The Tourney Champ

We went south today, fishing out of Big Talbot Island Park with plans to hit the Horsehead area on an outgoing tide.  I met Keith Yeager and his son Reece early and we headed north with cloudy skies and just a light wind.  The first bank we fished proved to be stubborn for the first 50 yards, producing no real bites.  But these two anglers were patient and soon to pick up fish.  After Keith landed a small but feisty 2-spot Redfish we decided to have an informal "Redfish Spot Tournament".  We found that the Reds were
holding at oyster humps and creek mouths and the two anglers landed a good handful of them.  Then Keith had a good hookup and boated a nice keepers sized Seatrout.  Young Reece caught his share of Reds but when he put a 4-spotter in the boat he took a commanding lead in the "Spot Tournament".  Keith landed a keeper sized Flounder then we ran around to Seymore's Pointe to fish the last of an outgoing tide.  I was expecting the Mangrove Snapper and they caught a couple, but when Keith's drag began to rip on a good fish, we had our doubts that it was a that big of a Snapper!  Sure
enough, after a patient battle, Keith landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish!  We then ran up to Broward Island where we picked up a couple of more Redfish and Reece reeled in another keeper sized Seatrout.   Our last stop was at Bubblegum Reef and again Reece found a Redfish.  With that we called it a day, proclaiming Reece the winner of the Redfish Spot Tournament with his 4-spotter!  It was another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Nothing Big But Catching Fish

I started the week off this morning fishing with Robert Smurthwaite and his wife Marcie, along with Robert's brother, Richard.  We met down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed up to fish the Jolley River on the first of an incoming tide with mud minnows and jigs.  It's always cool when your demo cast catches a fish and that's what happened, a nice feisty Redfish!  We fished the oyster lined bank and the anglers traded turns catching small but feisty and fun to catch Redfish.  Richard caught a fish that turned out to be a  hungry Seatrout and as he worked it to the boat another bigger fish attacked it!  He had both on for a short while, landed the trout, which was scarred up, then released it hopefully to have a better day!  Darcie landed a hard fighting Jack Crevalle then we move on up the river to fish a large creek mouth.  We had a few good  bites but when we found a drainage area through some oysters they really began to catch the "rat" Reds.  We hit the MOA, picked up some finger mullet for bait, then ran back to fish the Tiger Logs.  The anglers had a few good bites, caught another couple of Redfish, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Flounder King

We had a beautiful morning again today - I commented that the river was like a lake it was so calm. I had met Steve and Debbie Kraman along with their son Seth down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and we made the run up to Jolley River to fish the first of an incoming tide with jigs and minnows.  We had only been fishing just a short while when Steve hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish.  Now that's the way to start a fishing trip!  From then on all three anglers were getting bites and hookups but it was Seth who was putting keeper sized fish in the boat.  He landed not one, but

two, nice 16" keeper sized Flounder and had a smaller one, too, which earned him the name, Flounder King.   Steve on the other hand was working on his Amelia Island Back Country Slam, catching a Seatrout to go along with the Reds that he had caught.   He also landed a really big Sail Cat(fish).  Debbie seemed to be adept at catching the Seatrout.  We worked the area for a good while, even switching to float rigs as the tide got up and put a few more fish in the boat.  We moved around to the mouth of Tiger and here Steve made it a Slam when he landed a keeper sized Flounder.  We picked up a couple of more Reds, another Seatrout, then headed around behind Tiger where Seth put one more Flounder in the boat. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Late Afternoon Fishing

 I also fished this afternoon, getting out on the water with Robert Ballard and his son Zack.  We made a run up to the Jolley river to fish a stretch of exposed oysters on an outgoing tide.  Both Robert and Zach had a handful of fun to catch feisty Redfish, caught on mud minnows under a float and then on a jig.  Zach also had a good battle with a 2' Shark that he played perfectly but when he got it to the boat the shark was having none of getting landed and broke itself off.  We ran further up Jolley to Snook Creek, had no real bites, then moved on around to the MOA.  There was tons of bait

and fish busting it and we finally got a couple of Redfish to eat.  Both Robert and Zach tangled with high flying Ladyfish then we made a run to Tiger Island.  Here, Robert landed the biggest Redfish of the day but Zach again had a big "something" on!  He fought it perfectly, it ran deep, he kept the pressure on, but the hook pulled, darn it!  We continued to fish the area, caught a few more feisty Redfish, then called it an afternoon, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Trout Makes The Morning

I fished this morning with Rodney and Jodie Harris and their daughter Natalie, leaving out of the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina at 7am and heading north to fish Tiger Island.  We weren't getting a whole lot of action until Jodie had a good strong hookup and landed a very nice 17" Seatrout.  We continued to fish the area, had another hookup, and Natalie reeled in a keeper sized Flounder and then Rodney put a hard fighting Stingray in the boat.  Our next stop was up at Jolley River, fishing an incoming tide with the
oysters already covered.  We had great weather and a good tide but didn't get many real bites until Natalie's float disappeared and she had a hookup, FISH ON!  We saw a big tail thrash and boy what a fish!  Natalie kept the pressure on and after a good battle, landed a big 21 3/4" Seatrout!  We fished that spot thoroughly and Rodney landed a good handful of hungry Seatrout.  We fished further up the Jolley, hit the outside of Tiger Island, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Rally Caps

Mike Maron was back on Amelia Island along with his family and set up an Amelia Island Back Country The Anglers Mark this morning.  We did a "split" 3/4 day trip, taking along his daughter Libby and his son Troy for the first leg of the day.  We fished some docks at Lanceford Creek but had no real bites then made a stop outside of Tiger Island to fish some flooded oyster beds.   Our next stop was the logs of Tiger Island and luckily Troy put on his "rally cap".  After just a few minutes of fishing Mike had a good strong hookup and while he was fighting the fish, Libby
hooked up too!  We had a double!  Mike had to fight his fish patiently and after a good battle, landed a 20" Slot Redfish!  Libby landed her fish too, a hungry Seatrout.  We continued to fish the area and the anglers caught a few more feisty but smaller Redfish then we moved on over to Bell River where Libby caught a nice Seatrout and feisty Redfish.  We that, we called it a morning, somewhat slow, but still a great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
fishing trip on

We switched anglers back at the dock, this time taking on Mike's oldest daughter Haylea and her friend Amelia with plans to fish the last of an incoming tide.  After picking up a little more bait, we ran over to the outside of Tiger Island to fish some flooded oyster beds.  Amelia caught a Pinfish and Haylea reeled in a hungry Blue Fish but things weren't looking too good.  Mike and I made an "executive" decision to make a little longer run down south so away we went, and it paid off.  We made
it down to Seymore's Pointe in about 20 minutes, tossed some live shrimp and mud minnows under floats, and began catching fish!  They were Mangrove Snapper, with keeper fish anywhere between 10" and 16" and were fun to catch.  It was non stop action for about 1 1/2 hours on a high and outgoing tide and we fished until the bait well was empty, save a token few minnows.  With that, we called it day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Big Jack

I kicked the week off fishing with Tate Taylor and his three sons Julian, Bennett, and Trey.  We met at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and headed up the Amelia River and into the Horsehead to fish a tide that was coming in and already covering the oysters.  I had two of the anglers forward tossing jigs and two on the back tossing float rigs, both with mud minnows as bait.  It took a while but every once in a while one of the quartet would remark that they had a bite, then it finally happened, FISH ON!  Julian had hooked
up with something big!  It ran kinda like a shark but it didn't.  It fought kinda like a big Redfish, but it didn't.  The big fish took Julian from stern, up the port side, around the bow, back to the stern and back to the bow.  But Julian kept the pressure on and fought the fish to the surface when we saw and netted a big Jack Crevalle - the biggest of the year on The Anglers Mark!   Now that's the way to "knock the skunk" off a boat!  We continued to fish and both Tate and Bennettelanded couple of feisty Redfish.  Trey tanlged with a high flying Ladyfish, then we moved around to Seymore's Pointe
and had a good time trying to outsmart some Mangrove Snapper.  All of the anglers had put fish in the boat except Trey but he kept on trying and his perseverance paid off!  He got the hang of it and put a couple of the fish in the boat.  The wind was playing havoc with my boatmanship so we made a run to Christopher Creek to fish the last of the incoming tide.  As we trolled the creek bank we were treated to a big Manatee coming up behind the boat and checking us out!  It took a few minutes but the anglers began to get bites and caught a few more Snapper on the float rigs but Julian had stuck with the jig and picked up three hungry Flounder, two which were of keeper size.   We fished all our bait so with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Neck and Neck

I had brothers Eric and Brent Courtney on the Anglers Mark this morning, along with their friends Alexandria and Jamie, with plans to fish the Horsehead area with a couple of hours of an incoming tide.  We had met at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and headed up the Amelia River and into Jackstaff, setting up just off the marsh grass in range of the anglers float rigs and live finger mullet.  We had only been fishing just a short while when Brent hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.   I soon found out that the brothers had a friendly wager going as to who would

catch the most fish and who would catch the biggest.  Brent jumped out in the lead, landing another Seatrout and a high flying Ladyfish.  Then Eric picked up a hard fighting Jack Crevalle and a Seatrout.  Alexandria also put a Jack in the boat.  We made a run around to fish Seymore's Pointe and here the action became fast a furious.  All four anglers were getting bites and they finally figured out the hook set and began to reel in fat Mangrove Snapper.  The two guys were calling out their count when Eric had a strong bite and a big Ladyfish came flying out of the water.  Eric kept the

pressure on and after a good acrobatic battle, landed the largest fish of the day.  But Brent kept catching fish and even though he and Eric stayed neck and neck in the fish count,  Brent came out on top with just a couple of more fish than Eric.  Alexandria picked up a couple of the Snapper and Jamie persevered and landed what had to have been the best fish of the day!   We made a run to Broward Island, fished some jigs for a while with no real bites, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Change Up

I needed to shake things up today so when I met Hunter Moore, his brother Heath and their friend Alex down at the Fernandina  Harbor Marina, we headed up the Bell River to fish a spot that I had never fished before.  I had passed it on the way back from a previous fishing trip and thought it's be a good spot to try on a high and incoming tide.  Once the guys got the float rigs unlimbered we baited up with live mud minnows and tossed them out to some grass clumps.  I believe it was Alex's first cast when he had a hookup!  He worked the fish patiently to the boat and we netted a nice Seatrout.  For about an hour we worked the area and the anglers had bites constantly both Hunter and Heath landed keeper sized Seatrout and all of them had some that were just shy of the 15" mark.  We hit one more spot in the Bell, made a pit stop for some more bait, then headed up to Jolley River.  We picked up a few feisty Redfish before making one last stop back at Tiger Island.  Hunter had the hot hand here and put two more Redfish in the boat while Alex added a Flounder to round out the trio's Amelia Island Back Country Slam. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Hard Fishing Nets a Big Flounder

I did a double yesterday, getting out on the water in the afternoon with John Greco.  We ran straight up to the Jolley River to fish an incoming tide and right off John hooked up with a feisty Redfish.  I was thinking, "all right, here we go!"  But we fished and fished, had a few bites, but no takers so we ran back to fish the logs of Tiger Island.  We fished the pockets between the logs from one end of the island to the other, had a few nibbles, but no real takers, until after about an hour of fishing we had a weird bite and a hookup!  John worked the fish patiently up from the bottom and when it surfaced we saw that  it was a nice big 21" Flounder!  this fish puts John in 2nd place in The Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category(scroll down right side of this report for standings).  We then made a run around to Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings.  We picked up another small Flounder.  We fished some flooded oysters further up the creek then again ran around to fish the outside of Tiger.  Although it was some tough fishing both John and I agreed that it was a beautiful afternoon and a lot better than sitting behind a desk! With that, we counted it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!