Three for Three

Jacksonville Florida residents Mark and Nilda Laurint, along with their son Brent, made the trip over to Amelia Island for an afternoon of backcountry fishing on The Anglers Mark.  Brent has one more week before returning to college and this was a great way for the family to spend some quality time.  We left the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp at 3pm and headed up to the outside of Tiger Island, fishing a flooded oyster bar on an outgoing tide with live shrimp under floats.  The anglers had numerous bites from the summertime's everpresent "baitstealers", so we moved on to the docks of Lanceford Creek.  The tide still wasn't down enough, and even though Mark had a nice Trout that I thought would get things rolling, no more quality bites were had.  We made good run around to Jolley River and up to Snook Creek, anchoring and  fishing jig and shrimp combos.  The family had a few good bites, with Nilda catching a couple of Trout and Mark catching a large Bull Whiting and all the anglers hooked up with Croaker.  The sun was inching down, the tide was really out by now, so we made one final stop at "Jolley Bank".  Both Mark and Brent had their first casts in the water when Mark's rod bent, drag ripped, and FISH ON!  Brent yelled, "FISH ON", too, and we had a double!  Brent's was in first, a Croaker, but Mark's was putting up a fight and he was all around the stern and with pro-angler technique, Mark boated a slot sized Redfish!  We got the boat lined up again and this time Nilda's rod bent and she had a battle on her hands!  Despite un-needed coaching she was receiving, she did a great job of fighting the fish and brought to net an even larger, slot sized Red!  Again, we lined the boat up and began our troll and then Brent has a hookup!  This time his line rips out and we can tell that this fish is bigger.  He played the fish perfectly and after a good battle, boated a nice 25" Slot Redfish! Wow, what a way to wrap up a fishing trip - three slot Reds in thirty minutes - and a great way to end the day out on the water!

Champion Angler

Mike Simon was visiting Amelia Island last week so he planned an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip with his son Andrew on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp on the south end of the island at 7am and headed up the intercoastal to fish the mouth of Jackstaff on the last of an outgoing tide.  The anglers were pitching the jig and shrimp combo and it wasn't long before Mike caught a feisty Redfish.  Andrew was making his own casts and he caught a nice Jack Crevalle and he also battled another Redfish.  As we passed a runout, Andrew made a cast to its mouth and as he began his reel in, his line went taunt and FISH ON!  The fish made a strong run and Andrew held on with line ripping out and then his dad came to help and in a joint effort, fought the fish from port to starboard and back again.  The big fish made three or four runs, but Andrew hung in there and he soon brought the large 4' Bonnethead to the boat for netting, pictures, and release!  We crowned Andrew "Champion Angler" after that battle!  We moved on to Broward Island to fish the first of an incoming tide and Michael picked up three more Redfish on his jig and shrimp combo.  The sun was up and getting hot, so we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Beautiful Morning Slammed

Mike Maron is visiting Amleia Island with his family on a much deserved vacation so he scheduled an Amelia Island fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We met at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning just before 7am, launched, and headed up the intercoastal to the mouth of Jackstaff.  The tide had been coming in for about an hour and a half, but the oysters were still showing so we started easing along the bank with Mike tossing a 1/4 jig/shrimp combo.  He had good bites the whole morning, picking up Ladyfish and Trout and then he had a hookup and his drag began to rip out, FISH ON!  He fought the fish expertly and went around and 'round the boat a couple of times with him making up some line then the fish ripping it back out, and then...pop....fish off!  Ouch.  It must have caught the leader just right and popped itself off. Mike persevered and he soon had another battle on his hands, this time the fish succomed and Mike brought to the net a 3' Bonnethead Shark  He had a couple more battles with the Shark's, one that spooled him and we added a Flounder in between.  Later, fishing at the Semour Point docks, Mike had something nibbling his shrimp under a float and when he deftly set the hook, a good fight insued.  Mike played it like a pro and we netted a quality keeper sized Sheepshead.  With the day warming up, we made one last stop at Broward Island to fish the flooded logs and we picked up a Slot Redfish, more than rounding out an Amelia Island Backcountry Slam of Trout, Flounder, Sheepshead, and Redfish!  We called it a day, another great one to the on the water!

Fish On Fire

Chuck Leshinsky was visiting the Jacksonville area with his family so he and his three sons Ryan, Aidan and Nathan, along with their Uncle John Orr, took in a Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We loaded up with 7 dozen live shrimp, launched at 7am,  and headed to an flooded oyster bar with the tide still coming in.  It wasn't long before young Nathan had a strong hookup and he and his dad battled a hard fighting Blue to the net for pictures.  After that, all the young anglers joined in, catching fish right after left. Ryan was making perfect casts to some flooded marsh grass and it paid off with quality catches of Seatrout.  Aidan was getting in to the action, with help from his Uncle John, and boated multi-spotted Redfish and flashy Ladyfish.  Both John and Chuck helped with the young guys (thanks!) and the bite was non-stop for about an hour and a half.  We made a brief stop to "reload" with shrimp and then headed up the Jolley River to Snook Creek, anchored and fished our shrimp under float on the last of an incoming, first of an outgoing tide.  It took awhile, but when the tide changed, the action picked up.  Ryan had a quick breakoff on a Shark, then Adian's FINS braided line began to rip out and the fight was on!  He had everyone scrabbling to get out of the way as the Shark took him from bow to stern and back again, causing the other anglers to duck and bob to get out of the way, but Aidan held on and with help from his dad, we soon boated a 3'+ Shark on the light tackle rig!  Pictures were taken and the fish was released to be caught another day.  Ryan was now tossing a jig/shrimp combo and he began to pick up Trout and had some nice sized Whiting, so John and Chuck switched too.  Chuck's drag began to rip and he had his own Shark battle, fishing it like a pro, and he too brought it to the net for pictures.  John topped off the day by catching one of the bigger Trout we've had in a while, a 24"er, caught at 10:30am!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Smoked Shrimp

Here's a great Smoked Shrimp process, forwarded from my Dad!

Lake Lanier Spotted Bass

We met friends Denise and Bill Sweeney and Judy Cardone up in North Georgia over the weekend to celebrate my wife's birthday and Bill and I were given a pass to take in some fishing at Lake Lanier Saturday with friend Tim Parker.  Tim was gracious enough to meet us near the boat ramp with his bass boat and gear and all we had to do was show up.  He launched the boat around 7am and headed north up the lake to a jut of rocks and instructed Bill and I how to fish the Texas rig worm that he had set up on light tackle.  Tim got us fishing then showed us how it was done by setting the hook on a couple of nice Spotted Bass, fighting them to the boat like a pro for pictures and release.  Bill got the hang of it early and soon began to feel the subtle bite, and he too set the hook, FISH ON!  He played the fish expertly and brought to the boat another keeper sized Bass.  It took me a while but later in the day I was fishing a "Rooster" spinner blade and had a hookup.  It was all I could do, but after a tremendous battle, I landed one of the Spotted Bass,   my first!  We had a great day and Tim was a great host and guide - if you're ever up in the northern area of Lake Lanier, give me a call and I'll hook you up with Tim!

Weird Amelia Island Backcountry Fish

The month of July proved to be a great month for fishing and I had a few trips where we were all surprised at what was at the end of the line!  The Brian Deem family were fishing with me and in addition to other fish, landed what we called a "puffer fish" but according to Carole Neidig, Staff Scientist for Mote Marine Labratory,  is a Striped Burrfish or also called a Spiny Boxfish (Chilomycterus schoepfii). They live in seagrass beds in bays and coastal lagoons and over shallow coastal reefs from Maine to Florida, although they are less common in the northern part of the range. They will puff up with air to increase their size when threatened.

Brian Shepley and his friend Jack Coward were fishing on The Anglers Mark and had a great day of catching and when Brian hooked up with a hard fighting fish we all thought, "Redfish".  But when he eventually brought the fish to net we were surprised to see a Tripletail!  The Atlantic Tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis)  is found from Massachusetts to Bermuda to Argentina and is normally seen in open waters, but can be caught in sounds, bays, and esturaries.  This was another first for The Anglers Mark!

Dan McBryan and his dad Lou picked up a very nice Flounder one day but Dan also landed a fish that I had never seen. Carole Neidig of Mote Marine also identified this one for us, a Lizard Fish (Synodus foetens) and is common in our waters. It is found both inshore and offshore but both are different species. The Offshore variety being much smaller. They are distributed throughout Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The Inshore Lizard fish is coastal. The Inshore Lizard Fish is larger than it's counterpart and is usually 15 to 16 inches in length. World Record is 2 lbs.

Double up on Shark

The Reimer family - Joel and Jen and their two kids Michael and Meagan, were visiting Amelia Island all the way from Ohio and scheduled an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today.  We had a dead low tide to begin with and it had just started back in when we pulled up at the docks of Lanceford Creek and tossed out some live shrimp under floats.  The anglers had numerous bites but no real takers other than a hungry Croaker so we pulled anchor and headed on up to the Jolley River and then trolled an oyster lined bank, tossing jig and shrimp combos.  However, Meagan stuck with the float rig and she was the first to hookup with a lively Seatrout, bringing it to the net for pictures and release.  Moving up into the river we found more "baitstealing" nibblers but then Jen had a strong hookup, her line ripped out, and FISH OFF! Ouch!  Joel jigged up a Trout and then Jen jigged up a nice Flounder then Michael joined the action when his float rig disappeared and FISH ON!  He fought the big fish expertly and back and forth the fish went until Michael subdued him and brought the big Bonnethead to the net for pictures.  We ran back to Tiger Inlet and fished with the Manatee's but got no bites, saw some Osprey and Spoonbills, then hit a flooded oyster bank outside Tiger for our last stop.  Meagan added a feisty Redfish, Michael picked up a fat Trout then Jen had another shot at a Shark - a Blacktip.  She fought the fish from stern to bow with a partner Black Tip trailing the caught fish and in the middle of the battle Michael yelled "FISH ON" and his drag began to rip!  The two anglers fought their respective fish with rods being passed over and under and the anglers trading places, bow to stern, stern to bow and when Jen's fish was brought to bay and held for pictures, Michael was left to his own battle briefly.  Then we all joined in to see him finish the fight and bring to net a 3' Bonnethead.  What a way to finish a fishing trip!  We headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Life in the Backcountry

Young Dan McBryan set up an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip today with  his dad, Lou, while they were visiting the area.  We made a plan to get started extra early, 6am, to take advantage of the first of an incoming tide.  Our first stop was an oyster lined bank of the Jolley River and the guys were tossing 1/4 jigs with Gulp minnows and shrimp.  Both anglers immediately began to get bites and soon Lou yelled, "fish on" and he reeled in a feisty Redfish.   The baitstealers were nipping the tails off of the Gulps so we moved on up the river to a large creek where Dan worked his jig slowly along  an oyster bank.  He felt a heavy weight and expertly hooked up on a fish, playing it perfectly to the boat and we netted a good sized Flounder for pictures and release.  He also caught a weird fish that we have yet to identify!  Later in the morning we fished outside Tiger where we were joined by Manatee, then we went inside Tiger and were treated to a large number of Roseate Spoonbills roosting.  The bite had slowed so we made one final stop outside Tiger at a flooded oyster bed and had Dolphin and Manatee cruising by, along with a large pod of Stingray.  We eventually called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Catching the Blues

Al Emerick treated his two sons Richard (RC) and Dylan to an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed up river to fish the outside of Tiger Island with some topwater lures on a high and incoming tide. RC had the hot rod early and had a couple of "spits" at his popping lure and then he hooked up, catching a Blue then a Seatrout.  Later, we dropped an anchor and fished the area with Shrimp under floats and all three anglers began to hookup, catching some rather larger Blues and another Trout.  We fished the Jolley River with shrimp under floats and had hookups with Ladyfish and when we moved into a larger creek RC had his line ripped out by a Sharks.  The first one broke itself off, but on the second we were able to maneuver the boat and RC battled it around and around, and around!  He played the fish perfectly and we soon brought to the boat a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark for pictures and release.  The sun had gotten high, and hot, and after one more stop with not much action, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!