Skunked

Sunday afternoon was the first time I had a chance to wet a line in the past month and although the weather and scenery was great, the fish

Sunday afternoon in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was perfect for viewing wildlife.  Not so great for fishing.

I left the house in a hurry with only two rods.  Both had topwater baits attached; a Chug Bug and an odd colored XPS Slim Dog I picked up on sale at Bass Pro.

East Gator Creek was the closest location so I started tossing the Chug Bug around the culverts, the shallow flats, and the slightly deeper canal.

There was a slight breeze on the water and the air temperature was in the high 60s, so it should have been a decent day for topwater fishing.

After getting only one half hearted followup by a sea trout, I switched rods and finished the day tossing the Slim Dog around various likely looking spots.

As dusk approached, I slowly drove to a shallow pond that I like to fish but was surprised to see an angler already fishing the area in a small boat powered by a trolling motor.

He was in the middle of the pond tossing a jerk bait towards the bank, apparently without much success.

I took a few pics as he was fishing and tossed the Slim Dog around a bit before moving up the road to the entrance of Peacocks Pocket road.

I switched to the Chug Bug and fished until it started getting too chilly.

Getting a case of Pneumonia was definitely not on my agenda for the holidays.

On the way out I saw the fisherman loading his little boat back on the trailer.   I was going to stop and ask him if he had caught anything, but I decided to head for the house and some dinner.

On the way out of the refuge, I took a few more pics of the scenery and the awesome sunset.

Walking The Pocket

When I took Elmo and Odie for a ride on Wednesday afternoon, I spent a little time fishing at the entrance to Peacocks Pocket Road but walking the Pocket was impossible with them along, so I decided to put it off until this afternoon.

When I finally decided to head out, it was around 3:30p.m. and the air temperature was a balmy 73 degrees.

There were strong wind gusts out of the northeast and even the wind surfers were putting their gear up.  When I finally got to the barricade at Peacocks Pocket,  I was almost sorry I decided to go fishing.   The wind chill made the temperature feel like 60 degrees, and it probably was.
 
I didn't bring along a backpack, so I hooked a small box of replacement lures to my belt hook, grabbed a rod with a Chug Bug and a second with a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon, and started walking the Pocket.

I started fishing with the gold Spoon mainly because it was easier to handle in the wind, as I cast into several areas to find fish.

The fishing along the road was tough to impossible in most areas.  The heavy growth along the side of the road was high making casting extremely limited. 

 Even then if you did hook up with a fish, landing it was almost impossible unless you had a lot of luck on your side.

The water in the marsh canal was low and the shallow ponds that used to be there, were not.   But despite the conditions, I still managed to hook up with three slot size redfish in the 20 to 22 inch range, and land two of them.

 

I also missed hookups with at least four other fish that were probably reds.

I was the only person fishing the area and it was obvious that nobody had been there in quite some time.

The grass was high, there were no human footprints anywhere, and the fish were hitting the Johnson Sprite spoon like they never saw one before.   It was almost like fishing a pristine wilderness area, but without the wilderness.

I walked a few miles up the road casting where I could without getting snagged and took some pics of several areas that because of erosion, made the road impassable to vehicle traffic.

I hope that management will eventually repair the roads, but I'm skeptical at this point.

Anyway, I jumped a 10 foot gator that was sunning itself along the bank but as I reached for my cell phone to take a pic, he quickly disappeared into the canal.

When the wind picked up and it started getting colder, I decided to turn around and head back to the truck.  It was close to 6:00 p.m. when I got to the truck and stowed my gear, and I felt like it was much colder than the low 60s.

As I headed out of the refuge, I took a couple of pics of the beautiful sunset.  I'll never get tired of our sunsets.

Till next time, Tight Lines and bent rods.

Gator Creek Topwater Fishing

Since I've been home this past week, I have enjoyed some great Gator Creek topwater fishing opportunities in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, despite the continued closure of Peacocks Pocket Road.

Almost every afternoon, rain or shine, I have managed to nail ladyfish of various sizes, spotted sea trout, juvenile tarpon, and even a large garfish that hit a Chug Bug in one of the culverts.

The best bite has been just before or during a rainstorm, but I have been having some surprisingly good topwater action from 5:00pm till dusk in many areas when the water is like glass.

Yesterday afternoon, I hit East Gator Creek late in the afternoon when the conditions were anything but conducive to topwater fishing.  The water was dead calm in most areas, the air temperature was in the high 80s, and no fish were hitting on the surface.

Despite the conditions, I started tossing a Baby Bass colored freshwater Chug Bug smeared up with some Inshore Saltwater formula Pro-Cure in some areas where I spotted fish the previously day. 

I fished several areas in the shallow water flats along the road by mostly fan casting to the opposite bank.  The trick to getting bit was to let the topwater bait sit completely still until the ripples dissipated and then just barely popping the Chug Bug.

The fish, if there was any in the area, would usually hit the bait as soon as the twitch was made; usually with explosive action.

Most of the fish I picked up yesterday were small to medium size ladyfish up to two feet, but I hooked and released a garfish in a culvert that was over 24" in length.

The garfish was never actually hooked, it's teeth were tangled in the leader loop in the front of the bait which made it easy for me to shake off at the bank.

I hooked and lost two gator sized sea trout that were both over 24" on a banana shaped walk the dog type bait that I picked up at Bass Pro Shops in Mobile, Al. (below).

   

After losing the second fish, I went back to tossing the Chug Bug.  For whatever reason, I was getting better hookups with that bait.

The only problem I have with Gator Creek topwater fishing is the gators that keep following the lures when a good fish hits.

Their predatory instincts kick in, especially when they see a fish on the line, and they become so pesky that you have to move on to fish the baits.

Peacocks Pocket road is also pretty good fishing right now close to dusk if you don't mind walking a bit.

I have been picking up some nice sea trout in the marsh canal and have spotted several oversize redfish cruising the banks after baitfish close to dusk.

I have been doing a good bit more fishing in the Mobile, Al. area, but you have to rely more on the tides to catch fish.

Regardless, you just can't beat the sunsets that we have in East Central Florida.

With any luck, I'll be able to get in a few more productive afternoons before I have to get back to work.

Tight Lines and bent rods...

Walking Peacocks Pocket Road

It was around 4:30pm when I finally decided to walk Peacocks Pocket road.  

I left Elmo and Odie at the house and packed a couple of spinning rods with a DOA Baitbuster, and a Johnsons Sprite gold spoon, just in case I came across any busting fish.


When I pulled up to the barrier at Peacocks Pocket Road, I immediately noticed that the water in the marsh canal was a dirty brown color.  I assumed it was a brown algae bloom like we have almost every summer.

I packed a few swim baits, spoons, Chug Bugs, and spare jig heads in a portable box and headed down the road to see if I could spot any fish.

Almost from the start, I realized that the fishing today would suck.  The water was stagnant and there was an odor along the road from all the dead garfish that were in the marsh canal and along the bank.

I counted at least two dozen garfish in the canal and on the road, and the vultures were having a smorgasbord, to say the least.

About 40 yards up the road there was a large heap of what looked like dredged muck in the middle of the road.  I assumed it was from the canal but there was no sign of any dredging activity.

I didn't spot any fish but I did see some topwater activity, possibly from sea trout or garfish.

As I walked farther up the road, I came up on another larger pile of dried up muck and as I continued up the road, there were two more piles of the same stuff.

At the first big bend in the road leading up to a small pond I liked to fish, there was a huge load of dried up muck in the middle of the road.  I didn't feel like meandering around the dirt, so I quit walking and headed back to where I parked the truck.

On the way back, I tried blind casting my DOA Baitbuster on the Indian River side and in the marsh canal with not hits or followups.

About half way back to the truck, I spotted a juvenile tarpon of around two feet long that briefly surfaced and quickly dived to the bottom when I got close to the bank.

I made a couple of half hearten casts to the fish with a swim bait that I put on my other rod, but the fish wasn't interested.

With all the dead garfish in the canal and on the road, I was surprised that even a tarpon could survive in the dirty water.

That small tarpon was the only thing that I actually spotted during my walk.

I was glad that the administrators at the refuge were trying to repair the damage done to the road but I was disappointed in the progress.

As I was told, it's all about lack of funding.

Anyway, if the wind doesn't get too bad, I plan to take out my kayak tomorrow.  We shall see.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Atlas V Launch From A. Max Brewer Causeway Bridge

Took the boys for a ride to the marsh this afternoon and stopped on the A. Max Brewer Causeway bridge to check out the Atlas V launch.

Compared to the shuttle launches, it was rather unimpressive but it was still worth stopping.

I took this short video of the launch from Cape Canaveral as it pushed through the cloud cover.

After the launch, I took Elmo and Odie for a drive around East Gator Creek road to see if I could spot any ladyfish in the shallows.

I was surprised to see that the western side of the road was drained almost completely with only a trickle of water remaining in what once was a channel.

The eastern side of the road had a good bit of water in it and for the most part, it was clear and clean.  I spotted a couple of swirls but couldn't tell what the fish were.

I didn't bring any rods with me, so I drove around Catfish Creek Loop to check that area out before heading for the house.

I made a mental note to get out later in the afternoon to walk Peacocks Pocket road and see if the refuge managers did any work to the road.

Tight lines.

Pain In The Neck

If you've never had a real pain in the neck, believe me you don't want one.....

I finally got to the doctor's office in Melbourne this morning and had an MRI to determine what the problem is with my neck.

The doctor suspected several things but wanted to wait for the MRI results to be sure.

The medical technician that held me immobile for 20 minutes or so under the machine, showed me the pics which meant absolutely nothing to me.  When I asked him what he saw in the pics, he said that it looked like I had a couple of herniated discs and "something else" going on.

I thanked him for his opinion, got my next appointment, and headed to pick up my prescription for muscle relaxers and pain.

On the way out of the medical center, I took these pics of some Sand Hill Cranes that were pecking for their dinner alongside the parking lot.

I love these big birds.  They have no fear of people and like some of the best of us, mate for life.

After picking up and taking my pills, despite feeling totally miserable, and I decided to take a quick ride around Peacocks Pocket road to see what the water levels were like and if anyone was catching fish.

I hadn't been in the area since I returned home and was planning a fishing outing as soon as I could feel better.

The water levels in the marsh were down slightly from a few weeks ago, the air temperature was in the low 90s, and the wind was blowing enough to make fishing possible.

Peacocks Pocket Road was made for bird watching today.  There were tons of waterfowl in the marsh along with a couple of very large gators sunning on the bank.

 

These white pelicans were flocking in two of the areas where I usually fish.

As I slowly drove along the road scouting for fish, I spotted several reds busting bait along the banks in the marsh canal, and at least two gator sea trout creaming mullet in a shallow pond.

Close to another spot I occasionally fish with my wife, I took this short video of some roseate spoonbills feeding in the shallows.  A couple of large sea trout also made the scene busting on the surface after bait fish.

I could have loaded this page up with tons of pictures of waterfowl, but it's much better to see them on your own.  I'm not sure why Black Point is such a draw for waterfowl, when you can see just as many different species along Peacocks Pocket Road.

Anyway, as it was getting towards dusk, I took a couple of pics of the sunset over the marsh.

Hope you enjoy them.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Atlas V Launch This Morning

Took the boys for a ride to the marsh this morning and stopped on the A. Max Brewer Causeway bridge just in time to check out the Atlas V launch.

Compared to the shuttle launches, it was rather unimpressive but it was still worth stopping.  There were a good number of people on top of the bridge ready to view the launch, but there wasn't the party atmosphere that permeated the shuttle launches.

I took this short video of the launch from Cape Canaveral as the vehicle punched through the cloud cover.

After the launch, I took Elmo and Odie for a drive around East Gator Creek road to see if I could spot any ladyfish in the shallows.

I was surprised to see that the western side of the road was drained almost completely dry with only a trickle of water remaining in what once was a channel.

The eastern side of the road had a good bit of water in it and for the most part, it was clear and clean.  I spotted a couple of swirls but couldn't tell what the fish were.

I didn't bring any rods with me, so I drove around Catfish Creek Loop to check that area out before heading for the house.

I made a mental note to get out later in the afternoon to walk Peacocks Pocket road and see if the refuge managers did any work to the road.

Tight lines.

Dog Days Of July

Went out to Peacocks Pocket Road yesterday and it felt like the dog days of July, instead of what we normally expect in August.

Odie

After finally getting a severe oil leaked fixed in my truck, Karen suggested we take Odie and Elmo for a short "scouting trip" around Peacocks Pocket road.

I took a couple of spinning rods with me each tipped with a topwater and a jerk bait, and after some commotion with the dogs, headed out to the refuge.

As we crossed the Indian River I knew that a successful fishing trip was out of the question.
The air temperature was 95 degrees and there was virtually no wind blowing.  It was around 1:30pm and the air was stifling.

Since I've been out of pocket in North Carolina, I entered via East Gator Creek road to check out the water level in the area.  I was surprised to see that the levels on the marsh side of the road were relatively high for this time of the year, but the submerged vegetation was unbelievably thick in most areas.

As we drove across the second set of culverts at the "pocket" road, it was obvious that the brown algae in the river was not going away anytime soon.  The water looked muddy from the algae bloom on the Indian River side of the road and sight fishing was definitely not on the agenda.

For the most part, the water in the marsh canal was clear.  Although the submerged plants were clogging most of the small ponds, the water was clear enough for us to spot some mullet, several gar, and a couple of submerged gators.

We saw several more alligators, roseate spoonbills, blue herons, and a variety of birds in the area but all the way through the refuge, I only spotted three sea trout and a large redfish pushing baitfish to the bank.

We stopped at a couple of places so I could toss a bait around, but I never got a hit or even a follow up.

As we drove to the end of Peacocks Pocket road, we saw only one out of state visitor and one group of fisherman dunking shrimp in the river.

I plan to fish the area again late this week, but right now it's way too hot to bother burning up in the day chasing sea trout around the culverts.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

New Summertime Refuge Hours Are In Effect

Apparently new summertime refuge hours are in effect in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

When I finally got a chance to wet a line this evening, it was around 6:30 pm before I left the house for Peacocks Pocket Road.

The air temperature was 84 degrees and there was just a slight breeze blowing over the Indian River.

Since I got a late start, I only brought one rod with a topwater Chug Bug and a box of topwater baits to use for sea trout.

I entered the refuge via East Gator Creek Road and stopped at the first culvert to toss the Chug Bug at a couple of wakes I spotted in the shallow water.

My first cast spooked a fish when the lure landed right on it's head, so I reeled in and made another cast towards the shallow area where the fish was holding.

As I worked the bait towards the culvert, a gator decided that it looked like something good to eat and started after the lure.  I quickly reeled past the gator and moved on to try another area.

There were several fishermen taking up the usual spots dunking cut baits and shrimp, but nobody I spoke with was catching any fish as far as I could tell.

As I slowly drove around the unimproved road looking for signs of feeding fish, I stopped at several of my favorite spots to blind cast the Chug Bug around the banks in the marsh canal.

I had several follow ups and caught a few under size sea trout which I promptly returned to the water and missed a nice oversize redfish right at the bank in a deeper area of the marsh canal.

As I was working my way out of the refuge, I stopped at one of my favorite ponds and started working the Chug Bug around the mangrove roots.

I picked up another couple of really small sea trout and as I was putting the last fish into the water, a fish and game officer pulled up to check my license and let me know that the refuge was closed.

I was under the impression that it closed at dusk, and even then I've seen groups of bank fishermen staying well after dark.  I normally leave before it gets dark, and I don't ever carry a watch when I fish.

He said that the new summertime refuge hours were 8:00 pm and 6:00 pm in the winter; NOT AT DUSK.

Anyway, we had a long discussion about why the "powers that be" close the refuge just when the fishing gets good.  About this time, he took my drivers license and "put me in the system" with a warning for being in the refuge after hours.  He told me he didn't make the rules, just enforces them.

I took his pic and was going to put it on the website but I decided against it.  Some of the real bad guys might look him up.

Anyway, I packed up my rod and headed for home.  It was 8:29 pm when I left the refuge, and it was still light.

You gotta wonder who makes these absurd rules.

Till next time,
Tight Lines

 

Catching Redfish During The Falcon Launch

I didn't expect to be catching redfish during the Falcon launch today but that's exactly what happened.

After getting some groceries and Weed and Feed for the lawn, I decided to drive to the spot where Karen lost a nice redfish yesterday and see if I could pick one up.

Karen went to play with her horse so I loaded up a few rods and headed to the bait shop to pick up some bait.  They had some finger mullet just come in so I got a dozen and headed to Peacocks Pocket road.

As I drove over the bridge, I saw a slew of people parking along the river with binoculars and camera so I suspected that there was a launch of something today.

I pulled up to a couple and asked them what time the launch was scheduled for and learned that it was going off in 20 minutes.  More than enough time for me to set out a couple of baited rods at Karen's spot.

When I drove into Peacocks Pocket road, it was obvious that there was going to be a launch.  There were a lot of out of state tags on the vehicles I saw along the road.  Some were parked checking out the wildlife and others were setting up cameras.

When I got to the spot I intended to fish, I was hoping that the wind would die down but no such luck.

The air temperature was in the low 80s, and the wind was blowing harder than yesterday.  I heard on the radio that a cold front was heading our way for the weekend, so I expected some decent fishing.

I put out two rods with large finger mullet, unfolded a chair and sat down to wait for either the launch or a fish.

It didn't take long for the launch which I managed to video on my smart phone.

Right after the launch, I was going to call my wife but an oversize redfish on the rod with the Okuma bait runner took off down the marsh canal.

I was going to try and video the fight but I decided to catch the fish instead.  I lost Karen's redfish yesterday in the brush and I didn't want to replicate the experience.

It was a heavy fish and it made several nice long runs in the shallow canal before I finally landed it.  I took these pics, removed the hook, and put it back into the tannin stained water to grow even bigger.

The fish actually measured in at 32" to the fork of the tail.

I called Karen and told her that I caught "her fish" and texted her a picture to prove it.  She laughed and said we were going out again tomorrow.

After I called, I baited up with another large mullet and tossed it out into another area to see if I could pick up another fish.

I putt the rod down, set the bait runner to free spool, and picked up my smart phone to check my emails and before I could load up the emails, the 30# Power Pro started peeling off the reel.

Another redfish inhaled the mullet and headed in the same direction as the last fish, only this one was heavier. 

It was at least 30 yards down the marsh canal on the other side of a small island before I could turn the fish around.

This fish put up a great bulldog battle and almost got off in the brush two times before I finally brought it to the bank.  I bent down to pull the fish from the water and one of the out of town visitors to the launch pulled up and asked me if there were any fish on "that side" of the river.

I didn't bother to answer, I just hefted up the fish to show him.

This fish had the 5/0 Owner hooked deep and I had to get my long fish pliers to get the hook out.   I took a couple of quick pics and released the fish into the marsh canal.  It took a couple of minutes before the fish revived and took off, but it was in good shape and none the worse for wear.

This fish measured in at 34" with the tail pinched like you're supposed to measure them.

I texted Karen the pics of the second redfish after I put out another mullet and sat down to check my emails again.

I'd like to say I caught another redfish or two, but I waited an hour without another bite and got tired of the wind blowing in my face, so I packed it in for the evening and headed home.

Catching redfish during the Falcon launch was a blast.  This is no doubt the only place on the planet where you can have a ringside seat of a rocket launch and catch fish to boot.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Sea Trout, Redfish and Drum

Fished Bobcat Bay this afternoon for Sea Trout, Redfish or Drum and got two out of three for dinner.

Since it was Palm Sunday and a day of rest, I thought Peacocks Pocket road would be relatively free from visitor traffic this afternoon so I asked Karen if she wanted to go fishing with me, Elmo, and Odie.

I had some mud minnows left over from yesterday's fishing trip but decided to pick up some more in case the fish were biting.   So, we headed to Mosquito Lagoon Bait and Tackle, grabbed a dozen more mud minnows and headed to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Karen wanted to see if any alligators were out so we entered the refuge via East Gator Creek Road.

From the time we entered to the Catfish Creek Loop we spotted a total of seven alligators either in the water or sunning on the bank.

The peaceful afternoon we were hoping for was obviously not in the cards today.  There were a lot of people traveling the refuge looking at the waterfowl, gawking at the gators, and even fishing.

It was a beautiful day and the air temperature was a pleasant 72 degrees.  There was little to no wind blowing and both sides of the road were being fished by a variety of people using a variety of baits.

We passed one guy filleting a black drum he had just caught and it looked like everyone was having a great time on the river.

Karen wanted to fish Bobcat Bay so we headed there hoping that on one took her spot.

As luck would have it, nobody was at her spot so I angled into a spot, parked and set out several rods baited up with the mud minnows we had on hand.

Karen wanted to fish "her spot" in the marsh canal, so she took off with Odie and a couple of mud minnows.

Since I was going back to work tomorrow, I really didn't care if I caught anything today so I unfolded a portable sports chair, turned on the radio and waited for something to bite.

Karen missed a couple of bites and finally picked up this nice 24" spotted sea trout. 

It was gut hooked and it's gills were bleeding so we decided to take it home for dinner. 

Odie can be seen giving his approval in this pic.

He loves to fish and be with us, unfortunately Elmo just sits in the truck like a lump of clay. 

She went back to her spot and about the time she got there, I had a hit that I missed on a minnow.  The line peeled off the Okuma Avenger baitrunner I was using but as I picked up the rod, the fish dropped the bait.

I pulled in a bare hook , but on a fresh mud minnow and sat down to enjoy the afternoon.

Some rain clouds were on the horizon and it started to briefly sprinkle just when I got another hit.  It was a large hard head catfish.

I baited up again and tossed out the minnow closer to shore..  This time I picked up a nice slot redfish that was also destined for the dinner table.

Karen, missed another sea trout and I picked up another smaller red that I released before we decided to head for home.

I'm sure we could have caught more fish but I didn't want to stay till dark.  I had to clean and cook the fish and I was hungry, so we packed it in and headed towards Peacocks Pocket kayak launch.

There were still several fishermen trying their luck on both sides of the road as we left the refuge.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

P.S.  As I make this post, I can honestly tell you that nothing beats freshly caught fish on the table.