Snapper Trip Offshore

 I was invited to fish offshore this past Friday, and with my engine still not ready to go, I took the opportunity and fished the day with friends and neighbors, Brian Parent, his sons Mark and David, and Andy Melville. We left the dock downtown Jacksonville early and ran the river out, passing Mayport and thru the jetties then headed another 25 miles east. Brian had already warned us that although we had a beautiful day ahead of us, there were some predicted swells of 4-6', which would make for a rough ride. It was. 

But Brian had some "secret" numbers, handed off from his son Mark, who had sweet talked a lady friend whose dad who had some numbers,  and he scored a good spot! 

The bottom was down about 70' and it was active when Brian set his Rodan trolling motor to anchor. I was a newbie to this and didn't have a clue what needed to be done but Andy and Brian were old hands at it. They quickly cut up some purchased squid and we began to drop the bait on a 1/0 hook to the bottom and wait for a "tap". It took a while to get the hang of it but we were able to eventually catch some fresh and lively Grunts to use for Snapper bait.

Brian had some heavy spinning and bait casting reels set up with 50-65lb braided line with a swivel in between and then a 6' 80lb fluorocarbon leader and 6/0 circle hook. The Grunts were the bait of choice but we did use some cut-bait on occasion.

We hadn't been fishing for long before Mark had a strong hookup and boy was it a big fish. He fought it for a while then handed it off to his dad who finished it off, eventually cranking up a huge 35" Red Snapper! What a great way to start off a trip! I picked up a keeper sized Triggerfish, then all of us were getting bites. Andy stayed busy as "first mate", bating hooks, de-hooking fish, re-rigging rods, and in between, catching Grunts.

As the morning wore on it was evident that the youngest angler on the boat had the "hot rod". David caught and landed two really nice sized Red Snapper, a couple of smaller ones, and a shark. Mark added another Red Snapper, I battled a big Shark, then Andy put the final big Snapper in the boat. Brian wrapped things up with another huge Shark catch. 

We had a long ride back, not so bumpy this time, but when we got back closer to shore there was a massive thunderstorm hanging right over the inlet, so we hung out for about 30 minutes and let it dissipate. As we cruised down the river, heading back to town, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here in north Florida. 

Engine Issues

 Those that follow this Report may have noticed that I haven't fished since Tuesday June 21st. On that trip I had a Grandad and his 6yo granddaughter, and we had an excellent time, fishing and crabbing and playing with the bait. But it began to get hot and the young lady had whispered to her Grandad that she was ready to go in, so we ran to the first of two crab traps and pulled it up to find a whole bunch of Conch shells with Hermit Crabs. We then eased up the river and checked the second trap and found a few nice sized Blue Crab. I had turned the engine off while we were hauling in the trap and when I went to crank it, it wouldn't start!

So I had this nice fellow and his 6yo granddaughter who had already told her granddad that she was hot and ready to go in, and my engine wouldn't crank. I knew the tide had just changed and was coming and Goffinsville Park was up river so I knew we could use the trolling motor and current to get back to the dock, but it's probably take 45 minutes to get there. Oh Boy. But luckily I was able to take the throttle out of gear, give it some gas, get it cranked, drop it into neutral, then in gear, and we made it back to the dock. Oh Boy.

Later, I had mobile marina mechanic Ken Supernor stop by and after hooking up a water hose, removing the cowling, we discovered I had a leak of water down below the Power Head.  He advised me to take it to a shop where they could really tear in to it. I dropped it off to Atlantic Coast Marine where they looked at it and advised a new engine. There is a chance that there may just be a bad gasket ($700-$1000 repair), but there also could be corrosion between the two sections ($8000-10,000 repair).

This engine is a 2016 and was one of the first 200 In Line 4 Cylinders. Yamaha had come out with the 150 and liked it so much the came out with the 200.  I've had numerous people advise me over the years "Don't ever buy the first model!".  But this 200 was lighter and seemed just right for my boat,  so I bought it.  As it turns out, evidently, these first 200's were built with some cheap(er) metal blocks. You may remember that about 2-3 years ago this engine came down with a "cracked cylinder" head. Water was leaking. At that time we elected to go with "just" the $4000 repair. So it seems those blocks/heads may only have about 3 years in them.

Finding a new engine was a week long nightmare. In addition to cancelling/re-routing trips(now up to 13), engines are very hard to find. There was a Suzuki 225 down it Lake Placid with a 2 month wait time for install. There was a couple of Suzuki 200's down in Daytona but there was a 6-week install wait time. Both would require new cables, controls, and gauges. Old Towne Marine had a 150 Mercury, which would again need new cables, controls and gauges, and didn't have the power I needed. I ALMOST went to Maitland and had a Yamaha 150 installed, but after getting advice from fellow Captains, I pulled the plug on that idea. - not enough power. There were also a good handful of false leads, phone calls, messages and Emails trying to track down an engine.

I finally talked to a big Yamaha dealer down in Tampa who didn't have any ( I could be #82 on the
waiting list) but he "knew a guy" -Beagle(that's his name) who had two Yamaha 200's. But they were called for, maybe. This dealer, Alafia Marine in Gibsonton, Florida, just south of Tampa, also had TWO white Yamaha 200's coming in. The prospect was going to decide whether he wanted the silver or white. By this time, they could have been PURPLE and I would have taken one! I got the call Thursday that the guy took the silver engines and I could have the opportunity to buy one of the white ones, a Left Hand model. Evidently, as a single engine, it doesn't matter if it's left or right. And speaking with Beagle, supposedly Yamaha is building the blocks with a better metal. Let's hope so!

The alarm was set for 5am Friday morning and after a quick stop at Gate for a cup of coffee, I was on the way to Gibsonton, and arrived just past 9am. Carol and I were already debating whether the engine would fit into the back of my truck, even with my cap open. I bet that it would but I didn't account for the huge crate the engine was encased in. Carol won the bet.  One look at my truck and Beagle and crew advised me to go rent a U-haul. Three stops later, the last being back up in Tampa, I was the proud renter of a Uhaul. After arriving back at Alafia Marine the crew quickly loaded it up, Beagle did the paperwork and I was off!

Crazy how wives seem to be always right. Carol had mentioned that driving on I-75 on the Friday of a 4th of July weekend may not be very fun. It wasn't. When I got just south of Ocala traffic came to a standstill. I put me behind about 45 minutes but I had smooth sailing once I got on 301 up to I-10, where I hit more traffic. That, along with some severe rainstorms made for some anxious moments all the way into Jacksonville, but I made Atlantic Coast Marine by 4pm. We had to wait about 30 minutes for the rain to let up but then after I backed it into a bay, their techs were able to offload the engine.

The Angler's Mark is now at Atlantic Coast along with the new engine and hopefully I'll get it back before the end of next week. Cross your fingers.

Remember When Someone Took YOU Fishing?

 Today Frontis Clark treated his 6yo granddaughter Briele to an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip, and she brought along her own gear! We met out at Goffinsville Park boat ramp and made our way over to the Spanish Drop area of the Nassau River where we put out two Crab traps, baited with some Pogeys. Then we moved down the way and began fishing a large drainage with jigs and live shrimp. We picked up a nice Flounder right off, then a Jack Crevalle, and tangled with some high flying Ladyfish.

We moved back up the river and fished another drainage and drug in some "oyster fish" and another Jack before we headed over to some docks and pitched the pilings. Here, both Frontis and Briele hooked up and expertly landed some fairly nice sized Mangrove Snapper. We came around the corner and played cat and mouse with some bait stealers then we decided to go check our traps!

The first trap we checked "Trap 2) was absolutely loaded with Conch shells and their guests - some Hermit Crabs! There were probably 20 of them in the trap!  Then,. we moved up to the next trap (Trap 1) and eased it in. It was neat to see that in that short amount of time we had three huge Blue Crab caught.

We had introduced Briele to some bait -live shrimp and minnows and Pogeys, seen some wildlife-Roseate Spoonbills, Cranes, Egrets and Oyster Catchers and Porpoise, and we had caught some fish and Crabs so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Lily's Luck

 

I was back to work today and when I stepped out this morning to get the boat ready I noticed it wasn't as humid as last week and sure enough, when I met Jeff Whorton and his teenaged kids Casey and Lily down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp, there was a nice breeze and as the morning went along, we had some clouds here and there that made for a pleasant day of fishing. 

We left the dock and ran up the intercoastal, turned into the Nassau and made our way to Spanish Drop where we began fishing jigs and live shrimp on a tide that still had a couple of  hours of going out. The shells were exposed and the trio of anglers were making excellent casts and it paid off when they began to catch Flounder. Lily put a keeper sized Flounder in the boat while Jeff and Casey added one each. We eased along that bank and when we reached a corner Jeff hooked up and he knew right off - Redfish! Jeff played it perfectly and landed a Red that was just undersized. But moments later, going back to the same spot, he hooked up and this fish "pulled some drag". Jeff played it to the boat and landed a Slot sized Redfish. 

After moving up the river we fished a large drainage where they caught some Jacks and Ladyfish, then it was Casey's turn to hookup and land a nice keeper sized fish - a 18" Flounder.  Lily added a hungry Seatrout or two. We then fished some dock pilings and after "tinkering" with some nibbles, all three anglers contributed to the box with a keeper sized Mangrove Snapper. 

I had been kidding with the guys - Lily, the least experienced of the anglers - seemed to be having more hookups than the others - her casts weren't as long or accurate - but she seemed to be catching the fish so we deemed it "Lily's Luck"! 

After fishing some docks at Nassauville, we ran back thru Horsehead to the mouth of Jackstaff and fished a stretch of bank and here Lucky Lily hooked up with a big fish - her drag was ripping and her rod was bent over. She kept that rod up though and after the fish took her from bow to stern to bow, under the boat and around the boat, she eventually landed a big 6lb Jack Crevalle, boy what a battle!

And with that, we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Fishing For Walleye

 We had another hot day forecasted and they didn't miss this one! I met Brent Laurint and his girlfriend Brandi up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and I had made up my mind I was going to try and get them away from civilization a bit so we headed over to the inside of Tyger and fished the logs on the first of an incoming tide - perfect conditions to ease along and pitch to the bank with jigs and live shrimp. Both anglers were making excellent casts and we worked the bank thoroughly, getting nibbles here and there, until Brent up with a good cast alongside a log and BAM! He had a hookup. I thought for sure it was some sort of Drum - a Red or a Black and boy was it putting up a fight. Brent played it perfectly and soon landed a 16" Tripletail! In my 16 years of guiding, this is only about the 7th or 8th Tripletail landed on the Anglers Mark. The size limit is 18" so we took a picture and released it.

We headed up to the Jolley River, all the way up to Snook Creek and turned into the current and fished the oyster beds back. Brent did find a feisty Redfish along there to catch. Switching to floats, Brandi got on the board with an ugly ol Toadfish, then a small Jack Crevalle catch. We moved back down the river and fished the "bank" and here Brent battled a nice Bonnethead Shark to the boat for pictures and release.

After moving around to the outside of Tyger we worked a bank - Brent with a jig rod on the bow and Brandi with a float rig off the stern. Brandi had mentioned that as a young girl she wanted to catch and/or eat Walleye but unfortunately we didn't find any off of Tyger. Brandi did however tangle with a good handful of Walleye-like Ladyfish! Then Brent had another strong bite and this fish began to rip the line off the spool, heading to Kings Bay. Brent followed it back to the stern and fought it until he had enough, then handed the rod off to Brandi to finish it off. I felt sure it wasn't a Shark, and it didn't "boil" like a Redfish so I wasn't sure what it was. But as Brandi wore it out we saw it was a huge Jack Crevalle - the biggest I've had on the Anglers Mark in the back waters of Amelia Island.

We then ran thru Tyger and around to the Bell. The sun was getting up and hot but we made a few casts to finish up. Brandi had placed her float between two grassy areas and we saw her float began to bob a couple of times and then disappeared. Brandi tightened up the line and let the circle hook do its thing and, Fish On! Brandi patiently worked it to the boat and landed a nice 18" Seatrout - Ceviche for the weekend!

After fishing one more spot on the outside of Tyger, we headed back to the dock and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Nary a Trout Today

 I was out to Goffinsville Park today where I met Dennis Abercrombie and his dad Jay. We had a clear, sunny morning and a tide that was just hitting dead low as we headed up the Nassau River with plans to fish Broward Island. Our first stop was down at the south end where we tossed jigs and live shrimp. We worked a large drainage for a bit, then dropped down the island and here Jay "knocked the skunk off" with a nice Flounder catch. 

The tide began to turn and come back in so we moved down to the north end and fished deep with the jigs. Jay had made an excellent cast to the up current side of a stump and a he let it fall down the river bottom I saw the line go tight - Jay set the hook and, Fish On! Jay played it perfectly and after a good battle he wore out and landed a nice Slot sized Redfish (all fish caught today were released).

We came back to Seymore's Pointe and fished some  dock pilings and here Jay outsmarted some rather big, keeper sized Mangrove
Snapper. We fished down at Spanish Drop with float rigs and the duo of anglers caught Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, a Catfish, and Jay battled a 12lb Bonnethead, which he landed and I gave a quick release. Dropping back up the river we continued to catch a fish here and there - Jacks and Ladyfish.

Our next stop was between some docks at Nassauville, fishing with jigs and live shrimp. We had Mangrove bites but the highlight fish was a nice Flounder that Dennis hooked up and landed. Our final stop was back at Pumpkin Hill, fishing floats, and we wrapped up the day with a large Bonnethead Shark that Dennis fought and landed. We had caught a good variety, but surprisingly, no Seatrout, but with the action we had, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

We Went To The Bank

 I fished again with the Sorah's today, Chris and his dad Ken, but this time Chris's wife Melanie joined the crew. We met north, up at Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and a clear, sunny morning, we headed north and west, around to the Jolley River and turned into the "bank" to fish a high and incoming tide with float rigs and live shrimp. We worked the bank thoroughly and although all three anglers were getting excellent casts. we caught only Ladyfish and Jack Crevalle.  After moving up the river and fishing a good stretch of  flooding marsh at  Snook Creek, Ken did come away with a nice keeper sized Seatrout.

We came back down the Jolly and as I was passing a fishing looking runout on the outside of Tyger, we decided to fish it, switching to jigs and the live shrimp. From that drainage on for a good 200 yards has now become known as "Chris's

Bank" - we caught at least 10 Flounder, with a handful being of keeper size. The trio added another couple of keeper sized Seatrout, a Croaker, some small Whiting, a Black "puppy" Drum, an almost keeper sized Redfish, some more Jacks, and a wayward Sheepshead! We fished that stretch the last of the outgoing and the first of the incoming. 

FYI, Chris found that he could pitch his jig and shrimp up into the submerged grass and then work it out before it could settle in and the fish would hit it as it came out of the grass. We had a bonanza of fishing along that bank so as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Big Start Nice Finish

 I was down at the south end today, meeting the Sorah team - Chris, his dad Ken and Bryce, the son/grandson. We headed up the intercoastal, turned into the Nassau and ran up the river a bit to begin fishing at Spanish Drop with float rigs on an already high and still incoming tide. The trio of anglers were tossing float rigs and live shrimp to the bank and we had a few nibbles here and there until Ken hooked up and battled a high flying Ladyfish.  I was debating in my mind whether to call that "skunk off"  but just couldn't quite bring myself to do it!

We moved further up the river and fished Twin Creeks, again drifting float rigs. Bryce had taken up on the stern and "drifted long" down a grass line and when he had a strong bite he tightened up and let the circle hook do it's thing and, Big Fish On! The way it ran deep we were all speculating "shark", but then it came back to the shore line and I saw a roll - could it be a big Redfish?

But then it went deep again, Bryce keeping the pressure on and we were thinking Shark again, but again, a roll! Bryce worked it to the boat and we soon saw it was a massive Redfish. Bryce played it perfectly and we soon netted a big Oversized 27.5" THICK Redfish, boy what a fish, and for sure, Skunk Off The Boat! Shortly after that Ken hooked up and landed a keeper sized Seatrout.

After that we were "running and gunning" - we fished down at Pumpkin Hill,

caught a couple of Jacks and Ladyfish, then fished back at Seymore's Pointe (to no avail), then I thought we'd wrap things up over at Nassauville, fishing with jigs. And here we had a nice flurry. Chris started it off with a nice 18" Flounder catch, then caught another, smaller one. The trio added a handful of Mangrove Snapper to the catch  with a couple being of keeper size, then Ken put a small Flounder in the boat and Chris added a nice 17" Trout to the box - a great way to end a good day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

An Education

 

After a weekend off I was back to "work" today when I met David Bolton and his daughter Katie out at his place on Lanceford Creek. We then made our way  back to the outside of Tyger Island and set  up fishing float rigs on a high and incoming tide. Katie "knocked the skunk off" and landed a feisty Bluefish to begin an "old salt" education of how to catch fish! But David wasn't going down without a fight and picked up hungry Seatrout before we moved on.

We motored around and up towards the Jolley but made a brief stop at a large drainage and switched to jigs and the shrimp, then moved on around to the Jolley. Here, Katie tangled with a high flying Ladyfish and hauled in a small Skate, then David had a Flounder right up to the boat. David found a nice pocket to drift his float and caught and landed a couple of more Seatrout.

 After running up the river we began fishing some flooded marsh grass, just short of Snook Creek and when Katie's float disappeared and the big fish began to rip drag, I knew right off that she had a nice Redfish. Katie played it perfectly, from stern to bow, and after a good battle landed a 22" Slot sized Redfish, boy what a fish! She turned around and caught one of the smallest Redfish I've ever seen on  hook, also! Katie had one more big bite along that stretch, a shark that took her bait and headed south - it spooled her and kept going, headed south.

After running thru the Jolley and around to the Bell we fished some docks and picked up a couple of small Mangrove Snapper, a small Catfish, and a small Sheepshead.

Our final stop was back at some docks at Eagans Creek, fishing the pilings on a lower outgoing tide. Katie had made a perfect cast and hooked up and landed another Slot Redfish, then David hauled one in, too. Katie put another miniature Redfish in the boat, then a large Black "puppy" Drum.  She wrapped up the day with one more Puppy Drum before we called it quits and as we headed back we counted it as another great day  to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.  

Solid Lead

We had an uncharacteristic(for the week) forecast for some winds today, 11-14mph which ended up being correct, and made for some challenging fishing. But we persevered, fished, and ended up with a fairly decent day of "fish catching".

I had met the Latino family down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. Pete and Robin and their kids Marin and Jake were eager to get out on the water so we headed up the Nassau River and all the way around to Middle Marsh where we set up alongside some flooded marsh grass on a tide that had been going out for about two hours. I had fished this spot only once before but we had caught a nice Slot Redfish there. I wasn't feeling real confident when I

saw the west wind murkying up the water. Marin and Jake were out first with their casts, Marin on the stern and Jake on the bow and I think it was Jake's first drift when he had a hookup and a nice fish on! Jake fought the fish valiantly and soon landed a nice 21" Slot Redfish! That's the way to start a day! We fished that spot a bit, moved up to Pumpkin Hill and fished some edges there, then moved on. As I figured, that west wind was really making some mud along the shore.

We came back to Nassauville and tried to fish some rocks with the floats but the current was ripping so we moved around and fished some dock pilings, now out of the wind. Robin was helping out, coaching and encouraging as the other trio of anglers began to do battle with Mangrove Snapper. I think I'd have to say that Marin was making the best casts of all, but little did I now that Jake was keeping count of the fish caught! At one point he announced the total and with a solid lead, sat down to take a break from the action.

Pete finally had a solid hookup and this one was pulling some drag - no Mangrove this time. He played it patiently and soon brought to the net a nice 18" keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. He and Marin caught Mangroves until it was time to leave and as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.