The Flounder Got Bigger

 Our first stop produced 3 keeper fish! I had met Cindy Gray who was hosting two of her grandsons, Alex and Henry, for a fishing trip this morning. We met down at Sawpit Creek early and made the run up the intracoastal then in to Jackstaff to make our first stop at a overflow - the tide was dropping and as we fished the mud flat began to appear. The anglers were tossing mud minnows on a  jig and Cindy kicked it off when she hooked up and landed a keeper sized Flounder. She then battled a hard fighting Jack Crevalle to the boat. (We tossed that back). We worked around a point and Henry got on the board when he hooked and landed another keeper sized Flounder, just a big bigger than his grandmothers. Before we left we moved back to our original position and here, fishing deep, Cindy hooked up and expertly played to the net a nice fat keeper Seatrout. 3 in the box at the first spot - not bad!

We ran thru Horsehead and then down the Nassau River with plans to hit the drainages as the tide ran out, and it paid off. We caught a few smaller Flounder then it was Alex's time to get on the board. He felt a bump, set the hook and Fish ON!  He played it expertly to the boat and landed the biggest Flounder of the day, one that measured right at 18" - a fish that put him in a tie for 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2026 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Henry had seen a Shark cruising the bank, put his bait out in front of it and BAM! That fish was ripping drag - it took Henry from the stern to the bow and from the starboard side then the port and then it headed south and BAP, fish off! Those Bonnetheads sometimes thumb their noses at our light tackle. 

There was a lull in the catching so we initiated the "GPK" challenge for the "first Redfish caught" and
that did the trick - Alex hooked up and landed a small but feisty Redfish. We ran down to Broward Island and fished the last of an outgoing tide, to no avail, then finished up at Pumpkin Hill. For the  last two days the tide has been extremely low and for the first time I've seen some coral like grass about 20' out from the bank -no wonder we get Seatrout there on high and incoming tides! We worked along that edge thinking surely there would be some fish along there and sure enough, BAM! Alex's drag was ripping! He played it perfectly - it rolled and we knew it was a Redfish - he worked it in and netted a nice 21" Slot Redfish. We had a good box full of fish, the weather had been beautiful and so as we headed back to the ramp we countedit as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.