Back in the Saddle

I had engine issues on my Tuesday trip and ended up hauling The Anglers Mark to the repair shop.  But I had the boat back Friday morning and luckily Paul and John Landahl had the paitence to wait on me and the boat to squeeze in a fishing trip before they headed back to Chicago.  We met down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 1pm and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the last of an outgoing tide.  Paul was working a jig and shrimp in deeper water and picked up a nice Seatrout.   When the tide changed we made a run around to Tiger Island and our "catching" picked up.  Both Paul and John caught a few Seatrout and we had some nice feisty Redfish.   Later we hit Jolley River then the Bell River where John landed the final and biggest Redfish. It sure was a beautiful day and a great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Knocked The Socks Off

That's what Charles Greenman did to the Bragging Rights Tournament leader board! I had met Charles and his son Will down at the Big Talbot Island State Park boat ramp on Sawpit Creek this morning with a baitwell full of live shrimp and we headed up the Nassau River to fish a creek outflow on an outgoing tide.  The oysters were just beginning to show. Will was tossing a live shrimp under a float and Charles was using a jig and shrimp combo up in the creek mouth.  But we had no real bites.  We moved around to fish a likely spot in Jackstaff, had no bites, then ran to the mouth of Jackstaff to fish the oyster lined banks.  Although the anglers felt like they were getting "nibbles", there were  no real bites here, either.  Ouch.  Our next stop was back in the Nassau River and the tide was really getting down.  We hit Bubblegum Reef and this proved to be the ticket.  We had a subtle  bump, an hookup, and Will was able to reel in his first ever Sheepshead, of keeper size.  Shortly after that another soft bump, a hookup and Will landed a nice keeper sized Black "Puppy Drum".    Then Charles got in on  the action.  He had a good bite and set the hook and had a the fish on, but then it really began to pull and we knew he had a FISH ON!  Boy what a battle.  Charles played the fish patiently, even when it got behind the boat and in the current and after slowly wearing him out, Charles landed the 32.25" oversized Redfish to take first place in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category (scroll down right side of this report for standings).  We had another strong bite but a quick break off then Charles was at it again.  This fish went from bow to stern then took Charles to the bow, around the trolling motor and back to stern where he eventually subdued the big Redfish and landed it to be measured at 31", another oversized Red!  After one more  strong  bite, hookup and breakoff, we headed to Broward Island to fish the exposed logs, picking up a few feisty Redfish before calling it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Foggy Fishing

We got in some "fun" fishing yesterday, my wife and I and neighbors Carlie and Zach Peyton.  When we got to the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp we found that the whole river was "fogged in" with visibility about 50 yards.  But we launched anyway with navigation lights on and eased up the river to get in some sight seeing while waiting for the tide to get right.  I missed Fort Clinch on the first pass but we eventually picked it out through the fog, then we headed over to Cumberland Island and as we got to the Georgia side, the fog cleared to present a beautiful day!

 There was one sole wild horse at the mouth of Beach Creek and after touring the creek we made a run to Jolley River to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  It was perfect conditions and although we seemed to be getting a few nibbles, we had no takers.  Our next stop was Tiger Island and here we had some good bites.  Carlie got the "skunk off the boat" by catching and landing a nice feisty Redfish, her first ever Redfish.  She then hook and landed up  a keeper sized Seatrout.  Zach and I were playing chess with "baitstealers" but Zach was patient and soon got in on the real action, landing a couple of feisty Redfish.  We watched the sun go down over the marsh then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Recipe of the Month: Mel's Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

1/2   Cup Crunch Peanut Butter

¾   Cup  Milk

1    Box sugar free/fat free vanilla pudding mix

1    Box sugar free/fat free chocolate pudding mix

1    Fat Free Cool Whip

1     Redi made Lo Fat pie crust

        Semi Sweet dark chocolate for garnish.

Mix peanut butter, milk, and packet of vanilla pudding mix.  It will be soupy then will begin to firm up.

Spread into bottom of pie crust.  Mix chocolate pudding mix per directions and pour over peanut butter layer.  Let it firm up then spread Cool Whip over chocolate pudding mix.  Garnish with gratings of semi sweet dark chocolate.

First Red Big Red

Young Harrison Davis was chomping at the big to get out on the Amelia Island back waters this morning so when he and his dad Glen met me at the dock we wasted no time heading north on the first of an incoming tide.  It took only a few casts to hookup with a nice fish and Harrison reeled in his first Redfish ever!  What a great way to start out a fishing trip!  Then it was Glen's turn and this was a Big fish!  His rod bent double and the drag sang, FISH ON!  He played the big fish patiently and with Harrison on the catch net, they soon landed a nice 24" Slot Redfish!  Harrison had declared it a "catch and  release" day so all fish caught were returned to be caught another day.  From then on the anglers were getting bites and landed a good handful of Seatrout with one measuring to 18", placing Glen on the board of my Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament (scroll down right side of this report for standings).  Harrison had quickly gotten the hang of the jig fishing and caught a few of the Trout and then caught and landed a Weakfish, something we haven't seen in a while. We also had a sighting of the resident Atlantic Salt Marsh Mink.  After the bite slowed we made our way around to another creek and Glen immediately began to catch fish, first a feisty Redfish then BOOM, a Big Redfish!  This fish took Glen from the bow to the stern and back and under but Glen worked the big fish like a pro and won this epic battle!  Harrison was on the net again and hoisted in the big 26.25" Redfish, putting Glen on the board of the Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfish Category.  Glen ended up having the biggest fish but Harrison put more variety in the boat, landing Redfish, Seatrout, Weakfish and a hungry Black Drum.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters.

Setting the Bar High

Bob Brumback and I debated about fishing this morning with weather reports calling for a good chance of rain and winds to gust 10-15mph.  But we figured we could get some fishing in before the bigger storms passed through so we met at the City marina and headed out with a baitwell full of live shrimp on the very first of an incoming tide.  We made our first stop and after I pointed out some pertinent landmarks, Bob made his first cast, a perfect one, and BAM!  FISH ON!  He played the big fish patiently and after some deep runs landed a nice 26.25" Redifsh!  Now that's the way to start a day!  He continued to fish and had hookup up after hookup.  His first four fish in the boat three slots and one oversized at 28", which put him firmly in the lead of my Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament, Redfsih Category (scroll down right side of this report for standings).  Bob picked up a couple of "feisty" Redfish then the Seatrout turned on and we landed a good handful of them with most 15"-18" long.  Then Bob had a strange bite and caught a keeper sized Sheepshead that rounded out his Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  After adding another keeper sized Sheepshead and a few more Trout, we headed over to a new spot where the big Redfish bite continued. Bob caught big Red after Big Red and had another handful of the "rat" Reds.  We kept track of the big ones and ended the day with a count of 8 Slot Redfish and one oversized Redfsih which set the bar high for future anglers on The Anglers Mark!  All told we probably had about 30 fish and all were released to be caught another day!

HOT Amelia Island Fishing in February

A list minute trip proved to be successful this morning and with the temperatures getting up well into the 70's the fish catching was red hot, too!  I had met Didier De Bruyne at the Atlantic Seafood dock early this morning and we headed north to fish some structure as the tide was coming in.  Didier was tossing live shimp on a jig, fished on the bottom slowly and it wasn't long before he began to get bites and then hookups. He boated a nice keeper sized Seatrout early then a whole handful of feisty Redfish then a very nice keeper sized Sheepshead which put up a nice fight.  Then he had even a stronger bite and the battle was on!  Didier played the big fish expertly and eventually we netted a nice big 26.25" Redfish!  This fish put Didier into a tie for 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament (scroll down right side of this report for standings).  We continued to fish and continued to put them in the boat, adding a few more keeper sized Seatrout, another handful of smaller but feisty Redfish, another Slot Redfish (22") and a few more Sheepshead with one of those being about 20".  As the tide got up the bite slowed so we ran around to Lanceford Creek to fish some flooded oyster beds.  Even though it was absolutely calm and peaceful we had no real bites on our live shrimp under floats, so we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Red Tops a Slam

I had the opportunity to fish this afternoon too, and met Jerry Itzkoff and his friend Steve at the City marina at noon to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  We went slightly up Bell River and fished some flooded oysters with float rigs and live shrimp, but had no real bites.  Our next stop was outside of Tiger Island, again fishing float rigs, and again no bites!  We move on to deeper water and switched to jigs and this did the trick as Jerry picked up a nice fat keeper sized Seatrout.  We continued to fish the structure and had a few bites but then Jerry hooked up with a BIG fish, FISH ON!  He said it was just a subtle nibble but this fish was putting up a fight.  Jerry played the fish patiently and after an extended battle we netted a "Tournament Red", measuring in at 26.25"!  Boy what a fish! This fish put Jerry into 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament(scroll down right side of this report for standings).   After fishing the area a little longer we made a run to fish Jolley Bank but had no real bites.  Our last stop was at some docks in Bell River and after getting one bite, Jerry hooked up and put in the boat a feisty Sheepshead to round out his personal Amelia Island back Country Slam.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

First Fish, Most Fish, Biggest Fish, Smallest Fish

I had met Jeff Kantor and his wife Melinda, along with their daughter Shona and her husband Travis down at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning to get in some Amelia Island back country fishing.  We had a tide midway from coming in so we headed north to fish some structure while it was still visible.  It happens a lot in the spring but it really helps when the "demo" cast with the jig and shrimp pics up a fish and that's what happened today!  Melinda worked the nice fish in, a keeper sized Seatrout.  From then on we had a good number of hookups with both Jeff, Melinda and Shona putting feisty Redfish in the boat.  The anglers jockeyed for position to hit the "hot spot" and we caught fish for about an hour and a half.  Travis finally elbowed his way in, had a few good bites, then, FISH ON!  This was a larger fish that didn't want to be caught but Travis played it perfectly and after a good battle we netted a 19.75" Sheepshead, which rounded out the groups Amelia Island Back Country Slam! This fish also put Travis in 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category (scroll down right side of this report to see standings).  After picking up a couple of more Reds we moved out to fish some flooded oyster beds and Jeff caught the last two Seatrout of the day.  We all commented that each could claim title to "First Fish,  Most Fish, Biggest Fish, and Smallest Fish"!  We wrapped up the trip by touring Cumberland Island to see the wild horses, made a stop by Fort Clinch, and watched as a submarine was escorted into the channel.  What a great way to wrap up an Amelia Island fishing trip!

Slot Redfish Makes the Day

We rescheduled Saturday's afternoon trip to this morning due to wind issues.  I met Nick Peet and his girlfriend Julia at Atlantic Seafood early this morning and even though it was somewhat chilly, there was only a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky.  We hit "Temptation Cove" south of Rayonier on the last of an incoming tide but had no real bites on live shrimp under a float then we headed up Lanceford Creek to fish some flooded oyster beds but again, no real bites.  Moving back up the river we fished  a couple of docks with jigs and shrimp then eased along a grass line, back to tossing float rigs in 4' of water.  With almost two hours into the fishing trip and no real bites I was  glad to see Julia's float go under and her rod bend - we got a fish!  Whooeee!  Julia played the fish perfectly and as I was about to net this keeper sized Trout, Nick hooked up and he had a fish on, too!  Nick worked his bigger Trout to the boat and we netted it for a "double Trout" picture.  We made a run around to Tiger Island, fished some more flooded oysters, then moved into Tiger Basin to switch back to jigs and fish on the bottom.  I think Nick's first cast produced a nice feisty Redfish!  And on his 2nd cast, boom!  Redfish.  Julia elbowed Nick out of the way and put her bait up near the structure and in a few short seconds, FISH ON!  This was a bigger fish and took some patience to work it in and Julia did great.  After a good battle we netted a nice 21.5" Slot Redfish, Julia's first ever.  This fish moved Jilia into 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfsih Category (scroll down right side of this report for standings).  We continued to fish the area and in addtion to the anglers catching a few more of the Reds on jigs and shimp, Nick picked up one on a weighted chartreuse plastic shrimp.   The sun had warmed things up as we headed in, so we counted it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!