Quality and Quantity

Fishing the back waters of Amelia Island is always fun because you never know what's on the other end of the line! Today, fishing with Bob and Nancy Stein, we had nine different varieties of fish caught. Redfish, Seatrout, Flounder (a Slam), Mangrove Snapper, Jack Crevalle, Stingray, Bonnethead Shark, Croaker, and Pinfish were caught on live shrimp. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed up the Nassau River, making a quick stop to fish some exposed oysters with jigs. Bob "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a couple of feisty Redfish. We jumped down to Twin Creeks
and both anglers began to hookup with fish. Nancy put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat and Bob followed that up with one of his on. Then Nancy landed a hungry Stingray and then a feisty Bonnethead Shark. We moved back east in the river and they caught a couple of more smaller trout, then Nancy had a strong bite and FISH ON! She worked the fish patiently to the boat and landed a nice Slot sized Redfish. Somewhere in there she also caught a hard fighting Jack Crevalle and they both landed a couple of more smaller Reds.  We ran up to some docks and fished the pilings and Bob got hot catching small Mangrove Snapper and a couple of Pinfish. We ran down to Christopher Creek on the last of an incoming tide, fished the rocks and Bob wrapped thing up with a Slot Redfish of his own, then topped it off with a small but hungry Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Big Jack Catch

I fished this morning with Adam and Patty Garner, meeting them down at the Atlantic Seafood dock as the sun came up. We eased north through the no-wake zone then ran up to Tiger Island to fish the logs as the tide came in. These two anglers were making excellent casts but there wasn't a whole lot biting. We did pick up a couple of "bait stealers", a croaker, and a hungry Flounder on jigs an shrimp and minnows. We ran around and up to the Jolley River and fished the "bank", tossing float rigs with live shrimp. I think they found two Trout and then Patty landed a small but feisty Jack Crevalle. We bounced around the corner, set up behind a grass patch with the current sweeping by, and within minutes Patty had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  This fish was pulling hard so we took the trolling motor off anchor and kept the fish off to the side. Patty kept the pressure on as she worked the fish slowly to the boat and after a good battle, she landed a nice, big Jack Crevalle. Boy what a nice fish! We fished that area with both floats and jigs, had some good bites, then ran around to the outside of Tiger. The flood tide was up so we poked the bow up into the grass in a couple of places, looking for tailing Reds. Out of 4-5 spots we saw a couple "backing" in the distance and so we tossed some weedless spoons at 'em, but had no takers. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

They Each Had Big Fish

After a two days of non-stop working at the Amelia Island Redfish Spot Tournament I was back to fishing this morning, this time with Dennis Brizzi, his daughter Ginger, and his son-in-law Joe. We met out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early and headed back towards Nassau Sound to make our first stop at Twin Creeks. The anglers began tossing live shrimp and mud minnows on float rigs up to some already flooded oysters and within seconds, they began to get bites. Ginger had a big one on for a good 10-15 seconds but it threw the hook. But shortly after that Joe hooked up and we had
another big fish! He worked it patiently to the boat and landed a nice 20" Seatrout. Dennis picked up a small trout then we began to bounce down the river, hitting runouts and points. At our third one things heated up when they got into a school of small but feisty Redfish. All three anglers put Reds in the boat and both Ginger and Joe tangled with Ladyfish. Dennis picked up a Mangrove Snapper and Joe put a Stingray in the boat. We ran back to Seymore's Pointe, fished some rocks briefly, then headed over to Christopher Creek to catch the very last of the incoming tide.
Fishing some more rocks, Dennis landed another feisty Redfish then he made an excellent cast between two docks and found a keeper sized 16" Flounder. A short while later he went back to the same area and BOOM! Fish on! He kept the pressure on and worked the big fish out from the pilings and even though it went deep a few times, he worked it patiently to the boat and landed a nice 22" Slot sized Redfish. We trolled our way out of Christopher - Joe caught one of the biggest Croaker I've seen - and just as we were about to leave, Ginger had a strange bite. She worked the fish in and we netted a very nice 18" Flounder to wrap up another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Slow Fishing But Dawged Perseverance Pays Off

I had the pleasure of fishing again with Bob Blalock, meeting him down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp early, and with cloudy skies. Although tropical storm Julia had passed through yesterday, we saw a window of opportunity to fish, and we took it! We ran up the Amelia River and dipped into Jackstaff and further into another creek to begin fishing with float rigs and mud minnows at the very peak of a high tide. Both of us had some soft bites but no takers as we fished the flooded marsh grass. We crossed over a creek, switched to jigs and minnows, and again, no real bites. I wouldn't have thought that the storm that passed by would have affected the fish bite, but it may have, because even thought the present weather was very comfortable, the bigger fish just weren't biting. Bob tangled with a and caught a couple of high flying lady fish before we left, ran through Horsehead, and fished some dock pilings. He caught a few feisty Mangrove Snapper then we ran down the Nassau River to fish some marsh runouts. The water was coming out of the marsh by now and bait was moving and fish were beginning to bust and sure enough, BOOM! Bob had a nice fish on. He played the fish patiently and after a good fight, landed a nice Slot Sized 21" Redfish. YAHHOOH (I said).  We worked that bank some more, then bumped up and hit three more, only to find one hard fighting Jack Crevalle. It was a nice day under gloomy skies but Bob's perseverance paid off and put one nice fish in the boat, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing, here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Squeezing in a Late Afternoon Trip

I fished yesterday afternoon, too, meeting Dale Steinkamp and his friend Graeme down at the City marina at 3pm with plans to fish into late evening. We had both live shrimp and mud minnows as bait when we headed north up to the outside of Tiger Island. Both anglers were making excellent casts and getting nibbles here and there, but we had no takers for awhile until Graeme landed a hungry Seatrout. We pulled up and ran up to Jolley River and fished the "bank". Again we had some bites then Dale began to put his rig up into a large run out and caught a few Seatrout. We also had a small
Flounder along the way. We bumped around and fished the outside of Jolley and here things picked up. Graeme reeled in a nice keeper sized Flounder then Dale put one in the boat, too, then he had a strong hookup - a bigger fish! This fish fight brought Dale from the bow back to the stern and from starboard to port as it ripped the drag but Dale played it perfectly and eventually landed a nice Slot sized Redfish. The caught another Flounder or two and Graeme put a nice feisty Redfish in the boat before we moved on to our last stop, behind Tiger Island. The fish bite wasn't on fire, even though the tide was getting right, but we did have two nice fish caught - a large 19" Flounder(which put Dale tied for 2nd place in the Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament 2016 -Flounder Category. Scroll down the right side of this report for standings) and a nice 18" Trout - a good way to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fall Is Right Around The Corner

I was back to fishing yesterday, this time meeting Billy Norrell and his friends Mike and Johnny down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp on Sawpit Creek. We met early and then ran up the Nassau River a short distance, dropped the trolling motor, and began fishing some small marsh run  outs. Billy was on the stern tossing a fly while the other two anglers fished the bow with jigs an live shrimp.  It was Billy who "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a hungry Flounder on a shrimp patterned fly.
We worked the bank and all the anglers got in on the action, catching a couple of small, but keeper sized Flounder, some feisty Redfish, and a nice Trout. Billy added a Redfish to his catch with the fly rod. We ran further up the river and fished some old shell banks and here Johnny had a strong bite. After playin the big fish patiently on my light tackle, he landed a nice 24" Slot sized Redfish. We picked up a good handful of Mangrove Snapper, had a brief encounter with a Ladyfish, had a good battle with a Jack Crevalle, and then Mike put two Black "puppy" Drum in the boat. Our last stop was down at Broward Island and again, we had Flounder and Reds and then we wrapped it up with a big Trout that Mike hooked up deep. It was a beautiful morning, somewhat cooler and with less humidity, and another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.  I even learned some new words!

Cast Iron Cobbler Cooking

A month ago I had purchased the Summer Edition of a quarterly magazine Southern Cast Iron published by Hoffman Media and found so many recipe's that looked delicious. I had also been stopping off at some of the roadside vegetable and fruit stands and have been getting some very fresh and juicy peaches. One of the recipes that caught my eye in Southern Cast Iron was a Blueberry-Peach Cobbler. So yesterday afternoon we texted neighbors and asked them to leave room for some desert after their dinners and plan to stop by for some homemade cobbler and vanilla ice cream. I wanted to cook and I wanted to cook from scratch - in my cast iron skillet. Judging from feedback, it turned out pretty good!

Just A Grande Slam

I had the pleasure of fishing with Cindy and Barry Shelor again this morning and I met them down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp. Although the weather report called for some stiff winds today, it turned out that we had excellent fishing conditions. There was a enough breeze to make it very pleasant to fish the entire morning. We made a run up the Nassau River to the Spanish Drop area and began to fish a marsh run out right at the middle of an outgoing tide. Both anglers had bites early on, and even a couple of hookups, but they threw the hook before we got them to the boat.
OUCH! We moved down a 1/4 of a mile and found a couple of converging runouts and things heated up. Cindy had a strong bite, one that bent her rod double and while she was patiently playing the fish, Barry hooked up, too - we had a double! Barry's came in first, a nice Seatrout then Cindy landed hers, a large Flounder! We fished the area thoroughly and they picked up a good handful of fish with a 4-5 of them being keeper sized Flounder (all fish were released today). As we worked on up the bank Barry had a good bite, a hookup, and landed a feisty Redfish which gave them an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Flounder, Seatrout and Redfish. As we fished the Nassau they also tangled with Ladyfish, out smarted some Mangrove Snapper, caught and tossed a couple of Stingray's, and Cindy reeled in a slimy Catfish. We moved on up near Seymore's Pointe and within a few casts Barry landed a Flounder then a large Seatrout, then a Black "puppy" Drum (making it a Grande Slam). We fished up to Bubblegum Reef, picked up a couple of more Snapper, then wrapped the day up over at some docks where we left the Snapper biting. The wind never did cause a problem and it turned out to be another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island Florida.

A Couple of Slot Reds

After a couple of days off I was back fishing today, meeting Brooke Jordan and her son Christian and their friend Mike, down at the City marina. For bait, we had live shrimp to begin with - some really nice ones - although I would have preferred mud minnows. There was a little more breeze than we've been having so we ran up to Tiger Island to get a little shelter and with the very last of an outgoing tide, it was a good move. The three anglers were tossing their baits on 1/4oz jigs up to the bank and fishing them slowly back and in a short time Mike had a strong hookup. He played the fish perfectly and in short order "knocked the skunk off" with a nice Slot sized Redfish! We fished up and down the bank, dueling with "bait stealers", but still managed to land a couple of small Flounder, a keeper
Flounder and Christian added a nice Croaker to the box. We were going through shrimp fast so we made a run back to a bait shop and picked up some mud minnows then ran back around to the Jolley River. The oysters were still showing, now on an incoming tide, and the "fish catching" heated up. Mike caught a Flounder on his first cast, then added a handful of small, but feisty Redfish. All three anglers tangled with Ladyfish then Christian had a strong bite and, FISH ON!  This was a nice fish  and it was pulling hard but Christian kept the pressure on and even though it made a dash deep and under the boat, Christian turned it's head and brought it back out. After an epic battle, Christian landed another nice Slot sized Redfish, boy what a fight! We worked that bank, picked up another Flounder or two, then ran further up the river and wrapped things up tossing float rigs. It was another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Ran Out of Bait Catching Fish

I wrapped my week up fishing with the Sutherland's - Sherry and Randy, who had brought along their daughter Holly and her husband Skyler. We had clear skies as we ran down the Bell River with plans to fish some docks as the tide crept in. On the second dock Sherry got things started by landing a nice keeper sized Seatrout, caught on a mudminnow and jig. Shortly after that she tangled with a high flying Ladyfish. After fishing those docks thoroughly, we ran around to the Jolley River and fished some flooded oyster beds with float rigs and the minnows. Although
these anglers were making excellent casts, the fish just weren't cooperating. We may have picked up a Trout or two and some Ladyfish, but there wasn't too much to brag about. Yet. Our next stop was on the outside of Tiger Island and they quickly picked up a couple of Trout. We worked the bank, switching back to the jigs and the catching heated up. Randy was in a groove and landed a few keeper sized Flounder and some smaller Trout then all four anglers were catching fish. Skyler put the biggest Trout in the boat and after Randy had landed a larger Flounder, Holly put an even
bigger one in the boat. We went through all our minnows catching fish then switched to an array of artificial baits, and they too caught fish. For bragging rights we summed up the trip as Sherry catching the first fish, a keeper; Randy had the most fish; Holly had the biggest Flounder; and Skyler had the biggest Trout. It was a great way to finish up another Amelia Island fishing trip.