Fishing (No Catching) in the Northern Indian River in Titusville, FL - 1/30

gettinwet

Was there early Saturday morning, still pretty chilly with the wind coming off the river so cruised around creeks/backwaters looking for movement thinking with the sun coming up/temperature rising might find some fish moving up onto the mud flats. Found some mullet jumping - birds diving for glass minnows - fished around them with zoom flukes, paddle tails, gulp shrimp either on weighted screw in type bass hooks or strike king jig heads. Worked everything slowly - popping it up off the bottom occasionally - then letting it fall/sit. Nada. A few bumps, one missed strike, and a puffer ate one of the gulp shrimp. The water was murky brown from all the rain plus it was windy at times. Never saw any fish actively feeding. Did see a dredge about a mile north of the Max Brewer - probably not a good sign.

Did get to try out my new toy - a Stradic FK3000 paired with a used (new to me) GLoomis GLX 852S. The Stradic is very light and smooth - doesn't hold as much braid as advertised and curiously doesn't have a braid "strip" so have to add backing. Still took over 180 yards of 10lb Spiderwire Stealth Braid - more than enough. Casts/lays the line on the spool very well - no wind knots even when casting in variable winds all day with new braid. Bail is super smooth easy to manually trip. Didn't have a chance to test out the drag/power - hopefully next time. I would recommend the 3000 over the 2500 - same weight, more line capacity, much better handle - though it is hard to find. I had to order mine - nobody had the 3000 in stock.

Regarding the rod, I've never had a purpose built rod before but after using this GLX jig/worm rod I can definitely see the advantage. While working a jig I could feel everything as it bumped along as well as lift it crisply with ease. The rod is rated for 1/8 ounce but in reality is a bit stiff for that - 1/4 oz up is great though - once I got the hang of how to load the rod tip it casts great and very accurate for a long rod. You do have to tie very small clean knots though because the guides are very small (micro guides I believe they are called). Didn't have the chance to work a fish but felt like it had more than enough power. It would be a great bass fishing worm rod - and I believe will finally give me enough feel to work a jig effectively

HABU

Glad you like your new setup. You'll be ready when the big one hits.

bostonsox2904

I was also out on the North Indian River Lagoon at the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. I was trying out my new kayak, and had a similar experience as you with no catches. The water was murky and I would often see the swirls around my kayak from the fleeing fish. Saw a few dolphins and wading fisherman, but no luck. Lots of duck hunters out in the AM. Hopefully the water will clear up/warm up soon

TD-Anglin

Ill jump on too since I was up that way also, dirty dirty water. No action either on artificial, few strikes on cut baits but nothing stuck. Saw a fair amount of black drum on the flats, pretty good size some of them, unfortunately rite on top of them by the time we did and spooked in about a foot of water several times. Probably should have just set up and soaked some baits but just don't have the patience. Anyway made up for lack of catching today when I found a school of trout in the bite. I thought it was a huge school of bait on the bottom machine turned out to be all trout, and not dinks either plenty of 17-19 inchers also. Caught em till I got sick of catching. Glad you like the new combo, always nice to have gear that works the way you want!