Fathers Day Fishing

Sheena Abrams treated her father Steve to an early Fathers day fishing trip this morning.  The family is visiting Amelia Island from Greenville, SC.  Steve brought along his two son-in-laws, Luke and Chris, meeting me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am this morning.  We've been having a ton of rain the last few days but we had a break this morning with clear skies and just a slight breeze.  We headed up to Lanceford Creek to fish the docks on an outgoing tide, tossing jigs and shrimp up to the pilings.  The anglers had a few nibbles and Steve was able to "get the skunk off the boat", hooking up with a hungry Seatrout.   Luke added a feisty Redfish to the catch .  We made a run around to the Jolley River and up to "Snook Creek", fishing the oyster beds on the last of an outgoing tide.  Again the guys were getting bites then Chris had a strong hookup and his drag sang as the line played out.  He played the fish perfectly and after a lengthy battle he brought a 3' Bonnethead Shark to the boat.  Before I could get the net under the fish, he made one last lunge for freedom - and snapped the leader.  No picture of this shark!  We continued to fish the oyster beds of Jolley where Luke hooked up with another hungry Seatrout, then Chris added one that was keeper sized.  Chris had a another couple of battles with the Bonnetheads, but they were having none of coming in to the boat for pictures!  Our lasts stop was at the downed logs of Tiger Island, but the sun was up and getting hot and we had no significant bites, so we headed in, counting it as another great day of fishing!

Not Once But Twice

It was a Granddad, Dad and son's fishing trip on The Anglers Mark Saturday when Dan Zuckschwerdt, his dad Ed, and Dan's two sons Leonard and Nathan made the short trip from St. Mary's, Georgia to Amelia Island.  We met at 7am at the Atlantic Seafood dock down at the City of Fernandina Beach marina and made our way up towards Tiger Island to fish the very last of an incoming tide.  At our first stop the anglers pitched float rigs with live shrimp to flooded oyster beds, but the fish were having none of it. We did have a manatee sighting as the graceful animal cruised by.  At our second stop the anglers were all fishing with intent and as the tide changed and started out, they began to get bites.  Grandad Ed got the "skunk" off the boat, hooking up with a hungry Seatrout, then Nathan caught one, too.  Then Ed had another bite and I could tell that this was a bigger fish because the rod was bent and he was having to work the fish in.  After a good battle Ed boated a nice 18 1/2" Flounder, putting him in 2nd place in The Anglers Mark 2012 Bragging Rights Tournament, Flounder category.  We moved on up to Jolley River and held at a marsh runout.  I was thinking we'd have some good Trout action here but when Nathan's rod bent and the drag began to rip I thought we either had a large Redfish or a Bonnethead shark.  After a couple of runs we figured out it was a shark.  But what surprised me was that 11 year old Nathan continued to battle the shark, lifting his rod and reeling down to work the big fish in.  He fought the big fish through 4, 5, 6 and more runs and finally brought it to the net for pictures and release.  Dan got in on the action and caught an even bigger Shark, then Nathan had another hookup, this time on even lighter tackle, and fought this big Shark in all by himself, again!  We were "sharked out" so we made move and now with the oysters exposed, the anglers were tossing jigs and shrimp.  Dan added a nice 21" Slot Redfish to the live well and later Nathan picked up a 17" Trout to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam, and with that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Fishing Before Beryl Hits

I was able to get out and fish the Amelia Island back country waters Saturday before tropical storm Beryl came through the area.   The early morning breeze was nice to have as I eased along the exposed oyster banks during the very first of an incoming tide.  I tried a 7w and 8w fly rod from the stern of my boat, using the Minn Kota I-pilot 101's auto-pilot feature to ease along the bank as I blind cast to the base of the oysters.  Although my casts were spot on, I felt like the weighted fly just wasn't staying in the strike zone very long, so I switched to spinning tackle and after about the second cast with a Temptation Bait grub, I picked up a hard hitting, keeper sized Seatrout.  I found that the Trout were hungry and went on to catch 5-6 of them with one more in the keeper size.  My friends Don and Sue Hughes were out also while fishing the finger jetties at Fort Clinch with live shrimp on the bottom, caught a great mess of Flounder and added a large 19" Sheepshead.  The fish are biting and the storm has passed, so plan to Get Away From it All and....Let's Go Fishing!

Redfish'n Anniversary

Teresa and Tom Gaslin made the short trip to Amelia Island, over from Orange Park, to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary.  Teresa had set the trip up as a surprise for Tom and luckily we had a "perfect 10" in the weather category.  They were staying at the Hampton Inn and Suites and within walking distance to the marina so we met at the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp at 7:30am and headed out to our first spot.  I had decided to fish the docks of Lanceford Creek on the very last of an outgoing tide.  The couple knocked the rust off of their casting fairly quickly and we were soon working the pilings with jig and Gulp Shrimp's.  Although they had a little nibble now and then, there wasn't much biting.  Then, as I was leaning down to take care of something, I saw Tom cast to an exposed oyster bank and the minute it hit the water I heard the sweet sound of drag being ripped out!  FISH ON!  Tom played the fish perfectly and after a good battle, he worked in to the net a nice, Slot sized Redfish!  WHOOEE!  Skunk off the boat!  We worked the area for a short while then headed up to Jolley River to fish an oyster bed bank on the first of an incoming tide.  Tom picked up a couple of small Trout, Teresa fought a Lady Fish to the boat,  then we had another strong hookup and Teresa battled in another Slot Red.  Later, Teresa made a good cast to the oyster bank and as she bumped it back, her drag zinged and FISH ON!  She again played it perfectly and landed another Slot red.  Before we left the area, Teresa had also treated us to a long battle with a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark.  We hit a couple more areas, but the sun was up and the bite had slowed, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Early Morning Redfish Fight

A cold front had come through last weekend, dropping our April temperatures into the 50's, then it left us with some high winds the first few days of the week.  Yesterday was the first nice day we've had in a week with a forecast of temperatures in the high 80's and very little wind predicted.  All this lined up for a great day of fishing!  Adrienne and Russ Futrell had scheduled a back country fishing trip as part of their 20th wedding anniversary celebration here on Amelia Island, Florida.  They were staying at the Addison on Amelia, a quaint bed and breakfast within walking distance to the marina.  We met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock and pointed The Anglers Mark towards Lanceford Creek to fish the first of an incoming tide.  I promised Adrienne and Russ that we wouldn't be long fishing the docks, but I wanted to hit them first before heading up into the marsh, and luckily it was a good move!  The two anglers hadn't been fishing long when Russ's rod bent and line ripped out as the drag sang on his Shimano 1000FI reel, FISH ON!  He battled the fish from around the dock pilings and out into deeper water, playing the fish perfectly.  The big fish made a couple of strong runs, but Russ eventually wore out the fish and we landed a nice 26 1/2"  Slot Sized Redfish!  Only minutes later, Adrienne had a hookup, her drag sang, and FISH ON!  Her fish was smarter and headed for the dock pilings, OH NO!  I didn't say anything but  I was sure it was going to get around the barnacle encrusted pilings and cut itself off.  But Adrienne kept the pressure on, the fish came out....then went back into the pilings!  All she could do was keep the pressure on,  and sure enough, it came out again!  Luckily it now headed for deeper water where Adrienne wore it out, and then she slowly worked it to the boat and net, another 26 1/2"  Slot Redfish!  Both of these fish were released to be caught another day. We later moved to the marsh where Adrienne picked up another Slot Redfish, then she and Russ caught some hard fighting Blues, some high jumping Ladyfish, then Russ worked in another mid-Slot Redfish and a keeper sized Seatrout.  The anglers ended the day picking up a few more Seatrout, then we headed in, counting it as a great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Young Man Big Fish

Local resident Mark Dennis had his brother David visiting Amelia Island along with David's grandson, JJ, so they took in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday morning. The weather report had been calling for a large storm to roll through later in the day, but when we eased out of the City of Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina the skies were clear and there was very little wind -  perfect fishing conditions.  The tide had been coming in for a couple of hours and the oysters had covered, so we made a stop outside Tiger Island to fish with live shrimp under floats with our Shimano Sradic 2500 reels on 7' rods.  Both Mark and David had some hookups with smaller Trout and Blues, then Mark had a good strong bite and a battle on his hands.  But the big fish found the oysters and cut itself off, OUCH!  Not to be deterred, JJ continued to fish and when his float went under and the drag began to rip, we knew we had another big fish.  Together, grandad David and JJ worked the fish, fighting it from bow to stern and eventually we netted a Slot sized 25" Redfish!  Eventually we moved around to behind Tiger and began to fish with the jig/shrimp combo.  The anglers weren't getting much action, but JJ again found the big fish!  He had a strong hookup, his rod bent, and the fight was on!  He battled the fish, this time all by himself, and we netted a very large, 19" Flounder, putting JJ in a firm lead in the Flounder category of  The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament!  We moved on to the Jolley River where both David and Mark had hookups, long battles and releases of 3' Bonnethead Shark.  Mark rounded out the Amelia Island Backwater Slam by boating a keeper sized Seatrout, which wrapped up a great day to be on Amelia Island waters!

A Variety of Fish Catch'n

Jaime Maloney was visiting his in-laws here at Amelia Island so he scheduled a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark along with his kids Aidan and Maeda and his father-in-law Bill Cutler.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7:30 Friday morning and headed up to Tiger Island on the during the last two hours of an incoming tide.  Fishing the outside of some downed trees, Bill had a strong bite and a wild fight with a large Ladyfish.  The young anglers had good catches of small Flounder then Aiden hooked up with a hard fighting, keeper sized Sheepshead.  Maeda joined in with the "keeper" catching by reeling in a nice Seatrout.  Jaime added to the dinner fare when he pulled in a nice 16 1/5" Flounder that put him in a tie for first place in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament, flounder category!  We moved on to the Jolley River where the anglers picked up a few more smaller Trout, a Sea Bass, and another Ladyfish.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Find Me a Redfish Please

Redfish have been few and far between this week so when my cousin, Jim Garner and his buddy Brad Anderson stepped on the boat yesterday afternoon at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp I was hoping we'd find some Redfish.  We made a run up the Nassau River just as the tide was turning and starting back in to fish Broward Island with jigs and shrimp and artificial grubs.  Brad hadn't fished in years but after a little warm up to get the rust off he was ready to go.  His first real cast was to some downed tree limbs and because I was just getting things arranged for a slow troll of the bank, I didn't see the hookup, but..... FISH ON!  And it was big one, too!  The drag screamed on his Shimano Stradic 2500 as the line ripped out and soon Brad was on the way from the bow to stern as the big fish headed out to deeper water.  Brad worked the fish up but this beast was having none of it and again headed deep with the drag ripping.  After a long battle we finally saw the big Redfish come to the surface and Brad pulled him in to the waiting net.  The fish measured 27 1/2", over the slot, so we snapped some pictures then released the fish, making sure it swam easily away.  Brad now holds the lead in The Anglers Mark 2012 Bragging Rights Tournament in the Redfish category!  What a great way to start a fishing day!  We worked the bank slowly and picked up a couple of small, but feisty Seatrout, then Jim had a good hookup on a jig and Temptation Bait chartreuse grub. He played the fish perfectly and we soon landed a nice 19" Seatrout.  The bite slowed so we headed back up the river to fish a few more spots.  Out from behind the island, we were exposed to the wind blowing 15-20 and it made it very difficult to fish. But the anglers persevered and continued to cast until the sun was setting.  We called it day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters.

Trout Bite

Mike Eddins, his wife Erika and Mike's dad Phil made the trip yesterday morning to Amelia Island to fish the backwaters with me on The Anglers Mark.  The tide had just started out and the marsh grass was still flooded so we headed up to Jolley River to fish an outflow with float rigs and live shrimp.  Erika got the action started early by hooking up to a hard fighting Blue then she brought in a nice Seatrout.  Mike also added a Blue.  We fished a couple of more spots with the float rigs then switched to a jig/shrimp combo as the oysters began to show.  We had a good stretch of oysters that we fished and picked up another couple of Trout.  We made a move to Lanceford Creek and fished the docks where Mike found some larger keeper sized Trout out deep.  The anglers picked up a couple of those, found some smaller ones at another dock, then we headed in, counting it as another great day of fishing!

FishFinder

I had the pleasure of fishing with the Neal family again on Friday morning, but this time we launched from the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at Big Talbot Island Park.  We left the ramp at 7:30am and headed up the Nassau River, making a stop at a large runout in the marsh.  The oysters were still covered, but the tide was going out and we fished with jigs on the bottom and a float rig.  We had no real bites we made a move back down the river to fish an oyster outcrop.  We found that if we fished a jig and shrimp combo down deep we would feel a subtle bite and could hookup with Seatrout.  Pinson IV (P4)  "the FishFinder", figured it out and got the catch going.  Later, we ran around to Jackstaff Creek and fished the now exposed oysters.  Pinson SR. had a hookup and an exciting fight with a high jumping "poor mans Tarpon" - a Ladyfish.  We found a sandbar to fish across and again the anglers found Trout, in deeper water, picking up our baits from the bottom.  Pinson added a Flounder to the catch.  At our last stop, P4  hooked up with a hard fighting Drum, then a Sheepshead to round out an Amelia Island Grand Slam of Seatrout, Flounder, Drum, and Sheepshead.