Great day on the flats

gilbertslake · #1 03-12-2012, 07:38 PM

Was on the flats today, out of Titusville FL. It was windy ++ so we did not get to Mosquito Lagoon, our preferred fishing area. The wind really churns up a lot of silt there and the guide said it would be really difficult to pole and fish with that much of a breeze. So we fished the main lagoon off Merritt Island in the shadow of the Kennedy Space Centre.
On the 6 mile run out we had a manatee roll and dive about 30 feet from the boat. These things are big!!
We hit the creek and into fish right away, all smaller sea-trout 12-16 inches with couple about 18 inches, but they were hitting hard and fighting hard. I did strike one sizeable fish about 24+ inch, but he was the proverbial one that got away.
I landed and released about 20 fish at the creek and lost another 10-15 on Clousers. There was another flats boat near us with 3 guys fishing bait and they were skunked. My guide took delight in texting the other captain and saying 'looks like the fly wins again.'
We poled along the lea shore and sight fished red fish and big sea-trout, but got only one hook-up. All the while, pelicans were dive bombing around us.
Saw a lot of stingrays, gliding over the open sandy areas and was reminded of the need to do the 'sting ray shuffle' when wading so as not to get stung.
We went back to where the best red-fish chances were to be had, but the wind had picked up and the boat was moving fast with the steady breeze and casting was not easy. Saw a few more good fish but they were not on the take.
Did see one smaller tarpon finning, but he quickly disappeared.
But just being out there on the flats, with the wind picking up salt spray and leaving a salty crusting on my face and arms made it feel just right. And there was lots of wildlife, including the hot-pink roseate spoonbills, brown and white pelicans and ton of wading birds. And oh yes, there were alligators.

So, it's on to bass and pickerel on Friday. Gee this really sucks lol.

Oops, I forgot my camera! Hopefully I will get some pics of Friday's trip.

goldscud · #2 03-12-2012, 08:14 PM

Sounds like a blast. How do the sea trout fight? Do they ever jump?

gilbertslake · #3 03-13-2012, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldscud

Sounds like a blast. How do the sea trout fight? Do they ever jump?

they fight pretty hard and the bigger ones try to keep their head down which gives them more energy. Yes, they will give some jumps, but I only had one came out ofthe water. I did see some come out of the water when chasing bait fish (mullet).
The one thing with these trout is that you need to be careful when getting the hook out, as there is an upper lip tooth in the smaller trout and two teeth in the bigger ones, that are sharp an can leave a nasty cut.

densa44 · #4 03-13-2012, 07:49 AM

We went with a guide off Tampa, caught reds, sheepshead, and drum. I had to throw the trout back. The trout are more like brookies, pull hard but didn't jump.

We are in the Keys now, Matecumbe, on the inside. The wind is a player here, too rough for me to go on the Atlantic side, we are catching, shark (nurse) plantation snapper, grunts, barracuda, and a grouper.

We are going to a new spot today in the whaler so stay tuned.

The fresh fish taste great.

gilbertslake · #5 03-13-2012, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by densa44

We went with a guide off Tampa, caught reds, sheepshead, and drum. I had to throw the trout back. The trout are more like brookies, pull hard but didn't jump.

We are in the Keys now, Matecumbe, on the inside. The wind is a player here, too rough for me to go on the Atlantic side, we are catching, shark (nurse) plantation snapper, grunts, barracuda, and a grouper.

We are going to a new spot today in the whaler so stay tuned.

The fresh fish taste great.

I had only had one come out of the water. They were coming out of the water after the schools of mullet though. Most of the fish really thrashed about when at the surface?

We had a lot of wind too. The sand and mud was really being stirred up and the reds and big sea trout were spooked easily. I did get a couple of grunts as well. But we missed out on the big stuff. The guide said Sunday had been bad fishing but on the Saturday the wind was lighter and they had reds,drum, dolphin, Jacks and big sea trout. The reds were fining as well on Saturday morning.It always seems that you should have been thee two days earlier or they guys going out the next day get into lots of fish. Ah well, that's life I guess