Fishing With Opa

I fished this morning with Tom Schmeltzer and his 12 year old grandson, Avery, meeting down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and heading north to fish Tiger Island as the tide started back in. We only had mud minnows this morning as there is a short supply of live shrimp, but we made do and caught fish. Avery reeled in a nice feisty Redfish then both anglers caught fish, Reds and Seatrout. We fished the area thoroughly and when the tide got up we made a run
around to Jolley River to fish some flooded oyster beds. Here, Avery snagged a 2' long Gar and had him to the boat and "quick released" him. Later, Avery picked up a Flounder to round out his Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, and Flounder. We cast netted some more minnows then headed back, making one more stop before heading in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Tourney Red Tops Off the Trip

I fished this morning with Glenn Aldredge, his son Nick and their friend Luke, meeting down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp. We headed up the Nassau River with clear skies and just a slight breeze, running all the way down to Broward Island to fish the logs on the first of an incoming tide. We had live shrimp and mud minnows and the shrimp seemed to be the bait preferred. Nick knocked the skunk off early, landing a nice Seatrout and from then on it was "fish catching" for about 2 hours. All three anglers got in
on the action. Luke picked up the technique quick and landed a couple of feisty Redfish and Seatrout. They also landed a Sheepshead, Black "puppy" Drum and a Flounder to lay claim to a "Super" "Grande" Amelia Island Back Country Slam! Then Glenn had a strong hookup and the fight was on! This was a big fish on a light rod and reel combo but Glenn was up to the challenge. The fish went deep, went long and went from starboard to port but Glenn kept the pressure on After a good battle (during which Luke landed a smaller Red) we netted Glenn's 26 3/4" Tournament sized
Redfish.  Boy what a fish! We continued to fish the area, picked up a few more fish then ran around to fish some docks at Seymore's Pointe. Nick put another Trout in the boat then we ran through Jackstaff to fish the other side where Nick put one more Trout in the boat. After that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

A Different Kind of Slam

This afternoon I fished with Kay and Dale Bullard, again out of the Atlantic Seafood dock. But we hadn't fished south in a while so we made the trip down thru the intercoastal and up into Poteat Cut, making our first stop at a marsh runout, on an outgoing tide.  It didn't take long for both Kay and Dale to boat a couple of hungry Seatrout. Our next stop was over in Jackstaff and here we trolled the bank, tossing float rigs and jigs with live shrimp. The conditions were right but we had no real bites. We ran thru Jackstaff over to
Seymores Pointe, fished a dock, and this did the trick. Dale had some nice hookups with Seatrout and so did Kay with both landing "keeper" sized fish. Then Kay had strong bite and we new this was not a Trout. The fish fought hard but Kay was up to the task and soon landed a hardy keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. Then Dale followed that up with a big fat Weakfish garnering the duo an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Black Drum and Weakfish - an unusual Slam, but a Slam in my book! They picked up one more keeper Trout then we ran further south to Broward Island to fish the last of an outgoing tide. The conditions were right but the fish didn't want to cooperate, although they did catch another Trout or two. It was getting late and we had a long run back to the marina so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Reds and Trout

We had a beautiful morning today as we left the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina on an incoming tide and headed straight up to Tiger Island to fish the logs while they were still exposed. It took a little while but these two anglers were excellent casters and it was only a matter of time before they started putting fish in the boat. First, Charles boated a nice feisty Redfish then
both he and Theresa traded the lead in the "most fish" count. In addition to a good handful of Reds, they had another good mess of Seatrout with one measuring in at 18". We fished the area until the tide got up too high then we ran thru Tiger Basin to Bell River and fished some flooded oyster beds - but we had no real bites. We ran up Lanceford Creek, fished a dock with no luck, then fished some more flooded oysters. Further up Lanceford we found a grass patch that held some Trout and another Redfish, then we wrapped it up south of Rayonier. All told, they probably had 10-12 fish for the day, so we counted as another great one to be fishing at Amelia Island, Florida

Gators in the Back Water

I had the pleasure to fish again today with the McKinnons -Murray and his two sons James and Thomas. We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock but elected to make the long run south to fish the Horsehead area and beyond. We actually went all the war to Broward Island to catch the incoming tide while the logs were still exposed and I'm glad we did. We had only been fishing for a short time when James had a strong hookup and landed a nice feisty
Redfish. From then on it was fish catching time. The anglers landed more Reds, a good handful of Seatrout, and Thomas found the knack for catching Sheepshead which garnered them another Amelia Island Back Country Slam. We fished until the tide got up then headed over to Christopher Creek. We had just put the trolling motor down when both James and Thomas noticed that we had a visitor! It was a 4 1/2' long alligator! He hung around for a while, followed us up the creek as we fished some dock pilings, and we decided that this must be his territory because we didn't get a single
bite. Our next stop was some docks at Seymore's Pointe where James picked a big Bluefish then we ran through Jackstaff to the other side and fished the now flooded oysters. Just when I thought there would be no fish, James and Thomas proved me wrong and put a good handful of Seatrout in the boat and then a couple of almost legal Flounder. Just as yesterday, no fish were kept today, other than a legal Trout that didn't revive. The wind had picked up and it was time to go and we all agreed that it was another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Slow Early But Great Finish

I fished this morning with the McKinnon family, Murray and Beth Ann, along with James and Thomas. We had a high and still incoming tide as we left the Fernandina Harbor Marina so we picked some flooded oysters to fish with float rigs and live shrimp. I think our first 3 stops, 4 if you counted crossing from one side of a creek to the other, where we got no real bites. OUCH!  But these anglers were persistent and were making excellent casts and the
next stop brought some fish. We had switched to jigs and shrimp, even though it was still high tide, and James "knocked the skunk off" when he caught a nice hungry Seatrout. Shortly after that Beth Ann was fishing up near some logs and she had a strong hookup. The fish fought hard but Beth Ann was up to the task and landed a feisty Redfish. The anglers traded catches, catching  some Reds and now and then a Seatrout and even a Bluefish. Then Murray went back to where Beth Ann had caught her Red and, BOOM!  FISH ON! This big fish was having none of coming to the boat but luckily it headed deep and down river instead of into the tree limbs. Murray kept the pressure on and slowly worked the fish to the boat. When we saw it roll we knew it was a big Redfish. After a good battle Murray landed a nice 28.5" oversized Redfish, boy what a fish!  We continued to fish the area, picked up a few more fish, then ran up to Jolley River. They picked up another Trout and another Blue, then we made our last stop around at Bell River. Thomas had the hot hand early here, putting a feisty Redfish in the boat and a Flounder to help the group claim an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Then James wrapped it all up when he found another handful of Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Super Slam?

I fished this afternoon with Phillip Maginnes and is daughter Kate - running up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings while the tide was still going out. We had very few bites until Kate had a strong hookup and landed a nice feisty Redfish. We made the run around to Tiger Island and this did the trick. Both Kate and Phillip had good hookups, catching a good handful of Redfish and Seatrout, then they put a keeper sized Sheepshead in the boat to get an Amelia Island Slam, then Kate hauled in a Sheepshead to make
it a "Grande Slam". We fished up and down the island, picking up a Redfish here and Seatrout there, then Kate had another hookup and....landed a nice Black "puppy" Drum. So I guess they had an Amelia Island Back Country Super Grande Slam!  Redfish, Seatrout, Flounder, Sheepshead and Black Drum. One of the Seatrout Kate caught was 17.5", putting her in 2nd place in the 2015 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament. (Scroll down right side of this report for standings) All fish were released this trip. It's always fun for me to see father's and daughters getting out on the water and this turned out to be a great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

The Fishing Got Better

I fished this morning with the Freeman family - Scott and Kathy along with their two youngest sons David and Will. We ran north to fish some flooded oysters outside Tiger Island where Scott quickly "knocked the skunk off" and landed a hard fighting Blue Fish. The David picked up another before we moved further around the island, and both Scott and Will caught some nice Seatrout. We ran up to Jolley River and fished the still flooded oysters with float rigs
but even though the conditions were right, we had no real bites. Our last stop was at Tiger Island and here things heated up. All four anglers got in on the action of catching feisty Redfish and Seatrout, with a couple of those being of keeper size. It was good to see things pick up and some nice fish caught, and we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island,Florida.

Father Daughter Fun Fishing

I had Kent Taylor and his daughter Abbey fishing with me today, and after meeting down at the City marina, we headed up to Eagans Creek to fish the first of an outgoing tide. Our first stop was at a clump of marsh grass and it wasn't long before Kent put a couple of hungry Seatrout in the boat.  We made our way around to some docks and switched to jigs and shrimp, fished slowly on the bottom. It took a few minutes but the two anglers began to catch fish, and catch fish and catch fish. They put some feisty Redfish in the boat and Kent had one that was in the Slot (all fish were released today),
then Abbey had a keeper sized Seatrout. Abbey seemed to have the hot hand for catching Blue Fish then she had a strange bite, hooked it up, played it patiently, and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Flounder. But these two anglers were not done! We made the run to Tiger Island where Kent caught a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum to up there catch to a "Grande Slam". Both he and Abbey had a few more Seatrout, another couple of Black Drum, and then a whole slew of feisty Redfish. Although we had some overcast skies early,  the sun had come out, the clouds had moved on, and we ended up having a great day of catching fish here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Back Country Grande Slam

We had an outstandingly beautiful morning today, fishing out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. I had met Andy and Mary Ellen Morgan along with their son Drew and we ran up the Amelia River with the sun coming up and a nice enough breeze to keep the sand gnats at bay. We made our first stop at the mouth of Jackstaff and the anglers began tossing live shrimp under floats. We had fished for just a short stretch when Drew hooked up and landed a nice Seatrout. We continued to fish, had a couple of bites, then ran
around to Seymore's Pointe to fish some dock pilings. Here, both Mary Ellen and Drew had good bites, landing Redfish, Seatrout, and a keeper sized Black Drum to garner and Amelia Island Back Country Slam. But the trio wasn't finished. We ran down to Broward Island and fished the exposed logs. Both Drew and Andy had hookups, and even a "double", landing feisty Redfish. Drew had the hot rod and seemed to hone on on the subtle bite of Sheepshead, landing a couple to p the Slam to a "Grande Slam". We fished the area for a while, made a brief stop at Bubblegum Reef, then headed in, counting it as another great day  to be fishing Amelia Island waters!