What's the other's Name?
Fishing today, an 8 year old commented to her father about two "Gooses" flying overhead. He patiently corrected her and said, "the plural are Geese. One bird is called a Goose. She asked, "what's the other one's name?"
His Favorite Classes
Sometimes when I have kids on the boat I'll ask them what extra curricular activities they like to do - "football? dance? band? I think sometimes even the parents are a bit surprised about their answers. And sometimes I'll ask them what their favorite subjects are at school. One elementary school kid got a chuckle out of his dad when he answered, "P.E., Recess, and Lunch"!
Woke up Dead
While in North Carolina vacationing we stopped in to a roadside "Sporting Goods" store looking to replace some waders. This place was old and run down and a couple of dogs met us at the door as we came in. There were two elderly gentlemen wearing overalls in the store, one seemed to be the proprietor, and he advised us that he didn't have any waders to sell. But he did have a selection of flys so I began to pick thru them to find a few that I might use while fishing the Nantahala. I overheard the proprietor ask the other guy if he had heard that "James Franklin" had passed away? The other guys said, "no", but that wouldn't be unusual. "Five years ago when I had my bypass surgery I woke up in the hospital room and Howard Taylor was standing there and I thought he had passed away years ago. Scared me to death!"
Hooksets are Free
I booked a guide while vacationing in western North Carolina a couple of weeks ago. We were using a 2w rod with just a couple of feet of line out of the tip and a 9' solid mono leader. He had a dry "indicator fly tied on first, then dropped off the back with a size 6 tippet he had a small size 22 weighted (with tungsten bead) nymph. The guide instructed me to roll/flip the fly up along a slip of water and have the rod held high to keep the line out of the water (and reduce drag) and if the indicator budged, lift quickly with my wrist to set the hook. Sometimes it was just the dropper fly dragging the bottom, or catching on a leaf - I was kinda slow at it, and would even ignore the "bump" but the guide advised, "SET IT, hooksets are Free!"
Woof Woof
Not one of my stories, but from one of my customers we call the "Ham Sandwich Guy"- he fished out west with a guide who happened to bring along his dog. Whenever HSG's float would go under, the dog would "Woof!" If he didn't set the hook quick the dog would "Woof! Woof Woof!". HSG said, "I kinda felt like the dog was a little disgusted with me a couple of times".
What's the Craziest Fish You've Ever Caught?
Here at Amelia Island we have a wide variety of species -Redfish, Seatrout, Black Drum, Sheepshead, and Flounder are the most common game fish. Once in a long while we'll get a Tripletail or a Snook (see below) or a Spanish Mackerel or small Grouper in the back water. We regularly catch Mangrove Snapper, Jack Crevalle, Whiting, Bonnethead Sharks, Black Tip Shark, Tarpon, Blue Fish, Ladyfish, Catfish, Yellow Tail Perch, Croaker, Toad Fish, Pin Fish and even a Blue Crab. Different species of Stingray are not unique to be caught, but once in a while I do have something come to the net that I don't recognize. When I don't know what it is I'll snap a picture and send it off to Mote Marine in Tampa for identification. Some of the fish that we've caught and they've identified are the Spiny Box Fish, Lizard Fish and Striped Burr Fish. And just last month I was fishing with customers and landed a small Squid! It had a death grip on my live shrimp and I had to pry it off and when I tossed it back into the water it let off a cloud of ink.
Snook This Far North?
Normally, when asked if we catch Snook here at Amelia Island I'd say, no. But it's not uncommon to reel one in every few years. I caught my first one up the Jolly River which is almost in Georgia. Since then we've caught them behind Tiger Island, along Broward Island, and up in Christopher Creek - we've caught 5-6 there. All the ones caught on the Anglers Mark have only been about 17" long, but I've heard of some bigger being caught.Rods In The River
Folks have asked, "have you every had anyone drop your rod in the river?" The answer is yes, about 5 times. In all but one, I was able to fish them out and salvage them - no real harm done. Almost always I'd attribute the "drop" do to holding the rod incorrectly. Some anglers picked up bad habits over their lifetime and one of the worst is making your cast with one hand, but handing the rod off during the cast and finishing it with the other hand. TABOO!I did have one angler do this and drop the rod - it was 45' deep and as I saw it disappear I felt sure we'd never see that rod again, and we didn't. I've attached a video on how to correctly cast a light tackle spinning rod...
Millie's Spot
I've got a little grassy island that I fish on high tides - it's surrounded by submerged oysters - and it's been pretty good for me to catch Seatrout drifting shrimp and float rigs. On one particular day I was fishing with "Millie" and her boyfriend and as they opened their bail and let their baits drift, BOOM! down it would go. Unfortunately, Millie just wouldn't watch her float, so I was constantly saying, "Millie, your float's gone! Millie, your float's gone! Reel, Millie Reel! Millie, your float's gone!" We caught a bunch of fish but missed a whole bunch too. From that day on the spot has been called "Millie's Spot".
That’s My Dinner!
One day I fished with three “good ‘ole boys” and we did
pretty good, catching a whole bunch of Seatrout and Redfish up in the Horsehead
area and a few of them were of keeper size. However, two of the fish, one a
Trout and one a Redfish, were just barely legal. When we got back to the Sawpit
Creek boat ramp, wouldn’t you know it, here came two FWC Game Wardens down the
ramp. I was the one who measured the fish and I felt comfortable that they were
legal.... but were they?
The older of the two Warden’s stepped on the boat and measured
the Seatrout on my stick-on Rule Stick and proclaimed it legal, but he was
having trouble getting a good measurement on the Redfish so he said he’d have
to take it up to his truck and put it on his measuring device. As he walked up
the ramp with the fish, one of the anglers jokingly shouted, “make sure you
bring that fish back now, that’s my dinner!”
The game warden turned around fixed a stare at the guy and questioned, “who
caught it?” The angler replied back, “well, I DID”. I was listening to the whole conversation and
thought, buddy, you just claimed that fish, legal or not!
Luckily, it turned out the fish was legal and all was good,
but it sure makes me think twice about keeping a fish that is right at being
legal!
Shelley’s a Bitch
I had fished with an elderly gentleman from the north Georgia area a couple of times and his wife, Shelly, always delivered him to the boat ramp at the appointed time. One morning he brought her down the ramp to the boat and introduced her as he was getting settled in on the boat and then she saw us off as we finally motored out of the marina. We ran to our first spot where I normally pitch a jig and live shrimp to the bank, but this gentleman was having trouble standing, so about all he could do was drop his bait over the side and let it go to the bottom. Luckily, Seatrout were down there and we caught one after the other and had great time.
When the action wain’s I tend to instigate some conversation so I said, “you know that Shelley sure is a nice lady”. I was completely floored when he replied, “Aaw Hell, Shelly’s a bitch”. Whoops!
Reel Off!
When I fish with novices (and some not-so-novices), I offer
to give them a tutorial on how to hold, operate and cast a spinning rod, and I
can usually have someone casting in just a few minutes. That was the case when
I had a grandfather and his two teenage grandkids on the boat one day. We had
motored to our first spot up Bell River and I quickly gave the teenagers a
casting lesson, showed them how to bait their hook, and pitched the first cast
to some dock pilings and handed it over to the young lady. I got another rod
ready, pitched it up near the pilings and handed it over to the young man.
Within a few minutes, BOOM! The young lady’s rod bent double
and her drag began to rip, BIG FISH ON! I went to grab the net and as I made my
way towards the stern of the boat I saw that she was having trouble with the
reel – she had reeled the handle the wrong way and backed it right of the reel!
I hadn’t thought to show her which way the handle turned – I just assumed she
knew. While I was struggling with her
reel – the big fish was still on and it was bouncing and ripping– I heard her
brother yell, Fish On! And wouldn’t you know it, he too was reeling backwards
and in a few seconds he had backed his handle off the reel too! We had two big
fish on and no handles on our reels and needless to say, we lost both fish. Ouch!
Luckily, once we got the reels back together we caught more
fish and as it turned out, found another big Redfish that turned to be the
biggest of the year caught on my boat. Now, when giving my casting tutorial, I casually
mention that the handle reels AWAY from you.
Bubblegum Reef
When I write up fishing reports I'm "fairly" honest when I give locations of where we're fishing. But sometimes I disguise the particular spot with a nickname. One particular spot is what a few of us call "Bubblegum Reef". Years ago my friend had a young son who was in a school play and his character was Bubblegum Bart - it was a western. My friend fished this one spot regularly as it produced fish most times you fished it, so he named it Bubblegum Reef. I've had anglers stop me at the bait shop and tell me that they've fished the Nassau River, but they just can't find Bubblegum Reef on the map!
I HATE FISHING
I had the opportunity to fish with two young couples one summer. One of the ladies was tricked out in a matching ensemble - her hat matched her blouse matched her slacks, shoes, lipstick - everything was color coordinated and not a hair on her head was out of place. I even mentioned that "you're the best dressed angler" I've ever had on the boat! She said she wanted to look good for the pictures! It was a higher tide and one of our first stops was at Seymore's Pointe where we've been known to catch some feisty Mangrove Snapper. They tend to be sneaky with their bite and you have to be on your toes to catch them. All four anglers were making good casts to the structure - you had to have your float right up close, and three of them began to catch a fish once they go the hang of hooking up. But the one lady, the one that was dressed to the nines, just couldn't get the hang of it. She'd miss a fish and soon let out a curse. Then she missed another fish and let out a string of curses. A short while later I heard the rod clatter on the deck - I don't know if she dropped it or threw it down, but she came to the bow exclaiming, "I just hate this $#&@! fishing. The whole boat went quite and I was thinking this wasn't good. She sat on the front cooler for a while then finally stood up and got her rod and began fishing again and eventually caught one of those Snapper. Later, she said she only got mad because she new the others would be making fun of her at the dinner table!
Dad, Are YOU My Dad?
I fished with three guys- a Grandfather, his son-in-law, and his 8-9 year old grandson John. We had fished most of the day and as usual, when the fish catching lagged, I'd start up a conversation. During the conversation, the Grandfather said something along the lines, "When Amanda (his daughter, wife of the son in law, mother of the grandson) was married the first time..." WHOOPS! The son-in-law uneasily mentioned, "Dad, we haven't had that conversation with little Johnny". Boy did the boat get quite! Little Johnny said, "Dad, are You my real dad?" Of course he was, and dad told him so, but he told Grandad, "when we get back to the condo, I'm going to let you go in first and break the news to Amanda". Later, as we fished, we all had a good laugh at grandads expense.
Baitstealers!
My wife and I had our oldest granddaughter "B" visiting with us (she was around 5 years old) and we like to get her (and the rest) out on the water whenever we have a chance. So we launched the boat and ran up Eagans Creek to get in some fishing on a windy day. We weren't getting any good bites but every now and then we'd catch a "baitstealer" perch - about 5" long at the most. FINALLY, we hooked up and B got to reel in a nice 17" Flounder, boy what a fish! That was the highlight of my day fishing! A few weeks later I was talking with my daughter and she said, "dad, B's been telling everyone she got to go fishing with her Grandpa and they caught a bunch of baitstealers!" WHAT? "she didn't say anything about the nice flounder?" - No, she was happy to catch those "baitstealers"!
Young anglers with the Angler's Mark
One year I had Grandparent that wanted to get her grandson out on the water so we set a trip up we she and he. She had told me that he was really in to fishing, and I get that on occasion. Usually the young ones don't really get into it until they are about seven, which happened to be his age. We set out fishing and sure enough, he was a good angler. I could tell him to put his cast up by a piling and he'd make the cast dead on! We caught some Black "puppy" Drum here and there then got onto some Seatrout. He had reeled one to the boat quickly and before I could get there with the net, off it came! Ouch. So I said, "Bill, the next time you get one close yell for the net and I'll scoop it up" From then on, every time he hooked up he'd ye'll "NET!"
Another Young Angler
One morning I had a couple and their 4 1/2 year old son come down to the boat. Dad was fist down and he said, "this kid just lives and breathes fishing". So we get out on the water and sure enough, he was an angler. His casts were good, but he really didn't have the strength to make the longer casts, so his dad would make the cast and hand him the rod. But it was the coaching that got me! This kid would say, "dad, dad, pitch it up there behind that grassy pointe dad" or "dad, let's fish that marsh run out dad" "I'm gonna work it slow dad - that's an ambush pointe, dad" "Right dad?" He was a mess, and when he hooked up with a fish he knew exactly what to do!
When You Grab That Shark
In the summer it's not unusual to catch a 3-4' Bonnethead Shark in the backwaters of Amelia Island. I use really light tackle so it's always a long battle to get them to the boat. I used to try and net them with a catch net but they'd always break the net ($50-$60) so now I instruct my customers to get them worn out and bring them alongside the boat where I can grab their dorsal fin and lift them up out of the water. They usually go "dormant" when you lift them out of the boat but when you set them down on the deck they start thrashing around. We usually are snapping pictures of happy anglers holding fish during the trip. A lot of my customers have never even seen a live shark, much less have one thrashing around on the deck of the boat so many times I'll casually tell them, "now when you reach down to grab him....." Most give me a horrified look!
Loosening Their Drags
Remember the Mangrove Snapper spot? I had 3-4 young guys on the boat one day and although we had caught some fish we hadn't had one of those "drag ripping" big ones take our bait. We finished up at the Snapper Hole and one of the guys figured out that he could loosen his drag so that when he hooked up with a 12" Snapper it would sound like he had a big one on! They all started doing it. Zippp - Fish ON! Zippp - Fish ON! Zippp -Fish ON!
Tastes Like Bluefish
I had an older guy fishing with me one day, by himself, and he'd let me known that he'd like to take some fish home for dinner if he had the chance. Over the course of the trip we had caught some fish but nothing of any size when finally, RIIIIIPPPPP, Big Fish On! This guy was good angler and worked it around the boat, up one side and down the other and eventually landed a big 22" Jack Crevalle. We don't normally eat a Jack, especially when you have Red Drum, Seatrout, Flounder etc, to choose from, so after pictures I was about to toss him back when he asked, "can you eat Jack Crevalle". "Nope", I said, "they taste like Bluefish" and I tossed him back. That's when my customer exclaimed, "OH, I love Bluefish"! Whoops.
Submarine Security
We're really close to Kings Bay Submarine base and it's not uncommon to see a Sub coming and going thru the sound. At first you may see a grey helicopter circling the marsh and rivers and sure enough, you'll then see "gun boats" skittling around out in front of a convoy of ships with the dark Submarine sandwiched between them. I've long learned the rules - 1) Stay out of the channel 2) Don't point your bow at the Sub, and 3) Stay off a plane. Well one day my customers and I were coming out of the Jolley River and I could see the convoy way off north, coming from Kings Bay and I thought I could surely make the turn east out of the Jolley and head back to Fernandina. But one of the gun boats had a different frame of mine and came flying up to us and I of course, came off plane and shut down. The young Coast Guard serviceman behind a huge machine gun yelled, "where are you heading?" I replied that we were going to Fernandina and he commanded that we stay where we were until the Sub had passed, which I planned to do! In the meantime I yelled, "can we get a picture?" and He said, "of the Sub?" and I said, "no, of YOU!". He conferred with some one in command then said, "sure, go ahead". I asked him to look menacing and then snapped a few pics! It's an awesome display of power to see one of those Subs come thru and it's always a treat for my guests.
Never Tell
Just a word of advice...never tell a fishing guide where your fishing hole is! We're out there often - almost every day during the "season" and if the fish aren't biting at one of our "spots' there's a good chance we'll try your private fishing hole just to see if there are fish there on that particular day. We file the information away in the back of our brain and it becomes one of the spots we'll try while were out on the water. Many of my "spots" that I fish are ones that I've found out myself, but I have a few that friends and acquaintances have mentioned in passing and they've become part of the portfolio.
Mud Flat Bottom Out
I've had it happen to me 4-5 times in the 15 years of guiding - bottoming out on a mud flat or sand bar! Almost every time it's just because I'm talking too much and not paying attention - or feeling confident that I can make it across a known shallow area and not quite making it. I usually can raise the big engine, re-balance the boat and use the trolling motor to pull us across. Once in a while I have to get out and push, and luckily I've never had to sit and wait for the tide to come in (or go out and come in!) On one trip I was fishing an entirely new area that another guide had told me about. I had a sole angler with me and we fished that particular spot on an outgoing tide, but didn't have any luck, so we raised the trolling, cranked the big engine and began to putter up the bank and around a pointe. I should have known better, but again, I was chatting with my guests and just wasn't paying attention and we motored right up onto a sandy bottom. As normal, I raised the big engine, lowered the trolling motor and tried to easy us off but the boat wouldn't budge. I stowed the trolling motor, lowered the engine and tried back out with some serious thrust. Again, it wouldn't budge! The tide was going out so I jumped out and began to push. I could get the boat going forward but then it would stick; I could get it going backward but then it would stick. Finally my customer said, "do you want some help?" ( He later said he could see the panic in my face). I took him up on his offer and we finally figured out that we could spin the boat and shove it out the way it came. Once it got going I went up the stern latter, dropped the trolling motor and yelled, "keep pushing!" Once we got it out to deeper water he climbed on and off we went! Luckily we ended up having a pretty good day of fishing and when I saw him off at the end of the trip he said, "I'm going to tell my friends to come down and go fishing with you, but to bring their wading shoes!"
Only if the Drag is Ripping!
I've got a fellow I fish with regularly and many times he comes by himself to enjoy a peaceful time out on the water with the boat all to his own. I rarely fish when I've got guests on the boat but once in a while I'll pitch it out there just to see what the current is doing or what the bottom feels like. When I've got a sole angler I'll even fish a bit to add to the odds of getting a keeper. But almost every time if it even feels like a decent fish I'll offer, and almost insist, that they take the rod and work the fish in to the boat. I'd done this a few times with this angler during the fist few trips we fished together but on about the third of fourth trip he told me that I really didn't need to hand off the rod but he'd take it, "only if the drag is ripping!"
I'm always more than happy to hand it off - truth be told, my favorite part of fishing is the initial hookup, so this arrangement has worked out great!
Baitstealers!
Young anglers with the Angler's Mark
One year I had Grandparent that wanted to get her grandson out on the water so we set a trip up we she and he. She had told me that he was really in to fishing, and I get that on occasion. Usually the young ones don't really get into it until they are about seven, which happened to be his age. We set out fishing and sure enough, he was a good angler. I could tell him to put his cast up by a piling and he'd make the cast dead on! We caught some Black "puppy" Drum here and there then got onto some Seatrout. He had reeled one to the boat quickly and before I could get there with the net, off it came! Ouch. So I said, "Bill, the next time you get one close yell for the net and I'll scoop it up" From then on, every time he hooked up he'd ye'll "NET!"
Another Young Angler
One morning I had a couple and their 4 1/2 year old son come down to the boat. Dad was fist down and he said, "this kid just lives and breathes fishing". So we get out on the water and sure enough, he was an angler. His casts were good, but he really didn't have the strength to make the longer casts, so his dad would make the cast and hand him the rod. But it was the coaching that got me! This kid would say, "dad, dad, pitch it up there behind that grassy pointe dad" or "dad, let's fish that marsh run out dad" "I'm gonna work it slow dad - that's an ambush pointe, dad" "Right dad?" He was a mess, and when he hooked up with a fish he knew exactly what to do!
When You Grab That Shark
In the summer it's not unusual to catch a 3-4' Bonnethead Shark in the backwaters of Amelia Island. I use really light tackle so it's always a long battle to get them to the boat. I used to try and net them with a catch net but they'd always break the net ($50-$60) so now I instruct my customers to get them worn out and bring them alongside the boat where I can grab their dorsal fin and lift them up out of the water. They usually go "dormant" when you lift them out of the boat but when you set them down on the deck they start thrashing around. We usually are snapping pictures of happy anglers holding fish during the trip. A lot of my customers have never even seen a live shark, much less have one thrashing around on the deck of the boat so many times I'll casually tell them, "now when you reach down to grab him....." Most give me a horrified look!
Loosening Their Drags
Remember the Mangrove Snapper spot? I had 3-4 young guys on the boat one day and although we had caught some fish we hadn't had one of those "drag ripping" big ones take our bait. We finished up at the Snapper Hole and one of the guys figured out that he could loosen his drag so that when he hooked up with a 12" Snapper it would sound like he had a big one on! They all started doing it. Zippp - Fish ON! Zippp - Fish ON! Zippp -Fish ON!
Tastes Like Bluefish
I had an older guy fishing with me one day, by himself, and he'd let me known that he'd like to take some fish home for dinner if he had the chance. Over the course of the trip we had caught some fish but nothing of any size when finally, RIIIIIPPPPP, Big Fish On! This guy was good angler and worked it around the boat, up one side and down the other and eventually landed a big 22" Jack Crevalle. We don't normally eat a Jack, especially when you have Red Drum, Seatrout, Flounder etc, to choose from, so after pictures I was about to toss him back when he asked, "can you eat Jack Crevalle". "Nope", I said, "they taste like Bluefish" and I tossed him back. That's when my customer exclaimed, "OH, I love Bluefish"! Whoops. Submarine Security
We're really close to Kings Bay Submarine base and it's not uncommon to see a Sub coming and going thru the sound. At first you may see a grey helicopter circling the marsh and rivers and sure enough, you'll then see "gun boats" skittling around out in front of a convoy of ships with the dark Submarine sandwiched between them. I've long learned the rules - 1) Stay out of the channel 2) Don't point your bow at the Sub, and 3) Stay off a plane. Well one day my customers and I were coming out of the Jolley River and I could see the convoy way off north, coming from Kings Bay and I thought I could surely make the turn east out of the Jolley and head back to Fernandina. But one of the gun boats had a different frame of mine and came flying up to us and I of course, came off plane and shut down. The young Coast Guard serviceman behind a huge machine gun yelled, "where are you heading?" I replied that we were going to Fernandina and he commanded that we stay where we were until the Sub had passed, which I planned to do! In the meantime I yelled, "can we get a picture?" and He said, "of the Sub?" and I said, "no, of YOU!". He conferred with some one in command then said, "sure, go ahead". I asked him to look menacing and then snapped a few pics! It's an awesome display of power to see one of those Subs come thru and it's always a treat for my guests.Never Tell
Just a word of advice...never tell a fishing guide where your fishing hole is! We're out there often - almost every day during the "season" and if the fish aren't biting at one of our "spots' there's a good chance we'll try your private fishing hole just to see if there are fish there on that particular day. We file the information away in the back of our brain and it becomes one of the spots we'll try while were out on the water. Many of my "spots" that I fish are ones that I've found out myself, but I have a few that friends and acquaintances have mentioned in passing and they've become part of the portfolio.
Mud Flat Bottom Out
I've had it happen to me 4-5 times in the 15 years of guiding - bottoming out on a mud flat or sand bar! Almost every time it's just because I'm talking too much and not paying attention - or feeling confident that I can make it across a known shallow area and not quite making it. I usually can raise the big engine, re-balance the boat and use the trolling motor to pull us across. Once in a while I have to get out and push, and luckily I've never had to sit and wait for the tide to come in (or go out and come in!) On one trip I was fishing an entirely new area that another guide had told me about. I had a sole angler with me and we fished that particular spot on an outgoing tide, but didn't have any luck, so we raised the trolling, cranked the big engine and began to putter up the bank and around a pointe. I should have known better, but again, I was chatting with my guests and just wasn't paying attention and we motored right up onto a sandy bottom. As normal, I raised the big engine, lowered the trolling motor and tried to easy us off but the boat wouldn't budge. I stowed the trolling motor, lowered the engine and tried back out with some serious thrust. Again, it wouldn't budge! The tide was going out so I jumped out and began to push. I could get the boat going forward but then it would stick; I could get it going backward but then it would stick. Finally my customer said, "do you want some help?" ( He later said he could see the panic in my face). I took him up on his offer and we finally figured out that we could spin the boat and shove it out the way it came. Once it got going I went up the stern latter, dropped the trolling motor and yelled, "keep pushing!" Once we got it out to deeper water he climbed on and off we went! Luckily we ended up having a pretty good day of fishing and when I saw him off at the end of the trip he said, "I'm going to tell my friends to come down and go fishing with you, but to bring their wading shoes!"Only if the Drag is Ripping!
I've got a fellow I fish with regularly and many times he comes by himself to enjoy a peaceful time out on the water with the boat all to his own. I rarely fish when I've got guests on the boat but once in a while I'll pitch it out there just to see what the current is doing or what the bottom feels like. When I've got a sole angler I'll even fish a bit to add to the odds of getting a keeper. But almost every time if it even feels like a decent fish I'll offer, and almost insist, that they take the rod and work the fish in to the boat. I'd done this a few times with this angler during the fist few trips we fished together but on about the third of fourth trip he told me that I really didn't need to hand off the rod but he'd take it, "only if the drag is ripping!"
I'm always more than happy to hand it off - truth be told, my favorite part of fishing is the initial hookup, so this arrangement has worked out great!
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