The Hat and Howler Monkeys

The Maron's were back in town  this week, Mike and Shannon along with their "kids" Haley and Libby and Troy. We fished yesterday afternoon, meeting at the City marina and making our first run up to Tiger Island. But when we got there we found that there were already two boats fishing the area so we found a spot south of the island, fished it for a while, had few bites, then continued on to Jolley River. We started south of the "bank",  tossing mud minnows under floats to the bank, and worked the whole stretch with not a whole lot of luck. Then Haley, wearing her new "gilligan" hat,  tossed her bait to a small marsh runout an when her float disappeared we new she had the first fish of the day.When the drag began to rip we knew she had a big fish! She had fought it for a while before I got a video rolling and with her mom filming, Haley patiently worked the fish to the boat. It turned out to be a big, oversized 27.5" Redfish with nine spots, boy what a fish! After the
fish was photographed and released, Mike went back to the same spot, had a strong bite, missed it, then went back and caught another Redfish. Then Libby went in with her offering and I saw the float disappear then zip across the water, FISH ON! Libby played the fish like a pro and soon landed a nice, keeper sized Seatrout. The anglers picked up another Redfish here before we moved on up the river to fish another flooded marsh line. After working that bank thoroughly, we ran back to the outside of Tiger Island. Within seconds of getting the lines out, floats started disappearing regularly! Seatrout, Seatrout, Seatrout, Blue, Seatrout, Blue, Seatrout, Seatrout....It was over an hour of fish catching. They picked up one more keeper Trout and Troy added a couple that were just shy of the mark.  In order to get more distance in their cast, the Maron Trio had come up with a new technique which they dubbed the "Howler Monkey" cast.  It's kinda hard to describe so you'll have to watch the video!

MIxed Bag

I fished yesterday morning with the Stacey family, Arik and Libby and their son Adam. We made our first stop at Alligator Creek, fished an oyster lined bank and it didn't take long for Arik to put a nice Seatrout in the boat. When Adam had a strong bite we felt sure it was going to be a nice Redfish but it turned out to be a Sail Cat (fish). We ran around to fish some rocks at Seymore's Pointe, had a few bites, then Adam tangled with a high flying Ladyfish, the "poor man's Tarpon". We spotted a Redfish working the bank, tailing and
backing, as it cruised the rocks and marsh grass, but it wouldn't take what we were offering, which was mud minnows. Our last stop was down at Broward Island and here Adam's rod heated up here. He had a good hookup, played it patiently and landed a hungry Seatrout. Then he put a feisty Redfish in the boat then topped that one off with one bigger. We also had a keeper sized Flounder to the boat but it "self released". We had a good variety of fish and even picked up a blue crab as it swam by! With that, we called it  day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Young Angler Bears the Heat

And remarkably well! I fished with Mark Wimberley and his young son Zane today, leaving out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and running up the Nassau River to make our first stop at Twin Creeks to fish a high and outgoing tide. There was almost zero wind and we welcomed  a single cloud or two throughout the day. There was tons of bait coming out of the creeks and bigger fish were busting it but we had no real bites on our mud minnows under float rigs. We move on to fish some rocks at Seymore's Pointe in hopes to catch some Mangrove Snapper and after a short while we had a hookup and young Zane reeled in the first fish of the day. I commented to Mark that these Snapper were getting smarter because they robbed us from then on so we made a run around to Jackstaff and began tossing jigs and minnows. We had done about half the bank when Zane had a strong bite and, FISH ON! He worked the fish in, lifting it up and reeling down, and we soon netted a nice feisty Redfish. Our next stop was back at Seymore's Pointe and here the action picked up, somewhat. Both Mark and Zane caught another handful of feisty Redfish then Mark had a hookup of a different kind. The fish came right out of the water and we saw right off it was a nice flounder. Mark fought the fish patiently to the boat and we netted a very nice 17.5" Flounder. We worked the dock thoroughly then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters. 

Flounder More Abundant

I fished with David Howard and his son Graham, who brought along his friend Nick. We met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning and although the bait shop was out of live bait, they did scrounge up a few mud minnows. I purchased some dead shrimp and before we left Sawpit we had cast for some finger mullet and pinfish to complete a smorgasbord of bait to offer our quarry.We headed up the Amelia River, turned into Jackstaff, and began tossing jigs baited with the variety. Nick put a small Croaker in the boat then followed that up with a keeper sized Flounder.
Later, David hauled in a small Bonnethead Shark. We tossed the net for some more bait then ran around to fish Bubblegum Reef where Graham snagged a "Toad" fish, but not much was biting there. We hit a dock over at Seymore's and here we had a little more action. Graham hooked up and patiently played to the boat a six spot feisty Redfish then David hauled one in too. They picked up another Toad fish then we ran down to Broward Island to wrap things up with David landing a Slot sized Redfish and Graham finishing it off with a nice keeper sized Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

High Percentage of Keeper Sized Fish

I fished today with the Ron Brown and his family - his Mom and two sisters, Mary Beth and Robin. We had met down at City boat ramp and headed over to Eagans Creek to fish some dock pilings just as the tide had ebbed. The anglers were tossing live mud minnows on jigs up to the pilings and although the bite was slow at first, Mary Beth finally had a hookup and landed a nice 20" Slot sized Redfish. Skunk off the boat! She followed that up with a couple of strong hookups but these fish were wiley and found their
way back into the pilings to break themselves off. Then Ron had a good hookup and after playing the fish patiently he soon landed another Slot sized Red. We fished the area thoroughly then made a run over to Tiger Island to fish the incoming tide.  Again, Mary Beth had a good hookup. This fish was big but it was having none of coming to the boat - we never saw it as it stayed deep and eventually broke off. Then Mom had a good bite and after a good fight we landed a nice feisty Redfish. Robin was being patient and fishing out deep when she had a different kinda bite. She worked the fish in and we netted a keeper sized 17" Seatrout. After fishing the island up and down we made a short tour of Cumberland Island, Fort Clinch, and Old Town before heading in. Although we didn't catch a whole lot of fish, or percentage of "keeper sized" fish was pretty high and made for another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters. 

Tough Winds But Still Caught Fish

The Mahan's were back in town, TJ with his son Riley and Harris with his daughter Kelli. They'd booked an Amelia Island back water fishing trip this afternoon so we met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at 1pm and headed north up the Nassau River to fish the very first of an outgoing tide. Our first stop was at some rocks along Seymore's Pointe and even thought the anglers were making excellent casts, we had no real bites. We ran around to fish  Jackstaff and here things picked up somewhat. TJ "knocked the skunk off" when he battled and landed a 3' Bonnet Head Shark then
Kelli put an "almost legal" Seatrout in the boat. Harris hooked up and landed a nice 20" Slot Red and added a Seatrout. Then TJ caught a Red and a Trout. We were getting good bites and I felt like if we could have worked the bank a little more efficiently we would have put even more fish in the boat, but the wind was whipping us (in more ways than one) so we ran back through Horsehead to fish some docks along Seymore's Pointe and this got us out of the wind. I believe we picked up a small Flounder here, had a few more bites then we ran down to Broward Island to wrap things up with one more small but feisty Redfish. With that, we called it a day, another great one, albeit windy, to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Summer Time Fishing at Amelia Island

I had the pleasure of fishing with the Grimes family this morning - Bo and Tonya along with their two children Ira and Anna Belle. We had met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and under blue skies, we headed north up the Nassau River to fish some dock pilings on the very first of an incoming tide. It didn't take long - I think the first cast - and Bo had hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout! We continued to fish, had a strong hookup and breakoff, then Bo put a feisty Mangrove Snapper in the boat then Tonya
topped it with a large keeper sized Snapper of her own. Bo tussled with a Salt Water Catfish then we headed over to Broward Island. Here, Bo had a good hookup and landed a nice Slot Redfish and later Tonya added a keeper sized Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Redfish and Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Big Flounder Tops Bragging Rights

We had an overcast sky this morning that made for some pleasant fishing down on the south end of the island today. I had met Don Norman and his dad, Don, down at the Goffinsville boat ramp and we ran back up the Nassau River to fish Broward Island as the tide reached its bottom. Younger Don knocked the skunk off when he landed a feisty Redfish and they may had one or two of them before the Don Sr. had a strong hookup, a good battle, and then he landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish.  Don Jr. put a hungry Flounder in the boat then Don Sr. added another Slot Red. Don Jr. seemed to have the
Seatrout's number, catching a good handful on a jig and mud minnow combo. As we fished a small creek, Don Sr. had a good hookup, a heavy weight, then ti began to fight. But Don was patient and after a good battle, landed  a nice 19.5" Flounder that put him in first place in the Anglers Mark 2015 Bragging Rights Tournament -Flounder category(scroll down right side of this report for standings). Boy what a fish! After fishing the area thoroughly, we headed around to Seymore's Pointe and fished some docks. The anglers picked up on small Red then we hit a flooded oyster bank over at Jackstaff and landed one more Seatrout to wrap the day up, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Trout'n Blues

We luckily had an overcast day today because there was very little breeze, but it made for a great day to be out in the backwater. I fished with Greg Adams and his son Chris, along with Greg's workmate Kent and his son Sam., meeting them down at the City boat ramp. We made a run up into Lanceford Creek, fished some docks, and Chris knocked the skunk off with a hungry Seatrout catch. But that was all we got so we swung by some flooding oyster beds on the incoming tide and switched to float rigs. Here, the
action picked up with the anglers picking up a handful of Seatrout, a small Flounder and a "cigar fish".  We ran around through Tiger Basin and up to the Jolley River and again picked up a Trout or two and some Blue fish. Running further up the Jolley we found more Trout and Blues. Our last stop was back to Tiger, right at the peak of the high tide, and the fish catching was fast and furious - Trout and Blues and Trout and Blues. Kent put a "almost keeper sized one in the boat", then Chris followed that up with what surely was a keeper but the net man bumped him off! Then Sam followed that with a keeper sized Trout of his own. We fished until the bait well went dry then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Windy? Not a Problem!

A windy morning today was a little bit unusual for this time of year but it didn't hold this father and son fishing team back! I had met John Alexander and is dad Al down at the City marina and we headed up the Bell River to fish some flooded oyster beds with float rigs and live shrimp and minnows. John kicked things off when he landed a hungry Seatrout then he put a nice keeper sized one in the boat. Al was not to be outdone and he too caught a couple of Trout. We moved around to Lanceford Creek and fished a grass patch and
although the fish catching was not outstanding in quantity, it stood out in quality! Al had tossed  his bait up near the grass and when his float slowly went under - a tail-tail sign of a Redfish - he gently raised his rod, and FISH ON! You could tell Al's many years of fishing was paying off because he played the big fish perfectly and soon landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish! We fished the area thoroughly and had no more bites until Al's float again disappeared (in almost the same spot). I was thinking another Red but when Al worked him to the boat we saw it was a keeper sized Flounder, rounding out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam. We fished some docks at Lanceford, had a bite or two, then hit another dock at Oyster Bay where Al picked up one more Trout. After that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.