We decided to make a long run way up in the Nassau to dip into a creek and fish that outgoing tide. We had probably fished about60 feet with no takers but then the duo began to get hookups to "knock the skunk off". They stayed busy catching one Redfish after another, a lot of smalls, a few that were just barely under 18", and we counted five that were in the Slot with the biggest being right at 22". That was a good stretch that made the day.
But these anglers were not to be deterred. Young Mason put a couple or three feisty Redfish in the boat before the adult anglers could blink. Finally, granddad Pat, who was tossing a float rig up over some oysters picked up a couple of Seatrout, one of which was of keeper size, then he added a feisty Redfish to his catch.
We then ran down the Amelia River to fish some structure, casting to the edge and letting the jig fall down the river bottom. I was beginning to think that we may need to move when BAM! Pat hooked up and battled a big 25" Slot Red to the net. Then BAM! Mason was catching Redfish, one after the other. Then BAM! Pat hooked up and battled and landed a "Tournament" sized 26.75" Redfish. He and Mason had their number for a good while then Bryan finally joined in to put a Trout in the boat.
Our next stop was back up north, fishing deep with jigs and here we got in to some Seatrout. Frank had been "laying back" but he joined in to put some Trout in the boat. All four anglers were catching fish and added three more keeper sized Trout to the box. As time wound down, Mason took home the hardware, the coveted GPK! And as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
We all noticed that most of the fish were caught as the river bottom dropped off, in about 6' of water. The water temperature had warmed a bit since last week, up to 57 degrees. We caught fish for two hours and they caught their limit of Slot fish (1 apiece) and then we continued to count - we had about 6 Slot Reds there, the biggest being 24" . They also added two keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum to the catch.
Our final stop was over on the outside of Tyger and with the tide up, we eased in to some shallow water and switched to float rigs and the shrimp. I was hoping for a Trout or two to wrap things up but was pleasantly surprised, they began to get Reds! Most of them were small but we counted another 4 Slot Reds caught, the biggest being 23". The sun was up, we had been shedding jackets, and we had a nice mess of fish in the boat so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
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Looking back a bit, you would think that the ex-Commissioner, now turned journalist wanna-be, would have gotten the message when he lost re-election. Stuff like this is one of reasons why he lost. Very sleazy the way they went about it. The present Commissioner is on his way out due to Term Limits, thankfully. Often seen as the Commissioner who promoted having Pentanque Courts down at the Marina, this guy seems bound and determined to eradicate the historical use and quaintness of our Marina. The City has for years been struggling with the need for parking spaces and this Commissioner sees the elimination of the boat ramp as a way to pick up parking spaces. Ironically, installation of his pet Pentanque Courts removed some of the parking!
There's all kinds of theories as to what's behind this. The proposed two story restaurant to replace Atlantic Seafood will need parking and surely they view the boat ramp itself as an obstacle. But the bigger picture that long time residents point to is the never ending push by past and present Commissioners is to build a "Waterfront Park" down at the Marina. It's like their legacy depends on the "Disneyfication" of our waterfront. Each time there is a new Commission, a study will come out. And in those study's the draftsmen will have a kids playground. A Music venue. A memorial to the Shrimpers. And Pentanque Courts. The only thing they've yet to add is a waterslide or Pickleball courts. These planners play the same game - they feel like they have to have enough recreational usages to get support for their plan. And then the plan is presented and residents get up in arms (not literally) and protest against it.
There's a reason why and Commissioners haven't figured it out why the public protests. THEY ARE BAD PLANS. As mentioned, they are trying to make the Marina Disney World 1.2 My gut tells me that either the Commissioners or planners or both are only talking to people close to them, or they are listening to well meaning activists that go to the discussions sessions, and they get their input and think that is what the whole community wants.
Just my opinion, but not having a City boat ramp is absurd. For a coastal City, on an island, surrounded by water with hundreds if not thousands of boaters, to shirk their duty as Commissioners and not provide a boat ramp is a shameful thought. If they really think about it, they surely don't want to hang their political futures or (possibly) brief legacies on a decision to remove our only boat ramp.
Here's what they need to do: Clean up and beautify what's there. Maybe add some landscaping. Keep the boat ramp where it is OR provide another City ramp nearby. Dedicate an area (north? where Shrimp boats can come in and unload their catch.. Have a viewing stand/dock where people could watch the process. Have a seafood market where people could purchase fresh shrimp, right off the boat. Move the Pentanque Courts - they have no business down at the Marina.
Say NO to a music venue. If it's not used weekly it's a waste and will be taken over by dust, cobwebs and dirt daubers. IF it's used weekly, then the ensuing traffic snarl will be reminiscent of the 4th of July fireworks -EVERY WEEKEND!
Say NO to a kids playground. The City has numerous parks with kids playgrounds. We don't need another. There's grass there. Bring a Frisbee or a wiffleball, or a soccer ball if you want' 'em to play. That south, grassy area is a great place for small craft festivals, fishing tournaments or other quarterly events. Bam. Done.
Note, the present Commissioner who is pushing this has always appeared to be a vindictive dude. He does do his research, however. If he wants to dig dirt up on me he'll find that my wife and I are NOT City residents. Our homestead (and voting) is in Jacksonville. But we do own a home on south 5th Street and with that, pay some serious taxes. Carol and I were both born and raised in Fernandina Beach. We went to high school here, played sports, and were involved in service clubs here. I've operated my Charter Boat business (yes, sir, it is a Small Business) for 18 years out of Fernandina.. Before that, 23 years in another small business servicing Fernandina and Nassau County. I served on numerous non-profit Boards, coached in the local YMCA basketball leagues, and volunteered hours for the local swim team. We've got equity in this community even though our primary residence is in Jacksonville, we feel like we have some skin in the game. Hands Off our boat ramp.
Just at high tide we moved around to Jolley Bank and fished floats with no luck and as the tide began to turn we ran back to the outside of Tyger and fished a flooded corner of grass with the floats. I was really counting on this spot but, nope, no fish!
We then made the run down the Amelia River and fished some structure for a good 30 minutes or so with the jigs. Although Sean did get one bite it wasn't a taker and we were looking at "skunk" just over the horizon. But thankfully, Sean was patient - we ran back towards town, dipped into a creek, dipped into another creek and fished some dock pilings with the jigs. We had two bites and two Slot Redfish! Sean played them perfectly, worked to the boat, and landed a 23" Slot and a 18" Slot. Skunk was off!
After fishing one more spot with float rigs (and no bites) we headed back. It was a beautiful morning that got prettier as the day went on - just a bit cool, no wind, and the sun was out so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
But we made our first stop over at some dock pilings on a tide that had been going out for a few hours, fishing jigs and live shrimp, and when Madonna reeled in a feisty Redfish that almost measured legal I thought sure we were going to "get busy". But the current never seemed to pick up and the tide never got to where the oysters were showing and the fish never bit again!
We hit another dock down the river, fishing the jigs and here the oysters were showing and even though I felt like we were in the right spot at the right time, not a bite. Ouch. While we were in the area we decided to fish one more dock system and this paid off.
We then made a long run up to Tyger Island and fished the logs, working the bank with the jigs and here Ed added a keeper sized Sheepshead and Madonna added a keeper sized Seatrout. They also put another Sheepshead in the boat and a couple of Puppy Drum.
We had started slow but as we headed back to the ramp busting thru wind and waves, we counted it as another great day of fishing with a good mess of fish in the box here at Amelia Island, Florida.
We then ran up the Nassau and fished Broward Island where the tide was still going out. We worked the bank pretty good, then hit another spot as the tide started to change. I had thought about advising the guys that we needed to be patient - last week they didn't start biting until the tide stated back in. But I kept my lips zipped for some reason. Both Frank and Bob were making excellent casts but were getting no bites, not even a nibble. I could feel the doubt creeping in to the back of my brain but then Frank had a hard bite and a drag ripping run and...fish off! We decided to give it a little bit more time and then BAM! Bob had a strong hookup and this fish was ripping drag and digging deep and ripping drag and boiling to the surface and digging deep - Bob stayed with it, worked it patiently and eventually landed a big 22" Black "puppy" Drum, boy what a fish. And minutes later it was Franks turn - he expertly battled a big 25.5" 7-spot Redfish to the net. And minutes later Bob fought and landed a nice 18" Sheepshead. We had one more big fish take the bait but this one managed to throw the hook, too. I'm going to note Franks Redfish as 2nd place in the 2024 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament and Bobs Sheepshead setting the standard with 1st place in the Sheepshead Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings).
We hit a couple of other spots as the tide got higher, drifting floats along the marsh grass but there was nothing to be had, so we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
After fishing down Broward for a good while, to no avail, we pulled up and ran. We did have a Bald Eagle sighting.
Our next stop up the Nassau and into a creek where we worked the bank with the jigs. Ray had been "laying back" but he came alive here! The both caught some small but feisty Reds, then Ray hooked up and battled to the boat a nice Slot Redfish. They added to more Slot's then Ray put a keeper sized Seatrout and then a keeper sized Flounder to round out his (type of) Amelia Island Back Country Slam. We also had a Salt Marsh Mink sighting.
We fished a drainage on the way back to the ramp but the tide was at its peak and we had not luck. But as as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island Florida.
I met Chris and Brian out at Goffinsville Park on a tide that still had a couple of ours to hit high, so we eased around to the mouth of Pumpkin Hill and began to drift float rigs and live shrimp down the grass line. We all three were getting good drifts, up the by the grass, but we had no luck, not even a nibble.
In addition to one of those bigger Slot Reds caught, Chris also put a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum in the boat. One of the Slot's we caught we tagged with a Gray FishTag Researach tag, ID# GFR62484 When the bite finally slowed, right at the peak of high tide, we made the run back to the Seymore's Pointe area.
Fishing a large drainage on the first of the outgoing tides with the float rigs, we began to catch Seatrout. Brian and I caught the "dinks" but Chris put a nice 17" keeper trout in the boat and then followed that up with a keeper sized puppy Drum.
I noted that we fished 6 spots that day, but only two of them produced fish, but they were prolific, so as we headed back to the ramp, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, F.lorida.
