Fishing The Marsh Shallows During A Front

Fishing the marsh shallows during a front usually produces some mighty fine fishing and this afternoon was no exception.

The water levels in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are up and the fish have become more aggressive in the shallows.

This evening I didn't get out to the refuge until about 5:30 pm.

The weather was overcast and the temperature was a pleasant 80 degrees. An east wind was blowing just enough to ripple the surface yet not enough to cause any problems casting.

It was a perfect evening for fishing.

Since it was late, I entered the refuge from the first entrance and made several stops before heading into Peacocks Pocket road.

Some culverts were open and flowing this evening, which is always a good sign. The fish tend to lay just off the current flow where they wait to ambush bait fish.

I brought along three rods this evening. One with a gold Johnson spoon, one with a Chug Bug and the last with a Tsunami paddle tail soft bait.

The first culvert turned out to be a bust but at the second culvert, using the Tsunami paddle tail bait, I landed a slot size sea trout on the second cast.

I released the fish and moved on in search of bigger game.

After making a couple more stops, I pulled off the road at a shallow pond where I hooked up with my first redfish of the evening.

The fish hit the paddletail bait in about a foot of water in the area below and made several nice runs.

The battle would have been perfect for a You Tube video, but since my wife opted to stay home and work in our pond, there was nobody to make a movie.

I tried to take a few pics of the battle with my Nikon Cool Pix 8700 but only got ripples.

It's hard filming a battle using only one hand, I've tried before!

 I finally landed the 28" redfish with the boca grip and took these pics before releasing the fish to fight another day.

   

I worked my way up Pocket road avoiding gators and casting to several likely looking spots where I hooked up with several slot and a couple of smaller sized sea trout.

After taking pictures of some of the trout, I released all the fish to fight another day.

Fishing the marsh shallows during a front can be exasperating but today the fish were hitting like they hadn't been eating in a week.

After two more stops. I hooked into another redfish of about 30".

The fish hit the same paddletail bait only a foot from the bank near a culvert in water that was only about a foot deep.

After the first long run, the fish made several short runs before it eventually got into the brush.

I managed to lead it out of the heavy brush, but after a few minutes it managed to get tangled in a tree that was only about ten feet away.

Since I didn't feel like wading into the Indian River muck to retrieve the fish, I just pulled until the line snapped and the fish swam away.

I didn't come well prepared this evening and didn't have another paddletail bait, so I switched to a gold Johnson Sprite Spoon - 3 4 oz .

The spoon attracted this sea trout which was almost as long as the spoon.

It was getting late and I was tired so I headed out of the refuge to the comfort of home and a nice shower.

Several other fishermen were out this evening but none of them reported catching anything.

Although fishing the marsh shallows during a front produces fish, you still have to know how to catch them and what baits produce.

This evening the best bait was the Tsunami soft bait, tomorrow who knows?

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Skunked During The Super Moon

Although Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River fishing has been hot for gator sea trout and reds this month, yesterday afternoon my wife and I both got skunked.

The hype about the "super moon" being great for fishing didn't really pan out for us yesterday evening.

Since the local fair was in town, I expected everyone to be spending their time there.

Karen and I originally planned to fish Shiloh Marsh Road but the barriers were up on the northern entrance preventing vehicle traffic into the area.

According to the powers that be, they have the road closed for "improvements" and it will remain so until further notice.

So much for getting a chance at really big bull redfish and sow gator sea trout that frequent this area.

Unless you have a kayak or canoe, the only way to fish this area now, is by biking or walking the road.

We backtracked to the main road and drove into the Patillo Creek area but decided to move on when we saw how low the water levels were.

Karen and Elmo finally persuaded me to fish Peacocks Pocket road until dusk.

I planned on fishing top water "Chug Bugs" later on in the evening when the "super moon" was lighting up the river, but the windy conditions made fishing a top water lure unappealing.

The water levels were down about 6" since the last time we fished the marsh area and the fish were concentrated in the deeper channels and small ponds.

This canoeist had to get out and walk his canoe across some really mucky water when he literally ran out of water to paddle.

 

Karen had a couple of hits from small sea trout and crabs while I was throwing gold spoons, soft plastic paddletail baits and a DOA shrimp.

I had several followups on the Johnson's Gold Spoon and one hit on a Creme paddletail bait but I never did land a fish.

Despite the heavy fishing pressure that this area has been getting lately, some fish were actively feeding in a few areas.

Everyone I spoke with who was fishing mullet from the bank said they weren't getting much action.

A few waders were picking up sea trout by casting soft baits and silver spoons, but no one was catching anything really impressive trout or redfish.

I haven't been skunked for quite a while, so I guess I was due.

Anyway, the weather was great and viewing the sunset from the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was awesome as usual as you can see from the pics below.

We hope to get out again late Sunday afternoon if I get done with all my chores.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Mars Curiosity Atlas Launch

This morning's Mars Curiosity Atlas launch caused NASA to temporarily close part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to fishing.

I had originally planned to hit the beach at Playalinda, catch some bluefish for supper and then drive around Peacocks Pocket road to see if I could pick up a redfish.

 

The Atlas launch screwed up my plans, so I decided to run up to Bio Lab road to fish the lower flats of the Mosquito Lagoon instead.

The weather was perfect with only a light breeze pushing the water towards Bio Lab road.

I noticed that Bio Lab boat ramp is now requesting a fee for launching your boat.

Don't know how many locals will pay it but it seems like every time you turn around, some government agency is trying to pick your pocket.

Anyway, the road was crowded with  people enjoying the scenery, mostly the alligators and only a few fishermen.



Before I decided on an area to fish, I talked to three fishermen.  None of them were catching much except for catfish and a stingray.

No one was catching redfish.

I took a ton of pics and drove close to the Pelican Island flats where I saw some fish chasing bait on the surface.

 
The area is good for wading but very weedy.  Despite the weeds, I started fishing with my favorite gold Bagley spoon hoping for a cruising redfish.

Although a lot of fish were being chased, I evidently couldn't "match the hatch" because I never got a hit.









I carefully waded around the area methodically fan casting to cover as much water as possible but nothing seemed to be interested in my spoon.

Finally after an hour or so, I decided to run up to Bairs Cove boat ramp on Haulover Canal.

There were several  fishermen on both sides of the canal fishing with shrimp and live bait but again, no one seemed to be catching anything.

I took the pictures you see below but didn't even bother wetting a line.  It was getting late in the afternoon so I decided to head home and rest out for tomorrow's outing.

 

 






On the way, I passed the western entrance to Peacocks Pocket road and noticed that the NASA personnel reopened the refuge.

Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day for catching.

Till then, tight lines!

Getting A Late Start

Today was a perfect fall day for fishing and after getting a late start this afternoon, my wife, Elmo and I had to get out of the house to enjoy the day.

I got a Thanksgiving Day turkey from my boss that I put into the oven and we had to wait until 4:30 until it was done before we could leave the hacienda.

We only had an hour or so fishing before dark so Karen wanted to hit a submerged grassy cove where she and I had caught redfish the last few weeks.

The water in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge was dead calm.  There were leftover fishermen from a redfish tournament that is being held today and tomorrow in the refuge but for the most part, everyone was leaving the area as we were coming in.

We enjoyed another beautiful sunset which is typical for this time of year and as we rolled off the side of the unimproved road, I spotted a couple of fish swirling in the area.

Elmo had his specs on and was enjoying the afternoon as Karen and I geared up.

I was casting my gold Bagley spoon and Karen was using her usual shrimp and clacker bobber rig.

On my very first cast, I missed a small redfish.  It bumped my spoon about half way back from my cast and took off down the marsh canal.

Karen cast her bait close to a grassy island and I moved down the road blind casting the area.

I missed another redfish and after several more casts landed a ladyfish that was about 30" long.

The fish jumped several times before I landed and released it.  I didn't bother taking a pic.

Meanwhile, Karen had a hit but missed the fish.

It was getting dark and as just as if someone turned on a switch, the mosquitoes started attacking in droves.

I'll probably never know why they do it but they managed to drive us out of the area.

Hopefully, tomorrow we'll get an earlier start.

Till then, Tight Lines!

Balmy Sunday Afternoon Fishing In The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

It was a balmy Sunday afternoon fishing in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge but it was also a productive one for both me and my wife.

Because of the windy conditions this weekend, I really didn't expect to get out and do any fishing.

Karen and I went down to Coco Beach yesterday and happened to come upon the air show.

The blue angels and some local stunt pilots were performing around and just off the beach.  They put on quite a show but unfortunately I didn't bring along my camera.

We parked on the causeway close to the boat ramp on the Banana River to watch the wind surfers and what we could see of the air show.  I tried casting a spoon but the wind was gusting so hard it was impossible to fish.

This afternoon the wind was still brisk but we were able to hit some of our favorite spots and still make reasonably decent casts.

Karen was using jumbo frozen shrimp under a Bett's Billy Bay Brass Weighted Click Clackers - Oval - 2-1/2" - Orange - Terminal.

I started out using my favorite beat up Bagley gold spoon with a worn out red tag.

The first stops we made didn't produce even though we saw fish chasing finger mullet close to shore.

At the next stop which was about a quarter of the way up Peacocks Pocket road, I nailed a nice 22" redfish on my first cast.

I usually spot some fish activity before I bother casting but today the windy conditions made spotting fish almost impossible.

This fish followed the lure in from a shallow weedy island that was almost covered by water.

It hit right at the bank and I didn't give it a chance to put up much of a fight.

\It started raining so we decided to move on up the road  and try another place I caught some fish last week.

Karen parked at her favorite spot while I made my way down the unimproved road casting to various locations.

The wind was picking up as the afternoon wore on and casting became work.

I must have made at least a hundred casts and I think I had one hit.  I couldn't even be sure of that.

Anyway, Karen yelled to me that she had a fish on so I moved up to where she was fishing and picked up my camera to take a couple of pics.

The fish was a clone to the one I caught earlier and was a beautiful bronze color.  The tannin water in the marsh brings out the colors in the redfish and sea trout.

She held up the fish while I took these pictures.

The fish gulped down the shrimp and was hooked deep.  Since I didn't have my disgorger with me, I just cut the leader at the hook and let Karen release the fish.

The wind was whipping up and it started to rain so we decided to call Lil Ceaser's to order a pizza and call it a day.

 

The moon was out and the sunset would have been much more beautiful if it had not been for the wind.

Till next time, Tight Lines.