Big Trout Top The Board

The storm passed through yesterday leaving today full of sunshine.  I had met Pete and Jane Woodward down at the City marina to fish the Amelia Island back waters celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.  There was somewhat of a westerly breeze so I figured we could get in a protected area and at least get in some fish catching early.  We headed up to Lanceford Creek to get behind the land mass and it was like fishing on a still lake.  It wasn't long before the anglers started catching fish, landing Seatrout with two being of keeper size and a good handful of feisty Redfish.  They put a few Sheepshead in the boat, with two being of keeper size, and noted their Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Redfish and Sheepshead.  But they also landed a small Black "puppy" Drum to make it a Grand Slam!  We eventually made a run to Tiger Island and although we were in the wind, we almost immediatley began to pick up fish.  They again had feisty Redfish, hungry Seatrout and Sheepshead.  Then Pete had a strong hookup and after a good battle, landed the biggest Seatrout of the year, a 21" fat beauty!  Jane wasn't going to be outdone and caught a 18" Black Drum and as we were about to wrap up, she too had a strong hookup, down deep on the bottom.  She worked the fish patiently and after  good battle landed THE biggest Seatrout of the year, a 23" hoss!  These two Trout put Jane and Pete in first and 2nd place of  the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout Category!  Scroll down the right side of this report for standings.  And with that, we called it a day!  Another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Everyone Catches Fish

I fished this morning with Michael Noxon and his two sons Max and Jack.  We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 7:30am and headed up to the Horsehead area to fish a falling tide with jigs and shrimp.  The first stretch of flooded oysters that we fished produced one fat Seatrout that Michael landed, the second spot produced none, so we headed over to Broward Island knowing that the logs would be exposed.  We weren't there long before we began to get hookups.  Young Jack did an excellent job reeling in a feisty Redfish to start things off then all three anglers began to catch fish.  We had a good handful of feisty Redfish and hungry Seatrout, then Michael landed a Sheepshead to get their Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  Max hooked up with a fish that ripped drag out and after a good battle landed a nice 19" Slot Redfish!  Michael reeled in a keeper sized Sheepshead and Jack put another feisty Redfish in the boat.  Michael made it a "Grand Slam" by outsmarting a Flounder, the 3rd caught in the last week.  Our last stop was back at Seymore's Pointe and Jack wrapped things up by catching a Seatrout on a float rig.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout Are Getting Bigger

I fished this afternoon with Paul Ricciardelli and his two sons Mike and Mathew, with the trip being set up by Paul's wife Elizabeth.  We headed out but the wind had picked up from this morning and made the first stop tough to fish our float rigs and live shrimp.  After no bites we moved around to behind Tiger Island and here things heated up.  Young Mike started things off right, hooking up with a big fish, FISH ON!  He worked it patiently and after the fish had taken him from bow to stern, landed a nice Slot Redfish measuring 22"!  The other anglers got in on the action as Paul landed a few Seatrout, one after the other and Mathew found some feisty Redfish to bring to the boat.  We moved up and down the island and as Mike fished deep he hooked up with bigger Trout, this one measuring 18.5" which puts him in first place in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament-Trout Category!   They caught more Trout, a Black Drum, and a Sheepshead to also record an Amelia Island Back Country "grand slam".  We hit a couple of more spots but the NE wind eventually blew us off the water.  However, we counted it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Red to Start the Day

Jorge Noguera set up a last minute fishing trip here at Amelia Island while visiting his father, Jorge Sr. so we meet at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning under cloudy skies but with almost no wind.  We headed up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings and after only a few casts Jorge hooked up with a Big fish, FISH ON!  He played the big fish perfectly and patiently and after an extended battle that went around the boat a couple of times, landed a nice Slot Redfish measuring 25.5"!  What a way to start the day.  We picked up a couple of Seatrout, some smaller Reds, and then two hard pulling 19" Black "puppy" Drum.  When the bite slowed we made a run around to Tiger Island and here Jorge Sr. got on the board with a beautiful copper colored 22" Slot Red.  The duo added another keeper sized Drum and a 16" keeper sized Sheepshead in addition to a good handful of smaller Reds, Seatrout and Sheepshead.  It was a great day to be out on Amelia Island waters fishing with a father and son fishing team!

The Best Filet Knife Ever

I've gone through a number of filet knives over the last 8 years that I've been guiding with some of them being fairly expensive knives.  But after a few fishing trips and fish cleaning I've found that the edge of the blades begin to pit and can't be sharpened without putting them on a grinder.  However, my wife and I purchased a 9" filet knife from the Hammer Stahl booth during the Shrimp Festival last May and it's turned out to be an excellent knife.  I keep a sharpening steel in my captains bag and will swipe the knife a few times before I clean fish and it's as sharp as the day I purchased it.  In addition to being a sharp knife, it looks "sharp" too!
Now, if you enter a special code, you can get 15% off of any product purchased from Hammer Stahl.  Visit www.HammerStahl.com and enter the code "theanglersmark" at checkout.

First Fish and First Redfish

Blake and Karin Flood treated their daughters to their first fishing trip this afternoon, meeting me down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp.  The wind had picked up and I was a little apprehensive about it but these anglers were game!  We made a run up the Amelia River and fished a few creek run outs in Jackstaff.  Young Claire got the "skunk off the boat" by landing a hungry Bluefish, then Karin and Blake followed it up with Seatrout catches.  We ran around to Nassau River to fish the Twin Creeks but had no bites, got out of the wind at Seymore's Pointe for a while, then headed over to Broward Island after the tide had gotten down.  Here things immediately picked up.  Young Abigail landed her first fish caught ever - a feisty Redfish and then Karin had a strong bite.  Her rod bent over and the drag ripped out, FISH ON!  She fought the fish patiently and after a good battle, landed a big 25.75" Slot Sized Redfish, her first Redfish ever!  The anglers continued to fish and picked up more Seatrout and Redfish with Blake getting both and then adding the second Flounder of the year, to round out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  Everyone caught fish and as we headed in, the wind had subsided, and we counted it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Beautiful Day Fishing with your Daughter

I got to fish with Brent Malcom again today and this time he brought his teenage daughter Katie for the fishing trip.  We changed up the locale and met down at the Big Talbot Island Park ramp, which had them driving down from Elizabeth Pointe Lodge, to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  It was a beautiful morning as we headed up the Nassau River to fish some structure  with live shrimp on a jig.  I was expecting Redfish and when Brent hooked up and the drag sang I thought for sure it was a big Red.  Brent played the fish perfectly, slowly working it out and after a good battle landed a nice keeper sized Sheepshead.  Katie hooked up and landed a keeper sized Whiting then Brent pulled in an even bigger Sheepshead.  We made a run to Broward Island and boy things heated up.  The anglers landed Seatrout (some of keeper size) and Redfish to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam and then they added a Black "puppy" Drum to make it a "Grand Slam"!  We hit Jackstaff on the way back and picked up a Seatrout then headed in, counting it another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Close Call

I was able to get down to the south end of the island this morning, meeting Brian, Claire and Robin Lucko at Sawpit Creek in Big Talbot Island Park.  We headed up the Nassau River to fish the first of an incoming tide with jigs and live shrimp.  We had fished for a pretty good while  and had no real bites when Brian felt a "bump" then another - and he set the hook, FISH ON!  Boy this was a big fish!  He played the big fish perfectly and patiently but this big boy had been around the block a few times.  He kept heading for structure but Robin pulled him away.  The fish made one last push for freedom and found it's way into the structure, locking the line down and "bap", fish off!  Ouch.  But Robin's dad Brian went to the same spot (my buddies do that) and in short order hooked up again with a big fish.  It was almost the same battle with the big fish bulling to structure and again, snagging itself.  But this time Brian opened the bale, gave it some slack, and the fish swam out!  FISH ON!  Again.  Brian worked the fish patiently and eventually we landed a Big 31.5" Redfish that put Brian into 3rd place in The Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category! Scroll down right side of this report for standings.  The fish bite turned off almost immediately with all the commotion so we made a run to Broward Island which turned out to be a good plan.  For a while the anglers got bite after bite, landing hungry Seatrout, feisty Redfish, and Sheepshead.  Claire had a good bite and when her rod bent and drag sang I knew this was a bigger fish.  She fought the fish out into deeper water and after a good battle we landed a Slot size Redfish!  We made one last stop and here Robin got in on the big fish, landing a Slot sized Red to wrap up another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout King

I fished this afternoon with Brent Malcolm and his son Willie out of the Atlantic Seafood launch.  We headed up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings on the outgoing tide.  We hadn't been fishing long (his third cast) when Willie hooked up and played a nice Seatrout to the net!  Brent followed that up with a flurry of fish catching, landing three nice Redfish one after the other.  When the bite slowed we made a run around to Bell River to fish some more docks and again, Willie started it off by catching another Seatrout.  From then on we caught a good mess of fish - a handful of Seatrout and a big handful of Sheepshead which gave the anglers an Amelia Island Back Country Slam for the day.  Willie also added a fat Catfish!  We fished Jolley River oyster beds  and although the tide was right, the weather was right, we had no real bites.  But it was a great day to be out on the water and we had some good catches for the day!

First Flounder of the Year

We couldn't have asked for a prettier morning today, clear skies, very little breeze and mild temperatures.  I had met Joe Price and his daughters Mary Ann and Ginny at the Atlantic Seafood dock early and we had headed north to fish the first of an incoming tide.  We started with jigs and shrimp and it wasn't long before Mary Ann had landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  We continued to fish and then Ginny had a good battle with a feisty Redfish which she landed.  We eventually fished some flooded oyster beds where both Ginny and Joe landed Bluefish.  At out last fishing spot Joe had a hookup and put the very first Flounder of the year in the boat - a 14" fish, putting him in first place of The Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder Category! (scroll down right side of this report for standings)  This also gave the anglers an Amelia Island Back Country Slam for the trip.  After a drive by of Cumberland Island to see some wild horses and Ft. Clinch, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!