Back in the Saddle

The Anglers Mark was down for a week with engine issues.   I got it out of the shop yesterday and was chomping at the bit to get out on the water this morning with Patti and Brian Harnish and their neighbor John.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock and headed north to fish the logs of Tiger Island on an incoming tide.  The bait shops had no live shrimp but I was able to procure some mud minnows so that was what the anglers tossed with the 1/4 oz jig.  We fished an open area for a good while with no real bites, eased
down to fish another and again had no bites then moved north to try one last spot. I was beginning to wonder if the fish were on a vacation when Brian had a subtle bite.  He set the hook firmly and when his rod bent double I knew he had a good FISH ON!  Brian worked the fish patiently to the boat but it dove deep and then went from starboard to port so Brian had to play the fish around the trolling motor.  Then the fish came back from port to starboard then from bow to stern!  But Brian was up for the  task having fished for Rock Fish back in Maryland and after a good battle we landed a nice Slot Sized 24.5" Redfish - Brian's first Red!  From then on the anglers caught a good handful of Redfish with John adding one that was right at the Slot size then they picked up a Flounder, a second, then John boated a nice keeper sized Flounder.  We fished the area for a little while longer, then headed up to Jolley River, switching to float rigs.  The anglers had a few bites, saw some big fish up in the shallows, but no real takers other than a hungry Seatrout that gave them an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Flounder, and Seatrout.  After hitting one more spot on the outside of Tiger Island, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!