Out of the Ballpark

Philip White had arranged an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark for this morning with his two sons, Charlie and Sam.  We met at the South End boat ramp at Sawpit Creek at 7:30 and headed up the Nassau River with two hours left in an outgoing tide.  We made a stop at Spanish Drop and both Philip and Charlie picked up a few hungry Seatrout.  Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef and Philip quickly picked up a Seatrout and Sam brought one to the boat.  Then Charlie's rod bent over and, FISH ON!  His drag ripped out repeatedly but he played the fish perfectly on the Gary Loomis TFO Tactical rod loaded with 10lb braid and we soon subdued the fish and brought a nice 19" Black Drum to the net.  The anglers caught a few more Trout and some aggressive Blue's then again Charlie hooked up!  And boy was this a fish!  Charlie was fishing with a broken foot that had a cast and when the fish headed under the boat to deeper water  he passed the rod to his dad and made it a team effort.  Philip put the rod down and around and under the trolling motor and finished the fight, bringing in an oversized 29" Redfish!  This blew first place in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfish category "out of the ball park! (scroll down on right side for standings).  It also rounded out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Trout, Black Drum and Redfish.   The wind picked up so we moved in behind Seymore's Point,  had no real bites, then made a run to Broward Island to fish the very last of the outgoing tide.  The wind was beginning to howl and the boat was rocking and rolling, but  Philip picked up another Trout then 8 year old Sam got in on the big fish action.  He had made his own cast to the outside of a downed log when his rod bent and the drag ripped.  He played the fish perfectly and we netted a 19" Slot Redfish for the dinner table!  We made our way back to the shelter of Seymore's point where Charlie caught a Whiting and a Sand Trout then we headed in  just before the rains hit, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!