Gator's, Osprey's and Sea Turtles.

I took Bill Stahler and his family for a scenic tour yesterday afternoon. Although it was still in the high 80's, once we got on the water the sea breeze and bimini top helped keep us cool. We cruised Old Town and Fort Clinch then crossed over to Cumberland Island's southern tip to cruise it's shoreline and were treated to a sighting of wild horses with a colt. I had hoped for some manatees in Beach Creek but although we didn't see any we did come across an alligator - a first in the salt for me. He was about 4' and laying on the beach when we eased by. We crossed the channel back to Florida and trolled up into a creek to see striking fish feeding on the mullet schools. As we came around Tiger Island we saw two different Sea Turtle's rise to the surface and then had a large Osprey give us a fly over after leaving her roost in the Tiger Island trees. We headed back to the dock with the sun working it's way down, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Was it the Hat or the Tide Change?

I fished with Mark Laurint, his son Brent, and their friend Joe this morning, all from Jacksonville, out for a morning of fishing before the two recent High School graduates head off to further their education - Brent to Columbia University and Joe to the Merchant Marine Academy. We launched at about 7:15am and with the tide just at it's highest peak, ran straight to the docks on Lanceford Creek, easing up to position just a few minutes before the tide turned and started out. Joe got the action started by hooking up with a Trout that thrashed it's way to the boat and then the others joined in, catching a couple of hard fighting Redfish. The guys had swapped hats and then Brent hooked up with a fish that pulled a little harder and eventually fought to the boat a nice slot-sized Red.
Joe caught another keeper sized Trout and Mark added a flounder and another Redfish then Joe added a Redfish to the catch total and then a nice Whiting. The guys stayed busy catching fish for about two hours and totaled 5-6 Redfish, 4-5 Trout, 3 Black Drum, the flounder and a whiting. When the bite slowed we pulled up and ran to Jolley River, trolling the oyster banks and then anchoring at "Snook Creek" to try our luck with Bonnethead Shark. We had two hookups with Mark's fight being the longest, but the Shark must have found an oyster bed to cut himself off. After a brief stop at Tiger Island we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Early Morning Fly Fishing

I had a noon appointment and Joe Di Toro had stuff going on this afternoon, so the only window we had to fish was early this morning. Joe was in town with his wife, visiting from New York and was eager to notch a Redfish on a Flyrod so we met at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 6am with the sun not yet up. We prepped the flyrods then headed up Nassau River, stopping at a creek runout in the Spanish Drop area. Joe unlimbered the fly rods, offering a larger popping fly at first on the top water, then switching to a weighted shrimp fly to bump the bottom. We had no strikes so we headed further up river, passing through Jackstaff to fish it's mouth and western shoreline. Joe was working hard, casting the shrimp fly then switching to a black rabbit fur-ish fly that we thought resembled a fiddler crab. The wind was 10mph with gusts to 12 and we had an outgoing current that swept the fly line and fly out of the target zone rather quickly, but Joe persevered and eventually was rewarded with a strong bite and after setting the hook with a good strip, the fight was on with a feisty Redfish! Joe worked the fish beautifully, letting the rod wear the fish out and we soon netted an 18" Redfish, snapped some pictures, and released the fish back to the river. We fished the bank further, switching to a 1/40z Sure Catch jig with a natural Gulp shrimp and Joe hooked up with another hard fighting Redfish, battling it to the boat, the net and after a picture, back to the river to be caught another day. After a brief stop at "Gnat" Island, we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

"Slam" Fishing and Crashing Porpoise

David Langford was in town visiting from the Atlanta area and decided to take in a backcountry fishing trip with his young adult son, DK and his friend Thomas. We left the Atlantic Seafood at 7:30am sharp with only a slight breeze blowing and clear skies. The tide had hit bottom at around 7am so we had the first of an incoming to fish. Live shrimp are scarce on the Island this week so we baited up with Gulp mullet and some dead shrimp on the Sure Catch 1/4oz jig. We headed straight for Jolley River and began a slow troll of a long oyster bank, pitching our baits to the base of the oysters and slowly bouncing them back. The guys seemed to be having some bites so we made a 2nd run, but this time when DK felt the bump-bump bumping he set the hook to a feisty, hard fighting Redfish - the fight was one. DK played the fish perfectly and we soon netted the Red for a photograph and released it to be caught another day. We hit "Snook" Creek, had some bites, then tossed out some cut-up crab to sit on the bottom and it wasn't long before drag was ripping and DK had another fight on his hands. What was surely a Bonnethead Shark soon cut the line and made it to freedom. We were treated to some porpoise crashing the bank, chasing baitfish up on to the mudflats. We had a few Bonnethead breakoffs before David hooked up with one and successfully fought the sandpaper-skinned shark to the boat. The guys also caught a couple of "Puppy Drum" and another small Redfish at that location. We cranked up and ran to Tiger Island, fishing in the last of the day's shade where Thomas got in on the action, first catching another Drum and then hooking up with another hard fighting Redfish, playing it to the net like a pro. David closed out the day with a keeper sized Seatrout and with the sun clearing the trees, we called it another great day to be out on the water!

Fathers Day and Manatee's!

Coming up in June, I'm sure you won't forget Fathers Day! What's a better way to help dad celebrate his day than to send him out on the water for a relaxing day of fishing? I do all the work, provide the bait, tackle, rods, reels and fishing license - all he really needs is a hat and sunglasses. No hat? I'll include a special The Anglers Mark ball cap! I can produce a nice gift certificate and provide the ball cap for presentation on Father's Day, and then schedule a 1/2 day fishing trip at his convenience, just give me a call and we'll set it up!

I saw my first manatee's of the year the other day so now's the time to schedule a boat tour for your family or guests. In addition to the regular seating on The Anglers Mark I put a couple of nice deck chairs on board for your comfort and install my bimini top for some shade. During boat tours I can take up to (6) passengers with the first hour running $125 for the boat, then $75 per hour after that. Most tours average about (2) hours. There's a good chance we'll see the manatee up close and personal!

Tailing Sheepshead, Manatee, Drum and More

I had the pleasure of fishing this morning with Gordy and Kirsten Holland, who are regular visitors from the Atlanta area. We left the dock at Atlantic Seafood at 7:30am with only a slight breeze and clear skies and headed to the Tiger Island area. We started off tossing topwater lures but had no strikes. We did come across some Sheepshead tailing in the grass and Gordy tossed a jig/shrimp combo but had no takers. We crossed the river to what I call "manatee creek" and sure enough, had our first manatee sightings of the year, with two or three swimming by and checking us out. We fished behind Tiger Island at a full high tide (9am) then headed for Lanceford Creek to fish the docks.
The tide had just started out when Kirsten hooked up with something big that took drag; Kirsten fought the fish expertly, but the wiley fish must have known to stay up in the dock pilings and eventually broke itself off! OUCH! Later Gordy had the same thing happen - a nice hookup, a strong battle, drag ripping and then a break off in the dock pilings! Gordy said the fish were just "nibbling" on his shrimp so he tightened his drag and on the next nibble, set the hook and fought the fish out from the dock pilings. The fish tried it's best to stay on the bottom, but Gordy fought the fish to the boat and net, a 6lb 20"+ Black Drum! Both Gordy and Kirsten continued to offer there jig and shrimp up to the dock pilings and both pulled out some feisty Red Drum, too. We stopped at another dock and Kirsten added to the "Slam" with a keeper sized Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Morning Redfish

Pat Devlin and his friend, Lumpy Workman have fished around Florida together for years, and with Lumpy in town, they gave me a call and we went fishing! We left the Goffinsville boat ramp at 7:30am with the tide still needing a couple of hours to hit bottom. We ran through Jackstaff and with only a slight breeze, started our troll of the shoreline back up through the creek. The guys had a few bites and with only about 50 yards of fishing, Lumpy felt something pick up his jig/shrimp combo so he set the hook, and Fish On!. He knew right off that the fish was big so he kept the drag loose, playing the fish up to the boat, under the boat, and around the boat and then away from the boat! The FINNS braided line did it's job and eventually he brought the beast to submission and we netted an over sized Red that weighed over 10lbs and was just at 28" We fished the bank, getting a few more bites then headed to Bubblegum Reef where we picked up a few Jacks, a couple of Puppy Drum, a Sailcat, and a Trout. The tide hit low so we pulled up anchor and headed to Broward Island to finish the day with another couple of Drum. The sun warmed things up so we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Recipe of the Month: Maryland Crab Cakes

This Crab Cake recipe comes from Brandy Shirley of the Palm Coast restaurant JT's Crab Shack, also published in the Coastal Angler Magazine

(1)lb back fin crabmeat
(pasteurized can ok-$9 at Lofton Creek Seafood)
1/2 cup cracker crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon seafood seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Gently combine all and shape into 6 cakes and saute in a little oil. Top with a little mixer of 4oz Dijon, 4oz mayonnaise, 2oz Sriracha hot chili sauce, 1 teaspoon crushed garlic and the juice of 1/2 a lemon, mixed together.

Nassau County Boat Ramps made Accessible

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I launched from the Edwards Boat Ramp the other day. What I failed to mention was that the old dock was missing and site work was being done overlooking the ramp. I asked for information from the County and Tim Milligan, Assitant Director of the Nassau County Building Department replied back with this release:

"Nassau County retained the engineering services Gillette and Associates of Fernandina Beach for the design of both Edwards Road (Nassau Landing) and Wilson Neck to have a paved accessible parking with an accessible route (ADA compliant sidewalk) with a ramp to the new floating docks in order to make the boat ramps accessible for all. This allows mobility impaired individuals the opportunity to board a vessel. The work was bid out with the low bidder, SteMic Enterprises, Inc. of Fort Myers, Florida being awarded the contract for both locations.

Wilson Neck concrete has already been poured in place with Nassau Landing following close behind. The floating docks have been fabricated and are ready for shipment with the installation to begin as soon as they hit the ground. The boat ramps will remain open during most of the construction".

Boat Ride up Boggy Creek

I did a boat ride trip up Boggy Creek Saturday with Betty Smith, her daughter Ivey, and her Sister. We launched from Edwards Boat ramp and cruised up the creek, taking it easy, looking out for logs. We found that the old "Hump Back Bridge" had been rebuilt with concrete, to our disappointment - the old bridge was always a neat sight. But we had beautiful weather, a slight breeze and as we began to get back into the swamp we found wild roses blooming along with "swamp orchids", water lilies and other beautiful flowering plants. As we round one bend we trolled under a large birds nest and were greeted by a mother Osprey, chirping her warnings. Although we did not see any alligators or Skunkapes, we did see a swimming snake and basking turtles. We tied off and had a great picnic of "Dagwood" sandwiches, chips and dill pickle spears. The bugs weren't too bad and a good time was had by all, another great day to be out on the water.