Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving and tight lines to everyone this coming year.

Garfield was patiently waiting for Thanksgiving Day dinner so after stuffing ourselves with turkey, dressing, etc., Karen and I decided to take a ride with Elmo and Odie around the area to see if anybody was catching fish.

It was beautiful weather and a good day to wet a line, but it was getting late in the afternoon and I didn't particularly care to fish with the two dogs in tow.

We decided to hit the beach first to see if any fishermen were after Pompano in the surf.

We drove around Eddy Creek and headed farther north to lot number 12 to check it out first.

There were a couple of cars parked there and a lone fisherman who was leaving as we pulled up.  He told me he was fishing since noon and only had a couple of bites with no hookups.  

He said nobody else was fishing the area so instead of checking out the area, we drove up to the turnaround at lot #13 and headed back south.

I pulled into lot #10 and parked.  Karen stayed in the truck with the "boys" and I walked to the beach to check out the surf.

Except for some Sanderlings scooting along the beach, there was nobody around.

The waves were manageable and the surf looked very fishable.   I spotted a rip and made a mental note to try fishing the spot tomorrow.

After taking a couple more pics I headed back to the truck to check out some more areas.

The beach at Lot #8 was also void of human activity so I decided to head to Haulover Canal and see how the bank fishermen were doing there.

There were a few people at Bair's Cove watching a gaggle of manatees frolicking around near the boat ramp, so I drove around and pulled over at the first open space we could find to let the dogs out for a spell.

The area was loaded with bank fishermen who were after black drum and bull redfish.

As I was taking some pics of the area, several manatees came right up to the bank apparently looking for sea grass to eat.

I took a few pics and a short video before we decided to head for the house.  I didn't bring along any bait or I definitely would have tried fishing the area.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Another Windy Evening In The Refuge

I knew it was going to be another windy evening in the refuge when I got home from work, but I decided to wet a line anyway.

It's bike week in Daytona and the traffic on I-95 was as expected.  Bikes everywhere.

It was late when I rolled in so I unpacked the truck and loaded up four spinning rods with a couple of top water baits, a paddletail bait, and a gold Johnson Sprite spoon.

When I crossed the causeway bridge over the Indian River, I knew fishing would be tough.  There was a "parking lot" on the north side of the road loaded with spectators watching the kite boarders.

The wind today was blowing out of the southwest and everybody except the fishermen was having a blast.

Anyway, I drove into East Gator Creek Road and tried fishing some of the sheltered areas close to the bank with no success.  I had a couple of follow ups, but no hits.

As I was driving towards the barrier at Peacocks Pocket road, I was going to stop and talk to a guy who was pulling out his flat bottomed boat, but when I saw that he hadn't caught anything, I left him and his son and headed for the spot where I picked up a nice redfish last week.

When I got there, the wind was blowing strong enough to make fishing more of an effort than fun.  I started fan casting the gold Johnson Sprite but after fifteen minutes with no hits, I moved on up the road.

I continued fishing several spots using the different rods I brought along and finally caught an under size sea trout that I didn't bother taking a picture of.

There were a couple of guys wading Gator Creek tossing hardware around, but as I watched them fish, they didn't seem to be having any luck.

I passed on of my "buddies" who was knee deep in the river watching the four poles he had staked out in rod holders.   When I yelled to him if he had any luck, he said he had been fishing for an hour or so and didn't have a bite.

He was fishing cut baits and is a regular at this particular spot.  A couple of  weeks ago, he caught a 33" red, a couple of slot reds and a big sea trout at the same location on cut baits, but today was a skunk.

It was getting late and I didn't feel like fighting the wind anymore so I decided to pack it in.

As I was leaving the refuge, the wind died down in a sheltered cove where I caught this stupid needlefish on a top water Chug Bug.

The little needlefish had the heart of a gator trout so instead of chopping it up and using it for bait, I released it and continued on my way out of the refuge.

On the way out, I talked to three more fishermen who were fishing with cut bait, live mullet, and shrimp.  None of them where having any luck fishing this evening but everybody seemed to be enjoying the beautiful weather.

Since today is Friday the 13th, I'll chalk up the lousy fishing to the day.

Maybe tomorrow evening the wind will let up and the fishing will be better.

Till next time, tight lines.