Just Like Babe Ruth

The fishing seems to be getting better since all of the rain we had last week.  I met Jay Chincheck and his buddies Mark and Tim down at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina this morning and we headed up to fish the logs of Tiger Island with about an hour left in a falling tide.  The anglers were tossing jigs and mud minnows and it may have been Tim's first cast when he had a strong bite and landed a nice Redfish!  Shortly after that he had an even bigger fish on.  He played the fish expertly but after a good battle the fish had other plans and ran up into the logs and cut itself off!  Then all three

anglers started catching fish.  Most all were feisty Redfish in the 15-17" range.  Jay had one Red that had 14 spots, a sure big money winner in the Spot Tournament when it grows another inch or two!  We worked the area thoroughly and just as we were about to leave, Mark had a good bite, and FISH ON!  He played the big fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice 21" Slot Redfish!  Then Jay followed that up with a keeper sized Flounder.  We hit our first spot one more time, picked up a few more Redfish then Mark put another keeper sized Flounder in the boat. We made

a run around to Jolley River, fished the bank where Tim put three Reds in the boat, then moved further up river to fish Snook Creek.  Again, Tim hooked up but this time it turned out to be a very nice 18" keeper sized Seatrout to round out the trio's Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Flounder and Trout.  Jay picked up another Trout shortly after that and Mark added a feisty Redfish.  We ran back to the marina, made a pit stop for lunch, then ran south to fish the Horsehead Area. Our first stop proved fruitless as it appears the Mangrove Snapper have gone.  Our second stop was up in Christopher Creek where Tim added another Redfish.  We were visited by a small alligator who seemed to have no fear of humans because he swam right up to the boat and hovered for a handout.  We then made a run down to Broward Island and even though the tide was way up we fished the logs anyway.  Jay spotted a small protected pocket and called his shot, just like Babe Ruth, "I'm getting a big fish in there", and made his cast perfectly.  A split second later he had a hookup and FISH ON!  This was a bigger fish and even though it headed for the logs, Jay worked it out and when he got it out deeper, played it patiently.  After a good battle, we landed another big 22" Slot Redfish!  We hit one more area, fished some float rigs, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!