Another 33 Inch Redfish

Well, Karen did it again with another 33 inch redfish.

If I didn't know better, I'd say she caught the same fish as the last time we were in this area, but I know better.

The air temperature in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon was 93 degrees when we entered Peacocks Pocket Road and the slight breeze that was blowing across the water was just enough to make fishing pleasant.

After doing some clean up work in a closet packed with fishing tackle I didn't even know I had, we decided to go fishing late this afternoon to see if we could get a sea trout or two and possibly a redfish.

We stopped at Mosquito Lagoon Bait and Tackle to pick some live mullet for bait and I got a dozen mixed size mullet with a couple of pinfish thrown in for good luck.

Karen wanted to fish an area we call "Bobcat Bay" so I didn't wast time trying to catch some of the sea trout that were busting baitfish along the marsh canal.

Because of my neck problem, I decided to bank fish with live bait along with Karen, so I baited up with a pinfish and loaded Karen's rod up with a 5" mullet.

The phone kept ringing while I was waiting for a bite and I managed to get in some work associated business before Karen called out to me that she had a big fish on.

I walked over to where she was fishing and took this video of her landing the fish.

My wife lost several nice redfish and sea trout on the brush pile at her feet that she for some reason insists on leading the fish into.   I was "directing" her to lead the fish away from it so I could grip it out of the water.

This time she won the fight and landed a nice 33 inch redfish below.

The circle hook got the red in the corner of it's mouth as it is intended to and the fish was released none the worse for wear.

Since it was getting late and my neck was hurting, we decided to call it a day and head for the house.

On the way out of the refuge, we spotted several areas where the waterfowl were congregating, but all the time we were in the refuge, we only saw one other vehicle and nobody fishing.

I'm hoping to get out on the water again during the week to catch some sea trout for my buddy Lou in Highlands, N.C.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

March Weekend Fishing Report

After trying to find a March weekend fishing report for the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on Google, I decided to write my own Peacocks Pocket fishing report for this weekend.

It's hard to get reliable information about local fishing in the refuge, and although I usually don't often bother looking looking for it on the Internet,  I didn't want to wast time fishing this afternoon if the fish weren't cooperating.

I was looking for table fare today so when I couldn't find an up to date report, I asked Karen if she was interested in taking Odie and Elmo out for a ride in the refuge to see if we could pick up a sea trout or a redfish for dinner.

She readily agreed, so I loaded up several rods and pulled out a relatively fresh ladyfish I caught a couple of weeks ago and froze for just such an occasion.

We headed out to the "swamp" and saw several vehicles around Gator Creek looking at the Roseatte Spoonbills, Snipe, Purple Ibis, and other water fowl.

The air temperature was in the mid 70s and the wind was blowing enough to make casting a problem.

When I saw the first fisherman at Catfish Creek Loop, I stopped and asked him if he was fishing or catching.  He smiled and said he caught a 27" sea trout on a live shrimp and an oversize redfish on a chunk of ladyfish.

Armed with the good news, we headed towards the middle of Peacocks Pocket road to one of Karen's favorite spots.

We picked our spots, put out a couple of rods with shrimp and cut  ladyfish for bait, and sat down to wait.

I was fishing the river side and Karen was fishing the marsh canal.

It was no more than 5 minutes before the bait runner started peeling out line and I had a redfish on the cut bait.  The fish put up a nice fight before I landed and dispatched it.  The redfish was in the slot at 25", just the right size for supper.

As I walked back from stashing the fish in the truck, the other rod was bent and a fish was peeling off line almost as fast as the first fish.

I brought the fish towards the bank and thought I had it in the bag but the hook pulled out just as I bent over to land the fish.  The red was still green and took off like a flash.

Since I caught these two reds in less than a half hour, I thought another fish was a cinch, but I was dead wrong.

I fished for another couple of hours and only managed to hook and release several hard head catfish.

Karen missed a fish and caught a nice catfish in the marsh canal but the redfish were just not in the area she was fishing this evening.

        

Just at dusk I switched to fishing a gold Johnson Sprite spoon and caught three extremely small potted sea trout (above) which I promptly released to grow up into "gators".

Odie was out and about, but Elmo as usual, spent most of the time in the truck.

Odie loves the refuge and likes to keep tabs on the rods.  A born fisherdog..... 

Close to sunset, Karen caught another catfish and after that one, we decided to call it a day.

We packed up, gutted the redfish and headed for home.

Hopefully, the wind will die down some tomorrow and we can try it again.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Peacocks Pocket On A Cool Friday

Peacocks Pocket road was the target for Friday's fishing outing.

After a long drive home, I decided to get my wife and Elmo our wonder dog and check out the river to see if anything was happening.


We decided to hit Peacocks Pocket only because it was the closest to the house.

The weather has been cooling down and the water is becoming much more clear which is typical for November on the Space Coast.

There was a slight breeze coming in from the NW that put a little ripple on the marsh side of the road, so I opted to fish the Indian river.

I started blind casting a gold Johnson spoon with a red tag and after about 30 casts or so finally hooked and lost a nice slot sized sea trout.

Several casts later and I missed another fish that I believe was a trout.

My wife was fishing with her usual shrimp and Cajun Thunder bobber rig and got nothing but a couple of catfish.

Since we got to the river late, we decided to stay around the first stop until dusk hoping to catch a roving late afternoon redfish.

True to form, as the wind started to die down and just as I was taking pics of the beautiful scenery; Karen and I both spotted several redfish coming in very close to shore.

I took a short video of one that came cruising by only a few feet from the road before I put down the camera and picked up my rod.

I targeted several reds but they were not interested in my spoon, creme paddle tail swim bait, or my top water Chug Bug.

It was frustrating, because I saw them occasionally changing course to chase bait fish, yet they wouldn't hit any of my imitations.

I chalked up the lack of interest to the clear water conditions, but I sure would have given anything for a live finger mullet. Anyway, the scenery was beautiful as usual and the sunset sublime.

Till next time, Tight Lines!

Peacocks Pocket Fishing

Got some positive MRI results this morning from my Dr. in Savannah, Ga. He discovered that my rotator cuff muscle was just severely bruised, and not torn as he originally suspected; which means NO surgery.

To celebrate my good fortune and to keep my shoulder active with a bit of "fishing therapy"; Karen and Elmo decided to take me on a late afternoon fishing jaunt.

The closest place was Peacocks Pocket road, so we headed out with high hopes.

The weather was beautiful with a light breeze on the Lagoon.

On the way into our fishing spot, we only encountered one other vehicle parked at the canoe launch.

I parked the truck and pitched a dead shrimp out to a swirl I saw on the Indian River side of the unimproved road, hoping to get the attention of the redfish, and my wife did the same in a shallow cove down the trail.

I personally don't like bait fishing in this area because of the by catch of rays, catfish, etc. but with a bum shoulder, I had to take it easy.

We watched a pair of kayakers, which were probably from the parked truck we saw at the canoe launch, doing their thing.

They were definitely rigged out for fishing and looked like they knew what they were doing.




I had a couple of half hearted bites on the shrimp and finally caught a small sea trout. I put on another shrimp and let it set on the bottom in another spot and pulled out my other spinning rod loaded with a funky colored paddle tail jig.

After a couple of casts, I picked up another trout and missed three more. All were just under the slot limit and were released to fight another day.

My wife Karen wasn't doing too well. She had several bites but no fish which is really unusual for her. Normally, she out fishes me!

Anyway, after catching a scrappy catfish on my other shrimp baited rod, we decided to pack it in and pick up the prescription for the new pain pills that my Dr. ordered for me.

The other pain pills he gave me, turned me into more of a babbling idiot than I usually am and screwed up my ability to catch fish. I'm convinced of that!



Anyway, we headed out into the beautiful sunset hoping to have a better day tomorrow!

Until then, Tight Lines!

Peacocks Pocket Fishing

Peacocks Pocket road was our destination this Friday evening.

The weather was beautiful and the scenery was fantastic as usual in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Getting a late afternoon start with my wife and Elmo, our wonder dog proved to be just the ticket to success.

We only saw two other vehicles on the road the entire time we fished the area which I thought was extremely unusual for this beautiful a day.

My wife was using her Cajun Thunder bobber rig with dead shrimp as usual, and I was doing about the same.

I screwed up my rotator muscle on my casting shoulder so I couldn't use the artificial lures I'm so fond of using in this area.

I chucked out one rod with a large dead shrimp on it that I could have eaten for dinner and started casting a Skitter Walk in trout color with my other rod at surfacing trout.

Karen, as usual caught the first fish. It was a 25" drum that put up a decent fight on her light tackle.

I missed 4 or 5 fish before I caught a catfish that acted like a small redfish.

I for once in my life had to settle for sitting on the bank watching the water. My shoulder was killing me and I didn't want to aggravate it any more than I already had.

We enjoyed the evening and that was about all. I kept missing fish on dead shrimp, and Karen caught a stingray and missed two other fish she thought were reds before we called it a day.

Nothing like trying to fish with hydrocodone to kill the pain. Evidently it also makes you miss the fish.

Until I get my shoulder fixed, I'll probably not have much to offer here in the way of personal outings. But, have no fear...... I will fish again!

Till Next Time, Tight Lines!