Pelican Island NWR (Part II)

Happy New Years, Spacefish!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and your time was spent with those you love. We are now into our Space Coast winter weather patterns with several fronts having already rolled through – nothing like last year THANK THE LORD – but still enough wonky weather to make fishing difficult and unpredictable at times, that being said however the weather is very tolerable for long hours spent on the water, and it is a very enjoyable time of the year (on most days) to be on the water without feeling like you are a Christmas Turkey in an oven. This week I am going to talk once again about the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge – but from a different launching point, and on the north end of this federally protected area (read about my first trip to Pelican Island here).. Let’s dive in!

Where to Launch

So to access the northern part of the refuge, I actually launched out of Riverview Park in Sebastian – located at Riverview Park, US-1 &, Co Rd 512, Sebastian, FL 32958. The more convenient way to fish the northern part of the refuge would be to use the kayak launch off of Jungle Trail on Orchid Island – but since I live in Melbourne, it is an easier drive from my house to go to Riverview and just paddle/pedal further while on the water. This park has a cool statue of Paul Kroegel – the man that served as the inspiration for Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge to be signed into Federal Law in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt. I will nerd out later, and give more backstory at the end of the report.

Where I Fished

After launching from Riverview Park, I headed out straight across the IRL towards Pelican Island, which was about a 2 ½ mile trek – Pretty much the entire time I pedaled out to this spot I trolled a Rapala lure – the F7 in Silver/Black – a slightly larger version of what my Uncle Rhett prefers for Crappie/Speck trolling. I didn’t get any hits on the trip over but once I got to Pelican Island I cruised past it towards a twin set of islands called “Egret Islands”. I figured 8’d it through these islands and got on the main shoreline and started fishing this shoreline as I worked NNW back towards Roseate Island. The fishing was pretty slow going until I go into an area referred to as Turtle Pen Slough – once I was in this area the fishing really picked up.

Now to be clear I don’t think it was a geographical as it was based on weather conditions, around the time I made it to Turtle Pen Slough the sun came out and things really warmed up – this really started to fire up the Snook bite, as I was able to catch Juvenile Snook in bunches – catching around 15 or so in about a 2 hour span of fishing in this Turtle Pen Slough area – I was able to catch 2 Snook that were in the slot range as well. One off of one of the little spoil islands in this area, and the other at the mouth of this little cut in Roseate Island on the eastern side of the island.

After spending about 2 hours in this area, I started to head back, but I did stop to fish in between a set of spoil islands and was able to catch 2 Jacks in this area.

What Worked Well

Topwater (Sort of) – So the Topwater bite has really slowed down for me inshore. Recently I got a free Moonwalked SBD (Silent But Deadly) from Salt Strong as part of their Tackle Tester promotional deal – without the knock or rattle the pitch for this bait is that it generates strikes more than the traditional rattle or knocking plugs. Well I never landed a fish on this in this trip, however, I was able to get a few hits which allowed me to throw a follow up subsurface lure in the area and catch fish. I didn’t see much surface level or aggressive feeding which is usually my cue to throw topwater but I threw this bait in areas that were shaded along the mangroves and worked it as slow as I could while still walking the bait and for the time in a long time, it did draw strikes.

Jerkbait – This was my complimentary follow up bait when I was getting hit on top but was not connecting. The Fish, or Die Warbird in Swampfox. I rigged this bait weightless and weedless on a 2/0 BKK Worm Hook (screwlock). This is a killer inshore bait in skinny water, or when the fish are honing in on surface level presentations but not coming all of the way up, as you can walk or dart this bait just below the surface. This smaller profile bait works well on these more finicky winter feeding fish. Work it fast and it looks like a panicked baitfish, work it slow and it looks like a wounded baitfish. The segmented body and tail create erratic action without giving off too much vibration and scaring away wary fish. This bait also skips really well under the mangroves. I was able to catch 3 small Snook, my largest of the trip (pictured at the top of report), and 2 Jacks at the end of the trip on this bait.

Rapala F7 Floating Minnow – I used the silver/black color pattern, I casted this bait as close to the mangroves as I could get it, let the rings dissipate, and would twitch it and let it dive under the surface, if that didn’t generate an initial strike I would just slowly retrieve it back to me, I really like this slow moving small baitfish profile with the tight wobble. This tight wobble and small profile is something that I believe helped to generate strikes on a cold day, and will continue to produce as a good winter time inshore bait as we continue to fish through colder weather patterns. On this trip I was able to catch 8 small Snook with it.

Shrimp Lure – The Vudu Shrimp, 3 inch version in a natural pattern with a little Dr. Juice Shrimp scent caught 5 total Snook, 4 juvie’s and my second largest Snook of the trip. I casted this bait as close to the mangroves as I could, let it sit still for 15-20 seconds then would bounce it off the bottom back to the kayak.

Bird of the Day – Brief History of the Pelican Island NWR

Paul Kroegel was a German immigrant who took advantage of the Homestead Act to acquire free land in Florida – at the time of when Kroegel migrated into the area it was a true wilderness, Florida was still very much the Southernmost Frontier at this point in American History in the late 1800’s. From a young age onward, Kroegel fell in love with the wild, natural beauty of East Central Florida, and he developed quite a love and passion for Florida’s wading birds (including Pelicans) that at this point were being hunted to near extinction to support the Gilded Age fashion trends of Plume Feathers for high end fashion headwear – long story short, Kroegel would take a rowboat out to the islands that served as rookeries for these birds, and he patrolled in on foot with a shotgun in hand ready to defend the island’s birds from Plume Hunters. He was paid a $1 per year salary from the Audubon Society for his efforts. The man’s intense passion and dedication eventually garnered the attention of President Roosevelt who signed into law Federal protections for this area, creating one of the first National Wildlife Refuge’s in the United States. Today this area serves as a haven still for fish, and birds, and all species that call the Indian River Lagoon home – as the human population along the Space and Treasure Coast’s have exploded in the last half century, this Refuge serves as a barrier against encroaching shoreline development, and all of the ill effects that have come with it, and in the two trips I have taken there to fish in the last month it seems to serve as a nursery for Juvenile Snook – as based on catch rates, they seem to be thriving in this area that also seems to support a healthy ecosystem of baitfish, and birds as well.

In honor of Paul Kroegel, and his life’s work I would be remiss if I did not highlight a bird of the day, and to do so in a positive light. In case anyone at home is wondering, I did genuinely apologize to the Kruegel statue for the disparaging remarks I made in my previous piece about Pelican’s being obnoxious creatures. I mean let us be clear…they totally are, but to disparage them while writing a report encouraging people to go fish the wildlife refuge the man fought for and protected just seems like a total lowball move, so that is what I was apologetic for – not my overall stance on Pelicans, which remains fairly low at this time, maybe it will change in the future, who knows…

Anyway – The Great Blue Heron. Believe it or not is one of the closest living relatives to the Dinosaurs, which if you really observe these birds of prey it’s easy to see it, the way they walk, and their heads move, their eyes and shape of their face – very raptor-esque when it comes down to it. These birds despite their gangly appearance and storky look are actually quite the fierce predator – I’ve even seen one mollywhop a Water Moccasin and then eat it. Mad respect. But the thing I appreciate the most about these birds, and I have a feeling you will too, is that these birds are excellent indicators of where targeted species of fish may be located along a long mangrove shoreline. If you have a stretch of mangroves that is several hundred yards long and there is a bird actively looking in the water it would be a safe assumption there is a food source of baitfish in that area, and if there is bait, there are probably Snook/Trout/Redfish in that area. So when I go to these places that are overwhelming in the fact that everything looks fishy, these birds can help hone in when fishing a new area where everything looks tempting.

Conclusion

What more can I really say about the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge besides, GO AND FISH THERE – I have had 2 great trips in the last few weeks catching great numbers of Snook, with a few quality fish mixed in. In the summer of 2022 I fished there with my wife, launching from Jungle Trail and caught an inshore slam. There are 3 places to access this area via kayak launch, Riverview Park in Sebastian, the Wabasso Causeway, and the kayak launch off of Jungle Trail on Orchid Island. It is a stunningly beautiful place to enjoy a paddle, and catching fish just makes it all the better. I hope everyone had a wonderfully Merry Christmas, and I wish you all a Happy New Year! May 2024 be the year of catching PB’s in the most beautiful fisheries imaginable.

I’d like to thank Kayaks By Bo for being our official Paddle Partner on our adventures – for anyone looking to take their kayak or paddle board fishing to the next level in 2024 – check out Kayaks By Bo in Titusville, your one stop shop for all of your paddle sport needs.

Stay safe, be happy, and Happy New Years Spacefish family… Until next time!