The GPK Challenge

 We had a cold front come thru Thursday which left us with a clear and cool Friday morning when I met
Suzanna Braun, her son Mike and her friend Garland down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. But we were all dressed warm with layers and after a short run up the Nassau we made our first stop at some exposed shell on a tide that still had about an hour to finish hitting bottom. All three anglers were making excellent casts with jigs and live shrimp to the bank but we had no real bites.

We ran over to some docks at Nassauville and set up again to toss the jigs and here we had some luck. Garland was at the stern and letting his jig fall down the river bottom and he picked up a few hungry Seatrout while the other anglers had "nibbles" from the bait stealers. After moving around to another dock it was Suzanna's turn to land the fish - she hauled in a nice keeper sized sheepshead, then a undersized Sea Bass. All three tangled with feisty Bluefish.

Our next stop was down at Broward Island where we fished one area as we waited for the tide to turn and
start back in. When it did, we moved down the island and began working back. I thru out the "GPK" for some incentive and Suzanna stepped up to the challenge - almost immediately - and after a perfect cast to the bank, BAM! Fish On!  Suzanna worked it to the boat and landed a golden-coppered-colored Slot 23" Redfish. And shortly after that she reeled in a smaller but feisty Redfish.

After working that bank we moved up to Pumpkin Hill and drifted floats long with the live shrimp and here Garland heated up with a couple of Seatrout catches. The temperature had warmed and we'd had some good catches so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Trying to Make a Double LImit

 

You know it's a good day of fishing here at Amelia Island when you make your limit on Slot Redfish and are real close to getting the limit in Trout. The wind was really howling yesterday but when I saw the forecast for this morning it called for just a breeze and when I met Fred Wommack up at Dee Dee Bartels Park that's just what we had.  We made a quick run over to Egans Creek and found some dock pilings to fish on the first of an incoming tide. (as we were running there was so much moisture in the air it felt like it was raining). 

Fred began to pitch to the pilings and I thought for sure it would be
only seconds before he got a bite. But those seconds became minutes and then multiple minutes until finally he hooked up and landed a small Seatrout. I was about to leave but thought while we were there we should try the other side and this did the trick! Fred began to hookup and land one Redfish after the other - most all of them small  - some right under the slot at 17.5",  and then one that just made it into the Slot at 18.25" He stayed busy catching and releasing fish until we moved back to the other side.

This time Fred stayed deep, fishing the end of the dock and the strategy paid off. BAM! Big Fish ON!  Fred played it expertly to the boat and landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. And shorty after that he had another strong hookup. This fish dug deep and stayed deep for a good while and I was beginning to wonder if it wasn't oversized. But after Fred brought it to the net it measured just a little over 26", boy what a fish!

Fred kept his limit of (1) Redfish but he wasn't done! He began to catch Seatrout out deep and in short order had 4 in the box and I thought for sure he'd get his Trout limit. After catching a few smaller ones we made the run up to Soap Creek and fished a stretch of grass where we caught one small Trout.

Our last stop was over a "Millie's Spot" in Lanceford, fishing a grass patch and again, it was non-stop action, catching one Seatrout after another. We just needed ONE big one!  Fred put a couple of 14.75" fish in the boat but we just couldn't  get that 5th fish. But as we headed back to the ramp we knew we'd had a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Seatrout Bite Made the Day

 I fished Friday morning with Dennis Adams, his son-in-law Daniel, and Daniel's dad Dan, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and boy what a pretty morning we had! Sunshine, clear skies, and just a very little breeze. So I made the first run up to the Jolley River where we turned into the incoming current and fished float rigs with live shrimp. These three anglers were getting excellent casts up to the flooding marsh grass, but we had no takers.

We ran further up the river and fished a bank and in just a few minutes Dan had a strong take. He reeled down, lifted the rod and let the circle hook set and Fish On! Dan worked it tot he boat expertly and landed a nice feisty Redfish. And just a minute later Dennis went to the same spot and BAM! He had a strong hookup too. He brought it n and released it right at the boat!

The tide was really high and almost to the to so we came back to Tyger, ran thru ad around to the Bell, and set up on a point to drift the floats, but had no bites. Our next stop was over at Soap Creek and here we had a some good action. We moved up and down the bank, picking up a Trout here and there, then we found one spot that seemed to hold them. All three anglers caught and landed Seatrout.

Our final stop was over at some docks at Lanceford and here Dennis picked up a nice sized Whiting. We had had some mild temperatures, some great sunshine and as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Sun Down Moon Up

 I did an afternoon trip today, fishing with Bill Chadwick and his fishing buddy Paul, and after meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. There wasn't much wind at all, we had sunny skies, and it was a perfect afternoon to be out on the water. We ran up and over to behind Tyger and fished the logs, working the bank with jigs and live shrimp on a tide that only had 30 minutes to hit bottom. 

These two anglers were making excellent casts and it paid off - they picked up a couple of Seatrout and a couple of feisty Redfish. One of the Seatrout measured at 17". We worked up and down the bank twice, then made the run up to the Jolley River where we turned into the incoming current and stayed with the jigs.

 Paul picked up a small Flounder along this stretch.  After running further up the river we again turned into the current but switched to float rigs and the live shrimp. After numerous bites and no takers, we figured out we were feeding the "baitstealers". 

Our next stop was around at the docks on Bell River, switching  back to jigs, and here we picked up another feisty Redfish. Back towards Fernandina we fished a flooding shell bed, to no avail, then made the run over to Soap Creek where we went back to the floats. The sun was going down and we noticed an almost full moon coming up and wouldn't you know, the fish bite picked up. This duo of anglers caught a good handful of hungry Seatrout, one after the other. But it was on the verge of getting dark so we headed back in and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida 

On Golden Marsh

 Wow! What a pretty morning we had today! I had met Bob Kossman and Bruce Beauchamp down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and as we ran up the river we had some fog issues but as we eased in to Jackstaff it cleared and we set up to fish off of a side creek with float rigs and live shrimp. As the sun came up it gave the marsh grass a beautiful golden glow. We worked that area back and forth and picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout.

After running thru the marsh we made our way down to Twin Creeks again tossed the float rigs. We had no bites there but then we eased along the bank, tossing to the marsh grass. Bruce had a strong hookup, one that "ripped some drag" - he played it expertly and after a good fight landed a nice 21" Slot Redfish. We fished on, and in just a few feet Bob had the strong bite. This fish was big!  You can always tell when the fish stays up by the bank for a while, refusing to budge. But Bob kept the pressure on, worked it out into the deeper water, then played it patiently and eventually subdued an oversized 28.25" Redfish, boy what a fish!

We then made our way back to the Seymore's Pointe area and fished a large drainage with the float rigs. Both anglers were getting excellent casts and it paid off - they would toss it up above a grassy pointe, let it drift around the corner and across a submerged shell bed and BAM! Fish On!  We caught a good handful of Seatrout with a few of them being of keeper size, but all tossed back. 

Our next stop was down to the mouth of Back River, fishing a shell bank on the outgoing tide. We had no bites, but I know I saw at least two big fish "roll" along the grass. Our final stop was down at Spanish Drop then we made our way back to the boat ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Is Florida Fishing Going Woke?

 

December 1, 2022

*Capt Hubbard,

We traded Emails a couple of months ago in reference to my blog post RE: the FWC commissions last minute amendment to the FWC staff’s proposed Redfish rules for NE Florida.  As noted in the post, I was somewhat  aggravated that the Commission chose to make a change to the recommendations – recommendations that Staff had arrived at after a year and half of research, studies, a Summit, and multiple workshops. In a nut shell, my attitude towards the FWC has become a bit jaded.

I realize that somehow time has caught up with me – I’m now one of the “old timers” and my thoughts on fishing, keeping of fish, and overall conservation may not align as much with the younger generation.  That said, I don’t like to kill a whole bunch of fish – I subtly encourage my customers to throw them back, but I don’t begrudge a recreational angler to keep a few for dinner. I do feel like the times of “loading the cooler” to feed the neighborhood are long gone, as well they should be.

Plain and simple, I go by the rules set by the FWC. And again, if there is any hesitation from one of my customers to keep or release a fish, I encourage them to release it. I recently “fired” a customer that pressured me to keep an illegal fish.

 I’ve had a growing un-ease in my belly that our industry is being taken over by the “woke”, tree-hugging crowd. Here at Amelia Island, a number of folks have moved in over the last 10 years and they seem to be die-hard environmentalist/conservationist, or at best, ambivalent towards fishing.  The island is becoming more and more anti-boater and anti-anglers. Our boat ramp at the City Marina is in danger of being closed, our county boat ramps are in need of repair. Heck, the City built frigging Pentanque courts in the boat trailer parking lot!

Like I said, I go by the FWC rules. But I’ve always wondered if their research may be tainted by conservationists bias-all I can do is hope that they are “honorable” scientists and will do the right thing. I was pleased to hear one of the scientists at the Summit note that the “NE Florida Redfish stock was doing good”.  I was all on board with the NE Florida rule changes and prepped my customers with notices 2-Redfish per person, 4 per boat max.  Why would the Commissioners base their decision to change that recommendation on the sentiment of a handful of people that poured their heart out at the Commission meeting? My gut tells me the FWC is gauging public sentiment to base their decisions, rather than what the science tells them.  I think they gauged wrong, but “conservation” is what they are hearing. I feel that there are adverse ramifications to we guides and all Florida anglers.

I’m a bit concerned that the FWC Commissioners may be “in bed” with the conservation groups. Those groups have raised a lot of money and have a lot of influence. Again, all of us think we’re conservation minded but what do we as Guides/Charter boat captains do when that public sentiment that the FWC is basing their rules on goes even further? What if there’s a push to ban boats with gasoline engines? What if they want to enforce speed limits off shore? What if they want to institute complete catch and release? What if they want to close the boat ramps? What if they make the rules so onerous that no one wants to fish?  As you know, they’re already doing some of this in Florida. How far do we let them go before we push back?

Just this week there was an news article about Whole Foods banning Maine caught lobsters. A move that affected the entire state industry. In 20 years will Floridians be cut out of fishing?

FYI I fished three times this week, Mon-Wed.  On Monday we fished one spot and we  were there for 2 hours. We guestimated we caught 40 Redfish, most of them “rats”, but 8 of them were in the Slot. My customers kept their limit (2).   On Tuesday we fished and caught only Trout and a Flounder - zero Redfish-not a one. Yesterday we fished a spot, and again caught over 40 Redfish. Most of them were “rats”, but the 12yo young lady on the boat counted the slots – 12 slots. They kept their limit (4).  When I was listening the video of the Commission meeting and heard some of the folks state that “they couldn’t catch a redfish” and “the Redfish stock is down”  I was thinking, “you know, it depends on the day, the tide, the time of year, the spot, the bait,  the experience of the angler, and the skill level” ‘ Some days you catch them. Some days you don’t. For the Commissioners to base their decisions on those testimonies was just…baloney.

My membership with the Florida Guides Association is based on how I think ya’ll are addressing these concerns. If I think you are getting too “buddy buddy” with the conservation groups and the FWC, then I’ll probably drop the membership. I understand that we need to work with them. I just don’t think our interests are 100% in line with the direction they are heading.

Sincerely,

Capt. Lawrence Piper

Mayhem From The Get Go

 I met Adam Alfrey, his daughter Rose Marie, his father Randy and father-in-law Bill up at Dee Dee Bartels Park this morning early. The tide was right at bottom so we eased around to Egans Creek, ran up it a ways, and found a dock to fish the pilings just as the tide stared in. My "demo" cast produced a bite, a hookup, one which Rose Marie expertly reeled in, and from then on, it was Redfish Mayhem! These anglers caught one, right after another - many times having double and triple hookups - I was almost out of breath getting fished netted, de-hooked, measured, and back in the water. Luckily, they pitched in and helped - if I was busy measuring a fish they'd grab the net and bring one to the boat.

We fished for a little over two hours that one spot. Most of the Reds were small "feisty" fish, but we'd pick up a slot now and then. After reaching our limit we continued to county the "Slot" fish and got up to 12 as we threw them back. Each angler also caught a Black "puppy" Drum and Rose Marie put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. 

It finally slowed down so we made a run over to and up the Bell River where we set up fishing jigs and live shrimp up current. We caught about 5 Seatrout here and two of those were of keeper size.  Our final stop was around at the Jolly and here Adam caught a Seatrout on a float rig to keep the "no-skunk-at-any-spot" record going. We had had an outstanding morning and as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida 

Trout Topper

 I fished with Glenn and Patti Langford on a beautiful crisp morning today, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early. We headed up the Nassau River and stopped off at some exposed oyster beds on a dead low tide. The two anglers tossed jigs and live shrimp and it was Patti, fishing on the bow, who 'knocked the skunk off" with a nice keeper sized Seatrout catch.  We worked that bank thoroughly, had some nibbles, but no more takers, and moved on. 

Our next stop was up at some docks at Seymore's Pointe. The conditions were perfect - a low and incoming tide, and we had bites, but we were only able to get a couple of small Seabass. We then ran down to Broward Island and set up as the tide was starting to come in there. Patti had one of those strange bites, a strange fight, and sure enough, she brought to the net a nice keeper sized Flounder, but not keep-able until the season opens December 1st. Patti also added  a keeper sized Whiting to the box. 

We worked up and down that bank, fishing under the watchful eye of a Bald Eagle, then Glenn, after making an excellent cast to the drop off, had a hookup. This fish was putting up a fight, ripping just a bit of drag, but not enough for it to be a big Redfish. Glenn played it patiently and soon landed a big Seatrout.  He had a 2.6lb Trout entered in the NSFA's "fish of the month" tournament and he hoped that this one  might top it so we crossed our fingers...and kept on fishing!

Our next stop was up Pumpkin Hill, all the way up to the docks. We fished the docks with jigs then switched to float rigs later around some flooding grass but had not luck. But we had caught a few fish, and a few keepers so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

One After Another

 

Yesterday I fished with Gregg and Dannie Fitzgerald out of Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We fished some docks at Nassauville where I was sure we'd have good success using jigs and live shrimp,  but all we picked up were a couple of Sea Bass and a "bait stealer". We then fished the Nassau River, tossing the jigs, but to no avail. But when we switched to float rigs we began to get some fish. The duo caught a couple of feisty Redfish and a good handful of Seatrout, one of which was of keeper size.

Today Dannie decided to stay home for some rest but Gregg brought along his father and his partner Ginnie and I met them at the Old Town Bait Shop ramp. We had a west wind still blowing so a quickly crossed over the intercoastal, hugged Tyger Island north and found some flooded marsh grass to fish with float rigs and live shrimp. But we had  no bites. We crossed over a creek and fished some more grass, and again, no bites. 

After running thru Tyger, around to the Bell and up Landsford we found a grassy island where Guy finally "knocked the skunk off" with a feisty Redfish catch. We fished that spot some more, moved over to a couple of more grassy islands, had some nibbles, then made a short run back to Soap Creek. There, we fished a large outflow with the floats, again, no bites, then we worked the bank for a bit, and again, no bites.  What the heck?

So we made the run back to Egans Creek, and found some dock pilings to fish, switching to jigs and the shrimp. The "demo" cast produced a bite - we hooked up and Ginnie reeled in a Redfish. And from then on....it was one fish hookup after another!  Rat Red, Rat Red, Rat Red, Slot Red, Rat Red, Slot Red, Rat Red, Rat Red, Rat Red, Black Drum, Rat Red, Black Drum, Rat Red, Rat Red, Slot Red, BIG REd, Rat Red, Slot Red, Rat Red, Black Drum, Flounder, Slot Red, Slot Red, Rat Red, Rat Red -- We would have had to have a "clicker" to count them. But we did count the Slot fish and ended up with at least 10( there might have been a few that I didn't measure that were right at the 18" mark). We had numerous "double" hookups and ended the day with Guy and his Dad reeling in double Slot Redfish. As we eased back to the dock we counted it as another GREAT day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Foggy Morning Fishing at Amelia Island

 We had some fog! When I met Meghan and Matt Brennan and their two kids Derrick and Bianca down atSawpit Creek this morning I was thinking we may have to "putter" up the Nassau to get to our first spot. But as we got out into the intercoastal I could see we had about a 100 yards of visibility so I switched on the Nav lights and we ran! Note: that fog stayed with us all morning long!

Our first stop was up at Pumpkin Hill drifting float rigs and live shrimp on a tide that still had a couple of hours of coming in before it high tide. Meghan and Matt were doing the casting while Bianca and Derrick helped with the reeling. It didn't take too long before we had a bite and Meghan hooked up and landed a Flounder to "knock the skunk off".  The two anglers followed that up with a couple of hungry Seatrout catches.  We fished a couple of more areas in that location, then we made a run down the Nassau and fished between two docks along Nassauville.

I think it was first cast and Meghan had strong bite on the bottom fishing jigs and shrimp and Fish On! Meghan played it perfectly, worked it to the boat, and landed a big 18" Seatrout! Boy what a fish! (all fish caught today were released).  Just shortly after that, she had made a good cast to the same general location and BAM, another nice Seatrout brought in (with help from the kids). 

After running around the corner we fished a large drainage, letting our floats drift around the corner and across a submerged oyster bar. It was Matt's turn to find the hot spot. He caught 2-3 nice keeper sized Seatarout (with help from the kids).

Our last stop was over on the other side of Jackstaff and after running thru Horsehead we set up andfished some drainages. With no luck there we moved down at a point of grass and submerged sandbar and here Matt hooked up and landed another Flounder. Meghan topped it off with a Blue Crab catch. We had worked thru the fog, had some good catches of fish and as we made our way back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.