Flood Tide Fly Fishing

Pete Brookes was in town and we had a scheduled fly fishing trip this morning for flood tide tailing Redfish. The high tide was expected around 10am so we met at 8am at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and headed over to the mouth of the Bell River where a certain spot floods the quickest. The water was just about high enough but there was no sign of fish. We cruised up and around to behind Tiger, checked a couple of flats out, then came back to Bell and blind cast to some flooded marsh grass. No luck here.

We cruised back to Tiger, checked out 3-4 flats and even though the water was high and the conditions were absolutely perfect, there was no movement in the grass, not a fish. So we decided to run further west and up into the Jolley and again checked out some flats. After 3-4 looksee's we went back to blind casting.  I thought Pete was going to wear his arm slap off!

We made one more stop back at the outside of Tiger where two creeks merged and now that the tide was going out, we had some success. Pete was tossing a "Troy James Fly", but in root beer color, fished with an intermediate sinking line and this did the trick. He had a good solid "bump" and he strip set the hook, and FISH ON! Pete patiently worked the fish in with his line hand and landed a nice hungry Seatrout. Only minutes later he duplicated the same cast and go the same results.

It was a great day to be flood tide fishing, but even though the Reds didn't cooperate, it was a beautiful day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Beat the Wind

The fishing's been pretty good the last couple of days but the forecast for today called for winds up to 14mph, and I think they were accurate. But father and son team Lester and Jason Johnson were up to the task so we met up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and headed over to Bell River to fish a flooded oyster bar with float rigs and live shrimp. The fish didn't cooperate! We had no real bites. But the tide had started out so we ran through Tiger and around to the outside of Tiger Island and set up where tow creeks poured out. This did the trick!

Jason got hot quick, catching a
handful of Seatrout and a feisty Redfish or two. Lester hooked up and everyone was on the board! We ran back through Tiger, over to Bell and down the Bell River out to fish some docks. The anglers switched to jigs and shrimp and fished them on the bottom on the outgoing tide. We picked up some hungry Trout on the bottom then Jason tangled with a big Stingray!

When the bite slowed we worked around to the Jolley River and set up along some marsh grass as the tide went out. Things got hot! Both anglers were catching feisty Redfish, with a handful of them right at 17 3/4", just under sized, then Lester hooked up and when his drag began to rip we knew that this was a keeper fish! He played it perfectly and soon landed a nice 21" Slot sized Redfish.  The wind was kicking our butts but the fish were biting so we made do!

Our final stop was back around at Tiger Island, fishing the logs with jigs. I think Jason's first cast produced a Redfish. We had a couple of more Reds, a small Black "puppy" Drum, then Lester had a strange bite. The fish stayed down at the bottom, and I was guessing big Flounder but then all of a sudden it took off...we thought shark...but no, out of the water came a high flying Tarpon! It threw the hook but boy that was cool. Later Jason had another strange bite and his turned out to be a nice 19" Flounder. We added one more keeper sized Flounder then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

High Tide Slot Redfish

We fished north today! I met Daniel Tillotson up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park early this morning and with the tide already high and still coming in, we decided to make our first stop on the outside of Tiger Island. It took a few minutes of casting live shrimp under a float but when the fish began to bite, boy did they!  We had a handful of Seatrout then a couple of small but feisty Redfish then after Daniel had a made a pin point cast to some flooded marsh grass, BOOM! Big fish on! You can always tell when a Slot Red
bites on light tackle - they don't want to come to the boat! This one rolled  and wallowed up along the edge of the grass and after Daniel patiently worked 'em out he made a couple of deep dives under the boat. But Daniel kept the pressure on and soon landed a nice 25" Slot Red.

We caught a good handful of Trout and Reds then took a peek at some flooded grass flats to see if we could find some tailing Reds. None in sight. So we ran through Tiger Basin over to Bell River and set up along a grassy point and went back to the float rigs and shrimp. The Trout didn't take long and soon we had put another handful of Trout in the boat.

We came back to the outside of Tiger when the tide started back out, fished another marsh line, and found  more Trout. After we crossed over and fished a point of grass where two creeks merged, Daniel got in some real action, catching Trout, feisty Reds, and then another Slot Redfish. Most of the Trout today were undersized but we did have a couple of keeper sized fish. It was a beautiful day - in addition to a beautiful sunrise, we saw many forms of bird life, river shrimpers, an osprey, and a Salt Marsh Mink cruising through the flooded marsh grass. What a great day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Mixed Bag

We tried an afternoon trip today, with plans to fish at 1pm on a falling tide. I met Pat and Caress Garten, their son Matt and his wife Paloma down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made a short run up the Nassau River, stopping at a couple of marsh run outs.  Caress, Paloma and Matt were tossing live shrimp on jigs to the exposed oysters while Pat slung a fly at the stern.  It didn't take long at all - Boom! Caress put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat (all fish were released today).

We worked the bank thoroughly, and Matt got hot, picking up a
handful of Trout and a couple of Redfish, one being of Slot size. After he put a beautiful (and aggressive) Blue Crab in the boat, Paloma hooked up and had a nice Whiting to the boat. But my net had broken on Matt's Slot Red so as Paloma got her fish close to the boat I could only watch as it flipped off and secured its freedom.

We hit a couple of the marsh run outs, caught a fish or two or three, then ran down to Broward Island to fish the last of an outgoing tide.

It was kinda slow until Pat put a jig and shrimp up to a protected pocket, had a strange bite, and a hookup. He worked it patiently to the boat and landed a keeper sized Flounder.

We fished some oysters in Pumpkin Hill, had no real bites, then ran back and fished some docks at Seymore's Pointe, and again, no real bites. Our last stop was over at the mouth of Jackstaff and with evening approaching, the fishing and catching got real nice. Pat landed a couple of Seatrout to round out his personal Amelia Island Backcountry Slam and Matt put a few more fish in the boat, too. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

No Fly Zone

An absolutely beautiful day greeted Tom McDonough and I when we made it to the boat ramp early this morning. There was just a slight breeze and a few high clouds in the sky when we left the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed up the intercoastal with a bait well full of live shrimp, some spinning rods, and a couple of fly rods rigged up. We dipped in to Jackstaff Creek, split off into a smaller creek and set up at a large marsh run out just as the tide hit peak high.

Tom started off tossing a 7w fly rod with a floating line and a Gurgler foam fly and was
making excellent casts right from the git-go. We worked the mouth of that run out then eased along the flooded marsh grass, but I can't say we had as much as one good hit on the fly. After crossing over Jackstaff and starting another pass with the trolling motor, and switching up to live shrimp under a float, BOOM! We started catching fish. Tom had a good flurry of catches using a circle hook under his float, which made for some quick releases after photographs were taken.  We did that bank for about 100 yards, caught  handful of Trout, then crossed over to fish a sandbar/point with jigs and shrimp, to no avail.

After running through Horsehead we made brief stop at some docks at Seymore's Pointe to see if there were any Mangrove Snapper were around....there weren't...so we continued on down the Nassau River to Pumpkin Hill and went back to the float rigs. I was beginning to think the bite was done for the day when Tom made a pin point cast to an island of marsh grass. His float eased under and after setting the hook, Tom had a nice fish on. He played it patiently - this fish was pulling harder and digging deep - Tom landed a  nice chuncky Redfish. We worked that marsh grass thoroughly and put 3-4 more Reds in the boat.

Our last stop was down at Broward Island and here Tom went back to the fly rod, tossing the  7w with the floating line and trying an 8w with an intermediate line but the fish wanted none of the flies.
But it was a beautiful day and a great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Redfish and Black and Red Dogs

I wrapped up my Georgia Florida week today fishing with Hugh Haston and his buddies Randy and David who were all down for the big game tomorrow. As the week has gone by the weather had gotten better and better and today was the best with just a slight breeze, a cool nip in the air and then warm Florida sunshine! We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and made the quick run up the intercoastal and dipped in to Jackstaff on the last hour of an outgoing tide.

The three anglers were tossing jigs and live shrimp and mud minnows up to the exposed oysters and before long David had "knocked the skunk off" with a hungry Seatrout catch. He followed that up with a Redfish catch then Randy matched it with a Trout catch. We picked up a couple of more fish - Seatrout and Reds then ran through Horsehead and around to some docks at Seymore's Pointe.

With the stern of the boat towards the pilings, the three anglers

tossed their jigs and let them sink  and fished them back slowly. All we found were hungry Mangrove Snapper. After landing a handful of them we crossed over to some shell beds, fished them, caught a Catfish then headed down to Broward Island.

The tide was almost at the bottom when we got there. David's first cast to a sandy bank produced a fat and feisty Redfish.  Randy pulled out another Mangrove, then.....BOOM! Hugh had a hookup that ripped the drag and, FISH ON!  He played it patiently, working it out from the downed tree limbs, got him out into deeper water, then kept the pressure on until the fish was subdued. After a good battle on light tackle spinning gear, we landed a thick 25" Slot sized Redfish. Now that's a nice fish.

Randy and David both went back to the Sandy bank and both pulled out keeper sized Flounder. Both Randy and Hugh caught smaller Reds off the same bank. When the bite slowed we worked down the island a ways then headed back towards the ramp.

Our final stop was at Twin Creeks. The tide had been coming in for a while here and the oyster hump was covered. I switched the anglers to float rigs just to give them a taste of that style of fishing and it paid off with all three fishermen hooking up with a good handful of Seatrout. If we could have kept 14" fish we would have had a "mess"!  One was right at 17" - a keeper. And with that, we called it day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Dog Gone It, We Caught a Bunch of Fish!

The "pre-Georgia Florida Football Fishing Week" continued today when I again fished with Bob Blalock and his brother-in-law Tommy and his wife Martha. We met up at the north end ramp but this time we made the long run out Bell River with plans to fish some docks. Although the wind had lessened somewhat from yesterday, it was still blowing, but here at the docks it was like fishing on a pond!

The anglers started off tossing jigs and live shrimp (whooeee, we had some shrimp) to the dock pilings on the very last of an outgoing tide and it didn't take long before they were getting some bites.
All three anglers put some hungry Seatrout in the boat and we ended up with a handful of them. Then the "baitstealers" took over so we decided to run over to the Jolley River.

We made a brief stop at the MOA, still tossing jigs, and here Bob picked up a keeper sized Seatrout. After bouncing around the corner and setting up alongside some still exposed oysters, I switched the trio to float rigs and live shrimp. That's when all heck broke loose. Redfish, Redfish, Redfish, Redfish, Redfish. Small but feisty and fun to catch. Then Tommy had a hookup and when that drag began to rip we knew he had a good fish.  It was a long and crazy battle where we had to deal with some lines getting tangled, but it all
worked out and with some patience on Tommy's part, he landed a nice 24" Slot Redfish.

Martha had caught Trout in the Bell and here she was matching the guys catch fish for fish with Redfish. She added 3-4 Black "puppy" Drum to here catch, a couple of Mangrove Snapper, then she too had a strong bite and, FISH ON! She played it perfectly and after a good battle, landed a nice Slot Redfish. Then it was Bob's turn. BOOM! Big fish On! This fish was ripping drag and digging deep but Bob kept the pressure on. After a long and patient fight, Bob put an Oversized 28.5" Redfish in the boat. After pictures it swam off in a blink.

We caught fish until we ran  out of bait! Now that's a good problem to have. We still had about thirty minutes to fish so we made one last stop behind Tiger Island and rigged up with soft plastic Egret Baits and fished the same runouts that had produced Flounder yesterday. Boom! Bob pulled a 17" Flounder out of the spot then Boom! Tommy reeled in a 19" Flounder. Bob was using a white with chartreuse tail minnow and Bob was using a chartreuse and brown minnow.

It was a beautiful day and a great day to be catching fish here at Amelia Island, Florida

It Got Dog Gone Good

It's Florida Georgia Weekend....a....Georgia Florida Weekend and the Georgia fans are in town and ready to fish! I met Bob Blalock, his son and daughter-in-law William and Dara and his brother-in-law Tommy up at the Dee Dee Bartels park this morning. There was a cool nip in the air and a westerly breeze that made things even a bit chillier but we had a plan and it worked!

We ran south and west and got in behind Blackrock and fished some dock pilings and it was like fishing on a pond! It wasn't long

before William "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a feisty Redfish on a jig and minnow. The other anglers got in on the action - Tommy put a Red in the boat, Bob put a Red in the boat, and Dara snagged a fat Mangrove Snapper. They had a "double" a couple of times and caught a good handful of the small but feisty Redfish. 

When the bite slowed we worked down the docks, pitching the pilings but the fish were not hungry so we pulled up and ran north and around to the outside of Tiger, thinking that we'd be out of the

wind. Nope. It was blowing a tad bit more north westerly and made for some difficult fishing with our float rigs and minnows.

I didn't think that the back side of Tiger would be any good with the wind but the tide was down so we inched around behind it and it wasn't too bad. We went back to jigs and fished the pockets. Our first stop didn't produce but the second sure did. It was like someone turned a light switch on! These anglers put a couple of feisty Reds in the boat, then BOOM! William hooked up with a bigger fish, FISH ON! He played it perfectly and after a patient battle, landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. Again, a good flurry of fish catching went on with Dara adding a Redfish catch to her total, then she followed that up with a Flounder.  Bob went to the same spot and brought in a small but keeper sized Flounder then he went back in and BOOM! Another big fish! We knew right off that it was a Flounder- Bob was up to the task and worked it to the boat - a nice 19" flattie. Tommy added an "almost keeper Red", then Bob tossed to small runout. BOOM! Big Redfish. 24". Now that's a nice fish! William and Dara wrapped things up with some Seatrout catches then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
                                                 

Bulldawg Invasion

It's that time of the year...the Georgia Bulldawgs come to town and luckily some of 'em want to get out and fish the waters of Amelia Island! Today I had Greg Brown and his buddy Eddie fishing with me and we met early this morning down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed up the Nassau River with plans to fish the first of an incoming tide with jigs and mud minnows.

Our first stop was at some docks at Seymore's Pointe. Both anglers were making pinpoint casts to the dock pilings and it wasn't long before they were getting bites. But it turned out to be some small and hungry Mangrove Snapper. We ran down to Broward Island just as the tide started in there and fished the downed logs (there's a few more trees down since hurricane Irma).  After Greg hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish, we counted that as truly knocking the skunk off.  Although we had a nibble here and there and picked up a Mangrove or two, we were looking for bigger fish.

We dropped back to Pumpkin Hill and fished some flooding oyster beds. Within minutes Eddie had a put another Redfish in the boat, this one measuring just a tad bit under the Slot. He followed that up with a hungry Seatrout.  We worked along the bank and added one more Redfish to the catch.

We'd fished docks and logs and oysters so I thought we might as well fish some rocks, so we made stop at Seymore's Pointe and "played chess" with a school of Mangrove's. After putting a good handful in the boat, Greg landed a "keeper" sized one. We fished some flooded oysters along the Nassau River, fished some more docks at Seymore's - had some nibblers, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Against The Wind

I flipped a coin today and lost. The forecast called for some fairly high winds but it also indicated that it'd be nice day, other than the wind. The winds made it really tough to catch a fish. I met Jeannette Socket and her husband Jimmy up at the north end boat ramp and we ran with the wind down to Lanceford Creek, thinking we could tuck in behind a land mass and get some float fishing in on a high and still-incoming tide. Both Jimmy and Jeannette were making excellent casts but we had no real luck, and the wind followed us.

And it got stronger. After trying to fish a flooded

marsh bank we ran back through the wind and into Eagans Creek. After puttering up the creek to some likely docks, we switched to jigs and shrimp and worked the docks. Although it was a tad bit easier it was still pretty tough fishing. When you cast to a spot in one direction and the jig is blown 30' off, that's pretty difficult to fish dock pilings!

We ran back to the Eagans Creek bridge with the tide now flowing out and both Jimmy and I had some good bites and hookups, but both came off as we worked them to the boat.

I knew the NE wind was really kicking by now but we gambled and made the run back to Bell River, through Tiger Basin and around to Tiger Island and even though the tide was all wrong, the wind was blocked somewhat. After making a cast to one of the hidden pockets, BOOM! Fish ON! Jimmy played it perfectly and after a good battle, landed a nice 24.25" Slot sized Red. Skunk off the boat!
Crazy day. Tough fishing, but with that one fish we were able to count it as another great day to be out on the water (and not at work!) here at Amelia Island, Florida