We Had a Plan

I've did two "Amelia Island Back Country Fishing" presentations this month - one for the FWC Women's Fishing Clinic and the other for the Ocean Club members out at Amelia Island Plantation - and one of the first bits of advice I give is to have game plan ready before each fishing trip. We were blessed with a beautiful day yesterday but the wind was forecasted to be a steady 12 mph with even higher gusts. I always tell people that anything over 10mph is going to be a pain in the rear, and over 15mph - we should pick
another day. So today we had a plan! I met Tony Stubits and his son Troy up at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp and with the wind blowing out of the west, we made a run over and up Lanceford Creek and sure enough, when we arrived, it was like fishing on a pond. The two anglers worked the dock pilings with jigs and live shrimp at the very bottom of an outgoing tide and even though they were makin excellent casts, we found only one hungry Seatrout. We bounced up and down the docks making the best of the calm waters, then made the long run back and up the Bell River to another set of
docks. Again, we were sheltered from the wind which made it comfortable to fish the pilings thoroughly, and we picked up a Trout or two and keeper sized Flounder. The wind had died just a bit so we ran around to the back side of Tiger Island and although we had no shelter, it was noticeable that the wind had slacked so we were able to fish the pockets along the shoreline. It wasn't long before Troy had a hookup and, FISH ON! We could tell the way the drag was ripping that this was a big fish. Troy kept the pressure on - we thought the fish got into the logs - but he pulled him out and worked him patiently to the boat. After a good battle Troy landed the fat 26" Slot sized Redfish, boy what a fish! We continued to fish - Tony landed a nice feisty Redfish then hooked up and landed Black "puppy" Drum, which gave the anglers an Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam of Seatrout, Flounder, Redfish, and Drum. Troy went back to his "honey hole" and picked up a nice 17" keeper sized Seatrout. So even though we had some wind to contend with, we had a plan, and it paid off with a good handful of fish and some nice keeper sized ones, making it another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.