Our final stop was around at Bell River, fishing some docks and here we had good luck. Patti found some Seatrout down deep and put a good handful in the boat, Glenn picked up a few, then Patti reeled in another beautiful Slot Red, and then added a keeper sized Weakfish to wrap up the day. We had a few fish in the box, had had action early and late, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Good Start and Good End
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Slimy Fish Towel
It looks like we'll have great weather all week, and today sure was a nice one! I met Jeff and Jinny Key down at Sawpit and today we ran up the intercoastal and dipped into Jackstaff and made our way further up a creek to toss float rigs with live shrimp to a large drainage. We didn't get any Trout bites like I expected but as we eased down the bank Jeff had a big fish slurp his bait, his float went slowly under and Fish On! and BAP! Fish Off! Boy was that disappointing.
We came back around to Pompano Point and drifted the floats and I think Jeff's first cast produced a Seatrout catch. And then he had another and another and another, one which was of keeper size. So much so that my hand towel was getting slimy. He put the first high flying Ladyfish of the year in the boat and then he had another strong take and Big Fish On! This fish was ripping drag and digging back into the oysters. But Jeff stayed with him, worked him patiently out then kept the pressure on until it was subdued and brought to the net - an oversized 28.5" Redfish. Boy what a fish and boy what a battle! This fish put Jeff in the running for Bragging Rights (scroll down the right side of this page for standings).
After going back to Jackstaff we set up on a point and fished with jigs. Jeff put a small Flounder in the boat then found some Trout out deep - he brought handful to the net, two of which were of keeper size.We ran thru Horsehead and fished some docks at Seymore's and here Jinny got on the board with a nice 18" Flounder catch, big enough to move her into 2nd place in the 2024 Bragging Rights Tournament -Flounder Category. The duo also caught a few Mangrove Snapper, a Blue fish, and a small Sea Bass here.Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Twenty One. And a Blue Crab.
\Continuing on down the bank we saw a commotion and a wake move away from us. John made an excellent cast south of th wake, let his bait drift with the current back and BAM! Another big fish on! He played this one expertly and soon landed a 21.25" Slot Red.
We then came back and fished some docks at Nassauville where John put a small Flounder in the boat, then Betty brought a keeper sized Flounder to the net. Our next stop was around at Seymore's Pointe, fishing some dock pilings and here we had a flurry of action, catching a keeper sized Seatrout, a small Black "puppy" Drum, and a Betty reeled in a couple of feisty Redfish. She also patiently played to the boat a brilliant blue, Blue Crab!After running down to Broward we worked the bank slowly, tossing jigs and live shrimp. It took a while but we began to get fish. Betty put two Slot Redfish in the boat, John added another, and they teamed up to catch a good handful of hungry Trout. John had kept count and we had caught 21 fish, and a Blue Crab, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Monday, April 15, 2024
Two Big Trout Makes For an Engaging Fishing Trip
was Victor's turn to battle the big fish. Had cast up shallow, let his bait fall down the river bottom, and in about 20' of water, Big Fish On! Victor played it patiently and after a good battle landed another 20.25" Seatrout to tie his future spouse in that Bragging Rights Tournament!
We came back and fished Bubblegum Reef and caught a Mangrove Snapper, then made our way down to Broward Island to fish the very last of that outgoing tide. They had a flurry of catching a small Seatrout, a small Flounder then Victor had a strong hookup. He fought it to the boat and landed Slot sized Redfish.
We had had good weather, caught some fish, and celebrated a new engagement with a fishing trip, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
She Should Have Backed Away From The Table
Creek and after meeting Allen Webb, we made a long run up the Nassau, all the way to Broward, and pulled up to fish jigs as the tide had been coming in for about an hour. It didn't take long and Allen was on a fish - he played it perfectly and landed a "just in the slot" Redfish. He also picked up a keeper sized Seatrout down deep with the jigs. We moved down the way and fished the bank close and this paid off with a couple of more feisty Redfish catches and a good handful of just undersized Sheepshead. After fishing down with the Bald Eagles, we moved on.
Our next stop was back at Nassauville, fishing between a couple of docks and here we had a handful of Seatrout caught, again, down deep, and also a Catfish. We then made the run way up the Nassau, and into a creek to fish a log lined bank. We both marveled at the beauty and peacefulness of the area, but I think we only had one bite that was a fish, and one Blue Crab that we brought to the boat.
Our final stop was back down the Nassau, around at Seymore's, fishing the last of an incoming tide with float rigs. We caught another small Trout or two, a Bluefish, and then our float disappeared with a vengeance. Allen fought it patiently, kept that rod bent while it ran and the drag ripped, and we both were guessing, "Redfish". But when Allen got it to the boat and I went to dip it, Boy What a Trout! We got it in the the boat and she measured right at 24.75". A whopper of a Trout -she just couldn't pass up one more shrimp for her morning meal! That fish moved Allen solidly into the Anglers Mark 2024 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).We fished a bit more but the wind was now up so we headed back. We had a few good fish in the box, Bragging Rights in the bag, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Against The Grain
issue. We met up at Old Town Bait and Tackle ramp and after easing out of Eagans Creek we made the long run up the Bell to fish some docks with jigs and live shrimp.
Bob worked that first spot over really good but we didn't have a bite. But after moving in close and fishing back to some dock pilings, Bob's first cast produced a bite and, Fish On! He played it perfectly and brought to the net a Slot sized Redfish. That easy! But we fished those pilings thoroughly and only managed one more fish, a feisty Black "puppy" Drum.
We then ran back towards town and boy was the wind whipping, especially running into it. It's been fifteen years I think since I fished up near structure around Fernandina, but it was out of the wind, so we stuffed our pride, went against (my) grain, and fished it. And it paid off. Bob hooked and put a smaller Slot Red in the boat, then hooked and battled another - a "thick" 25"er, then put another smaller Slot in the boat. We worked along there for a good while, out of the wind, and got into a good handful of those Puppy Drum.
As the outgoing tide came to a standstill we made a final run over to Tyger Island, to fish the logs, and had to "putter" thru the shallows to get there, and when we did, we fished a good while and had only a few bites, but no real takers. But it ended a good fishing trip at a beautiful location so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
:Handicapped from the Start
After coming out of Tyger and around to the outside we did pull up at a drainage and switched to jigs and the minnows and worked it pretty good, to no avail. The wind was supposed to start picking up and sure enough, it was as we headed around to the Jolley River and fished another drainage, this time with the floats, and again, no bites. Ouch. We were two hours in to the trip and the skunk was still on the boat!
But our next stop was around at Bell River, fishing the jigs with everything we had -live minnows, fresh dead shrimp, and fiddler crabs and this did the trick. Just a few minutes in Evan "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout. He followed that up with a small Sheepshead caught on one of the fiddlers, then Mark got in on the action and expertly played a keeper sized Trout to the net. After a good cast up into a pocket behind some pilings he had another good bite, a hookup, and fought to the boat a nice Slot sized RedfishWe were getting bites now with the tide down and we were blocked from the growing wind. Doug found a couple of Trout that were almost legal, Evan garnered a type of Slam with a Black "puppy" Drum catch (Trout, Sheepshead, Drum) and then he wrapped things up with a Whiting catch. As we headed back to the ramp, and out from the land mass, we soon found that the wind was howling, but with some good fish catches, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Friday, March 29, 2024
We Made The Run
The wind was already picking up as we ran thru Horsehead over to the Bell and down to Lanceford where we headed up the creek to fish some docks with the jigs. We were somewhat sheltered here but after fishing a couple of docks we had no real bites, so we moved on.
Reaching Seymore's Pointe we all switched to float rigs and tossed them up wind to get good drifts across a shallow oyster pocked flat and here we had some action. Leo put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat, then Fred(the senior) had a strong hookup, one that ripped some drag. He fought it valiantly and after battle landed a Slot sized 21" Redfish. Fred(the middle) had the same kind of fight, played it perfectly and put another Slot Redfish in the boat. The anglers added another couple of smaller Reds, smaller Trout,and a Bluefish before Leo topped things off with another keeper Seatrout.
We were a long way from the ramp and running into the wind but as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Chased Off
Down on the south end of the island, fishing under the Bald Eagles, Patti found a hungry Seatrout to bring to the net. After fishing the mouth of Pumpkin Hill with float rigs and feeding a handful of "bait stealers', we moved on. Our next stop was way up the Nassau, into a creek where we fished some downed logs. Again, Glenn had a hookup but this time his line got wrapped around his reel - as I worked to get it unwrapped, Glenn brought to the boat another feisty Red, brought in hand over hand!
As we were heading back to the Nassauville area we could see the rain heading our way but we were prepared with rain jackets. Unfortunately we were not ready for the lighting! We could see flashes of the lightning and when it began to crash closer to us we decided to "pull the plug" and make a run back to the ramp. But we had had a few hours of fishing and had a couple in the box so as we pulled up to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
It Began and Ended With a Flurry
We then came back up to Pumpkin Hill and switched to float rigs. The wind had picked up and it was making it difficult to cast into the wind but we did our best and caught a couple of small Seatrout. After fishing a grass patch for a bit we moved on.
Our next stop was between two docks, back to fishing the jigs and shrimp and although we didn't have much action, Tyler did put another Flounder in the boat. We now had some high winds AND a high tide and I was thinking we had probably did all we were going to be able to do but we tried one final spot around at Seymore's, still tossing the float rigs and boy was I wrong All three anglers began to get bites - Seatrout. They had a handful of smaller Trout but Derek added 4 more keeper fish to his tally, Zach added a keeper Trout to his count, and Tyler put a big Blue in the boat.When we got back to the ramp we had a mess o' fish in the box so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Topped The Box Off
We then ran thru Horsehead and over to what used to be Poteat Cut and stayed with the float rigs. The trio caught a couple of the small Trout but as we worked around the point Don had a good hookup and expertly brought to the boat a keeper sized Pompano! I've renamed the spot "Pompano Point" That's ony the 2nd Pompano I've had on the boat.
This paid off - I've found you have to work the whole bank and many times you'll find the Reds and today we did! Don hooked up and landed a small but feisty Red, then Tim added the biggest Trout of the day to the box. As we approached one of the "honey holes" Don began to get Redfish bites. He put two Slot Reds in the box then Alex topped it off with another Slot Red. They had one more Slot fish that we threw back and had a handful of smaller Reds caught before we called it day.
As we headed back to the ramp with a nice box of fish we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Beautiful Day Slam
hovering around 48 degrees when we launched, it quickly warmed as that sun came up with clear, cloudless skies. We met down at Sawpit Creek and then ran up the Nassau to set up at a large drainage north of Seymore's Pointe and within minutes the duo were catching fish on float rigs with live shrimp. They had a good flurry of Seatrout catches and weeded thru the shorts to get a couple of keeper sized fish.
We then moved around to Nassauville and fished between two docks with jigs and the shrimp. I was hoping for some bigger Seatrout - we caught none, but Ken did pick up a Flounder, then we had another, then Larry put a keeper Flounder in the box.
We had had a beautiful day and had an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Flounder, and Redfish in the box so as we headed back to the ramp they counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
A Grande Slam and Upper Slot Red
I did an afternoon trip today, meeting Nate Aron, his father Aaron, and his father-in-law Gil Langley up at Eagans Creek. The wind had died a little bit since this morning and as we eased out of the creek we had clear skies and sunshine! We made our way over to behind Tyger and fished the logs with jigs and live shrimp on the first of an incoming tide. The first area was kind of slow except for the bait stealers but when we moved down we began to get fish.
The trio put a nice Redfish in the boat, some Trout, then Gil hooked up and landed a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. That made an Amelia Island Back Country Slam, then Nate had strange bite, worked it patiently to the boat, and landed a nice Flounder to make it a Grande Slam. Then Aaron had a strong bite and when it was ripping drag and digging deep we knew we had a big one. Aaron played it like a "Jim Brown" pro, worked it to the boat, and landed a nice 25.5" Slot Redfish. We had some good action after that but when it slowed we moved on - running up to the Jolley. After trying our hand with some float rigs, to no avail, we ran up to Snook Creek and switched back to the jigs and caught a couple of Seatrout.
Our final stop was around at Bell River and here we had a good uptick in catches - mostly Seatrout, but a small Black Drum also. It had warmed just a bit, we had fished in clear, sunny skies, and we had a couple of fish in the box so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.Wind and Cool Make for a Challenge
I met Dennis Adams, his son-in-law Danial, and nephew Ben up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp and we eased out of Eagans and made the run north, into the wind) and around to the Jolley River.. Boy was it choppy! We ran up the Jolley and found a large drainage to drift float rigs and live shrimp on the outgoing tide, but had no bites. Further up the Jolley, at Snook Creek we switched to jigs and this paid off. All three anglers began to get fish. Young Ben found him a "honey hole" off to the side and caught a good handful of hungry Seatrout.
We then made our way around to the Bell River and stayed with the jigs and got good number of fish caught as that tide dropped - Seatrout, a small black drum, and a keeper sized Sheepshead. Our final stop was back at Lanceford Creek, fishing some docks. Although CM didn't pay off, we moved down a dock or two and BAM! Big Fish On! Daniel was on the rod and played it perfectly, working it out from the pilings and brought him to the net lively - I almost missed him he was so green! But after netting we measured it right at 25", a perfect Slot red to rap up another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.Saturday, March 16, 2024
Big Red Battled out From Dock Pilings
Kristen put a small Seabass in the boat and we had a small Trout catch before we moved on. Our next stop was back around at Nassauville where we tossed the jigs between two docks. The "demo" cast produced a Redfish bite that Kristen expertly brought to the boat. We also picked up a couple of more hungry Seatrout here. After fishing some exposed shell banks down at Spanish Drop, to no avail, we moved up a few hundred yards and found one more Seatrout, out deep.
Our final stop was down at Broward Island, working along the treelined bank. The first area we tried didn't produce anything, but 40' further down we got into a good Redfish bite. Kristen and Quinton took turns reeling in fish and a couple of times we had a "double" hookup - two Reds once, and a Red and Black "puppy" Drum a 2nd time. The added one skinny but Slot Red to the box then Kristen finished things up with another small Drum catch and a first of the season Mangrove Snapper.We had ended with a bank and had two nice Reds in the box so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida
Friday, March 15, 2024
Trout Carry The Afternoon
We then made the run up to the Jolley River and seeing another boater sitting on the spot I was heading to, we continued on around to the Bell and found some docks to fish. My demo cast with the jig produced a bite and from then on we were catching fish. We worked thru a bunch of smaller fish but Eric got his limit in keeper sized Seatrout, and we thru back a couple that were of legal size. Eric added a Redfish catch, a few Black Drum catches and a few "baitstealing" Perch.
The afternoon had started real slow with that high tide but as it started out we had begun to get fish and as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida
Barely Legal
I fished with the Langfords this morining, Glenn and Patti, meeting them up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp. We had the first of an incoming tide so we made our way over to Tyger Island and fished the logs. An incoming tide, no wind, and just a few bugs made for what I thought were ideal conditions, but the fish didn't cooperate with the plan. They did catch a Bluefish and a small Flounder before we moved on.
Our next stop was over at Lanceford Creek, fishing some docks, and this paid off. We worked a few different docks and picked up fish, caught on jigs and live shrimp. They put in the box two Redfish that measured a little over 18", a Seatrout that measured a little over 15", and a Black Drum that measured a little over 14" - all "Barely Legal", but keepers just the same. They also had a few more smaller Redfish caught.
We then fished the outside of Tyger in a couple of places with float rigs. We may have had a few bites, but no real takers. We had a handful of fish in the box and as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Fl.orida.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Just a 40' Difference
We caught a few more fish then moved down the island and worked back, tossing the jigs, but had no more bites. Our next stop was over at some docks at Seymore's and here Karen added a small Seatrout to the catch, and John had his first action when he hooked up and landed a small Sea Bass. We then came around to Nassauville and fished a outflow and Karen added a small Flounder to her catch, giving her an Amelia Island, Back Country Slam.
We had had a beautiful day and had some nice catches so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida
Monday, March 11, 2024
Mover Over Bragging Rights
The tide had gotten up really high and we tried a couple of other spots but had no real bites so we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island Florida.
Saturday, March 9, 2024
Trout Getting Bigger
We then ran up Lanceford Creek and got in between two docks and stayed with the floats and out of th wind, we caught fish. Both anglers had good hookups and brought to the boat a handful of Seatrout, the biggest being right at 18". We then moved around the corner and drifted back to a dock and caught another Trout. After easing over to a flooded grass patch, Jeremy managed his float along side it and picked up a couple of more Trout.
After running back down Lanceford, up the Bell, and cutting thru to Tyger we fished a large outflow with the floats, but had no luck.
Back thru Tyger Basin we went, over to the Bell, and then a long run up it to fish some docks. Kimberly got hot here, picking up one Seatrout after another off the stern. Then Jeremy went in closer to the bank and caught the first Redfish of the day. We bumped the boat in and fished a dock and caught 2-3 more Redfish. After dropping back and fishing another dock, to no avail, Kimeberly went to the bank with a cast and on the retrieve she had a "bump", set the hook, and caught and landed another big 18" Seatrout.We had avoided the wind for the most part, found Seatrout action here and there, had 8 soon-to-be-filets in the box so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida