Even though I was fat with turkey, green beans and sweet potato pie, the thought of a free day of fishing the day after Christmas had me chomp'in at the bit. I purchased some live shrimp from Rose at the Bait House and had The Anglers Mark launched at the north end boat ramp by 7:30am. A dense fog hung over the river and visibility was only about 30 feet. I chugged north up to Jolley River thinking that surely the fog would lift, but it hung in there all day. The tide was high at 8:30am so I tied on a white w/red head Zara Spook topwater and fished over the flooded oyster beds in hopes of some trout strikes -to no avail! I switc
hed to a jig with live shrimp and eased up into a small creek and eventually hooked up - but lost- a fish. I rebaited my jig and tossed it to the same spot and picked up a nice, but undersized trout. Can you imagine fishing some of your better spots, then some new ones, and not getting any real bites? That's how the morning went. I finally cranked up with only about an hour left before the tide was completely out and ran back towards Amelia Island. With the tide being almost low and the fog still heavy, I inched the boat, staying just south of the markers leading in to Tiger Island. There was one boat with some anglers anchored on the north side of Tiger so I eased in on the south side and anchored up near shore. Tossing my jig and shrimp parallel with the shore, it wasn't long before I started getting bites and began to pick up trout - all undersized. Every once in a while I would feel a strong tug as I bumped the jig over some bottom structure and eventually -BOOM- I had a nice black drum on the line and in the boat. I lost a couple of fish up in the submerged tree limbs, then caught a keeper sized sheepshead. Then a small flounder. More trout. A small red. BOOM a big 26" red - with a broke off rig still hanging out of it's mouth. More smaller reds - one with one of my leaders and hook still in it's mouth! I fished until all my shrimp were gone and then headed home. I ended the day with (6) trout, (6) Redfish, (1) black drum, (1) sheepshead, (1) Flounder, (1) Croaker, (2) rays. What a great day of fishing!
hed to a jig with live shrimp and eased up into a small creek and eventually hooked up - but lost- a fish. I rebaited my jig and tossed it to the same spot and picked up a nice, but undersized trout. Can you imagine fishing some of your better spots, then some new ones, and not getting any real bites? That's how the morning went. I finally cranked up with only about an hour left before the tide was completely out and ran back towards Amelia Island. With the tide being almost low and the fog still heavy, I inched the boat, staying just south of the markers leading in to Tiger Island. There was one boat with some anglers anchored on the north side of Tiger so I eased in on the south side and anchored up near shore. Tossing my jig and shrimp parallel with the shore, it wasn't long before I started getting bites and began to pick up trout - all undersized. Every once in a while I would feel a strong tug as I bumped the jig over some bottom structure and eventually -BOOM- I had a nice black drum on the line and in the boat. I lost a couple of fish up in the submerged tree limbs, then caught a keeper sized sheepshead. Then a small flounder. More trout. A small red. BOOM a big 26" red - with a broke off rig still hanging out of it's mouth. More smaller reds - one with one of my leaders and hook still in it's mouth! I fished until all my shrimp were gone and then headed home. I ended the day with (6) trout, (6) Redfish, (1) black drum, (1) sheepshead, (1) Flounder, (1) Croaker, (2) rays. What a great day of fishing!
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