After a run up the Bell River we anchored and cast up current and this did the trick . Jeremy picked up a a couple of Trout out deep, one of which was of keeper size, then he hooked up and landed a hard fighting Sheepshead. Kimberly reeled in a couple of more Redfish then she hooked up and landed a Bull Whiting. We added another one of those shortly after that.
After making a run down the river we eased up in behind a dock and fished the pilings. Again, Patrick's first cast produced a big bite. This fish was big and pulling hard, but it was already around some pilings and eventually the line went tight and, BAP, fish off! Todd caught and landed a feisty Redfish, then Patrick hooked up and landed another Slot Red. We picked up another couple of fish, then moved on.
After moving back to Pumpkin Hill, we switched to fixed floats and fished a flooding shell bed. Here, we picked up another Seatrout. On the way back to the ramp we stopped at Spanish Drop and worked a bank with the fixed floats and got another keeper sized Trout. Marvin was fishing the stern with a slip float, going a bit deeper and this did the trick when he hooked and landed a couple of nice Trout. And with that, we called it a day, another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
The next stop was a way up a creek off of the Nassau River where we turned into the current of an incoming tide and fished the bank with jigs and shrimp. We hadn't been fishing but for a few minutes when John, after making an excellent cast, hooked up and, Fish On! John played it perfectly and battled it to the net to land a nice 20" Slot sized Redfish. We worked that bank pretty good - about 75 yards - and they were getting good casts, but didn't have much else until John hooked up with another feisty Redfish.
Our last stop was around at Seymore's Pointe, fishing float rig and Joe wrapped things up with a hungry Seatrout catch. We had caught just a few fish but had a couple of quality ones in the boat so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida
We ran thru Tyger, around to the Bell and set up fishing a point of grass with that incoming tide. These anglers were all getting good drifts but we had not a nibble. After running down the Bell, up into Lanceford, and in to Soap Creek, we again set up with the floats, drifting them long with the current. I think it was Pat again who picked up another Trout.
Our next stop was around the corner and here we switched to jigs and shrimp. They were all getting nibbles deep but we found that we could go back to the float rig, tossed up near the shore, over some submerged oysters and get fish. Young Hailey hooked up and landed an "almost legal" Seatrout, then she had a good bite, set the hook and, Fish On! She worked it to the boat patiently and landed a keeper sized 18" Seatrout. Shortly after that she battled a feisty Redfish to the boat.
After fishing one more spot up in Piney we headed back and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Although both anglers were getting good casts and hitting the points and pockets, I don't think we had nary a nibble. We ran thru the marsh and over to Seymore's Point and fished a large drainage with the floats, this time drifting them long across a sunken oyster bar and again, no real bites.
But after we moved down the way to fish a marsh line Gene found out that they were out deeper than I expected - he picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout in 10' of water, with a 3' leader! So we backed off, fished it deep with jigs and got a few, then switched to slip floats deep and caught a few more of the Seatrout.
After a 10 minute run down the Nassau we eased up into a creek, knowing that we would be squarely in the back country and remote about as much as you can get and....there was another boat up ahead of us! Ouch! But we still had a good stretch to fish and worked the 5' deep bank with the jigs and the duo began to get Redfish. They weren't schooled up but were hit and miss but they got a good handful, missed a couple, and the final one found a way to wrap up in a downed log! Gene also landed a Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. So we had some action, had caught a few fish and as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
After a 10 minute run around Seymore's, thru Alligator and up the intercoastal a bit we set up fishing some structure with jigs and live shrimp and sheltered by a land mass, we were oblivious to any impending wind. Both Dara and William began to get fish and caught 6-8 small but feisty Redfish and one small Flounder. We also had a Salt Marsh Mink sighting. When that bite slowed we eased on up the intercoastal and turned into a creek with a stretch of docks that I though would surely be out of the wind ....and the plan crumbled - there was already another boat fishing the spot. Dang it.
I had been thinking about hitting a small creek that I hadn't fished in a while but knew that the tide was already down a good bit and I rarely go anywhere shallow in my boat on a low outgoing tide, but you know, what would Kirby do? Go for it! So we made a 10 minute run and eased up into the creek and sure enough in some places I was getting a reading of less than two feet, and the tide still had to go our another 2 hours. But we made it to our destination and began pitching the bank with the jigs (the bank was only about 4' deep, and when we got to one downed log, William went in with his initial cast but got snagged and while he re-baiting Dara went in with a perfect cast and BAM! Fish On! She played it perfectly and brought to the net a nice Redfish. For the next 20 minutes the duo caught fish, one after the other with three of them being of Slot size (all fish caught today were released).
When the bite slowed we made a u-turn and puttered out of there - a few times I had to raise the engine and I could feel the hull skimming over mud - but we made it out and as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
We also had a big fish on, this one digging deep, ripping drag and staying close to the bottom - a fish that I thought surely was a Black Drum, but a couple of minutes in to the fight it just threw the hook, Ouch! Before we left that spot John also landed a Flounder on a slip float rig.
We made our way back up the Amelia and eased in to behind Piney Island and fished some dock pilings on the last of the outgoing tide and here things really heated up. beginning with an excellent cast John had made under a gangway, Fish On! After landing another Slot sized Red it was one fish after another - we counted at least 15, most smaller but another in the Slot range.
When the tide turned we ran over to Tyger Island and fished the incoming there and although the tide was right, the wind was blowing right up the river and the shoreline was murckey with mud. John did manage to score an Amelia Island Back Country Slam when he hooked up and landed a feisty Black "puppy" Drum. The sun had been out all day, we hadn't had to deal with any wind to speak of, so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
I met Ron Oblen, his son Shawn, and Shawns "kids" Shane and Samantha up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp early and we made a quick run over to Eagans Creek to set up fishing some dock pilings on a tide that had been coming in about an hour and a half. We were fishing jigs and live shrimp and in just a few minutes, we were catching some feisty Redfish. Ron and grandson Shane had good hookups and hauled in a handful of fish. We moved around to the other side the dock and caught a couple of more Reds, then Shawn hooked up and landed a Black "puppy" Drum.
We fished Pumpkin Hill then ran back thru Horsehead and fished float rigs up by the grass and there Shawn brought the GPK home with a Seatrout catch. I was most impressed with young Samantha who persevered with the best casting of the bunch and although the fish didn't cooperate, she hung in there and fished to the last minute. The wind was up, the skies were overcast, but as we made the long run back to Dee Dee Bartels, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
We caught fish for almost 2 hours! Bob put a couple of smaller Slot fish in the boat (all fish but one flounder were released today), then he had another BIG bite. This fish was big and took Bob deep and stayed deep. There was some structure behind us and it was close quarters with no room for maneuvering but Bob kept the pressure on, worked the fish up to the surface, and we saw it was a huge Black Drum! But the fish went deep again, ripping drag as it went so Bob had to patiently work back to the surface and we eventually landed a nice 25" Black 'puppy" Drum - caught on a size 1000 Florida Fishing Products reel - and the crowd went wild!
The bite finally slowed so we ran back towards Fernandina, fished some dock pilings, and caught 7-8 more feisty Redfish. We finished the day over at Tyger Island, working the bank with the jigs, and picked up a few more Redfish, a couple of small Black Drum, a small Seatrout and....one keeper sized Flounder. We headed back to the dock with the sun setting and we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
