Redfish In The Creeks

This afternoon when Karen asked if we could take the "boys" for a ride, I thought about the redfish in the creeks near Shiloh Road and immediately agreed.

We left in such a hurry that I had to stop at a bait shop to buy some frozen shrimp for bait.

It was in the mid 70s and drizzling when we pulled into Shiloh Marsh Road but by the time we were half way to where Karen wanted to fish, the rain had stopped.

The water level was up on both sides of the road and we both got wet feet walking to our fishing spot.

Karen was using an Okuma bait runner reel loaded with Cajun Red line and I had a Penn Fierce III outfit loaded with 8 pound mono and only a #4/0 Owner hook.

We put out both rods with shrimp and I pulled out another Penn outfit with a Johnson Sprite spoon and started blind casting the area.   I'm not patient enough to sit and watch a rod for a bite.

I wasn't doing anything with the spoon but Karen had caught and released two hard head catfish in a matter of a half an hour.

I finally gave up on the gold spoon about the time Karen hooked into a nice fish.

I pulled out my cell phone and took this video of the action.

The fish was just inside the slot and would have made a great dinner but Karen wanted to release it. 

The red inhaled the hook so I cut the leader as close to the hook as possible and released the fish to fight another day.

During the fight, I hooked into another catfish that I quickly landed and released.

We were going to stay and fish a little bit longer but it started to rain again so we called it a day.

This area of the Indian River produces some nice redfish, snook, tarpon, and occasionally black drum.  I seldom catch sea trout in the creeks but I'm sure they are here.

I took another pick or two of the area before packing it in and plan to fish the area next week during my vacation.

Till next time,
Tight Lines...

Fishing The Creeks

Fishing the creeks in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was always productive during February, but since they have been closed indefinitely, the creeks at Shiloh Road provide a good second choice.

Around 3:30 pm this afternoon, Karen asked me if I wanted to take the "boys" fishing for a while.

It took a microsecond to agree and start packing up my rods for the trip.

We stopped at Mosquito Lagoon Bait and Tackle and picked up some live shrimp and a few mud minnows and headed back to Shiloh Road to fish either the river or the creeks.

The air temperature today was in the low 70s and there was no wind over the water.  The glassy conditions made topwater bait fishing a poor choice and since we had Elmo and Odie along, we parked at a suitable location, pulled out a couple of portable chairs and set out our baits.

I had two Okuma Avenger baitrunner reels set out with mud minnows that were the size of large finger mullet, and Karen was using a Penn Fierce II bait runner spin fishing outfit with light line, a float, and a live shrimp for bait.

There wasn't a lot of activity in the water but Karen and I managed to catch a few large hard head catfish on the shrimp.  The mud minnows were lively, and Odie enjoyed watching them swim around, but evidently the fish just weren't in the mood for them today.

I impatiently sat for over an hour without another bite on the mud minnows, while Karen pulled in two more large catfish and just at dusk hooked into a nice slot redfish.

I took a short video of the action below, click the pic:

I unhooked the red and released it to fight another day.

After catching the redfish, Karen was ready to go home and since the mosquitoes were getting nasty towards dusk, I readily agreed with her.

We packed up our rods, released the rest of the mud minnows and headed home for a crock pot meal I finished yesterday.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Gator Creek Topwater Action

When I drove home late Friday night, I planned on getting in some Gator Creek topwater action Saturday morning, but like many well laid plans, I didn't get to wet a line until this afternoon.
Well, better late than never.

Anyway, after making a water change in our tropical fish tanks, it started to rain so I quickly decided to head to East Gator Creek for some topwater action.

I was going to bring Elmo and Odie along, but I knew it was going to be muddy out and I didn't feel like mucking up my truck so I left them home for another trip.

As I crossed the bridge, I saw a lot of activity on the north side of the causeway. People were fishing, swimming, wading, eating, and in general having a good time despite the afternoon storms.

I brought along two spinning rods today. One with 60 pound Power Pro, a 3 foot length of fluorocarbon leader, and a Bass Pro Shop XPS Slim Dog topwater bait. The other with 20 pound Cajun Red mono and a two foot length of 30 pound fluorocarbon leader and a Chug Bug tied on by a loop knot.

It was sprinkling when I pulled over to park at the first culvert on East Gator Creek road but by the time I pulled out a rod, it stopped.

My first cast into the culvert with the Chug Bug produced an aerial strike from a two foot long ladyfish.  I had my SJCAM SJ4000 version of a Go Pro on my hat, but my batteries weren't charged up so I lost most of the interesting portion of the video that I hoped to get.

After the strike, the fish jumped several times and as I brought it close to the bank at the culvert, an 8 foot alligator tried to make a meal of it.

The gator missed the fish and I jerked it out of the water onto the bank.

The fish was hooked well and as I was trying to remove the sharp trebles, the fish tried to escape and the rear treble sank into my right hand.

I went to the truck, got a pair of fisherman's pliers from my toolbox, and tried to get the hook out of my hand.  I was holding the fish, the Chug Bug, and the pliers in my left hand, all the while trying to get the damn hook out of my right hand.

It took way too long, but I finally yanked the barb out and unhooked the ladyfish.  I decided to keep the lady for cut bait and put it in the cooler.  It was one hell of a start for a fishing trip to say the least.

I put some Iodine on the puncture wound and went up the road to continue fishing the shallow flats along the road.

I caught a couple more small sea trout on the Chug Bug and decided to pull out the other rod and fish the XPS Slim Dog.

I picked up two more small sea trout on the Chug Bug and missed a much larger sea trout on the Slim Dog as I fished my way along the unimproved roadway.

I headed towards Catfish Creek Loop and stopped to fish a small pond where I usually manage to catch a few sea trout.

I picked up two more speckled sea trout and what looked like a sand trout before changing rods again to fish the Slim Dog.

After about ten casts walking the dog, an absolutely gorgeous oversize red redfish nailed the Slim Dog at a dropoff near a small island.

The fish put up a nice fight and as I finally managed to land it, I couldn't believe it's color.   The photo really doesn't do it justice.

I took some pics and a selfie before releasing it to fight another day.

As I moved up the road to Catfish Creek Loop, there were three other guys fishing the open culvert, and the road was barricaded.

I didn't want to mess up their fishing, so I turned around and headed back towards East Gator Creek road and continued fishing likely looking spots.

To make a long story short, I hooked and released three more sea trout, two of which were keepers, and I missed a juvenile tarpon that spit my XPS topwater bait.

At my last stop, I stepped on a red ant hill and got attached by the biggest damn red ants I've seen in the State of Florida.  I quickly removed my sneakers and started shaking them off my shoes.

These things were over a half an inch long, were extremely aggressive, and had a really painful bite.

About this time, I realized that I was having too much fun and hurting way too much for any further fishing, so I took one last pic of the sun going down over the shallow mudflats and headed for home.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Learning How To Fish A Chug Bug

Learning how to fish a Chug Bug  is a big deal for someone who fishes almost exclusively with live, frozen, or chunked up baits.

My wife wanted to take the "boys" to the "swamp" this afternoon, so I packed up three spinning rods with various topwater baits, loaded Karen, Elmo and Odie into the truck, and headed for the area where I landed a juvenile tarpon yesterday.

When we left the house the temperature was in the high 80s and it looked like a thunderstorm was on the horizon. 

Karen wanted to see the exact spot where I caught the fish, I guess hoping that it would still be there.

When I pointed out the spot to her, she couldn't believe that a fish that size would be in that location, so I pulled out the rod that I caught the tarpon with and tossed the beat up Chug Bug to the other bank.

On the first cast, a small ladyfish nailed the Chug Bug and after two jumps pulled free.

That sealed the deal with my wife, and for the first time in a long time she asked me to show her how "it works".

I gave her a brief tutorial on topwater bait fishing and offered her the other rod to practice with.

We drove over to Catfish Creek Loop and pulled over to let the dogs do their thing and I started casting the Chug Bug around the area.  The water was dead calm in most areas with only a hint of a ripple on the Indian River side of the road.  

I had several hits from ladyfish and landed a couple before a sea trout nailed the bait.  

After I released the undersize fish, Karen caught her first fish on a Chug Bug; a small sea trout.

I took these pics of her first fish but she didn't want to be in any of the pictures.

Not dressed properly is my best guess.

Anyway, the sky started getting darker and the late afternoon thunderstorms could be seen over Titusville in the distance.

The ripples on the water picked up and so did the fishing. 

Karen landed and released another sea trout and a ladyfish before getting a birdsnest on her reel.  It's something I learned to deal with when fishing with PowerPro against the wind.

I had the same problem but rather than wasting time trying to unravel a birdsnest on my reel, I decided to switch over to the other rod that a Slim Dog XPS topwater bait tied on it.

It was getting late and I didn't feel like changing out the bait with another Chug Bug, so I started walking the dog on the shallow mud flats with the XPS Slim Dog.

I had a couple of hits from small ladyfish before finally landing one, and jerked the hooks out of the  mouth of a nice snook before hooking up and landing a small redfish, all in the same area.

The redfish was only about 20" long, but it put up a respectable fight on the shallow flats before I could finally land it.

Karen took a couple of pics and we released the fish to grow into a bull red someday.

A gator discovered that we were fishing topwater baits and bullied his way into our area, so we packed in our rods and headed towards the house and some spaghetti dinner.

On the way out I took a shot of the VAB at the cape.

We may try to get out tomorrow for a repeat performance.

Till next time, 

Tight Lines.

9-11-2017 Fishing

September 11, 2017 was the first time since Hurricane Irma that I bothered visiting the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and it was an interesting sight.

The winds were still gusting and although the water levels on the causeway were close to the roadway, it did not deter some hardy souls from wetting a line in hopes of catching redfish for dinner.

When I took Elmo and Odie for a ride, I was surprised how many fishermen were actually out on the water.

The north side of the causeway was spotted with at least a dozen fishermen who had each staked out at least a couple of rods with cut or live mullet.  

When I asked about the fishing, a couple of guys said the reds were "hitting like there was no tomorrow".

I took a couple of quick pics and a short video before heading back to the house for some cleanup,

I briefly thought about grabbing a rod and joining in on the action, but my yard needed some attention.  I had three ponds in my yard which is not in a flood zone, and a 50 foot tree across my driveway that I could not take down because of the water.

I count my blessings.  It could have been so much worse.

Till when I can wet a line again,

Tight Lines.

Dauphin Island Redfish

Since it was a beautiful day, I decided to head over to Dauphin Island in Mobile, Al. to see if the redfish were biting.

I loaded up a surf rod that I had the foresight to bring along with me from Titusville, a 7 foot river rod that I keep tipped with a jig and grub combo, and a couple of bags of cut mullet I had in the freezer from my last trip.

The half hour drive to the jetties went quickly but when I got to the area, there were no parking spaces anywhere.  I made a couple of rounds around the parking area hoping to snag a space, but after the third trip, I gave up.

The fishing pier and all of the jetties had people fishing from them and the beach was as crowded as I have ever seen it, so I opted to fish at the first bridge going onto the island instead.

I pulled into the road adjacent to the small canal, unloaded the rods and bait cooler from the truck, and started walking underneath the bridge to find a spot.

As I walked over to the barrier, a couple of guys who had just finished fishing were loading their fish into the truck.

They had caught several nice redfish in the slot to 25 pound category, and a couple of nice black drum.  When I asked them what they caught the redfish on, they told me they had been using live "bull minnows" and were fishing on the incoming tide just off the bank.

I took a few pics of their catch below, and headed to where they were fishing.

They told me that the bite had slowed down because of the tide change, but since I was already here, I decided to give it a shot anyway.

I baited up with a large chunk of mullet, pitched out the bait to an eddy at a deep hole and waited for a bite.

I was using a three way swivel with a two foot length of 30 pound fluorocarbon leader on a 5/0 Owner hook, and a 3 oz. bank sinker to hold bottom. 

I lost several baits to fish, and two rigs with 3 oz. bank sinkers to the rocks, before I finally hooked into a nice redfish.  

The red grabbed a whole mullet head that I had baited up with and took off like a freight train.  I had 60 pound Power Pro braid on my surf rod and it still put up a great battle before I finally landed it.

I put the red into the cooler for dinner, baited up with another mullet head, and tried for a second fish.

I was fishing on the last part of the outgoing tide, and was lucky I had any bites at all. 

As I waited for something to happen, another fishermen that had been fishing under the bridge was leaving because the bite had stopped. 

He had a couple of black drum and several sheepshead that he caught around the bridge pilings and said that he lost two redfish along the pilings in the same area.

Like almost everyone else I saw fishing today, he was using live shrimp for bait.

I was going to ask him for a pic, but he was on his way out and I didn't want to bother him.

He told me that if you don't fish the tides in this area, you are wasting your time, and after another hour or so without a single bite, I had to agree with him.

I loaded my redfish into the truck and headed for home and a well deserved fish dinner.

Nothing like blackened redfish!

Till next time, Tight Lines.

A Mixed Bag At Catfish Creek

It was a mixed bag at Catfish Creek this afternoon with Atlantic Croaker, black drum, and redfish on the menu.

Since I have to get to work tomorrow, Karen and I decided to take Elmo and Odie out to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see if we could catch some fish and just enjoy the day.

We waited until after 3:00 pm to leave the house and were on the water before 4:00 pm.

I stopped at Mosquito Lagoon Bait and Tackle to pick up some live shrimp and headed out to Catfish Creek Loop to stake out a spot.

The air temperature was 73 degrees and there was only a slight breeze blowing over the river when we pulled into a spot where Karen caught some drum last year about this same time.

I didn't feel like flipping artificial baits today, so I brought along a folding sports chair and set out two rods with live shrimp to watch.

For the next hour or so, that's all we did.  Watch the rods.

Finally, as the sun started to dip I hooked a small (very small) croaker which I promptly released.

After a short time, Karen spotted some swirls in the shallows closer to the bank so I reeled in my shrimp and shot a short cast to the area.

Within a couple of minutes I hooked into a Puppy Drum which was released after a brief fight.

Karen had a couple of bites but couldn't seem to hook anything so I told her to cast into the same area where I caught the drum.

After another five minutes or so, I had another hookup with a small, multi spotted redfish that just made the slot.

After another brief tussle I landed and released the redfish to grow up a bit.

There were a lot of people driving around the refuge apparently watching the Coots, ducks, gators, and God knows what else.   Anyway, the traffic started getting ridiculous and as the sun started going down, the gnats also started to get ridiculous.

We were both getting eaten alive and although Karen didn't catch anything this evening, she was ready to call it a day.

We packed up and headed home along with all the other visitors in the refuge.

The fishing is beginning to pick up in this area, and as the cooler weather sets in, we should be getting more and larger fish.

When I get back in town again I plan on walking the Pocket road to target some of the gator sea trout that roam the area.

Till next time, Tight Lines and bent rods. 

Peacocks Pocket Road Is Still Closed

Although Peacocks Pocket road is still closed, bank fishermen along the causeway and the open dike roads are still picking up good numbers of redfish and black drum.

Javier Cuazo and his friend Luis were good enough to send me these pics of their trip to Gator Creek Thursday morning.

 They got out early and around 8:00am Luis picked up a nice slot black drum on a live shrimp and later on, a rat redfish on a dead shrimp which was quickly released to grow up into a bull red.

Around noon they moved on to Catfish Creek and fished around an area where this crabber was picking up his cages.    Usually if there are crabs in the area, it's a good area for reds.

He said they were fishing into the wind, but he did not what they caught in that area.

Yesterday, another reader said that the reds in that area were nailing fresh dead shrimp and chunks of cut mullet and ladyfish.

In my experience, an 1 1/2" thick steak cut from a freshly caught ladyfish on a 4/0 or 5/0 Owner hook is hard to beat for big redfish.

Right now, fresh dead or live shrimp is the bait of choice for black drum.

Till I get back into town again, Tight Lines and don't forget to vote.

Puckett Creek

Javier Cuazo sent this pic of a nice redfish he caught in Puckett Creek today.

He said he also picked up a 31" Snook, some smaller reds and a few sea trout in the same area.

Send me the pics Javier.....

Till I get back in town, Tight Lines.

Fishing The Afternoon Thundershowers In July

Fishing the afternoon thundershowers in July is often productive just before the spigot turns on, and this afternoon was no exception.

Because of a Doctors appointment and a horrible looking lawn, I didn't expect to get out at all today but after manicuring the lawn, I decided to grab a rod and take my chances with the lightning in the wildlife refuge.

The air temperature was still 94 degrees when I drove into Peacocks Pocket road, and other than myself, there was hardly anybody in the refuge.

As I slowly drove along the marsh canal looking for signs of fish, I saw several spotted sea trout attacking baitfish along the surface.  I had a Johnson's Sprite gold spoon on the single rod that I hastily brought along with me and after making several casts to the sea trout it quickly became apparent that they weren't interested.

There was one very small trout that followed the spoon to the bank, but it didn't hit the lure.

As I drove along the road, I passed up several spots that had fish but had too much submerged grass to sensibly fish with a spoon.  As I continued towards one of the larger ponds, I spotted a swirl along the bank that looked like a nice redfish.

I pulled off the road just ahead of where I spotted the fish, just as it was beginning to rain, and shot a well placed cast towards the opposite bank a few feet ahead of where the fish swirled.

 As I slowly retrieved the gold spoon, I expected a hit, but after nothing happened a couple more unsuccessful casts, I was ready to give it up.

I walked a few yards up the road and made one last cast towards a dropoff at the edge of a weedy pond.  Almost as soon as the lure hit the water, an oversize redfish nailed the spoon and after a second or two, headed down the marsh canal.

The fish made three nice runs and almost got off on the brush along the canal, but I finally managed to get a boca grip on her and pull it up the bank.

 
The fish measured in at hare over 31" and after taking a couple of pics of the fish, I quickly released her back into the marsh canal.   Although the water was warm, it didn't take too long for the red to revive and swim off.

On the way home the rain stopped, but as I drove into my driveway the afternoon thundershowers started up again.  Luckily the rain didn't last long.

I almost forgot how productive fishing the afternoon thundershowers can be.

Till next time, 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.

Night Launch Over The Indian River

Decided to try for some redfish Friday evening and stayed late to catch the late night launch over the Indian River.

The fishing earlier was sporadic. Since the roads in the refuge were closed for repairs, I decided to beat the day crowd and try some night fishing along the causeway.

I put out a couple of spinning rods with chunks of ladyfish and picked up a slot red along with a couple of hard head catfish that hit as the sun went down over the horizon.

It was windy and I missed at least two other redfish that I hit before they fully took the baits.   I'm not a live bait fishermen but with the wind, it was the only option this evening.  I seem to have a penchant for striking the fish too early. 

Anyway, since the launch wasn't due to execute until 1:21 am, I took a drive over to the fishing piers to see how the shrimpers were doing. There weren't a lot of folks shrimping and the ones I saw were not doing well. There were a few shrimp in the buckets, but nobody made a "full pull" tonight.

I tried dunking a half of a blue crab from the lower fishing pier around a piling but didn't get a bite so around 1:00 am, I got back in the truck and drove over to where I caught the slot red earlier.

A car pulled in next to me almost about the time the launch was due and asked what time it was going off. I told him now, just as I clicked on my video camera on my cell phone.

The results are not great but in a rush, you make due with what you got...

After the shot, I packed up my rods and headed for the house.

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.

Fishing Bobcat Bay With The Gators

Late Monday afternoon my wife asked if I was interested in fishing Bobcat Bay in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and as usual, it didn't take me long to pack up some rods and the bait bucket for the trip.

Karen wanted to take Elmo and Odie along to get some exercise and since I didn't plan on fishing artificial baits this afternoon, I didn't object.

We stopped at the bait shop for some mud minnows, but all they had were some finger mullet and shrimp, so I picked up a half dozen mullet and some medium sized shrimp and headed for the refuge.

We entered via East Gator Creek Road and almost ran across a gator that was sunning itself in the middle of the road.  It was the first of many we spotted before we got to where Karen wanted to fish.

When we got to "Bobcat Bay", we picked our spots, baited up and waited for some action.

I fished the Indian River side of the road while Karen fished the marsh canal.

After Elmo christened several spots in the area, he went back to the truck and spent almost all the time there.  Odie, on the other hand spent most of the time alternating between watching Karen and me fish and scouting out the area.

I had one rod out with live shrimp and another with a live mullet but because of the wind it was difficult detecting a bite.  I missed several fish before I finally started catching hard head catfish.

After the 5th or 6th cat, I finally decided to fish only live mullet.

Karen had a live mullet on an Okuma Avenger Baitrunner outfit I bought for her, but she wasn't getting any bites.

The wind never let up. so I finally moved over to the marsh canal where Karen was fishing just to keep it out of my face.

There was virtually no action until dusk when Karen finally picked up a nice size sea trout on her mullet.

After I unhooked and released her fish, I missed a good fish on my rod.

The line briefly peeled off the reel but the fish dropped the bait before I could set the hook.

I re-baited and within a few minutes picked up a spotted sea trout about the same size as Karen's fish.

We were getting eaten up by mosquitoes, so we both agreed to head for the house and call it a day.

The sunset was beautiful as usual so I took a couple of quick pics.

 
On the way out of the refuge, I almost ran across a gator that refused to get off the road.

I got out of the truck and took these pics as it hissed at me and finally retreated into the marsh canal.

The gators were definitely out in force today, especially around Gator Creek road.  I guess that's why they gave it the name.

Till next time, Tight Lines.