Saturday, May 10, 2014

Shawn's Bank the Hot Ticket



I had a trip set  up today by Capt. Scott Stewart, fishing out of Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina, with a group here during a conference/business meeting.  We left the marina with Scott and Keli Backes and their friend Shawn and headed straight up to the Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  The anglers were tossing live shrimp under floats and after a short while Keli had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  And boy what a fight the fish put up.  It ran strong and hard, away from shore, out from the bank, then dove deep. But Keli kept the pressure on and eventually subdued the beast - a 34" Bonnethead Shark!  Boy, that will wake you up!  We continued to fish and Scott's rod got hot. He landed a fat Seatrout and a feisty Redfish. We fished on up into a creek, then moved around to the MOA but had not luck at either.  Our next stop was back at Jolley Bank, now renamed Shawn's Bank because we hadn't fished long before Shawn started putting fish into the boat.  He started with a high jumping Ladyfish - the "poor man's Tarpon", then had a Jack Crevalle.  He made another cast to the bank and the minute his jig and shrimp hit the bottom, BOOM!  FISH ON!  He worked the fish patiently and eventually we landed a nice 18.5"  Slot Redfish!  Then all the anglers heated up, catching more Jack's, a Bluefish, a Whiting, another Redfish or two, and a handful of Seatrout.  We worked the bank, catching fish, hit one more spot, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!


No comments: