Lines!

Weird Buzzards

Took a drive with my trusty dog Elmo and came upon some weird acting buzzards near L. Pond road. on the Northern Indian River Lagoon.

They weren't in the least bit spooked by Elmo or myself when I decided to get out of the truck and take a pic or two.

Usually buzzards will take off when humans get too close, but this crew obviously didn't give a hoot. They just kept walking around with their wings outstretched.

Anyway, caught a few trout on green Creme swimbaits before heading back to the North 40.



Enjoy the pics of the weirdo birds, sorry I didn't take any of the fish.

Oh well, they weren't much to brag about.

Tight Lines to All!

Indian River Marsh Redfish

An often overlooked fishing area in the Northern Indian River Lagoon system, is the marsh canals adjacent to the main body of the river.

These areas provide some great fishing, especially when the culverts are open and water is flowing.

The running water signals a "dinner bell" to redfish, trout, snook, and lately small tarpon that cruise the banks.

My wife and I call it "jump fishing", and it produces phenomenally at times.

Shiloh Road, and others in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, provide some great "jump" fishing opportunities that are often missed by landlocked anglers.

The pics here are poof that slot sized, and over sized redfish, occupy the marsh side of the roads, as well as the Indian River shallows.

This one was right at the slot limit, and was caught on a Johnson gold spoon at dusk. A slow retrieve got the most strikes with reds and trout.

Since it was so late, and I didn't feel like cleaning the fish for dinner, this one will live to fight another day!

The water level in the river is up due to rains these past few weeks, and the trout and redfish are still hitting artificials with gusto. Prior to catching this redfish, we caught several trout and of course a catfish or two to fill out the short trip.

I've got two weeks worth of vacation time to spend finding the fish, and will report on other areas soon.

Till then, tight lines!