Fishing The Open Culverts

Fishing the open culverts is always a good option regardless of the time of year.

When I got home from work this evening, I loaded up three spinning rods, Odie and Elmo, and headed for Peacocks Pocket Road to see if anything was happening.

I didn't plan on taking the dogs along but they both looked like they were going to cry when I headed for the door so I gave in.

I drove into East Gator Creek road to see if there was ;any activity in the area but I didn't see any fish so I headed towards Peacocks Pocket Road where I hooked an lost a big Snook last weekend.

The spot didn't pan out so I continued to stop, make a few quick casts and then move to another area.

After letting Elmo and Odie out to do their duty, I continued driving past several other fishermen until I noticed an open culvert in the marsh canal.

There was a good bit of activity and I spotted several slot sized sea trout and a couple of over size redfish busting mullet around the culvert.

I tied on a small Creme Paddletail soft plastic bait and immediately hooked up with a sea trout that got off at the bank.  Encouraged, I smeared on some Pro-Cure Inshore formula and continued fishing the bait.

Two casts later I hooked up with another sea trout that was under the slot.  I released the fish and was going to continue casting the bait when a nice redfish busted some mullet right at my feet.

I went over to the truck and switched rods to fish a 2 1/2" Johnson's Sprite gold spoon in hopes of catching the red.

The first cast into the area hooked me up with an 18" sea trout that I decided to keep for dinner.  The treble hooks got the fish in the gills and it was bleeding to badly to release.

Two casts later and I got a clone to the first fish which I also decided to keep.

I caught four more sea trout in the same size range that I released all around the open culvert.

While I was fishing the area a small school of black drum pushed through the marsh canal.  I could hear them grunting as they swam by.

I was ready to hit the road with my two sea trout when another redfish swirled around the open culvert.  I flipped a cast across the marsh canal and brought it past where I spotted the fish and another big sea trout nailed the gold spoon.

This fish put up a nice fight and at first I thought I hooked the redfish, but I quickly realized it was a big sea trout.

The fish was also hooked deeply so I decided to keep this one for dinner along with the other two fish.

This fish measured in at just under 20".

With three nice sea trout for dinner, I decided to quit while I was ahead and head for the house.

I passed Beatrice, a fellow angler who usually catches fish in the area and asked her how she was doing while talking to my wife on the phone. . She said she had caught a redfish yesterday but nothing today so I wished her well and left the area.

The weather this evening was perfect for fishing topwater baits, but the fish simply did not want a topwater this evening.  When I left the area, it was 82 degrees and there was very little to no wind blowing over the water.

The most productive bait this evening was  2 1/2" Johnson's Sprite gold spoon which is also my "go to" bait for redfish and large sea trout.

As Elmo and Odie got into their cruising positions, I headed home to clean the fish and eat dinner.


 


Fishing the open culverts was the ticket for a successful fishing trip this evening; try it next time you go fishing.

Till next time,  Tight Lines to you all. 

Fishing Patillo Creek During April

Fishing Patillo Creek seemed to be a good idea after Friday's disappointing trip, so after finishing up with my chores this afternoon, my wife and I decided to take Odie and Elmo fishing.

We loaded up several rods along with our two dogs who were eager to go fishing.

Both Odie and Elmo love riding in the truck in their "cruising mode".

The air temperature was hovering around 80 degrees and there was a decent wind blowing.

Karen wanted to try the "gumball" area around Patillo Creek so I stopped by East Gator Creek road to net up some finger mullet for bait before heading towards the area.

The first cast landed a dozen or so six inch plus baits so I didn't waste much time.

When we got to Patillo Creek road I was hoping that Shiloh road was open but when we drove up to the barrier, it was closed.

I turned around and decided to fish the large marsh pond before the first canal.

When we pulled off the road, I promptly tossed out a couple of live finger mullet on my bait casting rods and a cut bait on another spinning rod.

As Karen tossed her Precision Tackle Cajun Thunder Float rig with a jumbo dead shrimp into the wind, we sat down and hoped for the best.

I pulled out my Chug Bug and started blind casting the topwater bait into the opposite canal hoping for a stray sea trout.

Last March was the last time I fished the area and I knew that the fish are sometimes in the area however, today they were not.

A couple of fish and game officers drove up and checked us for our licenses.  As we chatted, I asked when Shiloh Marsh Road would be open.   Both of them said they doubted that it would be open at all this year because of the condition that the road was in and the littering.

As we talked, they told me about the black drum that are sometimes in the canal.

 

When they left us, Karen and I decided to give the area another hours worth of fishing before moving on.  The wind was blowing just enough to make long casts into the pond a problem and I'm not normally a bait fisherman.  Something to do with patience!

We didn't get any bites, so we moved down the road to fish the deeper Patillo Creek canal.

In the canal, there was a little wind on the water and there seemed to be a light current running opposite the direction of the wind.

Between the two of us, we had five rods out with various baits and after another hour and a half of fishing without a bite, we both decided to pack it in.   

Fishing Patillo Creek evidently wasn't such a great idea after all.

Today, for whatever reason, no one seemed to be catching any fish in the area.

Oh well, at least Odie and Elmo had a good time.

Till next time, Tight Lines.