Oversized One, Two and Three

 That was some wind we had the last two days. 20mph plus winds so I was off. Carol and I walked the dog downtown and then down to the Marina and boy was it ugly out there! But those winds dropped last night and this morning greeted us with only 3mph, sunny and cool temperatures in the high 40's, boy what a pretty day! I met Dick Conley and his crew, David Gray and Henry Ross, down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early on a low and still outgoing tide. We eased around to the Sawpit bridge, anchored with the I=Pilot and David and Dick began drifting slip floats out the back baited up with live shrimp. They had a good number of drifts and did see some action - both hooked and landed legal sized Weakfish. (All fish caught today were released). Henry was  up on the bow tossing a DOA shrimp and picked up the loan Seatrout at that spot.

We then ran up the Intracoastal, up the Nassau and made our way to a drainage between two docks, where I thought it would be a sure thing to catch Seatrout. Dick and David were fishing jigs and live shrimp, Henry stayed with the DOA and...we didn't get a real bite. Ouch. We then ran down to Broward Island to fish it on the last of an outgoing. Here, we did get some action. All three anglers caught Seatrout tossing jigs or the DOA. Actually, the DOA produced pretty good. Throwing the shrimp though, David and Dick caught a feisty Redfish each. But then David had a strong bite, one that dug deep and ripped that drag. I must losing my touch - I didn't think it was going to be HUGE - "just" a nice Slot Red. But David proved me wrong. He worked it in patiently, brought it to the net, and landed an Oversized 30.75" Redfish. 

As we eased down the bank, drifting with the current, these three anglers put a good mess of Seatrout in the boat. There were a handful of keeper size, but we tossed them back. Then it was Dick's turn to battle the big fish. He had tossed up into a shadow, hooked up, and BAM! Big Fish On! Dick played it expertly - kept the pressure on, let it run, worked it in, let it run, worked it in, and eventually landed another Oversized Red that measured right at 28".  Boy what a fish!

We came back to fish a dock at Seymore's Pointe where Henry quickly put a Seatrout in the boat, but we were looking for Drum or Reds so we moved on. The final stop was at Spanish Drop, fishing some shell beds with the jigs and shrimp. Just when I thought the fish had had enough, Dick had made a coast up behind a shell bar and BAM!. There went the drag ripping again!  Another Big Fish on!  Dick battled it valiantly and soon worked in another Oversized Red, this one measuring in at 29". What a great way to wrap up a fishing trip! e had had beautiful weather and had put some big fish in the boat so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Bragging Rights Bust

 Today's planned "fun" fishing trip turned in to a busting of the Bragging Rights! Needing some fish for my Amelia Island Life Long Learning class's fish fry, I planned to fish this morning with my wife Carol and our neighbor and friend Wade Kirkland. We got an early start, picking up bait at Amelia Island Bait and Tackle then making our way out to Goffinsville Park. After launching and easing out of the No Wake Zone, we ran down the Nassau to make our first stop at Seymore's Ponte with plans to fish some dock pilings on the last of an outgoing tide.  The good news is that we had zero wind. The bad news was that the Sand Gnats (no seeums) were out in force. But we had bug spray and head nets so there was no whispers of mutiny, that I heard. Although I liked the spot and liked the tide we had hardly any nibbles except a small Seatrout that Carol caught before we moved on. 

I was killing time waiting for that tide to start back in so we stopped in at some docks at Nassauville and pitched the jigs and this gave us a good flurry of action. Both Carol and Wade hooked up and caught Seatrout and I got in a few casts, caught a few, one of which was of keeper size. We then made our way down to Broward Island and fished it as the tide began to hit bottom. We were treated to a Bald Eagle sighting and then a Salt Marsh Mink scampering along the bank - my first sighting of the year. Carol had a good cast up to the bank and in short order, BAM! Fish On! She played it perfectly and patiently brought it to the net - a nice 18"(maybe) Redfish. The measurement was so close we thought we'd have to debate the FWC guy so we tossed it back. Just as we were releasing it Wade had a strong hookup. This fish was heading north and ripping drag and digging deep and we knew it was a big one. But Wade was up the task and put up a valiant battle, working the fish in slowly, letting it run, working it in, letting it run and after about an 8 minutes fight he brought to the net an Oversized 32.5" Redfish. This fish moved Wade into First Place in the 2025 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings).  Boy what a fish!

We fished up and down the bank and picked up another handful of Redfish, one of which was of keeper size.  After fishing a small creek and getting two more Reds, we called it a day and headed back in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Recipe of the Month: Black Eye Pea Stew

 We've made this three times during this past winter and taken to a party once and it received acclaim! Not
much to the recipe, just some good old comfort food on a cold winter's day! Sorry, no seafood in it...

Ingredients:

1   lb dried Black Eye Peas                                                                            2    32oz  boxes chicken stock                                                                  2-3 stalks celery, chopped                                                                          1  medium onion, chopped                                                                           1   lb bag frozen collard greens                                                                    1   lb ground or link smoked sausage                                                                  Creole seasoning                                                                     

Soak a 1lb bag of Black Eye peas - pour in a bowl, cover with water and soak overnight in the fridge.

The next day, drain and rinse the peas and put in a pot.

Cover with about one and half box of chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours

At about one hour take a potato masher or mallet and "smash" up some of the Black Eye Peas

Add bag of  Collards to pot

In a cast iron skillet brown the sausage, add to pot.

Brown the celery and onion, season with Creole seasoning, add to pot 

Season as needed again with Creole seasoning. Add Chicken stock to cover. Simmer covered for another 30 minutes. 

A Little Bit of Everything

 I last fished with Dennis Fritz, his wife Adele, and their visiting friends Jon and Jessica, meeting themdown at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We were supposed to go early but when the alarm went off and I got up it was pouring rain! Luckily this group was able to go later so we postponed the trip until 11am. After the "safety orientation" we eased just around the corner to anchor up current from the old Sawpit Bridge. I had the ladies drifting Slip Floats out the stern, back towards the pilings, baited with live shrimp. Dennis and Jon were off the Starboard side tossing jigs and live shrimp up current. Both Adele and Jessica were getting good drifts and let their floats slip right beside the pilings, but they had no takers. But surprisingly, Dennis had a good bite, set the hook, and brought to the boat a nice feisty Redfish. 

We then made the long run up the Nassau River and made our way over to some docks in Nassauville. All four anglers switched to jigs and shrimp and this paid off - they all began to hookup and land hungry Seatrout. They kept me busy! Most of these fish were in the 14.5" range, just under sized, but caught in 20-25' of water. 

After a run down to Broward Island and a Bald Eagle sighting, we fished the deep waters off of the island and picked up a couple of Trout and a Redfish or two. We then ran way up the Nassau and dipped into a creek and fished the deeper bank. This did the trick. This group landed another couple of Redfish and a Black "puppy" Drum to round out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam of

Redfish, Seatrout and Drum. We had sunny skies for most of the day(after the morning rain), and very light winds - the temperature warmed enough so that we were shedding layers. If not for the "no-seeums" it would have been another outstanding day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Tale of Two Halves

It was forecasted to be a nasty day and it didn't disappoint!  Overcast skies, sprinkling rain on occasion, and cooler temperatures greeted us at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp when I met Mark Averbuch and his fishing buddies Gerry Mathe and Paul Clark.  The good news was that the wind wasn't blowing so we made our way up the Nassau to make our first stop at a large drainage at Seymore's Pointe. We baited up live shrimp under fixed floats and got Mark out off the stern with his cast then Gerry out behind him. I was getting Paul set up and when I turned around I only saw one float - the other was missing!  Gerry started cranking and had the hookup and Fish On!  Gerry worked it to the boat expertly and landed a nice1 16.5" Flounder! Skunk off the boat!

What a great way to start a fishing trip but he excitement was short lived. All three anglers were getting good casts and good drifts but we had no real bites at that spot. We then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point and drifted floats there along the marsh grass, but to no avail We came back to Jackstaff "bank" and switched to jigs and live shrimp. Again, we were getting good casts but had no bites.

Back thru Horsehead we went and down to Nassauville where we fished between two docks. I had high hopes for Seatrout here, deep on the bottom, but after a dozen casts and no real bites I was beginning to worry. But perseverance paid off - Mark, fishing off the stern, found a "honey hole" and began to catch Seatrout, getting a bite on almost every cast.  He had figured out to slow his retrieve to almost zero, just taking up slack as the jig bounced along the bottom and when he felt the "tap", bam, he had a hookup. Paul picked up on the technique and began to put fish in the boat, then Gerry caught a few, too. All of these fish were in the 12-14" range but we did have one of keeper size (released). We probably could have stayed there and caught fish until we ran out of bait, but we moved on to seek bigger fish. 

After running way up the Nassau River we dipped into a creek and worked the bank with the jigs. I was expecting Redfish but I was beginning to think they were going to let me down. But Paul, casting to the "palm and pine" hooked up and Fish On!  He played it patiently and brought to the net a feisty Redfish. He went back to the same spot and BAM! Bigger fish on. This one was ripping drag, a sure sign it was in the Slot, and sure enough, after a good battle, Paul landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish. We worked further down the bank until we hit marsh grass and with a little time to kill, we dropped back to the Palm and Pine and this did the trick. All three anglers began to get Reds. A couple were right at 17+", and one was in the Slot  at 20", and a couple were small but "feisty".(all Reds were released today) It was a good "grande finale" - the first half of the trip had started slow but the 2nd half we had finished strong so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

If We Were On A Deserted Island...

 we'd of ate pretty good! I met Glenn and Patti Lanford mid morning today with plans to fish the last of an outgoing tide, first of an incoming. We ran up the intra-coastal, up the Nassau and made our way to a large runout where we pitched jigs and live shrimp. I wouldn't call it "on fire" but we caught a good handful of hungry Seatrout - they all ranged in the 14-12" range. If we were on a deserted island and that was what we were catching we would have ate pretty good!  We moved around and fished some docks at Seymore's Pointe but had no real bites.

After fishing right at Seymores Point for just a bit(Glenn hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish), we made the run down to Broward Island. Although a couple f spots were taken(that's Saturday fishing) we made our way down the island and set up into the current. Here, Patti came alive and began to catch Seatrout. She put a good handful in the boat, then Glenn joined in and caught a few. One of these was of keeper size. They also landed another Redfish and we added a Whiting to the catch total. 

We had caught a "mess o fish" but only one or two were of keeper size. But the sun was out and as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Got Trout?

Long John weather!  Low mid 30's with wind forecasted to be 14-16 mph (they were right!)  I met Gene Burk and is nephew Aiden down at Sawpit this morning with those conditions, but we did have sunny skies all day, so we made the most of it. Our first stop was around at the bridge where we drifted slip float (trout) rigs deep back to the bridge pilings. I was a bit surprised when we caught Bluefish instead of Trout! We moved on. We made a long run up the Nassau River, into the wind and boy was it cold! But when we reached Nassauville the wind was blocked and we had comfortable conditions to toss jigs and live shrimp on the last hour or so of the outgoing tide. There must have been a Trout convention going on down there in 25' water because Gene and Aiden caught Seatrout, one after the other. Most were in the 14" range but every once in a while they'd put one of keeper size in the boat. The biggest, caught by Gene, was right at 17".  We probably could have stayed there and caught those Trout but we had a few in the box, so we moved on. 

We ran down to Broward Island and fished a choppy last of an outgoing tide. Fishing deep with the jigs Aiden hooked up and caught a handful of Seatrout. We moved north and fished a bit but had no luck so we moved on. 

After a long run up the Nassau we dipped into a creek and worked a bank with jigs. It wasn't "on fire" but the duo tallied 7 Redfish caught. Aiden landed the biggest, an 18" Slot fish that added to their dinner plans!  We had caught bookoodles of fish, had sunny skies, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

 

Bragging Times Two

 

What a cold, windy and dreary day it was that greeted us when David Vice and his fishing Team Gary and Allen met me out at Goffinsville Park this morning.  For me, it was a toss up whether to try and fish today with winds forecasted to get up to 16mph. But I had a Plan! So we met and made a long run up and thru Horsehead, into the intra-coastal and up the river to make our first stop at a nice drainage in hopes of getting some Drum or Reds on the last of an outgoing tide - but we didn't have a bite on our jigs and live shrimp.  We ran further up the river and into a creek behind Piney Island and fished it for a bit but again, we had not a bite. I was beginning to think my "Plan" wasn't a very good one. 

We decided to come back towards the ramp and found a couple of docks we could fish with the jigs and this did the trick. Gary had the first reel bite but it didn't take, then Allen, after making an excellent cast, hooked up and expertly reeled in a hungry Seatrout. to "knock the skunk off".  From then on, we were caching fish, most all of them deep in 25-30' of water. We caught so many I was beginning to think we'd run out of bait. Gary got the hang of it and caught and landed a number of the Trout, a couple of which were of keeper size. He also put a keeper Weakfish in the boat. David, fishing off of the bow, caught one Trout after the other, with a keeper or two. He also put a keeper Whiting in the boat. 

Thinking that we may have a shot at some Drum, we ran up to Seymore's Pointe and fished some
pilings but we were back to no bites. We then made our way down to Broward Island just as the tide hit bottom. David got hot on the stern and brought in a Trout. He went back to the same spot and BAM! Fish On!  It was ripping a bit of drag and I mistakenly called "small Redfish", but boy was I wrong! Once that fish got out deep it began to "dig" and then ripped line up current, then back, then dug deep, then ran again. When David got it to the surface we saw that it was a huge Redfish. David played it perfectly, letting it run then working in, over and over, until he was able to ease him into the net to land a 1st Place standing in the Anglers Mark 2025 Bragging Rights Tournament with a 32" Redfish. Boy what a fish!. 

From the same hole we had another hookup. Gary was on the rod this time- he fought it valiantly and brought it up from the bottom. It was fighting a bit "weird" and sure enough when Gary got it to the net we saw that it was a very nice 18" Sheepshead, big enough to kick off the Bragging Rights Sheepshead Category with a 1st place position. (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Not minutes later young Allen worked in and landed the only Slot Redfish of the day-  a nice 20" fish. The trio of anglers caught another handful of Seatrout, two of which were of keeper size(those and the big Sheepshead were released - they had enough for dinner). We fished until the bait was gone then we headed back to the ramp can counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Beating The Drum

 

Oh what a pretty day we had today! It was kinda cool but only a "two layer" day, and the sun was out with no real wind- the water early was like glass. I had met Henry Ross and his son-in-law Devon down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made our way  up the intracoastal and then up the Nassau River to fish a dock at Seymore's Point on the very first of an incoming tide. As it turned out, we may have been early. Both anglers were making excellent casts to the pilings but we had not a single bite, not a one. We eased around teh corner to Nassauville and fished an outlet with a deeper drop off and this did the trick. Devon got hot early, I think it was his first cast and he had a hookup and played to the net a hungry Seatrout. He followed that up in quick order with a couple of more catches. Henry got things going and caught a hanful of the Trout too. Out of the 10 or 12 that we caught, one was of keeper size. 

We then made our way down to Broward Island and fished the first of an incoming there. Again, Devon got hot - he caught a couple of small Redfish, then had a strong bite and as his drag ripped, we had a big Fish On!  Devon played it perfectly, let it run worked it in, let it run and finally brought to the net a nice keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. The duo added a few more fish before we moved down about 40'. Again, they picked up a couple of smaller Redfish and a Trout or two. We then moved further down, turned nto the current and worked back and caught more Reds, a keeper sized Sheepshead, and a Trout or two. Before we left the area we decided to fish are first spot one more time, now that the tide was really coming in and it paid off. Devon added a nice 20" Slot Redfish to his catch total and Henry battled a big Black Drum to the net. He had a " Bragging Rights" Sheepshead to the surface but it shook the hook before I could get it netted. Net man has to be quicker!

After making the long run up the Nassau and dipping into a creek we worked it thoroughly and it paid off with another 8-10 Redfish caught, one of which was in the Slot. Although the first spot didn't produce, the rest did and we caught a "mess o' fish" so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Sweetheart of a Trip

 

Fishing the day after Valentines you hope that the catching will make for a "sweetheart" kind of day, and today turned out to be pretty good!  I had met William and Dara Blalock out at Goffinsivlle Park early and as I was launching I was treated to a really cool sunrise. The tide had been coming in for about an hour so we made our way up river to get in some "first of the incoming" tide fishing. Dara was on the stern and made an excellent first cast - William was on the bow and made an excellent first cast and BAM! It was William who had the hookup. He worked it to the boat and landed a nice feisty Redfish. William picked up a Seatrout shortly after that, then BAM! and his drag was ripping - this was a big one!  William played it patiently, worked it in, let it run, worked it in, let it run, and eventually brought to the net an Oversized 27.75" Redfish. 

We moved down the way about 30' and worked the bank with the jigs and shrimp and here Dara came
alive and got on the board with a couple of Redfish and Seatrout catches. William added a couple too, then we moved further down the Island and worked back into the current and caught a handful of Redfish, one of which was in the Slot. There were a couple of more Seatrout caught with at least one of those of keeper size. 

After running way up the Nassau we dipped into a creek and worked back into the current. The catching wasn't "on fire" but it was nice and steady. Dara did an excellent job of battling a 20" Slot Red to the net, and William added another Slot fish to the count. We caught  and tossed a good handful of smaller but "feisty" Reds and a couple of Trout, one of being of keeper size. 

We later fished some flooded shell alongside some marsh grass with float rigs and Dara found a Trout, then we fished one set of docks where William pulled a Trout out from behind the pilings. We had stayed busy catching fish the first three hours of the trip so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.