Wildlife and Fishing

Boy what a fishing trip today!  I met TJ and Melissa Mahan at the Atlantic Seafood dock in downtown Fernandina Beach at 7am this morning and we headed up towards Tiger Island with a bait well full of mud minnows.  The tide was still coming in so I had the anglers toss float rigs to the marsh grass and flooded oysters.  First Cast - BAM - Fish On!  It was a hungry Seatrout.  Both  TJ and Melissa continued to catch Seatrout, big Ladyfish, Blues and even a small Black Tip Shark for the next hour and half.  Then TJ had a strong bite and good battle with a  nice 18" Flounder and Melissa put a keeper sized Trout in the boat.  While fishing, we were treated with a sighting of a very large buck deer up on the island.  We eventually made a run up to the Jolley River where the anglers again got into some Seatrout and feisty Reds.  We saw some Manatee and when they cleared out Melissa had two good hookups with big Reds but these fish had been around for a while.  They made a run to the marsh grass and dug there snouts into the oysters, breaking off after an exciting battle.  Melissa added one more keeper Flounder to the catch then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Rounding Out a Slam in Style

  I had met Russ and Denice Kesel along with their two sons Noah and Sam this morning at the Atlantic Seafood dock, downtown Fernandina Beach, and we headed up towards Tiger Island on the very last of an incoming tide.  The oysters were flooded so we tossed float rigs with live mud minnows for bait.  I think our first cast produced a bite and from then on the family were catching fish.  Noah got it started early and kept the hot rod as he reeled in a few hungry Seatrout and a couple of them were "keeper size", even though the Kesel's were practicing good game management by tossing their fish back today.  Both Russ and Sam picked up some Trout, too, and Noah added a feisty Redfish.  We moved on around, closer to Tiger, and again the anglers picked up Trout, a Blue, some Ladyfish, and even a Needlefish.  Our next stop was the docks of Lanceford, but even though the tide had been going out for over two hours, the oysters weren't showing and the fish weren't biting!  We hit another set of docks and had no luck there. OUCH.  Our last stop was back at the first set of docks and this timethe oysters were popping out of the water.  Russ picked up a hungry Snapper then we had a strong hookup and FISH ON!  Denice fought the fish back and forth behind the stern and kept the pressure on as it made some strong runs.  With husband Russ manning the net, the duo eventually landed a large, 25 1/2" Slot Red!  I lost track of when, but either before, during or right after that battle, Russ landed a keeper sized Flounder, to round out the Slam.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Early Slam

Blair Bennett treated his two young angler grandkids to an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City of Fernandina Beach Marina at 7am and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings on a falling tide.  The oysters were still covered but we still went with some 1/4 oz jigs and mudminnows, makin sure we didn't get up into any oyster beds.  Young  Ella started the catching early by hooking up with some hungry Snapper.  Later, both she and Ezra caught some feisty Redfish.  Ezra had something heavy on his line and we all thought that maybe he had another "Oyster Fish" when it started pulling back!  He kept the pressure up and eventually worked in a nice 19" keeper sized Flounder, putting him in a tie for 2nd in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament!  With Redfish caught and now a Flounder, it was just a matter of time before these young anlgers had rounded out there Amelia Island backcountry Slam, and sure enough, Ezra reeled one in, all before 8:30 AM!  We eventually made run up to Jolley River to fish some creek runouts and the catching continued.  The Redfish didn't quite make it into the slot but they were fun to catch and put up a good fight.  On our way back into the marina we saw a couple of Manatee lolling in the shallows so we pulled up and watched, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

One Slot Two Slot

We coudn't have asked for a prettier morning today with clear skies and a slight breeze blowing.  Ken Grinstead and his adult son Matt met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City Marina at 7am this morning and we pointed The Anglers Mark up the Lanceford Creek to fish some of the dock pilings.  The tide still had a couple of hours to completely hit bottom so we tossed some live mud minnows on jigs up to the pilings an fished them back slowly. Just when I thought that maybe the fish were not going to show, Matt's rod bent over and his drag ripped out, FISH ON!  We were close to the pilings and Matt worked the big fish in quickly and we soon saw that it was a perfect, in the slot, 24" Redfish!  The anglers continued to fish with both Matt and Ken hooking up with small, but feisty Redfish.  Then Ken had a fish on, but this one acted like dead weight with little pull thrown in and sure enough, it turned out to be a keeper sized Flounder.  The bite slowed so we headed up to the Jolley River and fished the very last of the outgoing tide at a creek runout.  Both anglers again had fiesty Refish, then they picked up some Seatrout to round out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  When the tide changed, we found one more oyster bank to fish and again, the anglers caught Redfish and Trout.  One time they both hooked up with a "double" hauled in Redfish.  As we neared the end of our first pass, Ken had a strong hookup - this Redfish was bigger than most, and after a battle where he played the fish perfectly, we landed another nice Slot Redfish.  We made one more pass, picking up a few more fish, then called it day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Lead Off Home Run

It was a beautiful morning when I met Shawn Boggs and his 11 year old son Jackson at the Big Talbot Island Boat Ramp at 7am today.  The bait shop was out of live bait, but I had a bag full of fresh dead shrimp, so we headed up the Nassau River to fish some oyster outcrops on the last of an outgoing tide.  The anglers warmed up tossing jigs and shrimp to the exposed oysters. We had very few real bites but when we pulled up we were able to catch a few live finger mullet with the cast net.  Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef and after I positioned the boat Jackson placed one of the live mullet up next to the stucture.  Over my shoulder I advised him to let the mullet wiggle around for a while and maybe a fish would find it when I heard him ask, "Like this?"  RIIIIIIIIP the drag went and FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly, keeping it turned away from the structure and eventually fighting it to the back of the boat.  It made a number of hard runs but he kept the pressure on and brought him to the waiting net.  We celebrated the "thrill of victory" with some high fives on the "home run" of a first fish and got some pictures.  When we measured it we found out that it was over the slot, a 27 1/2 fish, placing Jackson tied for 3rd in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament!  We made sure he swam off to be caught another day.  Shawn joined in by picking up some fiesty Redfish, then Jackson hooked up again using a finger mullet.  He worked this big fish to the boat  and net and this one measured 24", in the Slot! And again, his drag ripped out, his rod bent, and another Big FISH ON!  Jackson did great, working the fish away from the structure, but this fish hadn't gotten oversized without learning a few tricks.  He headed for deep water behind the boat and took the line right under the boarding ladder, snapping the line, FISH OFF!  Aaah, "the agony of defeat"!  But these anglers fished on and caught a couple of more feisty Redfish and Jackson also added nice Puppy Drum.  We caught another couple of dozen finger mullet then headed for Broward Island to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  The bait was moving along the shoreline and fish were busting it so we set up about 40 feet from the bank and offered some mullet on our jigs.  Shawn was the first to hookup, catching a nice Trout then both anglers were catching them.  Some were fat but undersized but they were able to get a couple over the 15" size limit.  The sun had gotten up and the breeze that we had enjoyed all morning seemed to die, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Plenty of Fish

Ed and Colleen Suarez were visiting Amelia Island and took in a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  The tide was dead low when we met at Atlantic Seafood so we headed up to the Jolley River to fish the exposed oyster banks.  If you wanted some action then this was the place to be!  Non stop bites and catching and releasing for about 2 hours.  There wasn't a whole lot of size to the Redfish and Flounder that the anglers caught, but there was a bunch of catching.  They mixed in two handfulls of Croaker, some hard fighting, hard jumping Ladyfish, a couple of Snapper, and a nice Bonnethead Shark.  We continued to fish until we ran out of bait then stopped in and picked some more up.  Our next stop behind Tiger Island didn't produce any real bites so we came around to the ocean side and again the anglers were catching fish.  Ed rounded out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam when he picked up a Seatrout.  After more Trout, Ladyfish, and Snapper, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Slam, Slot and Double

Mike and Heather Hingson were visiting Amelia Island with their two kids Emily and Joe and scheduled an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We headed up to the Jolley River on the very first of an incoming tide and with a slight breeze to out backs. Using 1/4 jigs and live shrimp, the anglers began making presentations to the oyster lined banks and the bite began almost immediately and lasted for about 2 hours.  Although the Croakers were thick, the anglers picked up some nice Seatrout and feisty Redfish, too.   Then Mike had a strong hookup and his drag ripped out, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and after a good battle, he directed the fish into the waiting net.  This 24" Slot Red was a nice fish!  Shortly after that Mike and Joe had a double hookup and when they got their respective fish in, it turne out that Joe's Trout trumped Mike's Redfish!  Joe went on to catch a couple of keeper sized Flounder (the family released all of their fish) to round out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  For a while, Emily was on fire, hooking up Trout after Trout, enough to earn the label, Trout Queen! We fished outside of Tiger later and picked up a few more small Trout and Ladyfish, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Constant Bite

David and Whitney Nofsinger treated their two young angler sons, Harper and Willis, to an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We headed up to Jolley River on the first of an incoming tide loaded down with a bait well of live shrimp.  I dropped the trolling motor along an oyster lined bank and we began to inch along, casting jigs and shrimp to the exposed oysters.  From the first cast the young anglers were getting bites, hooking up often and keeping their parents and I busy getting them re-baited and back in the water.  They caught small, but hungry Trout, feisty Redfish, and Croaker's and were getting their casting down when Willis had a strong bite, his drag ripped out, and FISH ON! When he yelled "DAD!",  David pitched in to help hold the rod and when we realized that the fish was BIG, David took over and began an epic battle, fighting the fish from bow to stern with the fish making some strong runs in between.  Eventually he subdued the beast and we finally netted an oversized 28 1/2" slot Redfish!  Wow, what a fish!  This put the duo into First place in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category. We continued fishing the bank, had a few strong hookups and breakoffs,  continued to pick up small Trout and small, but fiesty Redfish, then we made run to the outside of Tiger Island where the anglers continued there catching ways.  Harper caught the largest Seatrout, a keeper sized one and both he and Willis added Ladyfish to their catch.  The sun was up and hot so we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Bait Busters

We had a beautiful morning today - sunshine and just a slight breeze.  I fished with Abby and Daniel Vines along with Steve and Susie Komisar.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock early - 6:30am, and headed up to the Jolley River to fish a tide that had been coming in for about 2 and half hours.  We eased along the bank tossing finger mullet on jigs up to the still exposed oysters and the anglers were getting bites.  They caught plenty of hungry Trout and feisty Redfish along with a couple of Snapper and Croakers.  Unfortunately, the "baitstealers" were hungry too and in less than an hour and a half we had worke through all of our bait1  We picked up and made a run to the Bait House and got 5 dozen live shrimp, then headed over to the outside of Tiger Island to toss the shrimp under floats to the flooded oyster beds.  It wasn't long before the anglers again were catching fish - Trout, Reds, Ladyfish and a couple of small Black Tip sharks! We made a stop in Lanceford Creek and a stop justs south of Rayonier, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Let the Music Play

Ralston Creswell was in town with his friends Quinn and Zack and took in an Amelia Island back water fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We met at Atlantic Seafood and headed down the river to fish Temptation Cove with two hours remaining on an incoming tide.  Although we had a few nibbles on our mud minnows under a float, there were no takers.  We headed back up to the outside of Tiger Island and fished some flooded oyster beds and here Zack picked up a feisty Redfish and Ralston picked up a hungry Trout.  We moved on around to the mouth of Tiger Basin and fished a spot until the tide started out then we headed up to Jolley River to catch the first of an outgoing tide.   All three anglers caught some small trout and small Redfish then Quinn had a good strong hookup and FISH ON!  He played the fish briefly but the wiley Red must have buried his snout into the oysters and, FISH OFF!  Ouch!we continued to fish the flooded oysters and Zack rounded out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam, picking up two Flounder in a row.   We had a couple of Ladyfish then we made a second run of a good bank and this time the anglers were tossing jigs and mud minnows.  Zack had turned on some music and it may have been the trick because we had only fished a short while when Ralstons drag ripped out and his rod doubled over and he had a big battle on his hands.  He played the fish perfectly and we soon netted an oversized 27 1/2" Red, which put Ralston tied for 2nd in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament, Redfish Category!  Later, Zack picked up a nice keeper sized Trout.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!