Trout on the Fly

You just can't beat the kind of weather we're having this week!  I had met Steve Cheis down at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning under clear skies and with just a slight breeze - the river was like a pond!  We headed up to the outside of Tiger Island and Steve tossed top water Gurgler with an 8w TFO Fly Rod.  He was making some excellent casts to the edge of the marsh grass and even though we were seeing some bait movement, he had no takers.  We then made a run up to Jolley River, did the same at one marsh run out with no luck then eased into a large creek, switching to a shrimp pattern on an intermediate line.  Steve

was tossing up current and slowly stripping the fly back and this did the trick!  He picked up a beautiful keeper sized Seatrout that put up a valiant fight for the fly rod.  We photographed and released this fish as we did with all others caught today.  We moved back to the mouth of Jolley, fishing deeper water, and switched to a float rig and live shrimp.  Steve picked up a few more Trout,  a few feisty Redfish, then a fish that bent his rod and made the drag sing!  This big fish put up a fight but Steve was up to the task and patiently worked the fish to the net, landing a nice 25" Slot Redfish!  We then made a stop behind Tiger Island, fishing with jigs and shrimp on the bottom.  Steve landed a good handful of Seatrout, a couple of Sheepshead to round out his Amelia Island Back Country Slam, and also had a couple of more feisty Redfish.  After hitting a few more oyster beds at dead low tide, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!