Great January Amelia Island Fishing

Michael Purser and his friends Tim Ralston and Andy Hall were visiting Amelia Island along with their wives  so the guys decided to take in a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the Fernandina Harbor Marina at 9am with balmy 60 degree temperatures, no wind and a heavy fog.  We eased out of the marina just as the high tide peaked and headed south, chugging along through the fog and relying on the GPS to get us to our first spot, which was a oyster flat, flooded with the tide.  Although visibility was only about 75 yards, the guys could see the marsh grass and began tossing their float rigs with live shrimp up to the grass line. After about 15 or 20 minutes they guys had only had a few minor nibbles and I was beginning to wonder whether we should make a move when, BAM!  Michael's float disappeared with a vengeance!  He played the hard fighting fish perfectly and we soon netted a nice 20" Black "Puppy" Drum.  Then Tim got in on the action when his float went under and he had a BIG fight on his hands.  We could see the fish rolling out in the fog, but Tim played the fish to the boat.  But this big Red had grown through the slot for a reason and the wiley fish found his way to the transom and broke his self off on the propeller, OUCH!  Andy joined in by catching another  20" drum,  a couple of keeper sized Trout, one measuring close to 20",  then Tim and Michael both caught and landed two 26" Redfish.  As the bite slowed, we pulled anchor and slowly made our way over and up Lanceford Creek, motoring through the fog, with Dolphin jumping in the large wake, a great sight to see!  We eventually made it to some docks, anchored, and began to fish a jig and shrimp combo.  Michael picked up another Slot Red,  then both he and Andy caught a couple of "rats". Tim was going deep and landed a few more Trout.  Our last stop was behind Tiger Island and although we didn't have too many bites, Andy had one strong hookup, out deep, and after a good battle, landed another 26" Slot Red, wrapping up another great day to be out on the water!

Sawpit Boat Ramp Repairs Extended

My wife and I stopped by the Sawpit Boat Ramp on Big Talbot Island yesterday to see if the repairs were completed and see that they have extended the time for the ramp to be closed until February 17th.  They've installed a new bulkhead on the north side of the drive where the washout damaging the pavement, installed new decking where the bulkhead was installed, and paved the entire area.  No work has been done on the old dock on the south side of the ramp.

Braving the Elements

Saturday morning I fished with Leon and Sharon Freeman along with Charlie Jones, launching from the Goffinsville boat ramp just off the island.  We pulled away from the dock shortly after 8am with clear skies, temperature in the low 30's and a wind picking up.  Our first stop was Bubblegum Reef in the Horsehead area and we anchored at a drop off out from an old oyster bank.  Fishing straight down, it wasn't long before we began to get bites and soon Sharon had a strong hookup, and FISH ON!  She fought the big fish valiantly but it eventually found its way into some structure and cut itself off. OUCH!   We continued to fish and soon began to catch some nice Puppy Drum (Black Drum), catching 5-6 of them with two in the keeper range, above 14".  Leon picked up a few Sheepshead, too.  Eventually the bite slowed and the wind had picked up to about 15mph making it somewhat uncomfortable so we pulled anchor and headed to the shelter of Christopher Creek where we picked up a Slot sized Redfish.  We were pitching to the rocky shoreline hoping for a Trout to round out an Amelia Island Inshore Slam, but we didn't have a bite.  However, one angler who had been trolling the creek slowly said that he had about 6 Trout with a couple being keeper sized.  Back out in the wind  and with NFL football playoffs due to be on soon, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Wilson Neck Boat Ramp offers access to Upper Nassau River

I haven't launched from the Wilson Neck boat ramp in a few years but lately I've been considering a trip to the upper areas of the Nassau River for some personal "fun" Striper fishing so I paid a visit to the Wilson Neck Boat Ramp located in the south side of Yulee.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the County has improved the ramp and parking and have installed a nice floating dock.  There is also handicap access, paved parking, and lighting.  Using this ramp gives you access to Gardner Creek and to Nassau River near U.S. Highway 17, the RR trestle, and I-95 bridges.

This Nassau River area and the St. Mary's River, up around Crandall and White Oak, are known for their Striper fishing.  I've been getting good reports of catches of Redfish, Drum and Trout in the upper Nassau River from Lofton Creek up to the bridges.

The ramp is tucked away in the Wilson Neck area of a Yulee residential area so here are some directions: Turn south on U.S. Highway 17 in Yulee and go 2.3 miles to a traffic light at Harts Road.  Turn left on Harts Road and go 1.1 miles (you will go through a couple of "S" curves).  Turn right on Wilson Neck Road and go just .2 miles to Lana S. Court.  Turn left and go a block or two to Faye Road.  Turn Right on Faye Road.  Follow Faye Road down to the boat ramp and Gardner Creek.  The ramp is just over 11 miles from Amelia Island.

Back to School

If you live in the Fernandina Beach, Yulee, Jacksonville area then plan to sign up for Florida State College at Jacksonville's Amelia Island Backwater Fishing class!  This should be a fun class to learn and share some fishing techniques, rigging, knot tying and more!  I'm sure there will be some fishing stories told and at the last class we'll have a cookout.  Can't beat that!  The class will be Thursdays, beginning February 16-March 15, 6-8 p.m and will be held out at the Florida State College Betty P. Cook Nassau Center, Room T107.

Sheepshead Slam

Dennis Thomsen and his family visited Amelia Island for the holidays and scheduled a backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  Dennis, his son Kendall, and granddaughter Andrea met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 1pm and we headed up to Lanceford Creek on the very first of an outgoing tide.  At our first stop at some flooded oyster beds we fished with live shrimp under float rigs and soon began to catch Seatrout.  All three anglers joined in on the action and ended up catching 8-10 Trout with a couple of them keeper sized.  As the tide dropped we moved on to fish some dock pilings and the "catching" heated up.  Andrea had the hot rod early and picked up a couple of feisty Redfish, Dennis caught a couple and then Andrea and Dennis had a double hookup!    Kendall saw an opening and he too began to catch Redfish.  The three anglers caught 12-15 Redfish with two of them in the Slot.  The bite slowed so we made a run to Tiger Island to fish the downed logs and it wasn't long before we were catching fish again.  The tide was now almost out and the Redfish were biting.  Kendall was at the stern and had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  This one was ripping drag and Kendall played it perfectly but as he fought the fish, Andrea had a hookup, another double!  Andrea brought in her Redfish to be measured and released and soon we were able to net Kendall's 24" Sheepshead, rounding out an Amelia Island backwater Slam!  The anglers caught about 8-10 Redfish here and Kendall added another, even larger Sheepshead and as the sun headed down, we called it another great day to be on the Amelia Island waters!

Amelia Island Christmas Fishing

My daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter were in town for Christmas so the day after Nathan and I found a little time to get out on Amelia Island waters and do some fishing.  We also had their dog, Brindle with us.  We waited until later in the day, launching around 11am at Atlantic Seafood on a high and falling tide and headed up to Eagans Creek to get shelter from a 10-15mph wind.  We fished one new spot and had no bites so we headed over to Lanceford to fish the still flooded oyster beds.  We weren't there long before we had a good hookup with a Redfish but after a brief battle it broke off on the oysters, OUCH!  We did pick up a couple of small Trout.  We found some docks to fish on the last of an outgoing tide and this was the ticket.  Nathan hooked up with a feisty Redfish then I caught one, too.  We ended up catching 5-6 Reds and Nathan had one in the Slot and he also picked up a hard fighting Puppy Drum.  We ended the day at the Rayonier warehouse and caught some keeper sized Trout, then headed in, counting at as another great day to be on the water!

Aerobic Fishing

The Creswell family was in town, visiting Amelia Island from the Houston area, and scheduled a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock with no clouds in the sky and with temperatures in the mid 60's, heading up the river to fish the outside of Tiger Island on the first of an incoming tide.  There wasn't a whole lot of breeze and the anglers were able to toss their live shrimp under floats to the flooded oyster beds.  We fished the area for a while and had no real bites.  We moved on around to the mouth of Tiger Inlet and anchored and fished the float and shrimp rigs again, to no avail.  Courtney and Morgan were not to be deterred and broke into an impromptu Aerobic session to liven things up!  We ran up to Jolley River and fished a creek runout where Courtney broke the ice with a small but hungry Seatrout..  The little guy didn't have any friends along with him so we made one last stop in the area over at "The Mother of All" spots.   We may need to change the name because nothing was biting.  I was beginning to wonder what was going on as we made a long run back to Lanceford Creek with the oysters beginning to show.  We switched to jig and shrimp rigs and it wasn't long before Morgan hooked up and had a good fish on the line, FISH ON!  She played the fish perfectly and we soon netted a 19" Flounder.  We made another stop at some dock pilings and here things heated up.  All four anglers began to catch feisty Redfish (rounding out and inshore Slam) and then Morgan put the bread on the table with a large 26" Slot Redfish!  We fished until the shrimp ran out then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Triple Double

Cary Sorensen was my fishing partner yesterday, visiting Amelia Island with the same group on business from Saturday's trip.  Boy what a change in weather from the previous day!  It was in the low 40's and even though the forecast had called for 5-10mph winds, it was blowing 10-15 out of the west.  With that in mind, we made a change of plans and ran up Landsford Creek to get out of the wind and fish in comfort!  Our first stop was at Oyster Bay and after anchoring we tossed some live shrimp on jigs up to some dock pilings.  It was only a few minutes when UMPH! FISH ON! and we had a battle with a big fish on our hands!  Unfortunately, the fish got  up in the pilings and broke us off. Ouch.  We continued to fish and Cary was putting his bait right at the pilings and it paid off.  He hooked up with some feisty Redfish, one in the Slot, and played them perfectly to the boat.  After about 5 Redfish the bite came to a complete and noticeable halt so we pulled anchor to head up Lanceford, still thinking about the big one that got away and wondering if we had missed our chance at a big fish.  We dropped our anchor south of some dock pilings and began to fish them and the adjacent oysters as the tide continued to come in.  Little did we know that we were in for some serious fast and furious fish'n and catch'n!   WUMPH!  FISH ON!  Cary hooked up and fought to the boat a nice Slot 26" Redfish!  WHUMPH! FISH ON! A Slot 23" Redfish.  WHUMPH! WHUMPH!  We've got a double!  A 25" Redfish and a Rat!  We got another double!  A 26 1/2" Redfish and a 23" Slot Red.  We were catching and releasing and catching Reds until I noticed that I was actually breathing hard trying to keep up with the excitement.  We ended up catching (7) Reds in the 23" to 26" range, a few smaller Reds, but still in the Slot and a whole "mess" of Rat Reds.  Boy what a day.  The sun had come up and warmed us, along with the fish catch'n, and we wrapped it up, calling it one of the best days of Amelia Island fishing!

Dinner for 5

Jeff Bailey and Mike Rugen were visiting Amelia Island on business and scheduled a backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark. Saturday.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marine at 7:30am and boy what a beautiful day it was.  The day started out with a cool mid-50 temperature, no wind, and gradually warmed to the high 70's.  We headed up to Tiger Island to fish the downed logs, starting our 1st pass on the south end, tossing quarter ounce jigs with live shrimp up to the shoreline and bumping them back real slow.  The tide had just started back in and it wasn't long before Mike hooked up and battled a feisty Redfish to the boat.  He picked up another in the Slot a while later so we dropped the anchor and began to fish in earnest.  Mike had the hot rod early and caught another couple of Reds but Jeff persevered and after both anglers lost shrimp to a "nibbler", Jeff hooked it up and pulled in a keeper sized Sheepshead and then added a couple of Redfish.  After the bite slowed we pulled anchor and thinking that we may have missed a Red or two, we went back to the south end of the island and made a pass.  It was a good thing we did because soon Jeff's rod bent and drag ripped, FISH ON!  This Redfish was bigger and was taking drag and Jeff had a battle on his hands.  He played the fish perfectly and after a couple of passes around the stern of the boat, we netted and nice 24" Slot Redfish!  After another Red or two we moved on to the outside of Tiger to fish the now flooding oyster beds with float rigs and live shrimp and the anglers immediately began to catch Seatrout.  Almost every cast produced a bite and every other produced a catch!  These Trout were in the 12"-14" range and we probably could have sat there another couple of hours catching fish, but we were looking for something bigger.  We moved to the south of Rayonier and with the water now completely covering the oysters, were able to fish a grass line where Mike picked up our final Redfish. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!