Late Afternoon Fishing and lots of Fish Bites

Brian Deem was in town on business but took the time to get his older sons Jordan and Hunter out on the water for some Amelia Island backcountry fishing. We met at the South End boat ramp and headed up to Jackstaff to fish the last couple of hours of an outgoing tide. The oysters were already showing so we anchored up at a runout and it wasn't long before everyone was catching fish! In addition to some feisty Redfish action, they also hooked up to some Trout. Jordan had the opportunity to experience some BIG fish action by hooking up to not one, but two large Bonnethead Shark. He fought the fish like a pro for what seemed like an hour, but they eventually got their teeth across the leader and cut themselves off. We moved up the river and picked up another fat Trout, caught some nice finger mullet with the cast net, and then Hunter caught a very large Ladyfish and then we caught another Redfish. So far we had (7-8)Reds, (2) Trout, a Drum, a Ladyfish and (2) Shark hookups. We ended the trip fishing the last of the outgoing tide at Broward Island. Although it was a beautiful evening, the fish wanted no part of taking our bait, so we headed in as the sun set, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Whole lot of Catch'n Go'n On

Jay Mathews was in town, visiting from the Rome, Georgia area with his family and took in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip yesterday with his two sons, Jim and Will. We left the Atlantic Seafood dock and ran straight to Jolley River to fish the east side oyster banks during the first of an incoming tide. The oysters were exposed, the tide was creeping in and it was prime time fishing! The guys had plenty of bites with Jim starting off by catching a Redfish, then they all joined in, catching more Reds, their share of Croaker and a few Trout. Then Jay hooked up with something big that ripped line off of his spool. He fought the fish expertly and eventually brought to the boat a 3'+ Bonnethead shark! Then Will hooked up with something with some "Umph" and the fight was on! He fought the boat around the transom and brought to the net a slot sized Redfish. We moved up the river and picked up a few more Redfish and Trout then ran back to Tiger Island and anchored in a couple of spots; Jay caught a nice Drum then we ran over to the jetties at Fort Clinch, had no bites, then moved around to the shoreline of Old Town to pickup a nice fat Trout and then a Bass to wrap up the day of "catching": (4-5) Redfish, (6-7) Trout, a Drum, a Jack, a Bass, (7-8) Croaker, and (2) Shark! What a great day to be out on the water!

Horseflies, Spoonbills, Manatee and FISH!

You gotta know that when the "dead horsefly count" is leading the "fish caught count", things are getting dire! Chuck Petrakis was in town with his wife, visiting from Orlando, so Chuck booked a backcountry fishing trip with me this morning. We left the Atlantic Seafood dock promptly at 7am and headed up to Jolley River to fish the oyster banks before they were completely covered up by the incoming tide. We soon found that Chuck would get bite after bite on the jig/shrimp combo, but we were also keeping count of the horseflies that we slapped dead - and the dead fly count was winning! We made two passes along a stretch of bank then headed further up river to anchor in a large creek. More bites on the jig and a long awaited hookup finally produced the culprit - Croaker! We ran back to Fernandina, trolled Eagans Creek, pitching to the bank and stopped in at the Bait House for some more shrimp, then headed over to Tiger Island and with Rosette Spoonbills overhead, Chuck caught a nice keeper sized Flounder and then hooked up to a hard fighting, jumping and thrashing Ladyfish. We moved on to a creek mouth, anchored along the flooded marsh grass and soon began to catch fish. We were joined early by a pair of juvenile Manatee that hung with us the entire time we were there. Both Chuck and I were somewhat surprised as the sun was now overhead and in full force, but the Trout were biting and Chuck ended up pulling in 7-8 with a few being keeper sized. He was using live shrimp under a float and also added to the "Slam" by picking up a nice Redfish, and even had a few Blues to the mix.
Chuck's perseverance and determination paid off by making what started out as a rather frustrating morning in to a great fishing day and a great one to be out on the water!

Bottom Rigs Rule

Tim Schieffelin was in town with his family from Loganville, Georgia and he had scheduled a backwater fishing trip with me and his two sons, Eli and Ian. We left the Atlantic Seafood dock promptly at 7am and headed up to Jolley River, anchoring at the mouth with the tide still creeping in, not to top out until around 9:15am. With only a few casts under our belts, Eli soon hooked up with a feisty Redfish, bringing it to the net, then his father Tim hooked up with a fat Seatrout.
We moved up river to a run out and the guys caught another Redfish and Trout. Going further up the river to "Snook Creek", we anchored as the tide changed and started out. It wasn't long before everyone was catching fish: Tim caught another Trout or two and Redfish on a float rig while the boys enjoyed manning the bottom rigs. Tim hooked up with something big and played the fish like a pro, fighting him up one side of the boat, around the bow, then back down the other side of the boat to the stern - and then back around again! We eventually netted a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark for pictures then released the beast to be caught another day.
Both Ian and Eli hooked up with Shark and Eli soon was crowned the "Croaker King" as he pulled in a few of the species. As the sun got up high, the temperatures got hot and we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Shark Blood

Dennis Shill of Baton Rouge was in town with his family for a conference and scheduled some time to get out and fish with his young sons, Davis and DC. We met at the south end boat ramp this morning at 7am and headed up Nassau River with the tide just starting out. Our first stop showed plenty of bait with fish feeding but we had no bites on our live shrimp floated under Cajun Thunder floats. We move on to a run out up river, anchored and it wasn't long before Davis hooked up with something that took his line downriver then back up, zinging across the water then finally hunkering down for a long battle. Davis did great for a young angler, eventually figuring out that he could relax and let the rod do the work, and after a long 10 minute fight, brought to the net a 3' Bonnethead Shark! We moved on to Bubblegum Reef where Dennis switched to a jig/shrimp combo and picked up a nice keeper sized Trout. After a while we moved on to Jackstaff, anchored and the young men caught their fill of sharks on bottom rigs. Everyone had hookups with Redfish, with DC and Dennis having a "double" hookup at one time and both bringing their Red to the boat and net for pictures. While the boys manned the bottom rigs, Dennis persevered with jig/shrimp and caught another Trout, a Drum and a tough fighting Jack. Total for the day: 10 Shark, 6 Reds, 2 Trout, 1 Drum, and 1 Jack. Another great day to be out on the water!

Smorgusboard of Fish Catch'n

Bill Freeman of Warner Robbins, GA was in town with his family to celebrate the 4th of July holiday and wanted a change of pace so he set up a fishing trip with me and his two sons, Will and Timothy. We met at the south end ramp at 7am with the tide still going out and not to hit bottom until around 9am. We headed up Amelia River, cut in to Jackstaff and started trolling the oyster lined banks. About 50 yards up Will hooked up with what turned out to be a very aggressive Redfish and he boated it shortly.
Will must have had the hot rod early because it wasn't too long before he had a real battle on his hands! The fish went from stern to bow and back to stern, ripping drag and heading down river then back to the boat and hunkering down on the bottom. Will used the rod to lift the fish then began to work him in - a 3 1/2 foot long Bonnethead shark! Bill got in on the action by hooking up to hard fighting Jack Crevalle; we all thought it was going to be a slot sized Redfish by the way it fought, but it was a fun battle, anyway. Timothy, not to be outdone, caught a Blacktip Shark and then added a Redfish that just missed the slot by 1/4". Will topped it off with Puppy Drum. When the bite slowed we pulled up and ran to "Bubblegum Reef" where Bill boated another Bonnethead. We tried our luck at Broward Island, but the day had progressed and the bites had come to a halt so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Honeymooners and Redfish Catching

I don't know if it's because they were newly wed, or if there was a "Georgia Mystique" going on, but what a morning of Redfish Catching we had today! I met honeymooners Jimmy and Sara Underwood at the south end boat ramp at 7am this morning. We had cloudy skies, but very little wind and thankfully, no rain. We headed back up to Jackstaff and warmed up the rods with some casting then eased up to the spot where we had had such good fishing last night. Sure enough, Jimmy hooked up with a feisty Redfish and brought 'em to the boat; Sara hooked up but lost one, then both were catching Redfish. Boom! Boom! Boom! Redfish on! They boated a number of slot sized Reds with the largest being just over 26" and 7lb's. At one time we had a double hookup with both anglers playing fish and the Captain (me) turning back and forth with the catch net to see who would need it first! They ended up pulling another 13 Redfish out of this hot spot. Jimmy also hooked up with a hard pulling 3' Bonnethead shark and he expertly fought it to the boat for viewing and then we turned it loose. The bite slowed when the tide turned so we hit a few more spots before calling it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Banner (rainy) Day of Big Redfish

The hurricane that passed through the Gulf heading to Texas must have thrown the foul weather our way; thunderstorms and rain showers forced us to cancel a Wednesday morning trip and when the forecast called for thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon, we called off Derek and Amy Baileys afternoon trip, too. The couple were in town from Cordele, Georgia and were really looking forward to a fishing trip so we agreed to meet at the south end boat ramp on Thursday afternoon, 4pm, to give it another try. We were met with severe thunderstorms so we waited them out in the parking lot and as they passed at 6pm decided to try to get in a couple of hours of fishing in the light drizzle. Donning ponchos, we headed up river to Jackstaff Creek and began a troll of the oyster beds, exposed almost completely with only about an hour of an outgoing tide left. 50 yards into fishing Derek hooked up with a feisty 16" Redfish and fought it to the boat and net. I thought to myself, "well that's nice, at least we caught a fish in this rain!" Boy was that an understatement (or thought)! Derek and Amy proceeded to catch Redfish almost non-stop for 2 hours, most of them in the slot or even larger, measuring 27", 28" and even 30'er that reached 10lbs!
Amy had one on that probably exceeded even that, fought it for 5-10 minutes, but then it gave a sharp tug and broke itself off. They ended up catching 12 Redfish in the one spot then we moved on to Nassau River to pick up one more slot Redfish. We eased up to the boat ramp just as the sun went down, and counted it as another great (but wet) day to be out on the water!

Sharks and more Sharks

Rachel Russel was in town with her husband Brent, their son Pat, and his girlfriend Jennifer, visiting Amelia Island from Alabama. We had arranged to do a backwater fishing trip this morning so we met at Atlantic Seafood at 7AM and headed up to Jolley River with the tide coming in. We began pitching the jig and shrimp combo up to the half exposed oyster beds and it wasn't long before the anglers were catching some pesky, but fun to catch Croakers. We trolled the oyster bank, eventually switching to live shrimp under a float and Jennifer hooked up with a nice, keeper sized Trout. Seconds later Rachel did the same, bringing hers to the boat and a waiting net. We moved on down the river to a large creek runout, anchored, and began to cast the float/shrimp rig and the jig and shrimp. Pat started the catching off by hooking up to a drag-ripping Bonnethead Shark. Pat fought the fish to the bow of the boat, under the anchor rope and then back to the stern. We netted this brute and got some pictures. Rachel took her turn with the Bonnetheads, then Brent hooked up one, too. We ran to Tiger Island and anchored up against the shore, taking advantage of the last of the shade, with Rosette Spoonbills roosting overhead. Rachel wrapped up the day with a nice Puppy Drum that fought like a bull. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Kids and Big Catches

Britt Caple and his wife, April were in town with their two sons Conner and Carter, visiting from Alabama. I met them at the Atlantic Seafood dock yesterday afternoon, in hopes that the afternoon heat would wind down and we could put the young guys on some fish. After suiting up in their life vests and a brief safety orientation, we made a run up to Jolley River as the tide hit its dead low. We anchored at a small creek run out with the intention of letting the young men get warmed up with the spinning outfits and then possibly moving on to some better spots. No need for that! My first instructional cast picked up a bite and then after turning the rods over to Conner and Carter, the bite was non-stop for 2+ hours!
I tried to guestimate how many Redfish they caught but it had to have been more than 20, most all of them "rat" reds, but Carter did hookup, and with the help of his father, hauled in a nice keeper sized, 23" 4lb Redfish! Both boys were catching fish: Redfish, Croakers, and Blues when Conner hooked up with something big that made a drag-ripping run! Conner fought the fish to the back of the boat, across the stern and back up to the bow with dad helping out along the way and mom snapping picturs. Eventually they subdued the fish and brought to the net a 3' Bonnethead Shark. We inspected the fish, photographed it, then tossed it back. The boys added a couple more Trout - keeper sized, more small Redfish, a few Flounder, and a small Black Tip Shark. A storm was brewing west of us and Carter, an aspiring weatherman, advised us that we may want to pull up and run, so we did! We made a stop at Tiger Island then came on in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!