First Shark of the Year

Buddy and Mindy Peterson were in town with their kids Jack and Ben and took in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday morning.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7:30am and headed up to Jolley River to fish the incoming tide with jig/shrimp combo's.  The oysters were still showing and the anglers worked the bank, picking up a few feisty Seatrout.  We moved on up into the river, still fishing the oyster banks, and Mindy had strong hookup that began to rip the line off of her Shimano Stradic 1000 reel.  She fought the fish around the boat a couple of times and just as we thought we were going to see the fish, it would head for the bottom and Mindy would have to work it back in.  Eventually she won the battle and we netted a hefty Bonnethead Shark!   Buddy, Jack and Ben were able to pickup some Trout and Ben won the ugliest fish caught contest by reeling in a Stingray.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout Come Through

Andrew and Melanie Berlin were visiting Amelia Island again with their two sons, Ben and Daniel, and took in a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City of Fernandina Harbor Marina at 2pm today and headed up to the Jolley River to fish an exposed oyster bank on an incoming tide.  Although the anglers had a few nibbles, we didn't pick up any fish, but as the tide began to cover the oysters we did have sightings of both Sheepshead and Trout swimming in the shallows.  We fished a few more spots in Jolley then headed over to the outside of Tiger to fish with float rigs over some flooded oysters.  This did the trick and both Daniel and Melanie were able to hookup with some fat, keeper sized Trout.   Ben was making excellent casts and Andrew picked up some Trout along the way.  We fished behind Tiger where Daniel had a strong hookup, but the fish found it's way into the downed trees and broke itself off.  After fishing south of Rayonier, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters.

Gear Tip: Scrap Line Holder

I've had a couple of comments about my scrap line/leader holder.  It's a recycled cylinder that those drink mixes come in.  I cut an "X" across the top of the cap and whittled a hole.  Whenever I have a scrap piece of line I shove it down in this makeshift holder so that it doesn't blow out while the boat is running.  It fits perfectly in a coozie and then into a cup holder.

Wildlife Sightings Highlite of The Day

Scott and Jacquelyn O'Melia , along with their kids Palmer, Scottie, and Lady, were visiting Amelia Island again and took in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today. We headed out on a beautiful, sunny morning, but with stiff breeze.  On the way to our first spot on Lanceford Creek, we saw Dolphin rolling in the water and soon after anchoring Palmer spotted an awesome Bald Eagle cruising the shoreline.  We fished the docks of Lanceford but had very few bites so we headed up to Jolley River to fish the oyster banks.  We saw an Osprey looking for fish like we were!  5 year olds Scottie and Lady got to know the live shrimp real well and settled in to enjoy one of their first fishing trips.  Fishing behind Tiger Island we finally hooked up with a good bite and Palmer battled in a feisty Redfish.  While fishing Tiger we were treated to a sighting of a Sea Otter scampering along the shoreline.  As we left Tiger, we crossed over to Cumberland to view a small herd of wild horses, then made our way back to the marina, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Double Hookup on First Casts

Wade Dial and his son, Pearson fished with me on Sunday morning.  We left the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp at 7:30am and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings on an outgoing tide.  The oysters were just beginning to show so I set Pearson up with a float rig and live shrimp while Wade tossed a jig/shrimp combo.  We had just gotten their lines out when Wade's rod bent over and his drag began to rip out, FISH ON!  He handed the rod off to Pearson for the battle, then we saw that Pearson's float had disappeared!  Wade grabbed that rod and we had a "double" fish fight going on!  We landed Pearson's Slot Red then we got Wade's in for a "double" Redfish catch on the first cast of the day!  We continued to fish the falling tide and these anglers stayed busy, catching Redfish and keeper sized Seatrout for about two hours.  We moved on to Jolley River, caught a few Trout, then called it a day, another great one to be on Amelia Island waters!

Spot Tournament Caddyshack Style

I had planned to fish in the Jacksonville Florida Times Union Redfish Spot Tournament this weekend with friends Tim Parker and Brian Knicley, so we fished on Friday to see if we could find some fish biting.  We met early at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed up the Nassau River to fish the exposed oyster beds. It wasn't long before we were picking up a bunch of Trout and a few Reds here and there.  Tim and Brian were using Temptation Baits and were putting fish in the boat, while I was using live shrimp to catch some, too. Fishing was outstanding on Friday and the weather was beautiful.  We followed the same game plan on Saturday and left the Sisters Creek boat ramp to run north to Nassau River.  We picked up Trout again early and then added a couple of Redfish, with one in the Slot, but with only two spots.  A storm was rolling in and it began to rain heavily.  As it began to thunder I hooked up with a BIG fish and had a long and drawn out battle.  The lighting began to pop and crackle and the thunder boomed as we fought the fish around the boat and eventually landed it.  Tim noted that it had NO SPOTS, worth $500 if the first no-spot entry, but this one was way over the size limit, measuring at 33 1/2", so we returned him to the water.  We made run for cover and got out of the storm.  After the lighting passed we were able to get in some more fishing, albeit in the rain, and Brian had the hot rod going.  He hooked up with a couple of Trout, a small Red, a Puppy Drum then he had a strong hookup that ripped drag off his reel. FISH ON!  He battled the fish around the boat, from bow to stern and back to bow, then eventually wore it down and brought it to the net, a legal 26 1/2" Red with 5 spots!  We gave the fish some fresh water in the live well, pulled anchor, and made a run through the rain to check in.  Our fish gave us 30th place in the tournament but better than that, we took home some crazy fishing memories!

Redfish Along The Oyster Beds

Boy what a beautiful morning we had today - cool, hardly a breeze, and just a little fog to start the day. As I launched The Anglers Mark there were two shrimp boats anchored out from the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp.  The sun was just coming up and the boats had their lights on and were a peaceful sight.  I met Charlie McClain at 7:30am and we headed up to the Jolley River, taking it slow at times, because of the fog.  We started a troll against the new incoming tide and the oyster beds were fully exposed.  Our first pass of a 100 yard stretch didn't produce a bite, but I knew there had to be fish here so we hit the "jackrabbit" button on my new Minn Kota I-Pilot and ran downstream to make another pass.  We'd made it about half way up the bank when we began to get strong hookups with hard hitting Redfish.  We picked up a few rat reds and put a couple of small Slot Reds in the boat when all of sudden Charlie's rod bent and drag ripped - FISH ON!  He played the big Red perfectly and worked it from stern to bow and back to stern, with the big fish ripping line as it tried to shake the hook.  Eventually, Charlie wore the fish out and we soon netted a nice 24" Slot Redfish.  We picked up a few more smaller Reds, then made our way down the river, now tossing live shrimp under floats, and picked up a few hungry Seatrout.  We ended our catching by sight fishing for Redfish laying up in the  shallows.  With the sun to our backs we could see the Reds laying in wait for baitfish to swim by and we were able to get one of them to eat our shrimp on a jig.  After one more stop, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Redfish Wraps The Day Up

Tracy Smith, along with his daughter Tara and her grandmother, Lyn took in a Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip this morning on The Anglers Mark.  And boy what a beautiful morning it was!  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was just cool enough and breezy enough to keep the sand gnats off of us.  We headed up to Jolley River to fish the first of an incoming tide and on our first pass of an oyster lined bank the anglers began to pick up fish.  Using light tackle gear and jigs tipped with live shrimp, they tossed to the base of the oysters, let it fall to the bottom, and slowly worked it back to the boat. BOOM!  FISH ON!   Both Tara and Lyn boated nice Seatrout with one in the keeper size then Tara reeled in a fiesty Redfish.  Tracy got in on the action and hooked up with a hard fighting fish and played a nice Slot sized Redfish to the net.  They added one more Slot Redfish then we moved on to Tiger Island to fish the downed logs.  The tide was already up and the fish just weren't biting so we moved out to the outside and tried our luck with live shrimp under float rigs.  Again, no hungry fish were found!  We made a run down the river to south of Rayonier mill and fished the now flooded oyster flat and marsh grass.  Even though the bite was not fast and furious, Tracy did hookup with a nice puppy drum and Lyn hauled in another Seatrout.  Then, just as we were about to wrap the day up, a float went under and the drag began to rip out, BIG FISH ON!  Tara fought the fish from bow to stern and back to bow and even though the fish made a couple of runs, Tara kept the tension on and we eventually netted a big 24" Slot Redfish.  What a way to end a great day out on Amelia Island waters!

Father and Son and Amelia Island Fishing

Jonathan Mayer and his dad Bob were visiting Amelia Island with family and decided to take in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip with me on The Anglers Mark.  We picked a low, outgoing tide to fish yesterday afternoon, met at 2pm at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp, and headed up to Jolley River to fish the exposed oyster banks.  Although the tide was perfect, we had fairly stiff wind and after getting only  a few nibbles, picked up to run further up the river.  At the second stop we had more of the same, maybe a nibble here and there, but no takers.  However, these anglers were out to enjoy their time on the water and kept casting optimistically for that first good bite.  We made a move to behind Tiger island, starting a troll on the north end, and it wasn't long before the anglers optimism paid off.  Jonathan had a good hookup, played the fish perfectly, and we soon netted a hungry Flounder, a fish Jonathan was hoping to catch on this trip.  Not long after, Bob got in on the action by hooking up on  strong bite.  He worked the feisty fish to the boat and we netted a nice Redfish.  We fished the entire bank a couple of times but had no more action, so we pulled up and ran to Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings.  Jonathan did hookup with a fat Sea Bass, but the fish just weren't cooperating any more.  After another stop, and with a storm rolling in, we decided to call it an evening and headed in, counting it as another great day to be on Amelia Island waters!

Big Red Big Trout

Joe Pomilia had finished up a conference out at the Omni and scheduled a Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip with me on The Anglers Mark. We met at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp on the north end of the island at 2pm yesterday and headed up to the Jolley River to fish the exposed oysters with a jig/shrimp combo. As we eased along the bank we began to get hookups and had one real strong one. FISH ON! Joe played the big fish expertly, working in gradually and we soon netted a huge, over the slot Redfish! After getting pictures we released the beast to the river. We continued to work the bank and Joe added another couple of Slot sized Redfish then he had a good hookup. You could see the fish shaking its head and when it got close to the boat we saw that this was a nice 21" Seatrout. We netted the fish, snapped some pictures, and released this fish also. The bite slowed so we hit another few spots, finding one more Red at some dock pilings. With the tide way up and the day getting long, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!