Shark after Shark after Shark

Brian Deem was in visiting Amelia Island with his family and set up two backcountry fishing trips, one with his younger kids, and one with the older kids.  We met Thursday afternoon for the first trip with the younger set and left the Fernandina Harbor Marina at 4pm on The Anglers Mark.  Our first stop was outside Tiger Island and we were joined with a few manatee!  The youngest, Noah, was the first to hookup and reel in a feisty Redfish.  Fishing behind Tiger Island, Cameryn caught a couple of Croaker.  We moved on up to Jolley River and things heated up with Riley and Noah, along with their Dad, fighting Bonnethead Sharks. Cameryn added a nice sized whiting to the catch.  Our last stop was up a side creek off of Jolley and the trio of anglers had their hands full by catching one big Shark after another, and as the sun began to set, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

We met Saturday afternoon and this time Brian brought his to older sons, seasoned anglers Jordan and Hunter.  We had chosen to meet at 3pm which was at the very bottom of an outgoing tide.  The oysters were exposed and the three anglers were tossing jig and shrimp combos to their base and soon had some good hookups, with Jordan reeling in a couple of hard fighting Redfish and Brian battling a 2' Bonnethead Shark. We move around to Jolley River and fished the first of the incoming tide and all anglers had Redfish - Hunter picked up 4 on his own, Jordan added a couple more and Brian had a few, too.  As the tide began to rise, the fishing slowed, so we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Slot Reds lead to Slam

Davis Norris and his friend Kevin were visiting Amelia Island with their families last week and they decided to take in an backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed up river to fish the outside of Tiger Island with topwater lures.  Although we had a couple of "spits" at the lures, we had no real bites.  We moved around to the docks of Lanceford Creek when the tide started out and this proved to be the ticket because the guys began to get good bites and hookups on live shrimp under floats.  They ended up catching 10-12 Redfish with at least 3 of those in the Slot.  Davis hauled in a keeper sized flounder and they had a couple of small Trout.  We eventually ran around to the Jolley River and fished an now exposed oyster bank and the guys caught another Slot Red, some smaller Reds, a keeper sized Trout to round out an Amelia Island Backcountry Slam.  We picked up a few more fish then called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Twin Slam

An overcast day couldn't keep the Bill Steinauer family from fishing the backwaters of Amelia Island today.  Bill and his wife Pam, along with their twin daughters met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning and we headed up river, stopping The Anglers Mark at a flooded shell bed.   The anglers tossed live shrimp under floats and immediately began to get bites and soon boated a nice Bluefish, a neat Needlefish, a small Jack, and a whole host of other bait stealers!  We ran on up to the Jolly River and anchored in a creek runout and again found a great deal of bait stealers, so we eased out to the mouth of the creek and WHAM!  Bill had a good bite and caught a feisty Redfish.  The move proved to be the ticket because the whole family joined in catching Redfish, a couple of Trout, and Bill added a Flounder to round out the Amelia Island Backcountry Slam.  A number of Croaker were caught, too.  We eventually moved around to Tiger Island where the Steinauer family added a couple of more Croakers and another Redfish. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Smorgasbord of Fish

 I've had a handful of trips the last couple of weeks that have started out slow but picked up with fish beginning to bite right up to the end.   A lot of it has to do with how much the patience the anglers have and if they  "endeavor to persevere"!  Today was one of those days.  I met Sam and Molly Pearson and their two kids Cassidy and Clay at the Big Talbot Island boat ramp, 7am, and we headed up the Nassau River for a morning of backcountry fishing on The Anglers Mark.  Our first stop was at Leon's Drop with the tide going out and the oysters not showing yet - perfect tide for the spot, but no bites.  We headed around through Jackstaff and fished the bank and Clay did pick up a feisty Redfish with a live shrimp under float. We crossed the creek where Sam had a good battle with a Bonnethead Shark, but the Shark won and move on!  Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef and this time we broke out some bait casting bottom rigs.  Cassidy had a rod bending, drag ripping hookup and, FISH ON!  She and I battle the fish briefly then Sam jumped in and took over for a long battle which he won this time, and he brought to the boat a huge Stingray for pictures.  That must have gotten things going because Sam started having good hookups on a jig/shrimp combos.  He had a good strong bite, and played the fish perfectly, then handed the rod off to Clay who brought in a slot sized Redfish.  Then Sam hooked up with another and this time handed it off to Cassidy, who brought in an even bigger slot Redfish.  Sam was on a roll because he eventually boated a "Smorgasbord" of fish including a Sheepshead, Sea Bass, and Black Drum.  Molly joined in and expertly reeled in the Sea Bass. Cassidy added one more Stingray to the mix.  The sun was up and it was time to head in, so we called it a day,  another great one to be on the water!

TripleTail leads off for Grand Slam

Just when you think you've seen it all in the backcountry waters of Amelia Island a fish is caught that just boggles your mind!  A few years ago I was fishing up in Jolley River which is northwest of Amelia Island and I had a hookup, a good feisty fight, and landed a small Snook, to my amazement!   We've been having pretty good catches this summer of Redfish and we've been also catching a few Trout and Flounder, and once in a while a Sheepshead.  But you can imagine my surprise when one of my customers caught a hard fighting fish that just didn't want to come to the boat and when we finally netted it, a TripleTail!

Busted Net

I keep telling myself that I'm going to quit trying to net Bonnethead Sharks.  Today I learned my lesson when Parker Grow, his dad Bill and Parker's 4 1/2 year old son Crawford took in an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the boat ramp and the City's Fernandina Harbor Marina this morning around 7am and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the docks on an incoming tide.  The oysters were almost covered, so we tossed a live shrimp under float up near the dock pilings.  The anglers had few bites so we headed up to Jolley River;  the oysters were now covered and the jig/shrimp combo wasn't working too well.  We headed further up the river and anchored in a large creek and it wasn't long before Parker had a strong bite and his drag began to rip out, FISH ON!  He had Crawford help him out and the two fought the fish perfectly, bringing it to the boat and wearing it out so that I could scoop him up with the catch net, but as soon as I began to drag this large Bonnethead up the net collapsed!  I grabbed at the fish and the line broke. OUCH!  But it was a great fight and provided some much needed excitement!  We were in the right spot because it wasn't long before Bill had a nice shark on.  He too played it perfectly and this time we grabbed the Shark and tossed him in the boat for pictures and release.  We caught a couple more shark and had a good mess of Croaker to go with them.  The wind had picked up and was really blowing and after a couple of brief stops we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Saltwater Fishing 101

Michael and Loraine Belcon were visiting Amelia Island with their two sons Michael and Max and decided to take in an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark. We left the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp and headed up to the outside of Tiger Island, dropped anchor and fished the covered oyster beds with a live shrimp under float. Although we had numerous bites, there were no takers, so we pulled up and ran to Jolley River to fish a large creek mouth. It wasn't long before all the anglers were getting bites then Michael Sr. had a good bite on a jig/shrimp combo and his drag ripped out, FISH ON! He fought the fish expertly, the FINS Braided line held, and after a long battle we netted a nice Bonnethead Shark for pictures an release. Moments later, Michael Jr. had a good bite and his drag began to rip out too! He fought the fish from bow to stern and back to bow and we again netted a large Bonnethead, took pictures and released it. We went back to the inside of Tiger Island where the anglers again had bites with Michael Jr. catching a couple of Croaker while his dad had something nice almost to the boat, but it threw the hook, OUCH! We eventually move to the outside of Tiger and the bite really picked up at almost full high tide. Max landed a very big Blue and the group added a few more Blues, Croaker, Pin Fish, Trout and Black Drum before we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

No Steak Tonight

Gordon Duff was visiting Amelia Island again and treated his two grandsons Ethan and Vincent to an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark. We left the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp at the City Marina and headed up river to fish the outside of Tiger Island.  We began a troll along the flooded beach where bait was getting popped and Ethan tossed a topwater lure, "walking the dog" expertly.  I was throwing a smaller popping lure and we both had numerous hits but no takers.  We anchored up at a grassy area and tossed out live shrimp under floats and it wasn't long before both young men were catching fish.  We boated a number of Redfish to 17", Ethan added a couple of Trout, and of course, the summer time ever present Bluefish.  Our next stop was at the docks of Lanceford where we had a few bites and picked up a nice Flounder, completing early the Amelia Island Inshore Slam!  We ran up to Jolley Bank and fished the now exposed oysters and Ethan worked the bank with a jig/Gulp Shrimp and again caught a couple of Redfish, just under sized.   At out last stop, the current was running out of a large creek and we had a good hard bite up near the oysters and FISH ON!  Vincent cranked the reel, I held the Rod, Grandad took pictures, and Ethan netted the Big fish for a team effort in boating a nice 22" Slot Redfish for dinner tonight!  After that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

ShaaarkRed!

Jason Carr set up an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip with his father-in-law Tommy and his brother-in-law Dave on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We got an early start, leaving the City of Fernandina Beach marina a little before 7am and headed up to the Jolley River to "Sues Spot" where the guys began to warm up with the jig/live shrimp combo.  It didn't take long before all of them were getting bites along the exposed oyster beds and we soon began to net feisty Redfish.  We move on up to "Snook Creek" and again the anglers found Redfish and a couple of fat Seatrout, along with a few Rock Bass.  The tide turned and started back in so we ran back to the mouth of Jolley and fished the oyster banks and again their were Reds to be caught.  We all spotted a Bonnethead Shark cruising the edge and Tommy made a perfect cast in front of the fish, waited patiently and hooked 'em up!  FISH ON!  He had a good battle on his hands with drag ripping out on occasion, but these anglers were after Redfish so we contemplated breaking the shark off when all of a sudden the fish rolled and we then knew that it was a slot Redfish that had beaten the Shark to the bait!  Tommy played the fish perfectly and we soon netted the big Red.  We made another stop at Tiger Island where Jason found his on hole of Redfish, boating three in a row on the live shrimp, one of which was right at the slot.  The temperatures had warmed and after one more stop we called it a day, another great one to be on the water

Grand Slam Leads to Homerun

Local resident Andy Herrin had worked non-stop at  his job since last Christmas and when he finally got 4 days off he "got away from it all" and went fishing, with his two sons, Colton and Kyler.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock early this morning and pointed The Anglers Mark up to the Jolley River with a couple hours left of a falling tide.  The oyster banks were well exposed and the anglers wasted no time, hooking up to some feisty Redfish in between hungry Croaker.  At our second stop Andy added a Seatrout and not long after completed his Amelia Island Inshore Slam by pulling in a Flounder.  Both Colton and Kyler added Redfish, and of course, the pesky Croaker.  When the tide changed we headed to the mouth of Jolley to fish the oyster lined bank and again found Croaker and other "baitstealers".  We had a good flurry of bites when Kyler had a strong bite.  He played the fish perfectly and we soon netted a keeper sized Trout.  Then it was Andy's turn with a rod bending fish - his turned out to be strong pulling Black Drum, adding to his Slam and then he hit a home run when he had another strong bite, a good battle, and we netted a nice Slot sized 21" Redfish.  Colton got in on the action with the biggest fish - a 3' Bonnethead Shark - and fought it like a pro until he decided to break it off.  We hit a couple of more spots, saw some manatee, and then headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!