Pre-Sunrise on the Beach

I was on the beach this morning to see the sunrise and to walk. I took this picture about a minute before sunrise. I like the picture because it gives me a feeling of serenity. Like many, I think there is something therapeutic about the ocean. When I took the picture, it was quiet except for the sound of the small ocean waves as they came on shore.

Surprisingly, I did not see anyone fishing until I was heading towards the steps to leave the beach. I would think these fishermen will catch fish today. Yesterday whiting and small sharks were being caught. I did not talk to anyone who had caught a keeper pompano.

If the day produces some more wave action, I think that today might be a good day for catching those delicious tasting pompanos.

Boats Off Indialantic Beach

I apologize to any regular readers of this blog for posting so little recently. Due to a family emergency, I have been unable to get to the beach much during the last week or more. This afternoon, however, I did get to stroll the beach for about half an hour. It was almost 4 PM and there were a lot of people on the beach. Some were just sun bathing or fishing or walking the beach or sitting in beach chairs reading or watching their children play in the sand. In other words, people were enjoying the beautiful beach day and that is what the beach is for.

Believe it or not, this is an unusual picture that I’ve posted. Off Indialantic’s beach you seldom see boats like the ones pictured here. You seldom see one boat let alone two. I’ve been told that this is because it is so far in each direction where such boats can be launched.

Dunes In Making

It has not been a pretty day on Indialantic's beach. The wind is strong from the east. I would estimate the wind at about 15 to 20 MPH. Needless to say, the ocean is on the rough side and not many people are walking the beach. I saw no one even attempting to fish.

I snapped this picture near the dunes. When the wind was more northerly, the sand was being blown down the beach. You can see a little from this picutre how the vegetation near the dunes captured some of this blowing sand and started building llittle dunes.

Sunday on the Beach

This morning I walked down to take a look at the ocean. I’m still waiting for surf fishing conditions to improve. From the looks of it, I’ll have to wait some more. The water is on the dirty side and the wave action isn’t good for catching pompano, but it should be decent for whiting and sharks.

Otherwise, it is a pretty nice day to be on the beach. I took this picture on Indialantic beach looking south. There is something for everyone. Of course there are people walking the beach. There are a number of people fishing. Conditions have been favorable for surfing in recent days and there are surfers. And, there are the birds. My picture doesn’t show him, but there was a man with a metal detector looking for buried valuables.

A front will pass through the area on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps it will bring better surf fishing conditions.

Problems of a Surf Fisherman

I had looked forward to fishing today. After more than a week, I was anxious to get my lines in the water. I was disappointed; however, when I walked down to check the conditions. The water is not clean; there is a strong south to north current; the waves are fairly high, and there is some annoying sea weed in the water.

It is not easy being a surf fisherman. Someone wrote that for anyone fishing in the surf, everything favors the fish! I believe it. Seldom is there a day when the conditions are ideal. They are far from ideal today. I talked to one fisherman who was throwing 6 ounces of lead. He said that he was only throwing out 100 feet because he could not hold bottom any further out because of the strong current.

Well, there is always tomorrow!

I Want to go Fishing!

I so much wanted to go fishing today. It has been over a week since the last time I fished in the surf. The conditions today, however, are not the greatest. The water is not clear and there is a moderate chop on the water. I suppose I might hold bottom with 6 ounces, but I’m going to wait for a better day. Another negative is that I noticed a little bit of sea weed along the shore.

I snapped this picture of a shark that someone had just caught. Not being an expert on sharks, I did not know what kind it was. It is not a bonnethead or a hammerhead shark. I didn't get a picture of the mouth, but the mouth had the classic shark look that we associate with Jaws.

There have been a lot of sharks being caught along the beach in Indialantic the last month. One man told me that he fished one day last week and caught 8 bonnetheads. Although sharks can be caught in any type of water, more are caught when the surf is on the dirty side like it has been the last couple of days

If anyone reading this blog can identify the shark in the picture, please comment and share the answer. To comment, you have to register or be registered with Google who hosts this blog.

Rough Surf & Surfers

After church I walked down to take a look at the ocean. It was not a pretty sight. There is a strong wind out of the east southeast that has made the ocean rough. Unless you are a fisherman who knows how to fish rough waters, there would be no fishing today even though the water is clean. Also, there continues to be some minor beach erosion.

I snapped this picture that shows the rough surf and two brave surfers. There's no way that I would venture out with a surf board given today's conditions. I hope the ocean calms down soon. I'm anxious to wet my lines again.

Some Beach Erosion

The last few days have not been kind to the beach in Indialantic. As you can see from the picture that I took about 7:30 this morning, the beach has suffered some beach erosion. Strong southeasterly winds pounded the shore line. Wednesday and Thursday The erosion is only minor, but it shows how easily the sand can be washed out into the ocean.

This isn't going to make surf fishermen happy, but I hear that there will once again be a renourment project in Indialantic. It will be the thrid renourishment project since Hurricanes Francis and Jean in 2004.

Windy But Nice on the Beach

If I were to include a picture of the ocean this morning, it would be similar to the one I posted yesterday, but only the water has somewhat of a light brownish tint. There is about a 12 MPH wind out of the south southeast.

I didn't see anyone fishing, but there were a number of people walking the beach. With the warm temperatures, today would be a nice day to feel the warm sand between your toes as you hiked up or down the beach.

One thing I've been on the lookout for are right whales. I read where this is the time of year that they migrate past our central Florida coast. On a couple of occasions in past years I have seen them. I'm hoping that this will be one of those years.

Rough Surf this Morning

I was thinking of going fishing this morning until I walked down and looked at the surf. As you can see from the picture I took this morning, the ocean is on the rough. side There is a strong southeast wind that has the ocean rolling. The water is still fairly clean, but usually southeast winds eventually cause dirty water conditions. Perhaps things will look better at high tide this afternoon.

One beach veteran was telling me that there is not a nice fishing trough this year along the beach in Indialantic. He blames it on the beach renourishing that was done earlier in the year in Satellite Beach. He said that some of the sand sand has washed down the beach and has filled the trough making the ocean shallower in this area.

Cool but Beautiful

Today is a great day to be on the beach regardless if you are walking, fishing, sun bathing or treasure hunting. It is slightly on the cool side, but the sun is warm and the temperature is rising. The wind is light out of the east south east. The water looks clean and inviting. I was surprised not to see fishermen in the usual spots, but maybe it was because the tide was on the low side.

Manatee in the Surf!

Usually I include a picture with each post, but I missed the picture that I wanted. Yesterday afternoon I was on the beach when I saw a manatee just off shore. I had my camera with me, but by the time I readied it to take a picture, the manatee disappeared in the water and I never saw it surface again.

A couple of years ago I was fishing alone along the Beach in Indialantic when I saw something huge in the surf. It scared me because I didn’t know what it was. At first I thought it was a big shark, but then it surfaced again and I recognized it as a manatee. It is rare to see a manatee in the surf here. I feel badly that I missed getting the picture to share with you.

Fishing Conditions: When I walked to the beach this morning, I did not see any fisherman. Although the ocean is fishable, there is a brisk northerly wind to contend with and probably a strong current. There is wave action and you can see some whitecaps in the distance. The water clarity is slightly on the murky side. There is still no seaweed in the water.

Decent Pompano Catch

-- Click picture to enlarge--
I took this picture of someone who had laid their pompano in the grass after washing the sand off of them. The fisherman caught them using frozen sand fleas earlier this week in the surf in Indialantic. They ranged in size from 11 to 13 inches.

This morning I didn't see anyone fishing, but conditions look favorable. The water is clean and there is some wave action. There is still no evidence of sea weed. The morning wind was light and the waves were coming straight in from the east.

It is really a beautiful morning on the beach. Walking the beach on such a morning should be a delightful experience.

Fishing Conditions

Fishing Conditions: I’m writing this on Wednesday morning. I’ve just came back from the ocean where I noted that the water has good clarity today. There is enough wave action to stir up the sand fleas for the pompano to devour. The wind is about 5 MPH out of the NW. One man had just started fishing and had caught a whiting and a blue within the first 15 minutes. He said that there is a strong current with which to contend, so you will need a heavy sinker. It is cool, but conditions seem to favor a good fishing day.

Sand Flea Colonies

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago of sand flea pods or colonies. Sand fleas are crustaceans and they live together by the hundreds and probably thousands in tightly knit pods or colonies that are clearly visible to beach walkers. Although the pods are clearly visible, some beach walkers probably never realize what is beneath those wrinkles in the sand.

Sand fleas are prized bait for pompano fishermen and a source of food for various birds like ibis pictured here looking to pick a sand flea out of the sand. Unfortunately, colder weather has forced sand fleas deeper and/or further out in the water. As someone said, they are scarce as hen’s teeth right now. When January and February come, they will be even more difficult to find.

Fishing Conditions: The water clarity is not good this morning. Fortunately, there is not any sea weed visible which is a big help. There is a light wind from the northwest. There also is some wave action. The ocean is definitely fishable, but the lack of water clarity may make it not good for catching pompano.