This Variety Included a Mystery Fish

We fished out of the Big Talbot Island park this morning - I met Jerry "Gator" Brown and his son Alex and son-in-law Brad early and we headed  up the Intercoastal and into Jackstaff to find a large runout just as the tide peaked at high. The three anglers were tossing live shrimp under float rigs to the grass line and even though they were making pin point casts, we had no real bites. We moved over and fished another bank, had a few nibbles, then fished a point of grass, switching to jigs and live shrimp. Both Jerry and Alex picked up some feisty Jack Crevalle, Brad tangled with a
Ladyfish then they landed a small Bonnethead Shark. Then I believe it was Alex who had a good bite, worked the fish up to the boat and landed.....a Mystery Fish! [now identified as a Stripped Burrfish]  One that I've never seen before. I'm guessing it's part of the Toad Fish family but this one was just like a slug, fat, with spines. I've emailed Mote Marine down in Tampa to get an ID. That's the neat thing about fishing salt water - you never know what you're going to pull up. We ran around to Nassau River, fished some docks to no avail, then hit Seymore's Pointe and got into the Magrove Snapper. All three anglers were working the float rigs and picking up a Snapper here and there. Jerry had one that was a little over 14",  the biggest so far this year. We worked some oyster beds and runouts and Jerry landed a keeper sized Flounder and then a Stingray to wrap up a great day to be out fishing the waters of Amelia Island, Florida.

Beautiful Day and Keeper Slam

I had the pleasure of fishing today again with Michael and Robin Purser, meeting them down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City marina early and heading north to fish the outside of Tiger on the first of an outgoing tide...and a beautiful morning!  Both anglers were tossing float rigs and live shrimp and after a short while Robin picked up keeper sized Flounder to "knock the skunk" off the boat. We fished a couple of areas there and after Michael picked up a hungry Seatrout, we ran up to the Jolley River and began trolling
along the bank, tossing the float rigs. Again, after only a few minutes Robin's float disappeared and, FISH ON! This was a bigger fish that was ripping some drag but Robin kept the pressure on and after a good battle landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish. And after that, no fish for the next 75 yards! We ran further up Jolley, fished some exposed oyster bars, then eased around to the MOA, still tossing float rigs. But when I switched Michael to a jig and shrimp, he got bites, landed a couple of Croaker, then had a stronger bite. This one was giving him some pull but he played it patiently and landed a
nice keeper sized Seatrout. Our next stop was around at Bell River to fish some docks. I believe it was Robin's first cast and BOOM! Big Fish On! This was even a bigger fish than before and it took a while to slowly work it to the boat, but Robin was up to the task and soon landed another 23" Slot Redfish. The two anglers had one more big bite but it threw the hook and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Four Foot Shark on a Size 1000 Reel

I wrapped my week up today fishing with Laura Abel and her friend Paul, meeting them down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp with plans to fish thru the last couple of hours of an outgoing tide. We ran up the intercoastal and made our first stop at the mouth of Jackstaff. Paul was on the bow tossing a jig and live shrimp and Laura was at the stern fishing a float rig up near the recently exposed oysters. We worked along one bank but had no bites then crossed to a point of grass that tapers to a sandbar. Both anglers were fishing the jig and both picked up some hungry Seatrout. After
that we ran thru Horsehead and over to the Nassau River and fished a dock to no avail. Crossing the river, we found some old exposed oysters and within a few minutes Paul had a strong hookup and FISH ON! He patiently played the fish and even though it got back in the current, he worked it slowly to the boat and eventually landed a nice Slot Sized 21" Redfish. We continued to work along the bank and later saw a big Bonnethead cruising the oysters....and minutes later a hookup! The drag sang as line ripped out but Paul kept the rod up and bent, keeping pressure on the fish. It was a long battle on the light Shimano Stradic 1000 but it held  up and Paul brought the 4 foot shark to the boat. Now that was a battle! We worked the bank thoroughly then made a run down to Broward Island to fish the very last of the outgoing tide. All of the longs were exposed but the west wind was kicking up the water and  making it real muddy and we had no bites. Our last stop was at Seymore's Pointe and both Laura and Paul tangled with some sneaky Mangrove Snapper. The won some and lost some!  And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Call It A Bull Red. On Light Tackle.

I fished again with Doug Mackle, who treated his grandkids Sebastion and Montana to a morning of fishing on The Anglers Mark. We met down at the City marina and ran up to Eagans Creek to fish some dock pilings on the last of an outgoing tide. We has some live shrimp today and started off with jigs, fished slowly on the bottom. It didn't take long before both of the young anglers had a hookup and FISH-S ON!  And after a couple of massive runs, FISH OFF! Now that was a wake up call! We continued to fish and
had another hookup, this one not so big, and Montana reeled in a feisty Black "puppy" Drum. We bounced up and down the docks and when the tide started back in, Doug picked up a small but hard tugging Redfish. Then Sebastion had a good hookup. He played the fish patiently and after a good battle put a Slot 21" Redfish in the boat. Then Doug found one too, another Slot Redfish. And then BOOM! Big Fish ON! Sebastion was on the rod and boy this was a big fish! He fought the fish valiantly, from shallow water to deep water. From port to starboard and from stern to bow. The big fish
ran deep and stayed deep but as Sebastion applied the pressure we saw a big Red roll up and knew that this was a massive fish. After an extended battle, he landed a big 34.25" Redfish, moving him well in to first place in the Anglers Mark 2016 Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfish Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). We continued to fish and Montana began to establish herself as the "variety of fish" catcher. She landed another Black Drum and then a Shark or two. At our next stop we picked up a big Bonnethead Shark and Montana put a Ladyfish in the boat. And at the nest stop she found both a Bluefish and a Seatrout to round out the anglers Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Black Drum and Seatrout. After one more stop  we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fishing the Exposed Oyster Beds

I had the pleasure of fishing again with Dale and Kay Bullard, meeting them down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp early this morning. After a brief safety orientation, we headed up the intercoastal waterway to dip into Jackstaff Creek. The two anglers were tossing jigs and mud minnows to the exposed oysters on the last of an outgoing tide and had some good, strong bites. Both Kay and Dale had fish at the boat and both were good sized, but they threw the hook. We fished one bank then a sandbar and did "knock the skunk off" with a fat Seatrout. We ran through Horsehead and
over to Bubblegum Reef, fished it thoroughly, but only had a slimy Catfish. We motored north for a 100 yards and began pitching to the oysters and this did the trick. Dale had a strong hookup, played it patiently, and soon landed a keeper sized Sheepshead. And shortly after that he put a feisty Redfish in the boat. Going back to the same cut in the oysters, Dale had another big bite, and a bigger fish. He worked the big fish to the boat and kept he pressure on and soon landed a keeper sized Slot Redfish. We worked that bank then ran down to Broward Island to fish the incoming tide, which is usually the best. But the wind was coming right down alongside the island and kicking up mud along the bank and we had no bites. We made our last stop at Seymore's Pointe and "played chess" with the Mangrove Snapper, catching a good handful to round out an always fun trip fishing with the Bullards here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Big Trout Leads to Banner Day

I had the pleasure of fishing again with Dennis Brizzi and his buddy Hal today and boy what a beautiful one it was!  I met Dennis and Hal out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early and we headed back up the Nassau River to fish the Horsehead area on the very first of an incoming tide.  I think it was the first fish of the day when Dennis had a hookup fishing a jig and live shrimp on the bottom over some old oyster shells and it was a big one! He fought it patiently - I was thinking big Jack Crevalle...or maybe a nice
Redfish...and it turned out to be a big fat Seatrout! Boy what a fish! We fished the area for a while and both Dennis and Hal caught some hard fighting Jack Crevalle's, added a Black "puppy" Drum and a big Catfish then we worked down the oyster bed, still tossing the live shrimp. Hal hooked up and landed two keeper sized Seatrout. There was all kinds of bait moving in as we eased along the oysters then Hal had a good hookup, a good fight and soon landed a Slot sized 20" Redfish. While he was fighting it I saw another blow out of the area. Later we saw two Redfish tails up near the marsh grass but just like yesterday, they wouldn't take our bait. We fished some docks at Seymore's Pointe then worked our way down the rocks and here the fish catching got fast and furious. The two anglers had switched to float rigs and live shrimp and took turns hauling in hard fighting Mangrove Snapper. They caught 'em until time to go! It was another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Big Jacks Kick Things Off

We had a real pretty morning today -sunshine and just a slight breeze -that greeted us when I met Tony Pozniak and his buddy Chip down at the Big Talbot Island  Park boat ramp. After a quick safety orientation, we ran north and up the Nassau River to make our first stop at some old oyster banks as the tide was coming in. In just a few casts Tony had a strong hookup and, FISH ON!  This was a hard fighting fish but Tony kept the pressure on and let the rod do all the work. After a good battle he landed a nice Jack Crevalle. And minutes later at the stern Chip had a strong hook up and
another big FISH ON!  He too worked the fish patiently and after some good strong runs, he landed another of the big Jacks. We worked down the bank and the duo picked up a keeper sized Seathrout and found a hungry Black "puppy" Drum. We saw a number of Bonnethead Shark and came across two Redfish tailing up near the oysters but they wouldn't eat what we were tossing. We fished some dock pilings at Seymore's Pointe and landed a feisty Redfish before finding some rocks to fish and here the action got fast and furious. The two anglers played cat and mouse with some hungry Snapper and the anglers came out on top, putting nine keeper sized Snapper in the boat in addition to a number of smaller ones. We fished the mouth of Jackstaff as the day ended and although the conditions were perfect, the fish had stopped biting, so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Variety Increases as The Water Warms

We fished three boats today with the Scott Jones group, meeting down at the City marina early with plans to fish the last couple of hours of the incoming tide. I had associates Dod and Larkin on my boat and we headed south down the intercoastal to fish the Horsehead area. Dod was slinging a fly and Larkin was using live shrimp under a float rig when we made our first stop at Twin Creeks. After one strong hookup and "quick release", Larkin hooked up again and landed a hard fighting Jack Crevalle. Dod was
making pinpoint casts, and some fairly long ones too, but he had no takers. We jumped over to Seymore's Pointe and here the action heated up.  Larkin landed one after the other Mangrove Snapper with a good handful being of keeper size. We found that Dod could put his fly right next to the live shrimp and the Snapper would eat the shrimp but not the fly. I think we went through 5 different flies and still had not takers, even though they would hit a shrimp each time. Darn it. We ran down to Christopher Creek, fished it thoroughly with no takers, then ran back and through Horsehead to the mouth of Jackstaff to fish the first of an outgoing tide. Larkin landed a big Bluefish, tangles with a Lady fish, landed a hungry Seatarout and a small Flounder before we ran back to the docks of Seymore's Pointe to wrap up with a small but hard fighting juvenile Grouper. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Gettin The Boys Out Fishing

I fished with the Kenner family today, Kari and Shannon and their two young sons Mclain and Hudson, meeting them this morning down at the Atlantic Seafood dock with plans to fish the last of an incoming tide. Kari and Shannon are owners of the local business Waxhead Sun Defense products.  We ran north and made our first stop outside of Tiger Island and began tossing float rigs with live shrimp. Kari "knocked the skunk off" when she landed a high flying Ladyfish, the "poor man's Tarpon". We made our next stop further around Tiger and here both Mclain and Hudson got in on the action,
expertly reeling in a couple of hungry Seatrout. We fished the area thoroughly then ran through Tiger Basin and over to Bell River to set up alongside a grassy point with the tide still coming in. The anglers had some good bites here and picked up another Trout or two. Our next stop was over in Lanceford Creek and now that the tide had started out I was expecting some fish to bite for sure, and a few did! After getting a couple of smaller, hungry Trout and a couple of Pinfish, we had  a strong bite, strong enough to cause the drag to rip, and FISH ON! Mclain and Hudson teamed up on this one with Mac holding the rod while did the reeling. After a good battle they landed a nice keeper sized 18" Seatrout. We fished some oyster beds on the way back to the marina and had a big hookup, some drag that ripped, the big fish ran,  and a breakoff, OUCH! Kari wrapped it up when she landed a nice Black "puppy" Drum. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island waters.

We Squeezed in a Trip

After looking at the weather forecast last night we decided to move up a fishing trip today, going 30 minutes earlier and getting in some fishing before the rain storms came through. I met Robert Elarbee and his brother down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made a run up the Nassau River in a slight amount of fog to fish some flooded marsh grass on the last of an incoming tide with live shrimp and float rigs. I think our first cast produced a nice 20" Seatrout! We fished the area pretty good and picked up another Trout, a nice Redfish, some Jack Crevalle's and a couple of Ladyfish. We then
worked the bank and Robert hooked up and landed a Big 22" Seatrout (putting him tied for first in the Anglers Mark 2016 Bragging Rights Tournement-Seatrout Category) Scroll down the right side of this report for standings. They then landed a fat 25" Slot Redfish before we headed over to Seymore's Pointe where we got into a mess of Mangrove Snapper, some of which were of keeper size. Our next stop was over in Jackstaff and here they had some good bites before Robert hauled in one more Slot Redfish. It was a good day of fishing with a good variety of keeper sized fish caught here at Amelia Island, Florida.