Memorial Day Bio Lab Road Scouting Trip

Karen and I waited until 5:30 pm this afternoon before deciding on a Bio Lab Road scouting trip.

Every time I picked up my truck keys, Elmo and Odie started going crazy so we decided to take them for a ride before my ear drums gave out.

The air temperature was 93 degrees and there was very little to no wind over the water in the Mosquito Lagoon when we got to the entrance of  Bio Lab Road.

Near the boat launch, the water clarity left a lot to be desired; but as we drove closer to the Whale Tail flats, the water started to clean up quite a bit making sight fishing possible.

I stopped at a couple of spots to cast a Johnson weedless spoon and a small size topwater Chug Bug around some bait pods, but I never got a hit but Elmo and Odie didn't care much.

They both had a ball at every stop enjoying the day.

At one spot around some old submerged pilings, I spotted a large sea trout busting on some fingerling mullet and about 100 yards farther down the road, I saw a snook holding close to the mangrove roots.

I tossed a bait at both fish with no results.

With the weather this hot this early, I really didn't expect a bite.

We left Bio Lab Road and headed to Titusville, but I decided to check out Peacocks Pocket road to see if anybody was at the kayak launch.

Because it was Memorial Day, I expected to see a lot of fishermen on the water along Bio Lab and Peacocks Pocket, but we passed three groups on Bio Lab and only one person leaving the Pocket road as we were entering it.

When we got to the barrier, I parked and started casting the gold spoon around the marsh canal but  I never got a hit on the spoon.

Karen was using the other rod with the Chug Bug on the Indian River side, so I pulled the other spinning rod with an XPS Slim Dog and started casting the plug into the canal.

On the second cast, a large ladyfish busted on the bait, made one jump and spit the hooks.

I made another cast into the same area but a large gator decided to make my live miserable by following every cast.

After two more casts without a hit, I gave up the spot to the gator.  It was in the 8' to 9' category and I didn't feel like messing with it.

Karen wasn't having any luck on the river side, so we decided to head for the house and some dinner.

On the way back to the bridge, the banks of the Indian River were still packed with people enjoying the long Memorial Day weekend.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Late Afternoon Sea Trout Action

After yesterday's scouting trip around the refuge, I decided to try and get in some sea trout action in the refuge.

I changed the water in the tropical fish tanks and took care of some business before deciding to get out and wet a line.

It was around 6:30 pm when I loaded up a few rods into the truck and head out to the nearest water.

The causeway was loaded with people celebrating Memorial Day and fishing along the banks.

I was going to try and fish Peacocks Pocket by the kayak launch but decided to try East Gator
Creek instead.  It was closer and would give me more time on the water.

The first culvert looked "fishy" but it was extremely shallow so I tied on a gold  1/8th oz. Johnson Silver Minnow, smeared it up with some Pro-Cure Inshore formula and made of casts around the mangrove roots.

I had a hit but missed the fish so I moved on to another spot up the road.

The second area looked uninteresting but I stopped anyway and started casting the gold spoon across the shallow grass flats.  The water was tannin stained but clear and I spotted a couple big black drum along the deeper trough just at the bank.

After several casts I again missed a fish before finally connecting with a slot size sea trout.

I took a pic, released the fish , and continued casting.

I walked up the road blind casting across the shallow grass and managed to hook up with three more sea trout about the same size as the first one.

I released all the fish and moved up to another area where I landed a nice juvenile tarpon last year.

Unfortunately, no tarpon today.  I switched to a topwater Chug Bug and started casting into the flat waters hoping for a larger sea trout.

I had a couple of followups but no hookups except for a very large gator that kept following my Chug Bug, so I switched rods and started casting the spoon again across the shallow grass.

As I was about to give up for the day, I hooked into another sea trout a little smaller than the others I was catching up the road.

I took a quick pic, released the fish, and decided to head for the house and get some dinner,.

I took a pic of the sunset and hit the road.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.

Catching A 28 Inch Sea Trout In The Ditches

This afternoon I managed to catch a gator, a 28 inch sea trout in the ditches, a "hard hat" catfish and an oversize redfish that I lost around a brush pile.  Not a bad outing for only a couple hours fishing!

The North wind as blowing up a storm this afternoon which made fishing topwater baits almost impossible, so I decided to fish cut baits for Redfish and whatever else would take a bait.

I loaded up three rods and a cooler with a half of a large ladyfish that I caught a couple of weeks ago and proceeded to Peacocks Pocket road.

I planned to fish an area where I caught some nice reds yesterday evening but someone was already at the spot, so I moved up the marsh canal to another spot where I often see redfish cruising.

I chunked up a couple of pieces of ladyfish and put out two rods without any weights.

It didn't take long before a redfish hit the first bait I set out near an open culvert.  The red was oversize and felt like it was well over 30 inches but I never got a chance to take a measurement.

The fish ran up the marsh canal and headed towards a pile of brush where it managed to break off.

I quickly tied on another 5/0 Owner hook, cut another chunk of ladyfish for bait, and lobbed it into the middle of the marsh canal for another shot at a red.

I put my SJ4000 Cam on my visor in hopes of getting a video of another redfish catch and started fishing again.

The wind made it impossible to keep a tight line and when the next fish hit, it took a while for me to realize I had a fish on.

I turned on the SJ4000 Cam as soon as I saw something on my line and got this video of me catching a 28 inch sea trout in the ditches.


Surprisingly, the big sea trout did not put up much of a fight and after some sloshing around, I finally slid down the bank to get a Boca Grip on the fish.

I took a couple of quick "selfies" and this short video before releasing the fish to fight another day.

 

 After putting the rod out with another fresh chunk of ladyfish, the other rod took off and I thought I had another big redfish on but as the 20 pound Power Pro kept screaming off my reel, I knew it couldn't have been a redfish.

Whatever I caught was about to spool my reel so I tightened the drag to the max, and thumbed the spool to add additional resistance.  I thought the line would break off but the long run finally stopped and I started to pump in whatever was on the other end.

After literally 30 minutes or so of constant pressure and a lot of give and take, I finally got to see what was on the other end.

I saw the tail first, and immediately recognized it as an alligator.  The gator was about 7 to 8 feet long and it was in no mood to stay around me.  When it saw what was on the other end of his tail, it took off again and I decided to break it off.   

I pointed the rod at the gator and held on until the line snapped at the hook.

All the time I was fighting the gator I thought I had turned the camera was on, but when I got home I realized it was shut off.

I was ready to quit fishing and head for home but the line on my other rod was moving out and I thought I had another redfish on.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a hard head catfish which I promptly released.

It was getting dark and the wind never let up, so I packed up the rods and headed for home.

All in all it was a decent fishing trip, at least it wasn't boring..

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Gator Trout Are Hitting In The River

Right now if you get out early enough, the gator trout are hitting in the river for fishermen using anything resembling a finger mullet.

Although I haven't been able to get out as much as I planned, the reports I've received from some of my friends and a couple of guides, tell me that the sea trout fishing on the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon is outstanding.

Although May is one of the best times of the year to nail a gator sea trout, this year seems to be better than average.

The early topwater bite is generally over by 9:00 am for those using Chug Bugs, SkitterWalks, Zara Spooks and just about anything that looks like a finger mullet, but for live bait fishermen using finger mullet, pinfish, grunt or even cut baits, the fishing remains active almost all day.

My wife and I took our two "wonder dogs" for a ride around Peacocks Pocket road Saturday afternoon, but we didn't do much fishing.

The temperature was 91 degrees, the waterfowl were out in force as were the gators, but the wind made fishing with artificial baits a lot like work.

 

Both of the bank fishermen and wade fishermen we spoke with were catching mostly sea trout in the 20" plus category.

One guy who had a couple of rods out along the "duck blind" said he caught a nice 29" gator trout and a slot redfish.  This report was late in the afternoon after he had been fishing for a couple of hours.  He said both fish were caught on chunks of fresh mullet.

I made a quick trip around the "Pocket" when I got home from work late Friday evening and picked up a couple of small sea trout and two nice ladyfish on gold Johnson's Sprite spoons.

I was targeting redfish on Friday but only spotted two that were spooked by my misplaced casts.

The water in the Indian River is clear right now in most areas and the fish are spooky.

My friend Jason sent me some pics of his friend (left) with a nice 28 1/2" sea trout he caught on a live mullet along "Marsh Bay" on the Indian River this past Thursday.

Fish like these are being caught all over both lagoons right now.

All the pics below were of a trip he made last Wednesday.

All the fish below were caught along Peacocks Pocket Road on the river side with live and cut baits both bank fishing and from the Gheenoe.

 

 

 

 

These guys had six rods set out with cut baits and live finger mullet.  With the air temperature in the 90s, it seems like the way to go.

 


I planned on getting out today but had too many chores to catch up on but I will definitely be on the water bright and early next Saturday a.m. come hell or high water.

Till next time, Tight Lines.