The Two Fish Kid

 Luckily those thunderstorms are holding off until late afternoon's.  Today met Sean and Kathy Higginson and their son Judah down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp - we had clear morning skies that greeted us. After running up the intercoastal and into the Nassau, we made our first stop at Spanish Drop to fish a large marsh drainage, and then a shell bed. I gave Kathy and Judah a quick tutorial to refresh their casting and in just a short time, Kathy had a hookup on her jig and live shrimp. She patiently brought to the boat a nice Flounder. Shortly after that Sean hooked up and brought another Flounder to the boat. We eased along that bank and as we worked along that shell bed Judah had a "bump", set the hook, and had hookup. As he fought it to the boat Kathy hooked up and we had a "double". Both anglers landed their catch -Judah a Seatrout and Kathy a feisty Redfish.

We moved up the river to Twin Creeks, fished it for a bit, then made a run over to some docks at Nassauville.  It didn't take but a few minutes for me to see that this just wasn't going to work - the current, albeit almost dead low, was still ripping and any cast to the bank would result in a sweep into some dock pilings. So we moved on, making our next stop around at Seymore's Pointe.

Again, Kathy had gone in with the first cast and it paid off with a tremendous bite -Big Fish On!  But this fish was already up in the pilings and ripping drag, it pulled further thru and, BAP! Fish Off! Ouch!  But these anglers weren't to be deterred - they went back to the pilings and began to catch keeper sized Mangrove Snapper (all fish caught today were released). Eventually some small ones moved in so we moved on.

Our next stop was down at Broward Island, fishing deep with the jigs with a tide still going out. We drifted with the current, working the bank and Kathy, who seemed to have the hot hand all day, hooked and reeled in a nice Mangrove then she caught and expertly landed a nice 18" Seatrout.

It was getting hot but we wanted to make at least one more stop so we went back to where the big fish broke off, fishing some dock pilings. We didn't catch any big Reds but we did get a few more Mangroves. Judah had made an excellent cast, felt the "bump", set the hook and, Fish On! This fish seemed to be pulling harder than one of the Mangroves and sure enough, when Judah landed it, it was TWO Manroves - he had caught two fish on one hookup - a first for the Anglers Mark!  And that made for a good way to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Drag Ripping Redfish

 

I launched again down at Sawpit Creek this morning, meeting Garland Clark and his son Chris early for a morning of back country fishing. I'm still breaking in the new engine but we were able to cruise up the intercoastal and then in to the Nassau, moving thru different levels of RPM's, to get to the first spot at Spanish Drop. The tide was already high and still coming in so the anglers went with float rigs and live shrimp. We worked one flooded shell bank but didn't get much until we got to a drainage, switched to jigs and baited with some mud minnows I caught at the ramp. That did the trick - Chris hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout. After we moved down the way, Garland had a hookup on the jig and had a Trout on.

We ran down to Pumpkin Hill and drifted floats long - Chris caught a Catfish, but then, after baiting up with another mud minnow and making a perfect cast to the grass line, his float disappeared. Chris tightened up and set the hook and, Fish On!  This fish made a couple of runs, all the time ripping drag, but Chris expertly brought it to the boat, and rather quickly and I was thinking, "Nope". Surely it had some more juice and sure enough, off it went again, ripping drag. But Chris played it patiently and eventually landed a nice 23" Slot sized Redfish. We added another Seatrout to the catch before we moved  on. 

After fishing Broward Island briefly we came back to some docks at Nassauville, switched back to the jigs and got in to some rather large (for the back water) Mangrove Snapper. Although these anglers released all fish today, they could have easily kept their limit of the Mangroves. Again, we added another Seatrout before we moved on. 

After fishing Seymore's Pointe for a bit we ran thru Horsehead and fished a large drainage. The sun was up and it was getting "toasty" and after Chris put a large Catfish in the boat we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida 

Good To Be Back Fishing!

My first trip back from "bad engine nightmare"!  I met Len Pelletiere and his grandson Scott down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we headed up the intercoastal, turned west into Back River and cut around to the mouth of Pumpkin Hill to set up fishing with float rigs and live shrimp on a high and incoming tide.

First drift, BAM! We had a fish on! Young Scott was on the rod and he quickly dispatched the fight with a expert landing of a Jack Crevalle. We drifted that stretch for a bit and Scott caught a Catfish and a hungry Seatrout. After moving around the corner Scott had made an excellent cast to a grassy island. His float drifted out and just before retrieving it, he had a bite and a hookup. When the fish headed east knew it was a Shark. Scott followed it to the stern of the boat, then back to midship, then back to the stern before we netted a hard fighting Bonnethead Shark.

We buzzed back to Seymore's Pointe, fished a large runout and here we picked up a good handful of keeper sized Mangrove Snapper, then we fished back around at Nassaville and again put some Snapper in the boat.  After buzzing thru Horsehead and fishing a drainage and picking up one more Jack, we came back to the Nassau and fished a couple of drainages there. 

Scott ended up catching another Seatrout, another keeper sized Manrove, and then he put a feisty Flounder in the boat to rap up another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Engine Installed! The Anglers Mark is Back!

I picked up the boat with a new Yamaha 200 engine Saturday morning. It's a "left hand" engine and required a left rotation propeller which I ordered about a week ago. It came in late Monday afternoon and this morning Ken Supernor with Outboard Only LLC stopped by and installed it for me.

There is a 10 hour break-in period with the first hour running the engine up to only 2000rpm's, which is really just a slow crawl. Luckily, I was able to move my scheduled trip today to Friday. I launched up at Dee Dee Bartels and "puttered" out into the sound, then back behind Tyger, then around to the Bell.  After that first hour Break-in calls for getting up on a plane (about 2000rpm's), then backing off, but never letting the engine run at the same RPM's for longer than a few minutes. I did that for another hour, running it up, dropping it down, running it up, dropping back to idle, and son on. 

I picked up Carol at Atlantic Seafood and we went out for one more hour. Hours 3-8 calls for running the engine at all RPM's, but never holding it at one level for too long. We ran it up to above 4000RPM's and back and up and back and up and got in another hour. I've got five more hours of doing that but I feel like I can fish with customers and get to where we're going - I just will need to alter the RPM level throughout the trip, but that shouldn't be too noticeable.

I've got July 18, 19 open, then August 1, 8, 10-12 open. Give me a shout and we'll get us both out on the water! 904-557-1027

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.