Taking a Day Off...to go fishing!

Our neighbors Brian and Sarah Parent invited us (my wife Carol and I) to go fishing on their boat in the St. Johns River in hopes of finding some Bull Redfish. Brian and I loaded some heavier tackle and we all stopped by the bait shop to get some live Blue Crabs. I had brought along an iced Ladyfish to supplement the bait.

On the last of an outgoing tide, we launched at Mayport in Brian's big Pursuit the Stormy Sarah, powered by a 250 Yamaha, and we headed upriver and to make first stop just shy of the Dames Pointe Bridge. I was the "anchor boy" and got it deployed while Brian backed it down, then we started setting out lines - Brian on the starboard stern and me on the port stern. The ladies were enjoying the beautiful weather and conversation up on the bow.  Then we waited. And waited.  Brian had one "nibble" on one of his rigs it swiped his half of crab - he baited it up and set it out again and shortly after that he had a good bite. Brian set the hook and BIG fish on! Once he was set, Brian handed the rod off to Sarah who played it for a while, then Carol got on the rod and slowly worked it the boat. She had a good battle on here hands but she prevailed -Brian netted the fish expertly and landed a Big Bull Redfish.

It was getting late in the afternoon, but we decided to move closer to the boat ramp. We had anchored down river about 200 yards from barge with dual tugboats that were stationary in the river.

We'd been fishing for about 30 minutes and the tide was just turning around and we had just decided to "give it 5 more minutes" when I felt a "tap" on my rod. I was all alert when it tapped again and set the hook and another BIG fish on! It was ripping drag and sounded great with the clicker clacking but after I got it switched off it was a battle for sure. Carol and Brian got the other rods reeled up and then we heard....AAAANGK,  AAAANGK! 

The tugs had revved their engines and started towards us with the barge! The big Red was still "green" and pulling line and...AAAANGK, AAAANGK, AAAANGK. It was pandemonium!  I tightened the drag (somewhat) and really started cranking the fish in and AAAANGK!  AAANGK! AAANGK!  Brian dove the catch net in and hoisted the big fish to the deck then dashed to the anchor rope and started

hauling..AAAANGK!  AAANGK!  I put the throttle in gear to help with the anchor haul - it came lose and we puttered across the channel and out of the way of the descending barge/Tug combo.

We dehooked the fish, got a quick picture, laid it over the side and made sure it was ready to swim, and released it. Boy what a fish! And with that, we called it day, another great one to be fishing here in NE Florida.

Thank Goodness For the Big Fish

We had another beautiful morning today with only a slight breeze when we launched at Sawpit Creek boat ramp. I fished with Howard McClure and his longtime friend Wayne and we made our first stop way up at the junction of Pumpkin Hill and the Nassau - fishing the last couple of hours of an a high incoming tide.

The first spot produced just a bunch of "baitstealing" bites so we eased up the bank and set up along a flooded marsh line. These two anglers were getting excellent drifts but we still were not getting any takers, other than the
persistent nibbles. Then, as Howards float and live shrimp drifted by a grassy peninsular, something rolled and chased his bait then took it and, Fish ON!  It was pulling drag and trying to get up into the shallows with oysters but Howard kept the pressure on and worked out to deeper water. In the meantime, Wayne allowed his float to take the same drift and, just as we got Howards big Slot Redfish (26.5") to the net, Boom! Another big fish on! Wayne's fish ran, and ripped drag, and ran, and ripped drag, but Wayne pulled  him out of the weeds and fought 'em to a standstill. He worked it to the boat and we netted a nice oversized 28.5" Redfish which we quickly photographed and released. Those were two really nice fish, caught in the same spot, in about 4' of water over some shell.

We fished Christopher Creek where Howard did battle with a huge Jack Crevalle, made some casts at some tailing Redfish in the spartina grass, then came out and fished Seymore's Pointe docks, and Spanish Drop grass. Although the bite was kinda slow, we did pick up a couple of jacks, a Seatrout, a Ladyfish, and some of those ever present bait stealers. It was a nice day and great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Pulling Thru at the End

Boy what a beautiful morning today! You can tell Fall is knocking at the door. I met Dennis Brizzi and Hal O'dell out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early and we made a short run over to Pumpkin Hill to fish the last of an incoming tide with float rigs and live shrimp, and minnows.  We didn't have a whole lot of action, but as eased in close to the bank I could see a big 'ole Redfish Tail waving at us up in the marsh grass. I quickly converted one of the float rigs to a weedless spoon and we made a couple of tosses at it before it sank and moved on.

Just minutes later Dennis had cast to some sparse marsh grass, had his float disappear, and, Fish On! It was a big one, ripping drag, and it bulled up into the shallows and, BAP! Fish Off! Ouch. The braid was cut!  We next eased around a point, fished it with the floats, and here Hal "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.

We fished further down the Nassau at Spanish Drop and caught a

handful of Seatrout, tangled with some high flying Ladyfish, and played cat and mouse with some small Mangrove Snapper and Pinfish.   Hal had a big bite that took off like a freight train, heading east, and kept going. And going. The breeze had picked up so we ran up to some docks at Seymores Pointe and set up with the stern to some pilings. Within minutes Dennis had hooked up with another big fish. We were boxed in between the bank, pilings to the rear, and pilings to the left and we all were worried that the fish would get wrapped an break off. But Dennis played it away from the structures, wore it out, and brought to the net a nice 22"Slot Redfish.

Just as we were about to leave, Dennis was reeling in, and had a nice fish hit right at the boat. It was bending the rod and ripping drag but within seconds we netted it - a 18" Seatrout. These two anglers were looking for a good meal tonight and they pulled thru right at the end of the trip, making for another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Drum'n up a mess 'o fish

We postponed our trip this morning to 9:30am to let some passing rain storms pass thru. I met Trey Dennard, his friend Maria, her son Mario and their friend Brooke up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. We made the short run over to Eagans Creek and set up at a large marsh run out. Almost immediately, Maria "knocked the skunk off" with a hungry Seatrout catch. Although we had a few nibbles after that, we moved on over to some docks and fished jigs and shrimp.

Bam! Boom! Pow! Hookup after hookup of keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. Some were just a tad bit over 14" but some were up close to 18" with most all caught up near the pilings, and many caught out in 12' of water.  These anglers also caught Seatrout and a couple of feisty Redfish, then Maria put a keeper sized 17"  Sheepshead in the boat, to set the bar as 1st place in the Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament-Sheepshead Category (I haven't had any decent Sheepshead this year, so this is the first fish to "go on the board". Scroll down the right side of this report for standings).  Mario followed that up with a Sheepshead catch of his own. Brooke's casting was spot on and it paid off as she landed a good handful of the Drum and Trout. Trey "set the bar" by landing a Drum just
bigger than those earlier caught. We caught fish until we ran out of bait!

After a pit stop at the north end bait shop where we stocked up on mud minnows, we made the short run over to Tiger Island to fish the first of an incoming tide AND to get out of the wind. After only a short time Mario had a good bite, set the hook, and expertly played to the net a 19.5" Flounder. This fish moved Mario into 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2019 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings)  Boy what a nice fish. We caught a few reds along that stretch, and a good handful of smaller

Flounder, until Maria put one more 17" Flounder in the boat. We had a really nice mess of fish so we called it a a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Soaked to the bone, but we caught fish!

I check the weather report every evening before I make the "call" to my guests and today's forecast had a 50% chance of rain, then falling off. When I got up this morning the forecast only showed a 10% chance of rain - great! I thought!  I met Mark and Jen Woodard and their daughter Lilli down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made the run up the intercoastal to dip into Sawpit Creek on a tide that had been going out for a couple of hours. I started the anglers off with float rigs and live s-hrimp but even though they were getting excellent drifts, we had no bites.  When I

switched Jen off to a jig and s-hrimp, Boom!  A hookup. She played it perfectly and brought a nice Seatrout to the boat.  We picked up another fish or two, but with a keen eye to the approaching storm coming off of the Atlantic. The rain hit us and we kept on fishing but when the 20mph+ gusts began to shift the boat around we pulled up and made a run to Goffinsville Park for a pit stop.

After the wind passed we still had rain but we decided to brave it anyway and made the short run down to Broward Island. The tide

was still up fairly high here, not ideal in my book, but we were sheltered from all wind and with our rain jackets still on, began to catch fish. Jen landed the first Jack Crevalle, then all three anglers battled those ferocious fighters. Finally, we began to catch some feisty Redfish, picked up a couple of Mangrove Snapper, a Sheepshead, and tangled with bait stealers and Ladyfish.  We drifted the island for a good bit then made one last run to Spanish Drop.

The oysters were showing and the fish were biting! We were all soaked to the bone but we only had a slight breeze now and even though it was raining, we caught one Redfish after another. Most were in the 13-17" range, but finally, Mark hooked up and expertly landed a nice Slot sized Redfish. Jen followed that up with the biggest Jack catch, then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

25lbs of Fish

I fished yesterday with Bobby Allison and his buddies Dennis and Brandon, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp for an early morning trip up the Nassau River. The tide was still going out so we made a quick run and were fishing our first spot with jigs and live shrimp within just a few minutes. Brandon knocked the skunk off early with a Flounder catch then we got into some Redfish and all three anglers were putting fish in the boat. All of these fish were in the 15-17" range, fun to catch, but not of keeper size.

All told, thru out the day, we probably caught 25lbs of "good eat'n fish", but we never got that Slot Redfish.

We did make it down to Broward Island where Bobby landed a nice keeper sized Flounder and then he outsmarted a Sheepshead that was nibbling on his bait.  Later, Dennis followed that up with a Sheepshead catch of his own, this one of keeper size.   We also landed a few Trout, all in the 14" size range, and  more Redfish.  

Our last stop was back at Spanish Drop and after catching another couple of Trout and Reds, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

All The Right Moves

It seems like we made all the right moves this morning when I fished with Dara and William Blalock. I had met them out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp. The tide still had about an hour of going out when we hit our fist stop down at Broward Island. We began pitching to the logs with jigs and live shrimp and it paid off - Dara caught a small Trout, William put a slot Red in the boat, then Dara put a keeper sized Flounder in the boat (all fish caught today were released). We continued on down the island and picked up a handful of Redfish with another of them being Slot sized, caught by Dara.

We came back towards Goffinsville and fished a  shell bank that I've been wanting to try but this time the anglers switched to some Gulp 3" Natural Mantis Shrimp on the jig, and sure enough, Boom, Boom, Boom. Fish on, Fish on, Fish on!  All were Redfish and the biggest was right at 24", caught by William.  The tide had changed so we went back to Broward. The bite started slow but picked up and again we were catching Redfish - a good handful of them.

We'd been in that area for about 2 1/2 hours catching fish, but when it slowed we made the run down the Nassau to Spanish Drop. I had
 stopped short of a shell bank that I like to fish, thinking I'd use the trolling motor to pull us forward, but Dara already had her jig and shrimp in the water and had a Trout hookup. The tide was up by now to the base of the marsh grass and we could see fish busting bait along the grass. The duo caught Seatrout, another Slot Redfish then William had a funky bump, and Big Fish On!  He played it perfectly and when it stayed on the bottom we all were thinking....could it be???  And when the fish came to the surface we saw that yes, it was a huge Flounder!  We netted the fish, took some pictures, measured it to be 24" and released it. Boy what a fish! This fish moved William firmly into first place in the Anglers Mark 2019 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).

We caught more Trout and Reds and after both Dara then William battled some sharks, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amlelia Island, Florida.

Tripletail! BIG Tripletail at Amelia Island

We had a really nice morning today when I met Rick and Terry Payne up at Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. The sun had just come up, we only had a slight breeze, and the tide was still low but coming in, so we headed north and west and over to Tiger Island to "pitch the logs" with jigs and live shrimp before they covered up. If we had been fishing for "baitstealers" then we were in the right spot.  Peck, Peck, Peck and the bait was gone. Peck, Peck, Peck and the bait was gone. What a pain!

So we came out and ran around to the Jolley
River and fished the "bank"  Rick was on the bow tossing a 1/8 jig while Terry took up the stern tossing a float rig. We didn't get a whole lot of bites, but did pick up a nice sized Croaker, some more bait stealers, then Rick put a feisty Redfish in the boat.

After running further up the river and setting up along a flooding grass line, both anglers took up the float rigs and we got into a flurry of fish catching. All told, they landed 6-7 Redfish, 5-6 Seatrout, a Ladyfish, and a few more baitstealers.   We came back around towards Amelia, ran thru Tiger and around to Bell River and set up along another grass line. After getting 1-2 small Trout we had a good hookup - Terry played it perfectly to the boat and landed our first keeper sized Seatrout. We then bumped around to the other side of a grass peninsular, caught a few more Trout, and just before we left, Rick made an excellent cast just beyond a small grassy island. BOOM! His float disappeared and his drag began to sing, BIG fish on!  This fish was having none of coming to the boat, or even to deeper water- it stayed up near the bank, boiled a few times - I thought for sure it was a big 'ole Redfish, then finally, Rick was able to work it out of the shallows and into the deeper water. He played it patiently and soon brought a massive 21.25"   7lb Tripletail to the boat!  I checked my records and it was the 2nd biggest Tripletail I've ever had on the Anglers Mark! Boy what a fish!

We checked a couple of flooded flats for tailing Reds, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Got Out Early to Beat the Tide

There was a forecasted flood tide to be around 11:00am and I knew that if we didn't get out early the only option would be for hunting tailing Reds - which can be hit and miss fishing - so we picked up some live shrimp yesterday, put new batteries in the bubbler, and added some ice bottles to the bait will in hopes that the live shrimp would....stay alive!  And they did!  I motored slowly thru the dark over to David Bolton's dock and picked up him and his son Thomas with a plan to make the run back to the Jolley River and fish float rigs on that high and incoming tide.

We worked Jolley "bank" slowly, tossing to the marsh grass and got numerous "bait stealing" bites. After working the whole  bank I was beginning to wonder when Thomas had a hookup and landed a hungry Seatrout to "knock the skunk off". Not a minute later, David had his float disappear and, Fish On!  This fish was ripping some drag so we knew it wasn't a baitstealer - David kept the pressure on and worked the fish to the boat and landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish.

After running further up the Jolley we made a stop and fished another likely bank - there was a bunch of bait moving around - and both anglers were making excellent casts - and BOOM! Big fish on. This fish wasn't have none of coming to the boat and stayed up near the shore, I'm sure trying to dislodge the hook in the oysters. But David kept the pressure on, played it patiently and soon landed a big 24" Slot fish, one that had 16 Spots!  A sure money winner if caught in the Amelia Island Guides Association Redfish Spot Tournament.

The tide was getting up so we began to snoop around for some tailing Redfish. At our second spot we did see some  big wakes and backs out of the water and tossed some weedless Gator Spoons at 'em, but had no takers. We bounced around to another 2-3 spots but saw no tails, so we headed in and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

 

Shark Fight at Amelia Island

I wrapped my week up today fishing with the Kirday family - Paul and Aimee and their daughter Abbie, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp early with plans to fish the very last of an incoming tide- then the outgoing - with float rigs and live shrimp. We made our first run over to Bell River and set up alongside a grass pointe, but even though these anglers were making excellent casts, we  had no takers. Not even a bite! Ouch!

We ran thru Tiger and around to the outside of the island and set up at an outflow on the first of
an outgoing tide. This did the trick. All three anglers began to catch fish - small but fun to catch Seatrout - then Aimee had a hookup and when her drag began to rip, we knew it was a big fish. Aimee kept the pressure on, followed the fish back to the stern of the boat, and then began to slowly work it in.  It took a while - the battle was nip and tuck, but Aimee prevailed and soon landed a nice 3'  long Bonnethead Shark!  We crossed over the creek and fished another marsh line and again, picked up some nice Seatrout.

After making a run over to Lanceford Creek to fish some more outflows and still tossing float rigs, he trio of anlgers caught Seatrout and Ladyfish, up and down the bank. We then ran back to the outside of Tiger and fished jigs at an outflow, to no avail.  We bounced around to "Jolley Bank" and here we had a change of species. Paul was manning the stern and quietly put a few Redfish in the boat, fishing a float rig along the grass line. Aimee and Abbie continue with the jigs and caught Redfish and Croaker along the submerged oysters.  We fished until we ran out of bait, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.