9-11-2010 Indian River Fishing Trip

The weather on Saturday was in the low 90s with a slight breeze coming in from the Southwest.

My wife wanted to try out Shiloh Marsh Road on the northern end of the Indian River instead of taking out our Maverick flats boat; so we packed up our rods, my underused cast net, a live bait bucket, and took off for the lagoon.

Coming into Shiloh road we stopped for a two foot water moccasin that was crossing the unimproved road and also saw a couple of deer farther down towards the lagoon.

Rounding the first bend, we saw one angler waist deep in the water about 100 yards out, with four rods in sand spike rod holders, baited up with finger mullet.

This is a great area to fish for the "bull redfish" that come into the shallows to feed on baitfish or small crustaceans and is almost always inhabited by at least one fisherman.

The schools of reds travel up and down the the shorelines and always eventually come into this area.

At the next bend we saw a couple of parked trucks, and a shallow water boat out in the river with several fishermen using the same technique.

Karen and I decided to get some bait instead of just using dead shrimp or lures and try for a really big redfish.

I headed for a culvert that I knew harbored either small ladyfish or mullet and after two or three casts had enough 4" to 6" mullet for our excursion.

On the way I took a few pics of the waterfowl in the area that you might be interested in.

Since it was getting late in the afternoon, we went to a spot that my wife loves to fish and baited up four rods with live finger mullet and dead shrimp.

On one of my rods, a nice redfish picked up my mullet, but after only a very short run wrapped the 10# Cajun line around a stickup and got off.

I missed a second red that I was in too much of a hurry to hook. I'm used to fishing with artificial lures and obviously don't have the patience to wait the proper amount of time before setting the hook.

My wife missed one fish that she thought was a redfish and then just when it was beginning to get dark, she hooked up to a nice slot sized red that put up a respectable fight.

I wanted to keep the fish for dinner, but Karen wanted to release it, so we did.

The mosquitoes were beginning to get nasty and Elmo, our wonder dog, was begging to leave so we all decided to call it a day.

Even though I got "skunked", I enjoyed the trip and got some nice pics of the areas bird life.


The wood storks, egrets, roseate spoonbills, and herons were all massed together feeding in the marsh shallows.

Hope you enjoy the pics and until next time; Tight Lines!

Shiloh Marsh Road Bull Redfish

On Labor Day, Monday afternoon, my wife Karen talked me into another late fishing trip; this time in the Shiloh Marsh Road area of the northern Indian River Lagoon.

As usual we left late and entered via US1 before the Kennedy Parkway turn.

The water on the opposite side of the river was extremely shallow, despite the rains we had over the weekend; so we decided to fish the river side where the larger "bull" redfish frequent.

As we drove into the northernmost part of the Indian River Lagoon,
several fishermen had several poles in the water, baited up with live finger mullet, waiting for the "big one".

We passed them by and continued to a cove where we usually catch redfish and trout this time of year.

On the way I picked up a few finger mullet for bait and one small ladyfish. These guys are like candy to big bull redfish.

After a couple of stops where we caught catfish and missed a few small trout, we finally hit "our cove" and staked out our spots.

Karen baited up one rod with finger mullet and another with dead shrimp.

I saw no topwater action, so I started throwing artificials and had absolutely no luck whatsoever.

The wind was blowing and continued to increase towards evening as we sat back and waited for some action.

Karen had a couple of misses and finally caught a catfish and later a trout.

I fished in another nearby area with my finger mullet and caught a respectable sea trout.

I missed two others and was out of bait except for the ladyfish, so I hooked her up and shot out a long cast into water that was about two feet deep.

For about 20 minutes or so, the ladyfish didn't do much. Finally it started going crazy pulling my bobber all over the place. I waited until the Cajun Thunder bobber was being towed at a good clip out of the cove before I set the hook into a very large redfish.

I could see it's tail when it came out of the water and it was about 12" across.

The fish took off and the drag screamed but after a short run, it spit out the ladyfish.

Evidently the 4/0 Owner hook didn't get a good enough bite. Anyway, I reeled in and cut about a 6" long piece from the midsection of a dead ladyfish that washed onto the rocks where I was fishing. Since I was out of live bait, it would have to do.

Another long cast under the bobber and about a ten minute wait got me hooked up to another "bull redfish".

This time I waited for the fish to eat the bait before striking and again had the same result. The fish surfaced, sloshed around like a baby manatee out of water, and took off for parts unknown.

It was getting dark, I was getting disgusted, so we decided to leave and return next week powered with heavier gear.

Anyway, the scenery was great!