First Trip Fishing

..."Remember when, someone took you fishing?"  If  you're like me you still remember that fishing trip that you Grandad or Mom or Dad took  you fishing as a kid. I remember when I was 7 or 8 my Grandfather took me Crappie fishing on Lake Sante Fe over in central Florida and thinking "boy, this is great!  All I have to do is drop a minnow over the side, let it go to the bottom, and wait for a fish to bite!".  The last conversation I had with my father before he passed away was about a great fishing trip we had on Lofton Creek, catching big 'ole Bluegill.
We all have great memories of fishing with friends and family.

Today was Wes and Mary Beth's first trip out with their 2 1/2 year old future angler Jack, and we had a great time.  The weather was outstanding (just before tomorrow's blow) and after we met at Sawpit Creek boat ramp we ran up the Nassau River and over to Broward Island to fish the first of an incoming tide. Jack jumped right in and was picking up and handling the live shrimp and the few mud minnows that we had on board.

Mary Beth was the first to strike when she hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish. She may have landed one more before Wes got on the board with a Redfish catch. Jack was game for touching each fish to feel their scales and even swiped his thumb over the rough bottom lip of a Redfish. We fished up and down the island, landed another Red or two, then, as the wind started to blow, we came back to the Seymore's Pointe area.  Jack was hanging in there, playing with the bait and finding his sea legs around the boat - with Mary Beth's close supervision.

We fished some docks with no real luck then ran thru Horsehead and to the mouth of Jackstaff. The water was  up so we switched to float rigs. Although our fish catching around the oyster beds has been slow lately, Wes was able to catch a Blue fish then a few hungry Seatrout. By this time Jack was sorting the plastic grub box, but he took time out to feel the sliminess of a Trout. Just as he was getting a little bit restless, it was time to go, so we called it a day, another great "first time" fishing day to be on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Slight Upward Tick In The Fish Catching

Oh what a beautiful morning...we had today!  Sunshine, just a slight breeze, and comfortable
temperatures greeted me and my guests David Roberts and his son Robert when I met them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. The tide had started in about an hour earlier so we made straight for Broward Island to take advantage of that "first of the incoming", and it paid off a tad.

Both anglers were tossing jigs and live shrimp to the bank, bouncing it back slowly and it was Robert who "knocked the skunk off" early with a hookup. He played the fish patiently and soon landed a big 19.5" Seatrout - we'll take it! We
worked down the bank and got into a "hot spot" -David had a strong bite, set the hook, and his line took off like a rocket! But David kept the pressure on and brought to the boat a nice feisty Redfish.  Then both he and Robert added another couple or three Redfish to the catch.

When things slowed we ran back to Seymore's Pointe, fished some rocks with float rigs and live shrimp, then bounced around to fish some docks and flooded oysters - no bites.

Our final stop was back at Christopher Creek. David was in the bow, I was in the middle and was tossing a jig, and Robert was at the stern. David and I both worked a good pocket over but I guess the fish liked Robert's presentation better because he had a good bite after he'd made a perfect cast to the pocked and, Fish On! We could tell it was just a bit bigger than the earlier fish caught and sure enough it turned out to be in the Slot!   David tossed the fly rod for a few minutes as we wrapped up the day, and with a few fish in the boat, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Pompano Surprise

We had high winds forecast today, blowing out of the SE so I thought I'd take my crew - Wes Methaney, his nephew Evan, and his friend Nick and son Milan - out towards Nassau Sound and fish the mouth of Simpson Creek. It was a rock and rolling ride out there but sure enough, the wind was blocked a tad and the anglers began tossing live shrimp under floats to the marsh grass and within a minute or two we had some bites.

It was Wes's float that went under and when he hooked up it seemed to be a pretty nice fish. I was thinking "Seatrout" but when it flashed Wes said "Jack", but we were both wrong. It was a keeper sized Pompano - the first I've ever had on the boat. I googled them and see that they are typically found in the surf and cuts near the ocean, which was where we were!  But we had no real bites after that. We dipped into Simpsons, fished some jigs, then ran west and up into the Nassau.

We tried jigs and shrimp on Christopher, Shrimp under floats at Seymore's, and finished up back at Sawpit Creek tossing jigs on an outgoing tide. Each stop was made in an effort to stay out of the wind and although that helped, the fish just were not cooperating. But we got friends and family out on the boat so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida

Tough Fishing Continues

I know I'm not the only one to say that we've had some tough fish catching lately. Yesterday I fished with experienced angler Bob Blalock and we struggled to find a fish. He did land seatrout under a float rig caught on live shrimp as the tide hit high then we picked up a couple of Black Drum fishing the DnW but that was about it for a half day of fishing...ouch!

Today I fished with John Faison, his son Will, his brother in law Tom, and friend Carl, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We made the run up to and into Christopher Creek and fished some structure thoroughly and although we had a few good bites, we had no takers.

We bounced out and fished some docks at Seymore's Point to no avail, then ran down to fish Broward Island. Here, Tom was able to connect with a feisty Redfish  which he landed handily. Then he had another strong hookup and it was a big fish, ripping drag as it got out deeper. But alas, it found a log and broke itself off - the fluorocarbon leader was roughed up severely. We "milked" that island to stay out of the ever increasing wind but eventually we had to leave.

Our next stop, after we ran thru Horsehead, was around at the mouth of Jackstaff. We fished an entire oyster lined bank with no real bites - but John did tangle with a Catfish - and then ended up fishing the pointe of a sandbar where Carl put the last fish in the boat - a hungry Seatrout.

As Will said, "it was a beautiful day", and he was right! Although the fish haven't been cooperating, we still counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Went South

After yesterday's boat convention up north I was lucky to have Jeff Lavoie and his girlfriend Shannon meet me down south for some back water fishing pretty much all to our selves. We met at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and made a 15 minute run up the Nassau, dipping in a small creek with plans to fish some  jigs and live shrimp on the first of an outgoing tide. Both Jeff and Shannon were making excellent casts and it was Shannon who "knocked the skunk off" when she hooked and landed a nice feisty Redfish.  Jeff had an even bigger one on but it almost immediately found it's way around a dock piling and only a brief second after the line went taught, BAP! Fish off! That's why those big ones have gotten big!

We worked the area pretty good and both Shannon and Jeff added another Redfish then we came out and around to Seymore's Pointe. The tide was perfect - no going out- to be tossing float rigs with shrimp up over some oysters, but we had no takers. We drifted our baits along some rocks and again, no takers. We buzzed down to Broward Island and found a couple of more Reds, but the tide was ripping out which made for some difficult fishing.

Our final stop was back towards the ramp, fishing a nice outflow and Boom, Boom, Boom - the duo put a handful of hungry Seatrout in the boat. It was an  outstandingly beautiful day, we caught some fish, and we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Bay Boat Convention

The fish here at Amelia Island have to be confused with the front coming through -first a warm front then a cold front, then a warm front...the water temperature keeps going up and down. It was rather cool this morning when I met Gary Elder, his sister Karen and brother in law Jimmy up at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp. We headed over to the outside of Tiger and fished some flooded marsh with the tide having about an hour and half head start heading out on us.

The trio of anglers were making excellent casts but we had to work the whole bank, cross over to another spit of grass, and finally Karen hooked up with an aggressive Blue Fish. We then ran thru Tiger and over to Bell, fished some more grass with float rigs and live shrimp and fairly quickly Jimmy put a nice feisty Redfish in the boat.  I was beginning to think "one fish per spot?"!

We moved over to Lancford, fished some docks, had only nibbles, then fished back at the mouth of Bell where Jimmy landed a fat Seatrout. Our final stop was back at Tiger and it looked like a Bay Boat Convention!  There were three of us lined up fishing and a couple of more boats out behind us.
There wasn't a whole lot of big fish being caught, but Gary did add a keeper sized Seatrout (released), Jimmy had a keeper sized Flounder to boat side, and we had a couple of more Reds caught. After Gary put a couple of whiting in the boat, we called it a day, a beautiful one to be out fishing on Amelia Island's waters.

Calm Before the Storm

Things were looking pretty good this morning when I met Jeff and Jinny Key up at the north end ramp...but forecast called for rising winds and rain this afternoon. We made a quick run over to Egans Creek to fish some dock pilings on the last of an outgoing tide. With just a few casts, Jinny had a Trout hookup, then another then Jeff put a feisty Redfish in the boat. Jeff had a good bite, a hard run and his drag was ripping and...the big fish was in the pilings and BAP! Fish off! That's fishing!
We picked up another Red or two then made a run around to Bell River to fish some more docks.

Again, it was just short time and Jeff had a hookup, another feisty Redfish. But we fished those docks up and down and didn't get a bite. Our next stop was fishing some still-exposed oysters in the Jolley River, but no bites were had.

The wind was picking up but we had a good incoming tide so we made our way around to Tiger Island. Jeff landed another Red or two, Jinny put a Flounder in the boat and Jeff added a small but feisty Black "puppy" Drum. Now the wind was really kicking but this duo had their Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

60 Spots, New Spot, Hot Spot

Dara and William Blalock were enjoying a visit to Amelia Island this week and took in a few Amelia Island fishing trips. Yesterday we met up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park and made a quick run to Tiger, set up and fished jigs and shrimp and minnows on the first of an incoming tide. Dara knocked the skunk off with a nice Redfish catch and William added a Seatrout - one that had very few specs!  Then he turned around and caught a 17.5" Redfish with 60 spots! That's the most spots I've ever had on my boat and it'd be a winner if it was just a half inch bigger by...tomorrow's Redfish Spot
Tournament in Jacksonville.

We left there and fished some over in Lanceford Creek and picked up a 17.5" keeper sized Flounder and a big 19" Trout (Dara and William only kept a couple of Flounder this trip and released a whole bunch of keeper sized Redfish and Trout). But the wind was picking up and would eventually hit at least 17mph and after we had hit a couple of places to try and get out of it the third stop was the charm.

For want of a better name, I've dubbed it the "WnD Spot" - we were out of the wind and fishing some docks, working along slowly, pitching jigs and when we got up behind one particular dock it was like the flood gates were opened and Redfish began pouring out. Boom! Fish On! Boom! Fish On!  Boom! Fish On! They landed about 10-12 Reds with 4-5 being of Slot size, the biggest being about 25", and they added two big Trout, another 18" Flounder, and a smaller Flounder - it was a great way to end a windy but productive day fishing here at Amelia Island Florida.

Today I met Dara and William down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made the run up the Nassau River to fish some exposed oysters on a tide that was still going out. William tossed a topwater Zara Spook Jr.  and Dara fished a float rig..to no avail. We worked around to a dock and it didn't take long before William had horsed a big Slot Redfish out from the pilings and after a weird nibble, Dara landed a keeper sized Trout.

We worked those docks for a while, bounced around to Seymore's Point and fished some rocks with float rigs then headed over to Black Hammock to fish structure on the first of an incoming tide. The two anglers caught a few feisty Redfish here and there then as we fished down the way things got real "hot". Like yesterday, it was as if someone turned on a switch and we began to catch one Redfish after the other. I had commented earlier that we hadn't had a single Seatrout and William obliged by putting a couple of big ones in the boat. Today's weather was beautiful, it warmed nicely and we only had a slight breeze, making it an outstanding day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida

HOT Start To A Great Day

I had some locals going out today with me - Ed Johnson and Rick Mowery along with their friend Ken visiting from Boston. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and headed up the Nassau River with the tide still going out but expected to turn soon. We made one "pit stop" at Seymore's Pointe and fished some rocks with float rigs and mud minnows and it was only minutes before both Ken and Rick had hooked up and landed a couple of feisty Redfish.  We had a couple of good bites too!

But we knew the tide was about to turn so we buzzed down to Broward Island and set up
parallel with the bank and began to toss jigs and minnows up current, letting the current bounce the jig along...and it worked! Ken and Ed were hooking up one after the other with feisty Reds then Rick had a strong bite and, FISH ON! This was a big fish - it ripped drag and headed for the logs. But Rick kept the pressure on and patiently worked it to the boat and landed a nice fat 25" Slot Redfish, his personal best!  We caught a few more fish there then moved down the island and set up again.

Rick landed a keeper sized Seatrout, we had another fish or two, then it was Ken's turn to fight the big fish. But it was even bigger!  His drag ripped and the fish went deep and stayed deep. But Ken was patient, worked it slowly to the surface, weathered a few bull runs or three, then brought to the net a Big 30" Oversized Redfish - one that moved Ken squarely into a tie for 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2018 Bragging Rights Tournament (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Boy what a fish..and after a quick picture we released it gently back to the deep.

We continued to fish the island, caught a handful of fish, landed a keeper sized Flounder to round out a Slam, then we ran back to the Horse head area. After fishing some docks we ran through Jackstaff and fished some now flooded marsh grass, had a few bites, but no takers, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Spot Jumping

We've got some nice weather now! Shorts day! I met David Gaines and his brother Jimmy along with David's grandson Braham up at the north end ramp early and we cruised around to Tiger to fish that first of an incoming tide. We had absolutely perfect conditions and all three anglers were making excellent casts.  Jimmy knocked the skunk off with a Black "puppy" Drum catch on a jig and shrimp then David added a Flounder that was of keeper size (all fish caught today were released). Although we were getting nibbles here and there we had no more takers so we picked up and ran.

Our next stop was up the Jolley, fishing some flooding oyster beds with float rigs and here we had a good hookup and Braham landed feisty Redfish. Jimmy added a Seatrout as we worked the oysters, then we dipped in to a large creek, went back to jigs, then made a run back to the mouth of the Jolley. After working that bank we cruised back to the outside of Jolley... and hit a small jackpot. After not getting any bites for about a dozen casts the Reds started to bite. At one time we had a "double" with Jimmy reeling one in at the stern while Braham expertly played the biggest fish of the day, an nice 21" Slot Redfish. We caught good handful before we left. 

We fished some flooded oysters at Bell River, ran to Temptation Cover to no avail, then ran over to Lanceford and fished some marsh (got a few Trout here), then fished some docks (got a few Trout here) then wrapped up fishing Soap Creek. All in all we had a good mess of fish caught so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida