After School Special – Snook in the Creeks

Happy Monday Spacefish!

I am back this week after not having a report for last week. The week before, I was unable to get out and fish due to having to go coach in a 7v7 for my football team and taking my family to the Grant Seafood Festival. I planned to hit it hard last weekend, but life threw me a curveball, and I was out of commission with the flu. I dipped and dodged it all fall AND winter, and just when I thought I was in the clear, it hit me! I started feeling better on Monday, and after two weeks of no fishing, I was itching to get back in the saddle.

With the whole time springing forward thing happening last weekend, I can now squeeze in an afternoon trip on days I don’t have any after school stuff (doesn’t happen as much as I’d like), but I was able to squeeze in two after school trips this past week.

I would imagine that quite a few people reading this are like me. You have a full-time job that doesn’t involve fishing, you have a spouse, children, and other life things that can come in between you and time on the water. One of the best things about having a kayak is that you can load it in the back of a truck or on top of a bigger car/SUV, and you can hit the water pretty quickly. So, I am going to talk today about my recent after-school trips and hopefully provide you with ideas for after-work mini-trips.

Last week the wind machine was turned on full blast, so I decided to hit the Creeks, and look for areas that blocked the wind. One of the trips was on my beloved Eau Gallie River. Ballard Park is a very slight detour on my way home from work, and after I load back up is 5ish minutes from my house, and the other place I went, was Horse Creek, which is about 10 minutes or so away from my house.

Horse Creek offers a great wind protection option when the wind is blowing from the north or south, and Elbow Creek on the Eau Gallie River offers a good alternative for when the wind is blowing from the east or west.

When fishing Elbow Creek, I launched from Ballard Park – located at 924 Thomas Barbour Dr, Melbourne, FL 32935. When fishing Horse Creek I launched from The Horse Creek Kayak/Canoe Launch – located at 1555 Riverside Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935.

Elbow Creek Trip

On this mini-trip, I was trying to escape a strong west wind, so I immediately went to fish the backside of the docks of the Waterline Marina. All I caught there were Ladyfish, and since I was pressed for time, I decided to keep it moving. I was able to catch 2 small Snook under docks on the west side of Elbow Creek, from under docks. I kept moving south. Once I got past the last house, the shoreline opened up, and the wind started hitting me and moving me around,so I kept it moving down close to the bridge. I fished the areas around and under the bridge for the bulk of my trip. I could’t find any rolling Tarpon. I’m sure they were there, but it’s tough to spot them when the water is choppy. Even when they do roll, it is much harder to spot unless you’re looking at the exact spot. My peripheral vision has its limitations.

Anyway, I did some blind casting with a small swimbait, to no avail. I went back to targeting structure for Snook with a fish-or-die paddletail and ended up with a nice one under the bridge. I was seeing smallish mullet around, so I thought the 3-inch bait was a good option. The Swampfox color from FoD has always been a staple. Silver with gold flakes works pretty well no matter the water clarity.

I spent my last 45 minutes or so in this area throwing topwater but didn’t get any bites. All in all I fished for roughly 3 hours with 3 Snook and 2 Ladyfish. Not the best outing ever, but not bad for a 3 hour after-work trip.

Horse Creek Trip

For my next trip, I did an afternoon session on Horse Creek. I had a much more productive outing here. Nothing too large, but I was able to catch roughly 15 or so Snook in a 4 hour trip. I only caught one in the first hour and a half I was there. I spent too much time near the mouth of Horse Creek, but once I started pushing back, I started to catch them in good numbers. Right now, this creek is super-duper shallow. So it’s inaccessible to a boat, which is probably why I caught so many fish. Also, if you have two kayaks, and one of them doesn’t have a pedal drive, I’d bring that one. This would also be a great place for a Stand Up Paddleboard angler. It was very tight and winding, and you push back, but I felt like every shade pocket and laydown I cast to might result in a bite. I didn’t catch anything but Snook, but I wouldn’t be surprised to catch Largemouth Bass, Mayan Cichlids, and Bluegill in here, too. There aren’t any mangroves west of the launch, it’s purely freshwater vegetation. So, even though I was targeting Snook, I was making casts like I was Bass fishing.

My secret weapon on this trip was my Pflueger 6-foot combo I use for Panfish, Shad, and Smaller Bass. I was using my sons’ tackle bag and all of their Crappie Jigs. But this downsized presentation on ultra-lite tackle was the ticket. I have this rod rigged up with 6 6-pound braid and a 14-pound fluorocrabon leader. I would have gotten smoked by anything slot-sized or above, but for these creek Snook, it was a perfect combo that made for sporty fun.

On this super lite tackle and 2-inch curly tail bait, I was able to hook a small (really small) Juvie Tarpon that spit the hook on one of the biggest aerial explosions I have ever seen. Those teeny-tiny Tarpon can get air time!

I did throw some bigger baits around just to see, but after several minutes of not getting bit, I went back to the micro stuff.

If you live or work close enough to Horse Creek to squeeze it in, I would definitely recommend fishing there one afternoon. It may not hold bigger Snook right now due to low water levels and small fry bait, but it was definitely a lot of fun, and the challenge of fishing in a small body of water added to it. The positive side of the small body of water is that you don’t have to cover as much water here, which makes it a fun after-work option.

Conclusion

It felt great to get back out on the water this week! Even though the wind was howling, the warmer air temps felt nice. I know temperatures are supposed to dip back down again after today’s rains, but I can feel spring just around the corner! It’s time to start dreaming of morning topwater and Tarpon fishing again!

If you noticed at the top of this report, I was using the kayak paddle to hold the Snook up to not put too much pressure on its jaws. When you catch Snook beyond 15 or so inches, it’s a great idea to hold them sideways so that they have a better chance of surviving after the release. Snook, much like Bass, feed by inhaling their prey, which is why they have that distinctive “thump.” When you stretch out their jaws by lip gripping them, you hurt their chances of feeding, which in turn, hurts their chances of survival upon release.

But the other thing I wanted to mention about that picture is that I am using a paddle. I mentioned above about how shallow Horse Creek is right now, so I had to use my paddle pretty extensively on this trip. I am using a Bending Branches paddle, which you can get at Kayaks By Bo. It is extra long and is a great tool for standing up in the kayak and continuing to paddle. It is also long enough to serve as a de facto push pole. Which helps when trying to silently maneuver around in the backwater creeks. This paddle is super tough and durable and serves me well in a variety of ways. If you need a paddle or any other accessory for your kayak fishing experience, make sure to check out Kayaks By Bo in Cocoa!

Thanks for taking the time to read this report. Stay safe, be happy, and may the luck of the Irish be with you! Until next time!