Silver Flake Grub with Chartreuse Tail

I fished the first of this week with Minnesota visitors Frank Boehm and his buddies Jack and Randy, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. We had a good low and incoming tide so we made the short run over to Tiger Island and set up fishing the exposed logs with jigs and live shrimp. It was an ideal tide, the weather was perfect and these anglers were making excellent casts...but we had no real bites - other than the baitstealers!

After buzzing down to Lanceford Creek we fished some dock pilings and again, not much happening. But our next stop up Soap Creek did the trick. Frank and Randy were tossing float rigs now and soon began to hookup on hungry Seatrout. Jack fished a jig and shrimp and caught fish but then he switched to an artificial paddle tail in silver flake color with a chartreuse tail. His first cast had a Trout nail it and then he continued to catch fish.  Both Frank and Randy were getting fish but when we ran low on shrimp we put one of the silver flake grubs on Frank's circle hook and BOOM! He caught fish on that too!  Although the day started slow we ended it with a good flurry of Trout action so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

They Laughed at Us

You've heard the saying, "be careful what you wish for".  After some serious winds (22mph with gusts to 34) I was forced to cancel two trips Saturday, so for today I was glad to see that the wind was down to nothing and expected a beautiful day of fishing. We had that when I met Dennis Brizzi and his fishing buddy Hal O'Dell out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp. We left the ramp and it was dead calm, motored over to Seymore's Pointe, and set up fishing some docks with jigs and minnows and some "freshly dead" shrimp. We weren't getting any bites EXCEPT the gnats had come out and were swarming us so
we were the ones getting bit!  We all coated  on the bugspray but I could hear the gnats laughing at us!  We toughed it out for a while, then pulled up the trolling motor and headed down to Broward Island and enjoyed a bug free ride.

The tide was still going out but expected to hit bottom within minutes  and the logs were all exposed. Dennis finally knocked the "skunk off" with a Seatrout catch then he followed that up with a nice22" Slot Redfish. He picked up another Trout or two then Hal got in on the action and landed a couple. Hal added a Redfish of his own as we worked down the bank. Again, the gnats ruled the  boat.

We headed up to Pumkin Hill and fished some shallow areas. Hal spotted some movement up in a cove and as we watched you could see a Redfish working the area, throwing a wake. Hale tossed a float rig with mud minnow to the area, let it drift with the slow current and when his float went under, he took up the slack, set the hook, and Fish On!  Hal played the fish expertly and soon landed another Slot Redfish. After fishing Pumkin Hill for a bit, we called it a day, left the gnats still biting, and headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Cold Weather Trout Bite

I fished Friday morning with experienced angler Bob Blalock, meeting him out at the Goffinsville
Park boat ramp early, with 37 degree temperatures, but very little wind.  We jumped down to Broward Island and set up to fish the first of an incoming tide with jigs and live shrimp. The first area may have produced one fish but when we moved down the island Bob picked up another Redfish or two.

We buzzed back the Seymore's Pointe area and fished some docks with jigs and Bob did have a strong hookup which he played perfectly to the boat, landing a keeper sized Black "puppy"

Drum. We then moved around and in between some docks and floated live shrimp along a flooded marsh line and boy did things get hot!  Bob could make his cast, let it drift, "bump it" once and BOOM!  Seatrout On!  I don't know how many dozens of shrimp we went thru but most of them caught Trout. I'd gestimate that we had at least 8-10 "keeper" sized Trout ( we threw most back) and a whole mess of undersized ones. The sun had come out and warmed things up and we left them biting so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Outstanding Day of Fishing at Amelia Island

Even though we had some windy conditions, that couldn't stop these three anglers from getting together for a fun fishing trip. I had met John Collins and his long time friends Jim and Lenny up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp for a late morning trip to take advantage of the first of an outgoing tide.  We made a run up Lanceford Creek and into Soap and began tossing float rigs with live shrimp.  I wouldn't say the fishing was "hot" but we did "knock the skunk off" with a nice Seatrout Catch.

After fishing a spot further up Lanceford, we made the run south to a side creek and fished some dock pilings and this did the trick. All three anglers began catching fish. Lenny was on the bow sticking with the float rig and he caught an landed a keeper sized Seatrout. John and Jim were at the stern pitching to the pilings with jigs and shrimp and they were catching feisty Redfish, then a handful of Black "puppy" Drum. John had a strong hookup, one that was ripping drag, but the big fish was back in the pilings and wrapped
one and BAP! Fish Off! But John kept going back to the same spot and found another couple of bigger fish and worked those out for photograph and release (all fish caught today were released).

We made one final run back to Tiger Island and fished the logs and caught another handful of feisty Reds, and added one more Black Drum which was of keeper size. As we ran back to the dock, into the wind, we counted it as another outstanding day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Competing With The Dolphin

We got a good trip in today before the front came thru. I had met Bubba and Kim Curry, their son Matt an his friend Cole down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we headed up the Nassau River, all the way to Christopher Creek with plans to fish the high tide before it started out. All four anglers were pitching jigs and live shrimp to some dock pilings and rocks. We fished it pretty good but I don't think we had a real bite the whole stretch.

We came out and ran down to Seymore's Pointe and set  up between some docks and boy, this did the trick. Both Kim and Bubba were fishing off they stern and they began to get Seatrout one after the other. Then Matt and Cole, up on the bow, began to catch Trout, too. Every once in a awhile one of the anglers would put a keeper sized Trout in the boat. Then, as the tide got down a bit, they began to catch keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. We move up and down the bank and caught fish until a big Dolphin moved in and began to crash the bank. It was like someone threw a light switch and the bite ended!

After running thru Horsehead over to the mouth of Jackstaff, we worked an marsh lined bank to no avail, then fished a sandy point, and again, no fish. We came back thru Horsehead and again fished some docks at Seymore's and picked up a couple  of more Trout before we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

The Lucky Penny

When I stopped to get ice early this morning I found a penny, heads up, in the parking lot and I thought, "I hope this bodes well for the fishing today".  I met William Redfield and his Uncle Cliff out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp and we skipped around to Christopher Creek - the tide had just started out and I figured we had at least an hour that we could fish before we needed to get out of there.  We worked along some docks and although it took awhile, William finally found a bite, a hookup and a nice feisty Redfish. We worked it for a while and added a couple of more Reds and a couple of Trout.

After we came out we ran down to Seymore's Pointe and fished some marsh grass on the outgoing tide. Things really picked  up - both anglers began to catch one Seatrout after another, drifting live shrimp under floats and then they landed a Red or two. William put a couple of keeper sized Trout in the boat then Cliff stepped up strong when he hooked up, battled patiently, and landed a Slot sized 21' Redfish. He followed that up with a  keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum.

We fished a couple of spots at Spanish Drop but had no real bites so we cruised down to Broward Island and worked some logs with jigs and shrimp and found a couple of more Redfish. 

The fishing was really good the first two hours of the falling tide, but after that, not so much. But it was a beautiful day to be out on the water so we counted it as another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida

Cold and Windy But The Fish Were Biting

Someone forcast that the sun would come out today, and it did, but just for about 30 minutes! I had met Mark Laurint and his long time friend Rick up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and with a west wind predicted, we headed over to Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings and be out of the wind. I think it was the 2nd cast when we had a bite, a hookup, and Mark reeled in a small but feisty Black "puppy" Drum. The two anglers went back to the same area and Rick hooked up, had his drag rip a few times, then he worked a keeper sized 18" Black Drum to the boat. Skunk off! We fished the same dock for a while and had a few feisty Redfish then Mark put
a Slot sized one in the boat.

When things slowed we moved down a ways and really got into some Redfish. Most were undersized but we ended up getting two more Slot fish. We picked up a couple of Seatrout, one of which was keeper size, then we made a run.

Our next stop was over at Tiger Island fishing the first of an incoming tide - a great time to be there.We pitched between the logs with jigs and live shrimp and had a bunch of nibbles but no takers until Mark landed another feisty Redfish. Then both anglers began to fish deeper and further from the bank and began to hookup small but fun to catch Seatrout.  We also had our first Salt Marsh Mink sighting of the year! The sun came out briefly and warmed things up nicely before disappearing behind the clouds, but we called another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Trout Name of The Game

I had the pleasure of fishing with George and Margaret Isaacson again today, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp mid morning with plans to fish the first of an outgoing tide. Boy what a beautiful day it was to be out on the water! We made the run over to Lanceford Creek and set up along a marsh line to fish float rigs with live shrimp. We had only been fishing for a few minutes when George's float disappeared - he set the hook and, Fish On! George worked it to the boat and net and landed an fat 17" keeper sized Seatrout. (All fish caught today were released). And just minutes later,
Margaret hooked and landed a Trout of her own.  We then fished a grassy island but had no takers we moved around to Soap Creek and fished a nice marsh runout. On this stretch the two anglers picked up a handful of Trout.

After making the long run back and up the Bell River, we fished some dock pilings with jigs and shrimp and artificial. Although we didn't get any fish on the grub, Margaret found a sneaky Sheepshead which she outsmarted and landed.  Our next stop was over in the Jolley River and I think it was George's first cast and he had a Trout. We had some good bites quick, landed another Trout, then the bite was over as quick as it started. After one more stop at the mouth of Jolley we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Recipe of the Month: Cajun Kalaches

This recipe is from Sam and Cody Carroll. We made this to take as our contribution to the annual neighborhood Christmas party. The went over good!

Ingredients:
1 lb smoked sausage links
1 8oz can crescent rolls
1/2 jalepeno, seed and ribs removed, minced
1/2 cup plus 3 Tablespoons grated Gruyere cheese
2 tablespoons melted butter
Everything seasoning ( recipe follows)
Creole Honey Mustard (recipe follows)

EVERYTHING SEASONING
2 Tablespoons poppy seed
2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
2 Tabelspoons sesame seed
1 1/2 Tablespoons dried minced garlic
1 1/2 Tablespoons dried minced onion

CREOLE HONEY MUSTARD
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup Creole Mustard

Heat a grill for cooking over medium/high heat.

Grill sausages for about 8 minutes until nice grill marks appear. Let cool, then slice into 2" size slices.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

1.      Roll out the crescent dough and cut each triangle in half. Sprinkle the widest edge of the triangle with a bit of jalapeño, about 2 teaspoons of cheese and the grilled sausage. Roll up and place on the prepared sheet tray. Repeat with the remaining dough, jalapeño, cheese and sausages.

1.      Brush the outsides of the kalaches with the melted butter and sprinkle with everything seasoning. Bake until the cheese is melted and the dough is golden brown, about 12 minutes. Serve with Creole honey mustard.

First Fishing Trip of 2019

Today was my first trip of the new year and I met David Petty and his daughter Jenna down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. We made the run up the intercoastal and dipped into Jackstaff  with plans to fish a large marsh runout with live shrimp under floats on the first of an outgoing tide. The two anglers got a few bites then David hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout.

We eased across the creek and fished a good stretch of shoreline, tossing the floats up current and letting them drift naturally along the bank. Although we had a few bites, we had not takers so we ran thru Horsehead and fished some docks at Seymore's Pointe. Here, David had gotten his float just off the marsh grass and he noted that his float slowly went under and, Fish On! David played it perfectly and soon landed a feisty Redfish. After Jenna landed a pesky "baitstealer" we headed down to Spanish Drop.

David put a keeper sized Slot Redfish in the boat and when we switched to jigs Jenna landed a nice keeper sized Flounder, then she added  Trout catch to her total.  We fished Broward island for a good while but even though the conditions were excellent, we had not takers. After a brief stop at Pumpkin Hill where David jigged up another Seatrout, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.