Project Boat

This 15" Waterbug boat was built by B & W plastics in Brooklet, Georgia - probably in the 80's. It was my dad's boat, who sold it to my buddy, Charlie, who eventually gave it back to us. I told him I'd fix it up and we'd all use it for some shallow water and creek fishing. This is the boat that I borrowed from my dad when I first started fly fishing in Lofton Creek, Boggy Creek and the little St. Mary's River. One day while fishing for bream in Lofton Creek with a fly rod and popping bug I made a cast a little too long and hung the bug up in a overhanging brier. I eased the boat's bow up to the creek bank and reached out to retrieve the popping bug. At the last minute I saw a big 'ol fat Water Moccasin start moving and slither down the bank, alongside the bow of the boat, and into the water. As the snake went by the boat all I could envision was it coming right into the bow where I was standing....so I started dancing trying to get my feet up off the floor of the boat...and in a split second the serpent slipped into the water and disappeared! I'm glad nobody was watching! Anyway, I've replaced the wheel bearings, wheels, and springs on the trailer and have removed any "loose" stuff. The stern has a crack or two so I'm in the process of repairing those and attaching a new motor mount. Then my plan is to patch some holes on the interior of the boat, sand and paint. Stay tuned!

A Family Affair.....

....with a little bit of sibling rivalry thrown in! Brothers Mike Craig, Steve Leary and sister Loretta Hayes, along with Mike's son David met me at the boat ramp bright and early Sunday morning for Mike's birthday fishing trip. Although we launched from Atlantic Seafood, we decided to run south to the Horsehead area and I'm glad we did. Pulling into the mouth of Jackstaff, it wasn't long before we began to hook up with Mike catching a Bonnethead then David boating a Seatrout. Then all heck broke lose with everyone joining in catching Red after Red after Red. They were all in the 15"-17" range but they were very aggressive and put up some good battles on the light tackle gear. David did hook up with a drag-ripping fish that first headed down river, then up...and kept going, snapping the line and gone for good! We tried a couple of more spots in Jackstaff with Loretta catching a Flounder, David another Trout and then Mike had another Red. We ran to Broward Island where the anglers picked up a Puppy Drum and Snapper. This was a beautiful day with a light breeze that made the unusual October heat tolerable.

Hot Fall Fishing

I fished Saturday with Josh and Molly Frederickson, along with Emily Buck, all in from New England visiting Amelia Islanders. We left Atlantic Seafood early with a full baitwell, headed up to Jolley River and unlimbered our spinning gear with the shrimp and jig combo. We immediately began to pick up bites with Molly boating a couple of Seatrout and Emily joining in with some Croaker. We moved on up the river where Josh hooked up with a 3'+ Bonnethead shark that gave him a battle - one that Josh eventually won when we netted the fish for pictures. We caught a couple of "Rat Reds" then ran back to the front side of Tiger Island. Emily had bite after bite from "nibblers" while Molly hooked up twice with something big - the last looked like a flounder before we lost it at boat side. We toured Cumberland Island and saw a couple of wild horses and then ended the trip by cruising historic Fort Clinch.

Redfish Feeding Frenzy

I fished with Cpt. David Black of Maryland and John Angus of Fernandina Beach this morning. We left the Talbot Island boat ramp at 7:30 am with a livewell of live shrimp and a handful of finger mullet and ran up the intercoastal to the mouth of Jackstaff in the Horsehead area. I began the troll just out from the mouth and by the time we reached the pointe David had a strong hookup and run; the fight was on! David played the fish expertly - we all guessed a shark by the way it was hunkered down on the bottom - but eventually it broke off. However it wasn't long before he was hooked up with a hungry Redfish and worked it in to the boat. John had been tossing a topwater, but switched to the same jig/shrimp Combo that David was using and he too began to get hookups. At one time he had a hookup, lost it, David hooked up, then John hooked up again! These reds were hungry! We worked the same bank for an hour and a half with John tying in to a hungry, hard fighting Redfish that kept us busy for a while. Eventually the fish was netted, measured, weighed and released - a 31", 11lb Big Red! All told, they boated about 7-8 Reds along that bank. We ran to Broward Island, fought the current, ran to "Bubblegum Reef", had a few nibblers with David catching a Snapper, then called it a morning...a great one, at that!

Flounder Pounder

If you can imagine an early morning, sun just coming up over Fort Clinch and the Atlantic Ocean, air temperature cool, just below 70 and just the slightest of breeze - the marsh water is almost "lake like", and two anglers quietly tossing topwater lures to the flooded grass line and Seatrout striking, striking, striking, FISH ON....then you'd know how the morning started today. Brothers Dennis and John Mahar hit the backcountry with me this morning and brought an arsenal of fishing gear to compliment what I had on board. We threw everything at them: topwater plugs, sinking flies on 7w rods, jigs and shrimp and shrimp under floats. Dennis, President of Gainesville's North Florida Fly Fishing Club, was persistent with the flyrod and eventually hooked up with a hard fighting Ladyfish; both guys switched to different tackle as the conditions changed. They ended up boating 6-7 Trout, the Ladyfish, and a Snapper. We ended the day behind Tiger Island where John hooked up and reeled in a nice 17" Flounder. We thought that was a fairly good catch until he then felt a strong, rod bending pull and the fight was on! Playing the fish like an expert, John worked the fish to the surface and into the waiting net...a 8lb, 27" Flounder! Boy what a fish! As always, another great day out on the water!

October Tailing Redfish

There are good "Tailing Redfish" tides early morning October 17 (Saturday), October 18 (Sunday), October 19 (Monday) and October 20 (Tuesday). We had a great time in September chasing the tails around the grass flats - give me a call and we'll set a trip up.

Topwater Duo

Andy Dillard of Fernandina Beach, Florida and his brother Terry Dillard of Waycross, Georgia wanted to get in some topwater plug fishing so we left the dock early this morning with the express intent of hitting a grass line quick! The high tide peaked at 7:15am and when we reached our first spot the tide was already going out. Andy, throwing a white w/red head plug and Terry throwing an all-white plug were making pinpoint casts to the grass line and began to pick up "hits". They caught a couple of trout and Andy hooked up with a hard fighting Blue that had some "umph" to him. We ran around to Jolley River, again throwing the topwaters and had more hits and then another nice sized, fighting mad, Blue. Terry switched to a live shrimp under a float and his first two casts produced bites and eventually trout. We tried a couple of more spots and ended up anchored at the MOA where Terry had a line ripping bite that took him for a tour around the boat - a few times -and after expertly working the fish to the boat - we netted a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark - that gnawed another hole in my net (this net has made it through the summer shark bite having been patched about 4-5 times). We fished the docks at Bell River, the mouth of Lanceford Creek, and then trolled Lanceford oyster beds where Terry picked up a nice Redfish. The wind was blowing 10-15mph but the sun was out on our first cool day of the year so we counted it as....another great day out on the water!

Little Critters

I fished with Leon Freeman yesterday afternoon and evening. The tide was high at around 3:15pm when we left the new Goffinsville boat ramp. We ran to the mouth of Jackstaff and fished the grass edge with our live shrimp under a float and picked up a few bites of small Trout, Jacks, and Ladyfish. Although we were getting a few "nibbles" now and then we decided to try our luck at another spot so we pulled up and ran to "Spanish Drop" and anchored just off of two creek run-outs. Leon's first two casts produced fish, an undersized Redfish and a keeper sized Trout. We fished the creek mouths the remainder of the afternoon, catching about 12 of the "rat" Reds and 6-8 more Trout, all undersized, with a few Ladyfish mixed in. Most were caught on live shrimp but a few were caught on Gulps, rootbeer paddle tails, on a jig. I tried some topwater lures and sinking lures but had no takers. Although the fish were small, the action was constant and we counted it as another great day out on the water!

High Tides and Tailing Reds

Mark Laurint from Jacksonville and I planned to do some "Tailin Red" stalking this morning so we got the day started bright and early - OK, maybe not so bright, but early! We launched from the North end as the sun was coming up and ran around to the Tiger Island entrance, threw some topwater plugs and picked up a couple of small trout. Then we eased the boat up to the flooded grass and fairly quickly saw a cruising Redfish, and boy he was booking it across a grass flat, with no time to stop and feed! We moved around behind Tiger Island and nosed the bow of the boat on to a grass flat and began to see tails pop up. Mark and I both eased over the side of the boat and waded out to make our casts; Mark made some good casts, putting his weedless jig right in front of a large feeding Red: it rolled and boiled on the bait but didn't bite. I chased a couple but never really had a shot at one. We returned to the boat, moved up the river and tried a few more spots, eventually trolling up a small creek through the marsh and to a lake-like flat with visible Redfish wakes cruising through it. I switched to a topwater plug to get some distance and seeing a wake, cast the plug and another "roll and boil" - but no bite. We made one more stop as the tide was going out and found another Red and some Sheepshead tailing, but no bites. We had brought a few dozen live shrimp with us and with a run up to Jolley River and a few casts with a float rig, Mark picked up a nice fat Trout. He then had something take his live shrimp and rip line off his reel heading up-river. Mark fought the fish beautifully but the fish must have got over in in the hidden oyster beds and cut himself off. We caught a few more trout before heading in for the day, another great day out on the water!

Recipe of the Month: Shrimp Au Gratin

This recipe is by Billie Hart, published in Fernandina's Centre St.Cookery Cookbook:

3/4lb fresh shrimp 1/2 tsp salt

3 Tblsps chopped onion 1/4 tsp dried mustard

1/3 cup choppped celery 1/8 tsp black pepper

3 Tbsps butter 1 can chopped water chestnuts

1/4 cup flour (1) and 1/2 Cup milk

1 Cup grated cheese 1 Tbsps butter

1/4 cup dry bread crumbes 1 tsp Konriko seasoning

Toss the shrimp in Konriko and cook in (1) Tbsps butter, drain and cut shrimp in half. Cook onion and celery in butter until tender. Blend in flour and seasonings. Add milk, gradually and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add 3/4 cup of grated or shredded cheese and heat until melted. Stir in shrimp and water chestnuts. (We were out of water chestnuts so we used pine nuts). Pour into a 9x10 greased casserole dish. Combine a Tbsps of melted butter with remaining cheese and bread crumbs and sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake at 400 degree for 10 minutes or until brown.