Mosquito Lagoon And Indian River Fishing

The Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River fishing has been great so far this month for sea trout, redfish and medium to large schools of black drum.

I took off late this afternoon to score some trout in the Indian River and wasn't disappointed.

The late start was intentional since I have found that the trout bite better later in the afternoon and just before dusk.

Today's trip was a clone of yesterday afternoon's fishing trip. The water had a slight ripple and the wind had a chill to it that was not quite as bad as yesterday.

The trout in the marsh canal were biting but they were sluggish and would not take a lure unless it was fished very slow.

In about an hour and a half, I managed to catch only three trout that were keepers.

I had several taps and half hearted hits that I believe were from smaller trout and I missed one slot sized redfish.

The trout were hitting my green DOA jig head tipped with a Strike King 3X cyber flex jerk bait. The salt impregnated jerk bait has a garlic flavor and can stretch up to at least a foot, if you care to do it.

The bait is perfect for winter time fishing when you have to fish lures very slowly. The fish just refuse to let go of the bait.

Anyway, I was going to keep the trout but since it was late, I didn't feel like cleaning them so I just took a couple of pics and let them go.

All the fish were caught within a 50 yard stretch of water in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge marsh area.

After I missed the redfish, I decided to head for home and came across a couple of guys in a canoe that weren't having much luck and were also packing up to leave.

They told me they came across a school of black drum on the Indian river side, but they didn't catch any of them.

They then hauled the canoe over the to the other side of the road and fished the marsh canal without any luck.

The canal is about three feet deep at its deepest point near the road and gets progressively shallower everywhere else.

The best places to fish near dusk is right at the road, which is why I go out late in the afternoon during the winter. During the day, you will have better luck casting right on the opposite bank and slowly swimming the bait back to you.



On the way out of the preserve I took these pics of the beautiful sunset. No matter how many times I fish this area, I still become awed by the wildlife and the beautiful sunsets.

Till next time.

Tight Lines.

December Indian River Sea Trout

December Indian River sea trout are wary, hefty, and fun to catch.

My wife and I took our wonder dog Elmo to one of our usual fishing spots, in the hopes of catching a redfish or a sea trout.

Because I didn't get home from my job until late in the afternoon, we decided to head towards the closest productive fishing spot we could find, which happens to be the Indian River marsh area.

The temperature was in the low 50s and there was a moderate wind on the river when we got to where we wanted to fish. Because of the cold snap this past week, the water was cold and I assumed the fish would be somewhat lethargic.

We stopped at a couple of spots that normally produce, but today neither Karen or I had any hits.

We kept moving down the unimproved road and came upon a silver car, Mitsubishi I think, that had a bicycle on the rear bumper. It had apparently been driven off the road and was obviously in need of a wrecker.

We looked into the car to see if anybody needed help, but the car was empty; so we moved on to where I had caught some redfish last weekend.

Karen tossed out her usual shrimp and bobber rig to where I saw a fish swirl on some bait, and I started tossing my gold Johnson spoon with red tag that caught me fish last week.

Because of the cold water, I was fishing the gold spoon very, very slowly trying to keep it moving just off the bottom.

After several casts I hooked onto a fish that I initially thought was a redfish. It was heavy and sloshed around a bit before I saw that it was a very nice sea trout.

After a brief fight, I landed the trout and decided to take a few pictures before releasing it.

If the season would have been open, I would have had this one on the dinner table, but since November and December is closed season in Brevard County, I put the fish back to grow bigger for my next fish dinner.

I saw another fish swim by and told Karen to pitch her bait near it, but the fish apparently weren't taking shrimp today.

I walked up the river a bit to give Karen some room to fish and started blind casting the banks hoping to catch a redfish.

After about a dozen more casts at some likely looking spots, I hooked onto another very nice sea trout.

The fish was bigger than the first one and put up a respectable fight. I again took it's picture and put it back to grow into a gator trout.

It was getting dark and after about a dozen casts to both sides of the river, I decided to give it up for the afternoon.



Karen didn't even get a strike on her shrimp, which looked perfectly edible to me. (I'm a sushi fan!)

As we were packing up to leave, we saw a wrecker coming down the road to rescue the car that we passed on the way in to our fishing spot which had run off the road.

It pays to be careful and considerate when you drive these unimproved roads. In many areas there isn't enough room for two cars to easily pass by each other.

Whoever drove off the road this time apparently made it in one piece.

Hopefully, we will get to fish tomorrow earlier and get a shot at some redfish.

Till then; Tight Lines.

Shiloh Road Fishing Trip

After a dismal fishing trip on Saturday around Peacocks Pocket Road, my wife and I decided to try out Shiloh Marsh road near the "bubble gum" machine (as my wife calls it). See the pic.

The Peacocks Pocket area on Saturday proved to be pretty bad. The water was dead calm on both sides of the road, and I completely gave up on my artificial lures.

Karen and I caught one catfish each on dead shrimp for bait. I never got a hit on any of the artificial baits I tried all day.

Today was a bit better. We fished one of our tried and true areas around a culvert where the water was moving, and stayed in the area until dusk.

My wife and Elmo, missed a few fish on shrimp and finally landed a nice slot sized sea trout.

I stayed with a Skitter Walk top water plug and later switched to a CAL paddle tail bait.

I got several hits on a black and silver flecked CAL paddle tail bait and finally landed a 20" seatrout.



At about 8:00 the fish were getting active and aggresive. I missed five trout on the Skitter Walk and finally landed one that measured in at 25".

I missed one redfish on the same bait, but couldn't get any of the other redfish I spotted to take a lure.

As the skeeters started sucking my blood; we decided to head home and enjoy a video.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

P.S. To Victor and his friends. I'm still a beginner, I just like to practice a lot!
Never stop trying, that's why it's called fishing and not CATCHING!