Gar On A Slim Dog

Fishing the thunderstorms this afternoon gave me another chance to toss topwater baits and even catch a gar on a Slim Dog.

Left the house around 4:30 pm during a thunderstorm and headed to Gator Creek road.  

It was raining on and off, mostly on, and there was a slight wind over the water when I got to my fishing area.

There was absolutely nobody in the area when I started blind casting a white XPS Slim Dog topwater bait over the weedy flats.

I had a couple of followups without any hits and one small ladyfish that danced all over the flats before jumping off,  so I smeared up the new Slim Dog with some Pro-Cure and continued casting the area.

The Pro-Cure did the trick.   On the first cast in the new area, I hooked a gar that put up a decent fight for it's size.  I took a couple of pics before releasing the fish and continued casting in the rain.

A gator that was watching me cast my topwater bait really got interested in what I was doing when I threw the gar back.  It began to follow the next couple of casts.

Evidently it was my day for gar because after a few more casts, I hooked another gar that was a bit smaller.  I released the fish and decided to move out of the area when the gator got way too inquisitive.

The rain was slacking up when I moved to the last spot I wanted to fish.  I missed a couple of juvenile tarpon here almost every day I went fishing so I decided to try it again today.

After several unproductive casts, I tied on a baby bass pattern Chug Bug and smeared it up with Pro-Cure.   This area was a lot calmer and walking the dog didn't seem to be putting down the fish.

I waited five minutes or so till things calmed down and tossed the Chug Bug to the opposite bank.  The lure briefly hit the grass as I flipped it into the water and slowly started chugging it back.  

The plug was about 8 feet from the bank when a juvenile tarpon nailed the plug and started jumping all over the area.

The fish put up a great fight and I almost lost it into the mangrove roots twice but I finally landed it and took a couple of pics before putting it back where it belonged.

I fished the area hard for about 20 more minutes before giving it up for the day.

I'll be going back there again this week for sure.

Till next time, Tight Lines

Fishing Catfish Creek Loop

When my wife didn't feel like going out to the refuge with me, I decided to try my luck at fishing Catfish Creek Loop.

The wind was blowing, but not as hard as it was the other day when Karen and I checked out the area.

I was fishing mostly with a small frog pattern Chug Bug that I keep smeared up with Pro-Cure offshore formula and a Slim Dog topwater bait.

As I usually do, I drove into East Gator Creek first to check out the shallow grass flats.   The wind allowed me to make several casts with both baits but I never got a followup on either lure.

As I drove into a calm area, I spotted a nice fish busting the surface so I stopped and quickly tossed out my Chug Bug.

I twitched the bait twice and almost immediately it got blasted out of the water by a large ladyfish.

The fish tailwalked around the area for a few minutes until I could bring him to shore between the mangrove roots.

I took a few pics before releasing the lady and started to blind cast the area after it settled down a bit.

I caught three more smaller ladyfish and missed what looked like a slot size sea trout before moving up the road to fish Catfish Creek Loop.

As I drove into the loop, I stopped to blind cast an XPS Series topwater popper around the Indian River.   I had one followup by a large fish that was probably a red, but at the last minute the fish didn't take the bait.

As I drove around the road, I stopped at several places to toss the Chug Bug and several other lures around the area.   I picked up a small sea trout that I quickly released and at the bend of the road where the water was dead calm, I hooked into a small Garfish on the Chug Bug that wouldn't release the bait.

The Gar had the bait sideways in it's mouth and didn't release the lure until I lifted it onto the bank.

I took a couple of brief pics before releasing it.

On the way out of Catfish Creek Loop, I took a few more pics and made mental notes of where Karen and I could dunk some live baits for redfish or drum.

There are plenty of black drum in the 15 to 25 pound class cruising the banks, so Karen and I will definitely be trying for a couple of them this week before I have to get back to work.

Till next time,
Tight Lines

Topwater Sea Trout Action In The Refuge

The topwater sea trout action got pretty hot this evening just at dusk.

I made a late decision to go fishing this evening so about 6:30 pm I quickly packed up three spinning rods and headed to the closest are in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I passed Peacocks Pocket boat launch and spotted a lone fisherman wading around the culverts with another rod set for redfish.

I passed him and headed towards an area where I spooked a small pod of redfish the other day and sure enough they were still in the area.

The fish were cruising slowly down the marsh canal and were totally oblivious to everything I tossed at them.

I tied on an XPS silver and black topwater bait to replace the topwater bait I lost in the trees yesterday at Patillo Creek, and started pitching it around some likely looking areas.

 It didn't take long before a slot size sea trout smacked the lure at the mouth of a shallow pond.

I quickly unhooked and released the fish to fight another day and moved to another area.

I was still playing around with the moving redfish but even with the new lure, they were not eating the bait, however, I nailed another under slot sea trout on the bait that I released.

I finally gave up trying to catch the redfish and started concentrating on sea trout.  The air temperature was in the high to mid 80s and there was almost no wind on the water where I was fishing.

When I came to "Bobcat Bay", I started pitching the XPS into the marsh canal around an island and a small pond.    After smearing the bait up with some Pro-Cure to add "incentive", the second cast into the area hooked me into this nice fat 26" sea trout.

The fish nailed the topwater bait and make two strong runs in the shallow canal before I could lip the fish out of the water,.

Both sets of trebles were in the fish so I took a couple of  quick videos, got the pliers from the truck and unhooked the fish.

It looked like it was in good shape but because there was so much brush around the bank I had to toss it back into the canal.   The fish turned upside down but was breathing,  so I took a video of it until it righted itself and swam away to fight another day.

The next spot I stopped to fish produced another 16" sea trout, again on the same XPS topwater bait.

It was getting dark so I made one last stop at an old duck blind to fish another pond entrance before heading home.

I missed three sea trout on the same bait and finally hooked an landed a Garfish that was about 22 inches long just as the sun was setting.

I took a couple of quick pics of the fish before releasing it into the river.

Since it was too dark to land a fish if I caught one, I decided to pack it in for the night.

As I was heading to the main road, an out of town angler partially drove into the marsh at the last set of culverts.  Fortunately a guy in a Jeep had a chain an pulled him out so everyone could head home.

Every day fishing is a good day but when the topwater sea trout action is hot, it makes a good day a great day.

Till next time, Tight Lines.