Kayak Fishing Report: Pine Island Conservation Area – Sam’s Creek

Happy First Week of October SpaceFish Family,

I hope that everyone was able to weather the storm, and that no one’s home or property was damaged. The way it has felt outside since the storm passed, with crisp cool mornings, and highs in the lower 80’s it feels like fall is creeping its way here on the Space Coast. This weekend I finally got to get out to a place I have been wanting to go explore, fish and write about, and that is the Pine Island Conservation Area located on the northern part of Merritt Island. It was everything I had hoped, and then some. It was an absolutely gorgeous place, teeming with wildlife and natural beauty. It was quiet, peaceful, I ran into another angler in a jon boat, two guys that were fly fishing in a tandem pedal drive kayak and that was it for the entire day. In the meantime I spotted roughly a dozen gators, a dozen manatees, and a pod of 2-3 dolphins and countless wading birds, ibises, snake birds, and ospreys. If you like going to places where you see more wildlife than humans, this is a place you have to check out for yourself. As for the fishing, this place is an absolute backcountry Tarpon wonderland.

Where to Launch: The location for the kayak/canoe launch at Pine Island is listed as 1655 Pine Island Rd, Merritt Island, FL 32953. When you get there you will see signs for the kayak launch area and where to drive. Be aware that there are no restrooms, and the launch area is down a sandy gravel road. Be careful where you walk, the grass has grown up pretty high in this area and I had to use my paddle to scare away a snake from the small wooden gate where you enter with your kayak or paddle craft into the loading area. There has been significant flooding to this area post, in fact the launch was actually in the loading area, and I was able to paddle out and through where the launch normally is.

Where to Fish: The small canal where the launch is was filled with rolling Tarpon, I was actually able to catch a tarpon just to the north of the launch spot (pictured above) right after launching in the morning, and when I was coming back in, in the afternoon. Technically these waters fall into the realm of the Indian River Lagoon, but this long north-south running stretch is called Sam’s Creek (I’ll go into the history and nomenclature later), but going all the way down the creek there are mangrove shorelines on either side, there are a few spots on both sides where there is a curve/cut in the shoreline. In one of these areas where there is a break, there are two mangrove islands, and beyond that there are dead, submerged trees, and beyond that flat wetlands. This whole area on the north half of the creek is what I would call a mangrove swamp. This open wetland area had a large number of rolling tarpon back in this stagnant water, but there were also 4 gators swimming through the trees in this area, they were shy and never approached me, but be careful if you paddle back amongst these trees chasing tarpon, just keep your head on a swivel.

I never thought I would have to watch out for gators while Tarpon fishing, but this was certainly the case at Pine Island. On the paddle down the creek and back I encountered gators, manatees, and dolphins sharing the same waters, talk about a cool experience! It certainly makes one realize just how wild Florida really is when you get a few miles away from developed shorelines.

One of Many Sam’s Creek Tarpon Caught This Weekend

Moving along to the south end of Sam’s Creek, the trout bite really picked up. Any time there was a point formed in the mangrove shoreline, I casted up current and consistently caught trout at each point. Paddling south, I took the right out to the main IRL, and worked about a quarter mile down to the south, I found a giant school of Black Drum and was able to pick off 3 from the outer edges of the school, one of them was enormous, but that was the 3rd one, and the fight he put off spooked the school. I paddled back to the north and ended up going about a half a mile north of the opening to Sam’s Creek, I was able to catch a few Red’s that were hanging around submerged trees, and at the base of palm trees and openings in the mangroves, they were not chasing anything down, but I was able to sight cast to them in sun exposed shallow water.

After catching a few Reds, all smallish in size, I decided it was time to start heading back. Once I got back into Sam’s Creek I saw Tarpon still rolling, the further north I went, closer to the kayak launch area they got thicker, I spent another 2 hours or so stalking and casting to Tarpon before calling it a day. It was definitely the best Tarpon bite I have ever experienced, I lost count of how many I hooked, but I caught 13 on the trip. The biggest felt about 20 pounds, the smallest being the smallest I have ever caught, but the small ones can be the most fun, they jump the most, and the highest.

What Worked for Me: So let me talk about my Tarpon set up, and why it’s important to be able to properly present the bait, and then land the fish. I recently bought a new 1000 series reel, a Daiwa Laguna, it is super smooth and lightweight, I have it spooled with 8 lb Spiderwire braid, and use 14 lb Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon leader. I have it on a 6’6” Berkeley Amp Saltwater rod, which is tough enough to drive the hook in, and can put up with the fight of a large and heavy fish, but sensitive enough to feel the subtle thump of a Tarpon bite. In fact a few of the Tarpon I caught were bumping the bait in the water, when I would feel the bump I would let the lure die and many times on the drop is when the Tarpon would swallow, once they swallow they are a lot easier to hook up with and land.

This small and light set up is very important when Tarpon fishing because it requires patience in waiting for the Tarpon to roll, and being able to make quick and accurate casts. When the Tarpon rolls they usually go right back under after getting their gulp of air. Make sure to pay attention to the direction of where it’s head will be facing. I try to cast several yards beyond the rolling action and retrieve the lure slow, and steady right in front of its face.

In my experience, Tarpon are not likely to chase down a lure, and if you throw it too close, these spooky fish will scare off and get lockjaw. Once the Tarpon is on the hook, hang in and be ready for the acrobatic show, and blistering runs. I set my drag loose so the leader doesn’t snap, and when the fish wants to run, I let him run. When you feel them coming up for the jumps make sure to lower the rod to bow to the Silver King. After losing a Tarpon to a bent hook on a DOA Tiny Terror Eyez last week I went and got some 2 inch Storm swimbaits which come pre-rigged with a VMC hook, and are very strong for such a small bait. The hook up ratio vs the bony mouth of a Tarpon was about as good as I’ve experienced and the size profile is perfect for what a Tarpon is looking for in these stagnant backwater areas.

I caught a few Trout as by-catch while casting to rolling Tarpon on the small swimbait, but most of the Trout, Reds, and Black Drum came on the Berkley Gulp! Swimming Mullet in Pearl White rigged on a ⅛ oz red DOA jig head or on a Rootbeer/Chartreuse tail Gulp! Shrimp on a ⅛ oz chartreuse DOA jig head. The Swimming Mullet is a curly tail grub type lure, I caught fish on a slow and steady retrieve, and by bouncing it along the bottom. The Red and Black Drums I caught were all on the Gulp! Shrimp and the most effective method for catching fish on this was to cast it in front of the face of the fish and dead stick it like I was Bass fishing with a ned rig. The nice thing about Gulp! products are, they come in a liquid and are well scented, their shrimp is not the most realistic looking shrimp lure on the market, but the scent seems to do a lot of the work. If you can handle the patient approach, it can be a flat out fish catching machine. The only downside to working this lure low and slow is every once in a while you will probably catch a catfish, I did catch two this weekend.

History of Sam’s House/Sam’s Creek/Pine Island: So I have mentioned before that I am a history teacher, I love being able to visit historic sites, and if they intersect with the world of fishing then all the better! So I’ll give you a brief version of this history and would highly encourage you to go see it, and explore for yourself! Sam’s House is the oldest standing building on Merritt Island, and possibly Brevard County, it was built after the Sam’s family migrated to Florida from South Carolina in 1875. The house was built in Eau Gallie and after a failed attempt to grow pineapples there he relocated to northern Merritt Island, and set up a citrus and pineapple growing operation there. The kayak launch spot actually has a piece of coquina rock still standing from where his packing house was set up, his fruit was moved from there via schooner down Sam’s Creek where it was boarded onto steamships and sent north on the IRL. The founder of this estate, John H. Sams also went on to become Brevard County’s first school superintendent in the 1890’s.

The history of this location, which is in the backdrop of scientific and technological advancement located just south of the Kennedy Space Center, runs very deep and can be described as ancient. There is an ancient Indian mound that dates nearly 7,000 years, and this location was also the site of a Native American settlement that was populated from 5,000 BC to 1250 AD. Archeological discoveries have proven that the people that settled at the mouth of this creek were migrating in pursuit of large land mammals like Mastodons and giant Land Sloths. Back at the end of the Ice Age when people began to settle here, Sam’s Creek was a freshwater creek and the Atlantic coast was roughly 80 miles east of where it currently is, this creek would have been a gathering place and a source of freshwater for Florida’s earliest inhabitants as well as the animals they hunted to survive. All of this unique and special history can be discovered in greater detail by visiting Sam’s House, which is now a museum and learning center operated by Brevard County. There are also 6 miles of hiking trails on the Pine Island Conservation area.

I hope everyone has a great week, the weather forecast calls for a sunny and beautiful week, I hope you’re able to get out there and catch a few. Until next time!