Wrapping Up a Great Year of Fishing

We had another great day of fishing to wrap up a great week and a great year of fishing here at Amelia Island. Jeff Wood, his girlfriend Virginia and her son Will fished with me this morning, meeting me down at the Atlantic Seafood dock on the very first of an incoming tide. There was just enough breeze to keep the no-see-ums off as we pulled in to our first spot. There were ideal conditions with the tide creeping in and all three anglers were soon pitching 1/4oz jigs with shrimp or mud minnows to the bank. It was not  a "fast and furious" kind of morning but it was packed with quality fish when they bit!
Jeff got it started when he hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized 18" Black "puppy" Drum (all fish were released today).  Then he followed that up with a big Slot sized 22" Redfish.  We fished the area thoroughly, working our way thru  tons of  "baitsealers" then Virgina had a hookup and FISH ON! She played the fish perfectly and after a good battle, landed an even bigger 25" Slot Red. Shortly after that young Will had a good hookup and he too had a big fish on.  He worked the big fish patiently to the boat and we netted the biggest Redfish of the day, a nice 26"+ fish. Other than the
baitstealers, the anglers landed four fish and all of them were of keeper size. The wind had picked up so we ran around to Oyster Bay and fished the Tiki hut but had no real bites. Our last stop was around at a grass patch in Lanceford Creek with the tide still coming in. We switched to float rigs and our first cast produced a keeper sized Seatrout that Will landed like a pro. From then on all three anglers were catching fish - a Trout here and a Trout there. They caught about 10 of them and 3-5 of those were keeper size with the biggest being about 18". With that we called it a day (and a year) another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fun Fishing at Amelia Island

I had a window of opportunity to fish with some friends, Tim Parker and his brother Brian Knicely this evening so we met at the City marina and ran up Lanceford Creek to fish the first of an outgoing tide. We hit a small grass patch first, tossing shrimp and mud minnows under floats but we had no takers. We then fished some dock pilings and picked up one small but feisty Redfish. We had one more strong bite that broke us off in the pilings but after that there were  no more real bites, even though the tide was getting
down and conditions were ideal. We made a run around to Tiger Island and with the logs exposed we again worked the jigs. Tim struck first when he put a keeper sized Trout in the boat. He also landed  a couple of small but fun to catch Flounder then it was like someone turned a light switch on - BOOM, FISH ON!   BOOM, FISH ON!  BOOM, FISH ON! We caught fish after fish. Sometimes it would be a big Slot Redfish and sometimes a nice keeper sized Seatrout. We ended up with 5 Slot sized Reds, threw back a good handful of smaller ones, and had 5 keeper sized
Seatrout and a bull Whiting. Brian added a small Black "puppy" Drum to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam and a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

The Girls First Fish

We've had excellent weather this week and that included today -just a few clouds, a slight breeze and balmy temperatures. I had met Tripp Miller, his fiancé Carla and his daughters Kaylee and Lila down at the City marina and we headed up to Eagans Creek to fish the first of an incoming tide with jigs and live shrimp and mud minnows. It didn't take long for Kaylee to "knock the skunk off" when she landed a nice Seatrout. From then on it was some steady fish catching. Carla was taking pictures as the other three anglers boated fish. Both Tripp and Kaylee put Slot Redfish in the boat
with three of them measuring at 23", 22" and 22" with a total of 5 Slot Reds caught along with a good handful of smaller ones. Lila seemed to have the hot hand at catching Seatrout with her "down, up" fishing technique and she put at least three of them in the boat. We fished over at Tiger Island and although things were slower, Tripp hooked up with a big Redfish and landed it with ease - another Slot sized 25" Redfish, the biggest of the day! We toured Cumberland Island and saw a large herd of horses, eased by Fort Clinch and wrapped up the trip at Old Town to make it another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

She Called For a Mud Minnow

I fished with Jesse Tanner and his family, splitting a 3/4 day trip to get 3 of the family out early then another 3 out for the 2nd stage of the trip. Jesse, Steve and Davis met me early at the City boat ramp and we headed up to Egans Creek to fish some dock pilings as the tide came in. It took a few casts with jigs and shrimp but eventually the trio began to catch fish. Jesse knocked the skunk off when he put a feisty Redfish in the boat then Steve followed it up with a nice Slot 22" Redfish (all fish were released today). They had a couple
more of strong hookups with one of them ripping drag and breaking itself off in the pilings. Our next stop was around at Tiger Island and things heated up. Both Steve and Jesse put some nice keeper sized Seatrout in the boat and a couple of keeper sized Flounder to round out a double Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Davis had had some good bites, picked up a small Trout then his perseverance paid off when he put a nice keeper sized Trout, one of the biggest of the morning. We dropped off this crew then picked up the 2nd set of anglers - Denny, Rowan and Allison. We needed to replenish our
bait and after that we cruised over to the outside of Tiger and set up over some flooded oyster beds. Dennis picked up a keeper sized Trout right off and later Rowan got her first fish, an hungry Trout. Allison had a few bites but no takers so she called for a Mud Minnow to try. When she yelled, "FISH ON" I thought for sure she had hung up in some oysters but she said it was pulling back! Sure enough, BIG FISH ON! She played the fish perfectly, fighting it from starboard to port off the stern of the boat and after a good battle, landed a big 25" Slot Redfish, the biggest of the day! We fished the area thoroughly picked up another Trout or two, then crossed over to fish a creek mouth. Both Allison and Denny caught Trout, Denny's on a jig and shrimp down deep. We fished Tiger Island and picked one more Trout, fished an oyster bed over in Bell River, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Boat Ride and a Redfish

I finished my day up by doing a 2 hour boat ride and tour with the Kenneth Peck party, meeting them At the Oyster Bay dock and then touring north of the Island. We made stops at Old Town, the Pogey Plant, Fort Clinch and then crossed over to see some wild horses on the south end of Cumberland Island, Georgia. We then cruised up into Beach Creek and found that their were horses inland, too. We saw cranes and egrets and ospreys during the trip. I had some left over bait from my morning fishing trip and I thought we might tuck in behind Tiger to get out of the wind that had picked up and do some fishing...but there were 4-5 boats back there doing the same thing! So we ran over to Eagans Creek, and eased thru until we found a likely dock to fish. Young Lori did a great job casting and after a few minutes she had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! She played the feisty fish perfectly and after a good battle landed a nice Redfish - her first ever fish! I thought that was a great way to wrap up a day of fishing but when we got back to the dock Kenneth made it even better by presenting me with a neat sign that his company produces - American Made! See  Altogether American for more fine products.

Back to Fishing

With the Christmas holiday in our rear view mirror, we were able to get back to some fishing here at Amelia Island. I met Todd Standley and his two sons Linus and Xander down at the City boat ramp early this morning and we headed up the river to fish Tiger Island as the tide came in. There were still some logs showing and I think it was our first cast when Linus reeled in a hungry, keeper sized Seatrout. That's the way to start a fishing trip! We fished the area, up and down and both Todd and Linus put a few more Trout in the
boat. Then Linus had a strong hookup and BOOM! Fish on!  He played the big fish perfectly and kept the pressure light when it got back into the current. After a good battle he landed a nice 25" Slot Redfish. Later, Xander had a good bite and he too had a fish on. He played the fish all the way to the boat and then did a "quick release" of a nice keeper sized Flounder. Then Linus add a Flounder of his own to round out his very own Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Redfish, and Flounder.  The tide had gotten up so we fished the outside of Tiger and here Todd put a couple of more Trout in the boat using a float rig and live shrimp. Our next couple of spots produce no fish and when the wind picked up we finished the day over in Eagans Creek where Linus wrapped the day with another Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Rose Marie's Secret Fishing Spot

It was a somewhat gloomy morning that greeted us at the boat ramp with a few raindrops falling as I launched the boat. A thin fog was settled on the water but there was almost no winds to deal with. I had met the Alfrey family down at the City marina -  Adam Alfrey, his wife Olivia and 5 year old daughter Olivia and tagging along was Granddad Bill for the fishing trip. We headed up river to fish Eagans Creek on the first of an outgoing tide and our first stop at a clump of marsh grass produced  no bites on live shrimp under float rigs. Unless of course you count the No-See-Ums who attacked us
from the start. But we were ready with bug spray and young Olivia modeled a face net and this did the trick. Our next stop was at an old dock where we switched to jigs and shrimp and it was almost immediate for the anglers to begin catching fish. Grandad Bill "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a nice 20"+ Slot Redfish then it was BOOM! Fish on! BOOM! Fish on! BOOM! Fish on. There were smaller 17" "feisty Redfish" and then they'd get a stronger bite which took a while to work in, but they were patient and ended up landing at least 8 Slot Sized Redfish with a 24" one
that Olivia caught being the biggest. Rose Marie helped reel in a few of them and then she took over the role as "netgirl" to help land the fish. Just when we thought things were going to slow down the Black "puppy" Drum started biting. After putting two smaller ones in the boat they landed two nice keeper sized fish, the biggest being about 18". We wrapped it up at this spot after Oliva landed a small Stingray. Our next stop was up Bell River at some now exposed oyster beds and although the bite had slowed, Bill did hookup and land another Slot Redfish. Our last stop was around at Tiger Island and again, a slow bite, but then Adam had a good hookup, and FISH ON! He played the big Redfish patiently and a after a good battle landed the group's 10th Slot Redfish of the day. Bill made it an Amelia Island Grande Slam when he landed a keeper sized Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Cold Day But Hot Fishing

When I checked the weather report last night I saw that that we'd be battling the wind today but it'd be nice, sunny and clear. I forgot to look at the temperature though, so when I stepped outside I realized I better head back in and get some back up jackets, and boy I'm glad I did! I met Jason Lane, his son Robbie, his father-in-law Tommy and brother-in-law Chad down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and luckily all of us had some cold weather gear on as the temperature was hovering just over 40 and the wind was blowing 12-15mph. But we were all in for some fishing so we headed up the Amelia River and then tucked in to Jackstaff to fish an exposed oyster bank on the last of an outgoing tide with jigs and shrimp. These anglers were making excellent casts (and into the wind) but we had no real bites after fishing a good stretch so we headed over to Seymore's Pointe to fish some docks and this did the trick. After fishing for just a little while Jason "knocked the skunk off" the boat when he landed a hard fighting keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. There must have been a school down there because they all began to haul in fish. Young Robbie hooked up and played his share of fish, casting and reeling in  a few of  his own.  I think Tommy had the biggest one, a 20"er and he and Chad had a double on at one time. Then Chad spiced it up by landing a fat keeper sized Seatrout. They put a good "mess" in the boat then we ran down to Broward Island to fish the still outgoing tide. They were getting nibbles here and there when Jason had a strong bite and, FISH ON! This was a big one! He played the big fish perfectly with his light  Fenwick HMG 6'6" rod, battling the fish smoothly with the Stradic 1000FJ and 10lb braid. He worked it out from the bank then it went deep and into the current but Jason kept the pressure on and landed a big 25.5" Slot sized Redfish, boy what a fish! We worked the area up and down and Chad completed a personal Slam when he put a keeper sized Sheepshead in the boat. Our last stop was back at Seymore's Pointe where Jason wrapped things up when he caught another Slot Redfish, this one on a float rig and live shrimp. It was cold and windy but the day turned out to be another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Black Drum Makes an Appearance

We had a low tide that had just started back in when I met Brian Cochran and his friend Phillip down at the Altantic Seafood dock today. There was just a slight breeze and overcast skies as we headed north to fish Tiger Island with jigs and live (kinda) shrimp. It was somewhat slow fishing although both anglers had a couple of good bites, fish on for a while, then off. Ouch.  But they persevered and when Brian had a strong hookup we knew it was a nice fish as it bulled its way deep and fought to keep from coming to the surface. But Brian kept the pressure on and after a good battle
landed a nice 22" Black "puppy" Drum. Shortly after that Phillip put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. We had one or two more Trout here then ran around to the Jolley River to fish the now covered oysters with float rigs and live shrimp. The wind had picked up which made for some difficult fishing - and the fish didn't cooperate, so we continued further around and into the Bell River to fish some docks. It was almost immediately that we had hookups with hungry Trout (back to fishing the jigs) and we had one on a jig and grub, white with red tail. Our last stop was back near the marina where Phillip caught a small Flounder to round out the duo's Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Drum, Seatrout, and Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

A Trout Kind of Day

We had a third day in a row of picture perfect weather today. I had met Shane Ward and his buddy Doug down at the City marina and after running north we made our first stop outside of Tiger Island with a high and still incoming tide. The two anglers were tossing float rigs with live shrimp up near the grass and the water was like glass! Although they had a couple of nibbles their were no takers so we ran through Tiger and around to Bell River to try the same tactic again. Here, both anglers found some Seatrout and we had a good flurry of fish catching. When it slowed down we ran back through Tiger and again to the outside where we set up at the mouth of a large marsh runout on the first of the outgoing tide, and again, picked up a few Trout. We fished the Jolley River with no real results then finished up over it Bell River, fishing some docks with jigs and shrimp. Both Shane and Doug found some Trout down deep and caught a good handful which was a great way to wrap up a beautiful day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.