3 Before 8

Tim Schiefflin and his family were visiting Amelia Island again this summer so Tim treated his two sons Eli and Ian to an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock promptly at 7am and headed up the Lanceford Creek to fish the docks on an outgoing tide.  The oysters had just begin to show as we anchored and pitched a live shrimp under float up near the dock pilings and FISH ON!  First Cast!  Eli played the fish perfectly and we soon netted a Slot sized Redfish!   All the anglers got in on the action and began to catch Redfish after Redfish and before 8am they had three Slot Reds in the boat!  The Reds were up near the oyster beds and Ian soon found that he could cast his bait up near them and let it drift along and he'd soon have a bite.  By the time we left Lanceford they had boated 13 Redfish and 6 of them were slot sized!  We made a run up to the Jolley River and fished an oyster lined bank with jig and shrimp combos.  Tim added the biggest Redfish, boating a nice 22"er and then Ian hooked up with a Trout on an artificial minnow.  After moving to creek runout, Eli had a good battle with a 2' Black Tip Shark and Ian caught another Trout.  The sun got up so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Big Redfish leads to Slam

Amanda Hammonds was visiting Amelia Island with her family and boyfriend and decided to take in a an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark. We left the boat ramp at 7am sharp and headed up to Lanceford Creek to fish the docks on a high, outgoing tide. The oysters were still covered so we tossed out live shrimp under floats, drifting them up near the dock pilings. First cast, Amanda's brother hooked up with a nice Trout! All the anglers caught bait stealer, after bait stealer, after bait stealer. Ouch. But as the tide dropped Amanda had a strong bite and soon realized that this wasn't a bait stealer! The big Redfish put up a tremendous fight and after a prolonged, drag ripping battle, found it's way back into the pilings and cut itself off! The Big One that got away! However, shortly after Amanda's brother had a good hookup and played the fish to the boat where we netted a nice 23" Redfish. Amanda boated a Flounder and the rest of the anglers caught a few more smaller Red's, then we headed over to Tiger Island where they caught a couple of more smaller Redfish. We headed up to Jolley River and began a troll of Jolley Bank and again they caught some small Reds then boated two keeper sized Flounder. After hitting one more spot, we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Fly Tying Contest

For all the fly tyers out there, here's an interesting contest:  Tie a fly that looks like the space shuttle Atlantis!  Get more information here

Hunt for Reds

Chris Clark,  his "almost 8" son, Hunt, and Hunt's grandfather Vance Hefner were visiting Amelia Island and took in an Amelia Island fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina at 7am sharp and headed up to the Jolley River for some backcountry fishing.  Our first stop was at a small runout as the tide reached it's bottom and the anglers warmed up by tossing shrimp and jig combos.  They had a few bites and Vance broke the ice with a Croaker and when the tide started back in we pulled anchor and began trolling the oyster lined banks. A few more bites later and a couple of more croakers, a small Redfish,  then we had a strong bite and drag ripped out! Hunt and his dad worked the fish together and they soon boated a nice 17 3/4" Redfish.  We had a couple of more good Redfish bites but they shook the hook so we moved on up the river to a nice creek.  We had only trolled a few minutes when WHAM!  FISH ON!  Again, Hunt and Chris fought the fish, playing it perfectly and as the big Red got close to the boat, Chris netted it and brought it in, a slot sized 23" Redfish!  We moved on up into the creek and anchored and the anglers each had a shot at fighting and catching Bonnethead Sharks then Chris picked up his 2nd Flounder and Vance topped off the Amelia Island Inshore Slam with a nice Seatrout.  We made one more stop at the outside of Tiger Island and the guys fought a couple of more shark and Chris added another Flounder, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Fish Lost, Fish Gained

John Spagna, his son Anthony, and family were visiting Amelia Island and scheduled an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 7am this morning and headed up the Nassau River to catch the last few minutes of an outgoing tide.  We picked an oyster outcrop and dropped the trolling motor to quietly ease along, both anglers pitching 1/8 oz jigs with live shrimp.  They each had some bites then John had a hard bite and then the fight was on!  Then off!  The Redfish threw the hook!  At the next outcrop of oysters John had an even harder bite and this time he expertly fought the Redfish for a minute or so and...fish OFF!  The line broke.  OUCH!  But John was not to be deterred.  We fished the docks at Seymore's Pointe and as the tide started in, headed for Broward Island where bait was being busted on the south end of the island.  After trolling just a minute or two both anglers commented that they were getting bites, then John hooked up and brought in a nice Seatrout.  Shortly after he had another strong bite and this time everything held and he got his Redfish!  Anthony joined in on the action, getting a subtle bite, then his line felt heavy and he set the hook on a nice keeper sized Flounder.  John added a Flounder to complete his Amelia Island Inshore Slam then Anthony upped the ante by hooking up and bringing to the net an even bigger Flounder.  All of these fish were mixed in with a number of hungry Croaker!  We ran to Jackstaff and fished the now flooded oysters, but the fish had decided to take a break so we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Mom Puts Fish In The Boat

Scott O'melia and his son Palmer fished with me again this morning on The Anglers Mark and this time they brought Scott's wife and Palmer's mother, Jacquelyn.  Palmer was an old pro with the boat and new where all the hatches, life vests, and bait wells were and was eager to point them out to his mom.  The tide had been coming in for about an hour as we left the Atlantic Seafood dock and headed up to the Jolley River. We anchored at a small runout and tossed shrimp on jigs to the still exposed oysters.  The anglers warmed up by catching a couple of hungry Croaker.  We moved on up into Jolley and I was able to cast net a few dozen perfectly sized finger mullet.  This did the trick and soon everyone was getting bites.  Scott and Palmer caught Blues and Croaker while Jacquelyn had some good hookups and fought to the net a couple of nice Seatrout.  Once, her line tightened and the drag began to rip out, FISH ON!  She fought the fish for a while but it must have gotten across an oyster bed because it broke off after a few minute battle, OUCH!  We eventually moved down to Tiger Island, saw a few Sea Turtles surfacing and caught a few more Croaker, Blues and Trout.  We moved to the front of Tiger and Jacquelyn again had a brief battle with an unwilling large fish, again getting broke off.  But she persevered and as we trolled the beach where hundreds of mullet were milling, Jacquelyn had another good bite and she cranked in a nice 17" Redfish.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Cuyler's Hot Spot

Dan Daughtry, his 8 year old son Cuyler, and Dan's dad Jim were all treated to a Father's Day Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark by Dan's wife, Ginger.  We left the City marina at 7am sharp and headed up river to fish the outside of Tiger Island.  The tide was high and just starting out so we tossed out some live shrimp under floats.  Fish were biting and Jim began to hook up with aggressive Blue fish.  We moved on to the mouth of Tiger, anchored and soon were joined by a family of Manatee.  You can't beat fishing out one side of the boat while Manatee are rolling around on the other!  Cuyler began to catch fish and we soon found that he had the hot rod because he began to yell, "I got a fish" each time he hooked up.  He caught a Redfish, a couple of Trout and Blues.  We proclaimed the area Cuylers Hot Spot!

Later we ran up to Jolley River and fished a large run out.  The Hot Rod switched to Grandad Jim who caught a nice Trout and then had a strong hookup and his drag ripped out.  Jim played the fish perfectly and we soon netted a nice Bonnethead Shark.  Fishing the banks of Jolley, Jim added another Redfish to his catch and later Dan hooked up with Redfish and Trout, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Montana meets North Florida Slam

One of my old college buddies, Dave Bolton was in town and treated his daughter Katie and her fiance Mike to an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today.  It was a beautiful morning with just a slight breeze and a few clouds to keep the heat off.  The young Katie and Mike were visiting from Montana and it was Mike's first time in Florida.  We left the boat ramp at 7am sharp and headed up to the Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  Evidently the bait shops had sold out of their live shrimp over the weekend so we were using dead shrimp and artificial grubs and minnows.  Katie started things off by catching some Blues and then Mike had a few bites of small trout and blues, all on the dead shrimp.  But David was having some good bites on a plastic minnow, caught a couple of small Trout, and then had one that ripped his drag, and, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and soon boated a nice 17" Trout.  We moved on down the river and anchored at a runout where all three anglers immediately began to catch fish.   They were catching small Trout, Croakers and had a couple of small Reds until Mike added a keeper sized Flounder, completing his North Florida Slam.  But he wasn't finished yet!  We began a troll of the now exposed oysters and it wasn't long before Mike had a strong hookup and a good fight on his hands.  The fish ripped drag and stubbornly stayed deep, but Mike played the fish like a pro and after a few minutes he wore it down and brought the 21" Redfish to the waiting net.  We hit the docks at Lanceford creek where Mike picked up another small Redfish and all three anglers had good bites, but the sun was up so we called it a day, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Beautiful Amelia Island

It doesn't get much better than leaving the dock early in the morning with the sun coming up, a slight breeze, and not a cloud in the sky!  Fred Fishel took in an Amelia Island fishing charter on The Anglers Mark this morning and we got an early start, leaving the dock at 7am and heading up the Nassau River for some backcountry fishing.  We made our first stop at "Leon's Spot" with the tide having been going out for about an hour and half.  We had a few nibbles on our live shrimp under floats, but no takers so we headed on up to Bubblegum Reef where again we had a few bumps on our shrimp, but no takers.  Fred was going to have to work for his fish!  Our next stop at a marsh grass point in Jackstaff proved to be the ticket because we picked up a couple of Seatrout.  Fred was making excellent casts and as we trolled the banks of Jackstaff with the oysters now exposed, Fred caught a couple more Trout and a nice Flounder.  We hit a couple of more spots then made a run to Broward Island where Fred picked up another Trout as the tide was reaching bottom, then we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

"Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee"!  The quote from Muhammad Ali summed up how I felt like this morning!  Yesterday's smoke had put a pall on the fishing and on my trip to the boat ramp I told myself to "get after it, boy"!  Luckily, my two guest anglers were as eager to catch some fish as I was.  Barry Shelor and his son Matt met me at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning at 7am and we headed up the Nassau River, with not much sign of the smoke, and a high, falling tide.  The plan was to fish as many spots as we could and not linger at any that weren't producing fish.   We eased up to "Leon's Spot" and Barry began to toss a jig/shrimp combo while Matt used a live shrimp under float.  Both had some pretty good bites when Barry's rod bent and he had a good fight on his hands.  These experienced anglers know what to do and Barry played the fish perfectly into the net.  Note in the picture that this large Sheepshead was missing a chunk out of its back!  We hit Bubblegum Reef with no bites, then a few oyster beds in to Jackstaff both anglers caught Sharks. After running through Jackstaff we fished the point of a sandbar and Barry found a nice Seatrout so we anchored.  Both anglers caught a couple of Trout, then we trolled the oyster lined bank of Jackstaff, but had no bites.  The sun was getting up, but the tide was right so we made a run to Broward Island and slowly eased along it's log strewn bank.  Again, both anglers had good hookups and we ended up catching 4-5 feisty Redfish to 18".  Barry caught a Flounder to complete an inshore "Grand Slam" of Sheepshead, Trout, Redfish and Flounder.  After that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!