Redfish Boil

We had a beautiful day today, with almost no wind, clear skies, and sunshine! I met Jeff and Jess Kamenski up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park midmorning with plans to target tailing Redfish when the tide got a bit higher around noon. We made an initial run up to Jolley Bank and began working back against the current. Jess was on the bow tossing float rigs with live shrimp while Jeff unlimbered his fly casting arm. We worked the banks slowly while both anglers were making excellent casts, but we had no real bites. As we ended our run, Jeff switched to a float and shrimp, made a cast into shallow water, and we
all so a boil, his float disappeared, and Fish On! The fish came deep, Jeff's drag ripped, and we had a battle on our hands!  Jeff played the fish patiently and soon landed a nice 22" Slot sized Redfish!

We moved down the river and fished either side of Snook Creek. We had nibbles here and there then Jeff reeled in a large Gar Fish, then he battled a high flying Ladyfish. The tide was getting up and we had one more stop to make before we began to check the marsh for flooding so we made our way back to the outside of Tiger. Jess made a cast forward to some submerged oysters, her float disappeared and...no fish! But she was not to be denied and went back to the same spot and BOOM! She had a hookup! Jess played the fish perfectly and soon landed a keeper sized Seatrout (All fish caught today were released). Then Jeff had a strong hookup and his drag began to sing. And Sing. And Sing. Big Fish on!  But Jeff was up to the task and after a long battle, landed a big 4' Bonnethead Shark.

We then began to check the marsh and even though the forecast called for a 7.0' high tide, there just was not enough water up in the grass. We checked 3-4 areas but it wasn't to be. We finished up fishing Bell River and here Jess hooked up with another nice Seatrout. Although we didn't have a chance to target tailing Reds, it was still another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.