Playalinda Beach In March

Fishing Playalinda Beach in March can be rewarding when the weather conditions permit.  The problem is that when conditions are stellar for surf fishing, the beaches get crowded, fast.

Saturday afternoon I decided to make a quick run to Playalinda Beach to get a fishing report from the gatekeepers and see how many surf fishermen were taking advantage of the beautiful weather.

I left the house after noon and drove up to the Playalinda Beach entrance shortly after.   

The refuge ranger I spoke with said that the surf fishermen were making good catches of whiting, bluefish and pompano at lots #8 and #10 so I headed to the beach to check it out.

I stopped briefly at Eddy Creek and found that the fishing pier that was damaged during the last hurricane was totally rebuilt and some fishermen were taking advantage of it.  

Lot #10 had several vehicles in the parking area and when I got to the top of the boardwalk, all of them seemed to be sunbathers.  Nobody was fishing the surf so I moved down to lot #8.

Lot #8 had about the same number of people on the beach but again, nobody was fishing so I couldn't get a first hand fishing report.  

I stopped at three other lots on the way out of the Canaveral National Seashore and found many more sunbathers but no fishermen.  

The tide was going out so either the fishermen left the beach after fishing the incoming tide, they departed when the beach became crowded, or the fishing reports were so bad that nobody bothered wetting a line today.  I can't believe the latter.

On the way out of Playalinda Beach, I stopped at a couple of the scenic Vistas to toss a Chug Bug smeared with some Pro-Cure around the clear flats.  

At Vista 6, I spotted several fish busting the surface and although I had a couple of followups, I had no aggressive hits on my bait.

When I finally left the beach, I drove up to Haulover to check out the fishing there.   Bairs Cove boat launch was slammed.  Trailers overflowed to the entrance leaving little room for the bank fishermen to pull over and fish, but they managed.

There were fishermen on the banks of both sides of the canal dunking a variety of baits, mostly shrimp, and a couple of the guys I spoke with said they were catching redfish, black drum, stingrays, and lots of catfish.  

I tossed a gold Johnson Sprite into the canal in a couple of areas but never got a hit, so I took a few pics of the scenery and headed back home to get something to eat.

Probably get out this week to give it a try when not so many people are around.

Till next time,

Tight Lines

Playalinda Pomps and Permit

I've been in Mobile, Al this past week and haven't had much chance to wet a line but Javier Cuazo was kind enough to shoot me some pics of fish he caught this Thursday at Playalinda Beach.

He was fishing in Lot 12 using shrimp for bait and caught about 6 Pompanos/Permits and several  Whiting between the hrs of 0700 through 1300.   

That's 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. for you non-military types.

He also sent me this short video which I decided to post despite the fact that I do not speak Spanish and haven't a clue about what is being said.

They look happy so if it is offensive, which I'm sure it is not, just click out.

The surf in the pics looks much more fishable than the last time I visited Playalinda.

I'll love eating Pompano and will definitely be heading to the beach as soon as I get back home again.

Till next time,

Tight Lines

Playalinda Beach Fall Mullet Run

The fall mullet run is currently going full force, so I decided to hit Playalinda Beach for a change to sample a little surf fishing.

The thunderstorms were just beginning to let up around my house when I decided to get a little fishing in and because Peacocks Pocket Road was closed to vehicle traffic, the beach seemed to be a good alternative.

I loaded up two "river" rods, an Okuma surf rod, and a small cooler with a few frozen blue crabs and several small mullet for bait.   I had a small "beach" tackle box set aside with my extra leader material, hooks, sinkers, etc. but I forgot to bring it and a 5 gallon bucket along.

When I drove into the Playanda Beach guard shack I asked the attendant about the fishing and the tide but she wasn't able to provide any information about either.

I decided to check out several areas to see if anyone was catching fish but when I stopped at lot #3, there was nobody in sight.  In fact, except for a couple of fishermen and some wildlife officers who were doing work on the facilities, the beach was for all practical purposes, desolate.

I stopped to take some pics and short videos of lots 3, 8, and 10 (above) before I finally decided to pull out the rods.

At the last lot, there was a couple who were just leaving and one fellow, who I later learned was named Jeff, cast netting mullet in the surf.

When I walked down to see if he had seen any fish, Jeff said he saw several nice fish in the breakers and when he offered me some live mullet for bait, I couldn't resist not getting my fishing rods.

I retrieved my gear from the truck and baited up a sliding sinker rig with a live mullet to see what I could catch.

After losing a few fish, I finally got into the groove and landed a small Jack Crevalle which I returned to the ocean.

It was an overcast day, the tide was just starting to come in, and it was around 5:00 pm. A perfect scenario for productive surf fishing.

From 5:00 pm on it was if someone turned on a switch.  The fish started biting and I was catching bluerfish back to back. 

I hooked a nice Snook in the surf that was cruising just off the first sand bar.  It took the mullet and got off as I was leading it across the shallows.

Jeff didn't bring his fishing rod along with him, so I offered him one of my spinning rigs to use until I was ready to leave.

We both were catching bluefish and as I caught another Jack, it broke off my sliding sinker rig.

I had several rigs in the truck but since it was getting late in the afternoon, I didn't feel like slogging back to the truck to get them.  Instead when the last bluefish cut off my leader, I tied on a 5/0 Owner hook directly to the 40# Power Pro I had spooled on the reel and put on another mullet.

I thought a flat lined bait would be just as good as one on the bottom and it didn't take long to prove me right.

On my second or third cast past the second sand bar, a tarpon of about 5 feet in length took my bait and took off.   I saw the hit and didn't realize it was a tarpon until it made it's first jump out of the water.   As the line started screaming off my reel, I quickly realized that the fish could spool me.

When the tarpon jumped the second time, the hook came out and I didn't have to worry about the spooling problem.

That was only the second tarpon I ever hooked from the beach and both were unforgettable.

Anyway, I tied on another hook and caught another bluefish before the bite started slowing down.

It was around 6:30pm when Jeff and I decided to call it a day.  I had six bluefish in the small cooler for dinner and a tale to tell my wife.

Not bad for a few hours of fishing.

With any luck, might meet Jeff tomorrow for another shot at the fall mullet run.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Christmas Eve On Playalinda Beach

I didn't expect to spend Christmas Eve on Playalinda Beach but that's exactly where I was this afternoon.

Because of some health problems I've had, I have been spending time at home recuperating instead of going fishing at my usual spots and this afternoon I couldn't spend another hour at home, so I decided to hit Playalinda Beach to see how the surf fishermen were doing.

The tide was out when I hit the entrance and when I asked the attendant if she had any fishing reports, she told me that this past week the surf fishermen were catching Whiting and Pompano.

She suggested fishing lots #3 and #10 so I thanked her for the information and headed to the beach.

I passed an energetic gopher tortoise tripping down the road and a gator at the first curve to the beach but no humans.

When I stopped at lot #3 to see if there were any fishermen on the beach, I only saw a couple of family groups making the best of an overcast day.    The surf was up and I was surprised that no surfers were in the area.

I decided not to fish the spot and headed toward lot # 10.  As I passed Eddy Creek I was surprised to see no cars in the lot so I parked and pulled out my tackle.

I set up a couple of sand spikes along a trough and baited up with fresh dead shrimp on one rod and finger mullet on the second.

 

The waves were strong this afternoon and there was a good rip current just past the first trough that required a 6 oz. sinker to hold bottom.

I started out fishing my Okuma bait runner rod with a finger mullet and a 4 oz. sinker.  That didn't last more than one cast.  Added an ounce per cast until I finally got the bait to hold on the bottom just past the first trough.

I had mono on the other surf rod I brought along so I tied up a two drop leader with a couple of small circle hooks and started fishing with a 4 oz. pyramid sinker.

I baited the second rod with small pieces of peeled shrimp and tossed the rig out just past the breakers.

The fishing was slow but the company was great.  Some gulls, terns, sandpipers and a snipe were all interested in my shrimp.

 

I kept getting hits on the finger mullet but whatever was biting kept chopping off the baits up to the head.  It could have  been bluefish or mackerel but I never landed a fish on that rig today.

I did manage to hook and release a few small whiting on the peeled shrimp.  They were all about the size of the fish below.

 

All the whiting I caught this afternoon were literally by accident.  I never felt a bite on any of the fish I landed but the small circle hooks did their job.

Fishing the surf during windy conditions is tough enough but when a strong rip current is included in the scenario, feeling a bite is next to impossible.

I didn't get to the beach until around 4:00 pm this afternoon and even though the tide was coming in, I decided to head for home at around 5:30 pm.  I probably could have caught some more whiting but I got tired of fighting the current.

I took the long drive home via Bio Lab Road and saw several people wade fishing the flats.

Next time I'll bring along a "river rod", just in case I decide to fish the lagoon.

Till next time, Tight Lines to your all and have a Merry Christmas.

Playalinda Beach Blues

Saturday morning I decided to hit Playalinda Beach for some surf fishing.

I had been spending too much time around Peacocks Pocket road fishing for sea trout and redfish so this morning when my wife announced that she didn't want to go fishing, I packed up my favorite surf rods and headed for Playalinda Beach.

When I checked the tide chart at around ll:20 am, I learned that high tide was in at around 1:15 pm so I pulled some frozen ladyfish chunks and a small bag of shrimp out of the freezer and headed out.

The temperature was in the high 80s and the wind was gusting but my mind was made up.

When I pulled up to the guard shack and showed them my pass I asked the girl at the window about the fishing report.  She was less than helpful.

She said nobody told her anything about the fishing except one guy who caught some small pompano,

I politely thanked her and headed for lot #8 across from Eddy Creek where I decided to start fishing.

The lot was not overly crowded so I lugged my gear to the beach and set up near some other guys who didn't seem to be catching much.

 

The water was rough so I clipped on a 5 oz. pyramid sinker and baited up my first rod with small bits of shrimp.

After I set the first rod I rigged the second for bluefish.  I tied on a wire leader and a 5/0 long shank hook and baited up with a chunk of ladyfish.  I would have preferred a live mullet but I didn't have time to pick up any bait.

I didn't have to wait long before I got my first hit, and miss on the shrimp.

The bite was very slow and I kept missing fish on the shrimp.

The rod with the ladyfish chunks finally took off and whatever hit the bait kept on going.

Another fisherman waved to me and asked me if I wanted to use some of his live bait and I readily agreed.

He had a couple of pilchards in the bucket that he netted in the surf so I put one on and send it out past the breakers in hopes of something big.

To make a long story short, I spent about an hour at the first spot and when the tide was at it's peak I finally decided to give it up.  Nothing was biting on anything.

I guess I'm not patient enough for bait fishing and no one on the beach lot #8  seemed to be doing any better.  The fish just weren't biting today.

I packed up my stuff and headed to the truck in the parking lot when an Aussie asked me if I had any luck.

I told him my tale of woe and he said he caught some whiting earlier in the morning before the tide change and one small bluefish.

He didn't like bluefish so he gave me a barely legal fish which I took home for dinner.

I guess it wasn't a total loss.

Anyway, I took Bio Lab road back home to see how the Mosquito Lagoon looked with the water levels as low as they are.

 

I took some pics of the area and spotted several boaters fishing around Pelican Island, probably on a school of redfish.

Too bad I didn't take the Maverick out today.  Anyway, there's always another day.

I briefly thought about doing some wade fishing but I was tired and didn't feel like trudging out to deep water without proper equipment.

Surf rods just don't cut it in the Mosquito Lagoon.

Till next time,

Tight Lines.