Stay at a Holiday Inn

"The Guys" came over from Lake Butler again this year, George Bowlin and his friends Jerry and Ray.  I met them out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp this morning and we headed over to the Horsehead area to fish the last hour of an incoming tide.  George was tossing a topwater lure while Jerry and Jay fished float rigs with live shrimp up near the grass.  It took awhile but they finally began to get some hookups.  Ray started it off by landing a hungry Jack Crevalle, and then he put a 2nd in the boat.  Then all the anglers began to catch fish - hard fighting Jack's and high jumping Ladyfish. I guess these two species have arrived in the back waters of Amelia Island.  But one of these three anglers evidently had stayed at a Holiday Inn recently - George - who had switched to a jig and shrimp - and had a big bite, BOOM! FISH ON!  This big fish immediately began to take line, making the drag sing.  It ran out deep then ran back up into the marsh, then headed right to the boat, making George think that he'd lost the fish!  But nope, it was still Fish On!  George fought the big fish patiently, from bow to stern and from starboard to port then landed the oversized 30.5" Redfish!  Wow what a fish!  We continued to fish the area, picking up more Jacks and Ladyfish, then made a run around to Broward Island to fish the downed logs.  The anglers had to work for them but they picked up two keeper sized Flounder, a couple of smaller ones, a feisty Redfish,  and found three keeper sized Sheepshead with Jerry landing the largest one.  We fished until we ran out of bait, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Flounder Are Here!

I fished yesterday afternoon with Joe Segraves and his son David and it was great to have them back after fishing with them back in 2010!  We first hit some docks up in Lanceford Creek first and even though the tide was right, the water was real muddy from a south east wind.  However, Joe was able to land a keeper sized Flounder and David put a Croaker in the boat. We headed around to Tiger Island and fished the first of an incoming tide.  Here, the anglers picked up a couple of keeper sized Seatrout, four feisty Redfish, two more keeper sized Flounder and a small Black "puppy" Drum which gave them their Amelia Island Back Country "Grande" Slam!  We made our last stop up in the Jolley River and had a good time catching high flying Ladyfish and hard fighting Jack Crevalle along with another hungry Seatrout.  Joe and David had to work for them but between the Flounder and Sheepshead, they had a great meal to take home!

Birthday Fishing Trip

Mike and Steve Johnson took their dad Bud on a birthday fishing trip yesterday morning on The Anglers Mark.  We met down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and headed up to the Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  Mike tossed a top water lure while Bud and Steve fished with live shrimp under a float.  Steve got the "skunk off" by landing a hungry Seatrout then Bud hooked up and FISH ON!  His line and float ripped across the water as the big fish headed deep, bending Bud's rod over and making the drag sing!  But Bud was up to the the task and fought the fish patiently, run after run.  He eventually subdued the beast, a 3.5' Bonnethead Shark!  We later fished the MOA then ran back to Jolley Bank and here the action got hot.  Steve landed a keeper sized Seatrout then all the anlgers were catching Jack Crevalle and Ladyfish.  Every once in a while they'd pick up another Seatrout or a feisty Redfish, and added a Bluefish and Whiting, too. Mike added another Redfish and so did Bud.  We made our last stop at Tiger Island and again the anglers were on fire, landing 2 more keeper sized Seatrout, a couple of more Redfish, and two keeper sized Sheepsheads.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Shawn's Bank the Hot Ticket

I had a trip set  up today by Capt. Scott Stewart, fishing out of Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina, with a group here during a conference/business meeting.  We left the marina with Scott and Keli Backes and their friend Shawn and headed straight up to the Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  The anglers were tossing live shrimp under floats and after a short while Keli had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  And boy what a fight the fish put up.  It ran strong and hard, away from shore, out from the bank, then dove deep. But Keli kept the pressure on and eventually subdued the beast - a 34" Bonnethead Shark!  Boy, that will wake you up!  We continued to fish and Scott's rod got hot. He landed a fat Seatrout and a feisty Redfish. We fished on up into a creek, then moved around to the MOA but had not luck at either.  Our next stop was back at Jolley Bank, now renamed Shawn's Bank because we hadn't fished long before Shawn started putting fish into the boat.  He started with a high jumping Ladyfish - the "poor man's Tarpon", then had a Jack Crevalle.  He made another cast to the bank and the minute his jig and shrimp hit the bottom, BOOM!  FISH ON!  He worked the fish patiently and eventually we landed a nice 18.5"  Slot Redfish!  Then all the anglers heated up, catching more Jack's, a Bluefish, a Whiting, another Redfish or two, and a handful of Seatrout.  We worked the bank, catching fish, hit one more spot, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Patience and Perseverance

That could have been our nicknames today.  And a beautiful day it was!  I had met Chet Johnston down at the City marina this morning with plans to fish the back waters of Amelia Island.  We headed up to the Jolley River to fish an outgoing tide with the oysters already fully exposed.  Chet started off with a float rig and live shrimp and after fishing 40 feet or so, had his float disappear and FISH ON!  He fought and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  But for another 30-40 minutes we had no fish, even though we had a few good bites.
We ran to Jolley Bank and fished it with jigs and shrimp and after fishing for  awhile, Chet landed a feisty Redfish.  So we were getting a fish here and there but it wasn't like we were overheating our reel drags! Our next stop was at Tiger logs and here the drags heated up!  Chet found his own Sheepshead hole, pulling out a couple of small ones then landed a couple of keeper sized ones.  We eased up the bank and got into some Flounder, again landing a couple of small ones and then a couple of keeper sized ones -one being 16.5" which put Chet at the top of the leaderboard in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder category. Scroll down the right side of this report for standings.   With a Trout, Redfish, Sheepshead and Flounder, Chet already had his Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam - but then he landed a hungry Puppy Drum to make it a "Super Grande Slam"!  We put two Jack Crevalle in the boat and a nice whiting, too.  Then Chet hooked up, the rod bent, and his drag ripped - another nice FISH ON!  He played the fish patiently and when it headed to some downed limbs, pulled it out and away.  After a good battle we netted a nice 25" Slot Redfish!  We found another keeper sized Seatrout then headed over to Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings.  Here, Chet added another keeper sized Seatrout and caught, landed and released a handful of feisty Redfish.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Swamp Life

I fished again today with Cathy Case and her cousin Julie, but this time we went off island to launch at Nassau Landing and run way back up in the swamps of Boggy Creek.  This was an all fly fishing day and we couldn't have asked for a better one.  There was clear skies, balmy temperatures, and just a slight enough breeze to keep any bugs away.  We got far enough up the creek to get into fresh water and cypress trees and Cathy began tossing an 8w with a popping bug.  She had a couple of rolls at it, switched then switched to a 5w with a popping bug and picked up a beautiful Red Belly.  We tried a number of flies and had a couple of hookups on a leach type fly.  Another Red Breast was caught on a popping bug then Cathy had a strong hookup on a 7w with the leach pattern.  This 22" fish put up a good fight and at first we thought it was a Catfish but when we got it in the boat we saw that it wasn't.  I had to do some research but it looks like a Mudfish/Bowfin - not the Bass we were looking for but still a good fight on a fly rod. We continued to fish but the sun had gotten up so we called it a day, another great one to be "off island" of Amelia!

Tournament Win(able) Redfish

Another "Chamber of Commerce" day hear at Amelia Island.  You've got to appreciate these outstanding days to get out on Amelia Island's waters to do some back country fishing.  I had met Mike and Christina McGinley down at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning and we headed up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings on an incoming tide.  I started both anglers off with jigs and Shrimp but when we switched Christina to a float rig and shrimp we were able to find some fish.  She'd let the float drift with the current right up to the pilings and sure enough, Black "puppy" Drum found the offering!  Then Christina hauled in a Slot sized Redfish and when it came out of the water we saw that it was loaded with spots!  The Redfish had 9 spots on one side and 7 on the other for a 16 spot legal Redfish that would have placed in the recent Safe Harbor Boys Home Redfish Spot Tournament!  We then made a run around to Tiger Island where Christina found a Seatrout to round out her own Back Country Slam and Mike tangled with an aggressive Jack Crevalle.  Our next stop was up at Jolley River bank and as the water began to cover the oysters the anglers picked up some nice fish - one time getting a double with Christina  catching another Trout and Mike landing a feisty Redfish.  After adding a couple of more Trout, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

20" Trout on a Fly

We started the week with a beautiful morning -sunshine, no wind and temperatures in the high 60's.  The plan was for Cathy Case and her cousin Julie to meet me at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and do some back water Amelia Island fishing with an emphasis on fly fishing.  We headed up the Amelia River and ducked into Jackstaff to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  Cathy was at the stern of the boat tossing a shrimp-like fly on an 8w outfit. We worked the whole bank one and half times and even though Cathy had a couple of hits, there were  no takers.  We made a run all the way to Broward Island to catch the incoming tide there but her Cathy switched to an intermediate line with a chartreuse/white Clouser and this paid off.  She had just made an excellent cast to some downed tree limbs, let the fly sink naturally and when she made her first strip, BOOM!  FISH ON! We could tell this was a nice fish but Cathy kept the pressure on, pulling the fish out of the tree limbs.  The fish ran deep, putting a big bow in the 8w Sage but it was no match for Cathy and we soon netted a fat 20" Seatrout!  After measuring and getting pictures we sent this beautiful fish back to the water to be caught another day.  We fished the area for a while, had some "bumps", then switched to bait and jigs for a break.  The moment we switched we began to get bites - Cathy caught a nice feisty Redfish and then hungry Seatrout for her Amelia Island Back Country Slam. She added another Sheepshead and then a fat keeper sized Seatrout before switching back to the fly to fish a nice run out with all kinds of bait action going on.  Sure enough, BOOM!  A fish hit her Gummy Minnow and streaked back up to the mouth of the creek and....FISH OFF!  It was not to be.  But it was all fun, another great time to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Working For Fish

We wrapped the week up today fishing the south end of the island and as predicted, we caught fish but had to work for them.  That's  how it's been all week.  I met Eric and Joanna Oestmann down at the Big Talbot Island Park ramp and headed up the Nassau River to fish the first of an incoming tide at Broward Island.  We were tossing jigs and live shrimp up near the downed logs and soon Eric had a strong hookup.  This fish put up a mighty fight and we we landed it found that it was a nice 19" fat Seatrout!  We worked the bank for an hour or so and picked up another fat Seatrout and a feisty Sheepshead.   We had a couple of ducks taking a bath and preening themselves as we fished.  Our next stop was at Christopher Creek and although the conditions were right the fish weren't biting.  We made a run around into Horsehead, fished a flooded oyster banks and here the action heated back up.  Eric landed another keeper Trout, picked up a few more smaller Trout, a hard fighting Jack Crevalle,  and both anglers had more good bites.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Moving The Goalposts

We had a early morning fishing trip set  up here at Amelia Island, set up by Mike Raiz who brought along his friends Steve, Bob and Jim.  We left the City marina and headed up to fish the logs of Tiger Island as the tide came in.  I had the anglers tossing jigs and shrimp and it didn't take long for Mike to knock the "skunk off" when he caught a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  A little while later Steve was fishing some downed logs but as his jig got out deep it was picked up and, FISH ON!  This fish was big and I thought surely it was a Redfish as it ripped the drag,

bending rod and heading deep.  But Steve kept the pressure on and when he finally brought it to the surface I confirmed it was Big!  A Redfish?  NO!  It was a the largest Seatrout to date caught on The Anglers Mark this year - a 23.75" sow!  This fish moved the goalposts, putting Steve squarely in the lead of The Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament -Seatrout Category. (Scroll down right side of this report for standings).  We fished the island a while longer then headed up to Jolley River, this time fishing with live shrimp under floats.  Bob had made an excellent cast to the flooded marsh grass and as it drifted along a fat Trout took the bait.  Bob patiently worked the fish to the boat and the awaiting net.  We continued to fish Jolley, hitting a few spots, then headed over to the Bell River to wrap the day up, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!