Like a Science Class

We had postponed our fishing trip from Monday until this morning to avoid the higher winds earlier in the week and boy was it a pretty day!  I met Barbara and Lou Montresor and their son Kevin down at the Big Talbot Island Park this morning at 7am under clear skies and with just a slight breeze.  We headed up the Amelia River to the Horsehead area and began our fishing at the mouth of Jackstaff.  The anglers were tossing live shrimp on a jig and almost immediately began to get bites.  As I suspected, most of the fish were the summertime, ever present "baitstealers" but they presented a good challenge early.  All three anglers knocked the rust off of their casting and got the hang of bumping the bottom.  Lou had the hot rod early and caught a couple of hard fighting Jack Crevalle's and a hungry Seatrout.  Both Kevin and I had short hookups with a cruising Bonnethead Shark but they were having nothing to do with coming to the boat and broke off.  We made a run around to the Nassau River and things heated up.  Kevin got hot and landed a "Puffer Fish", then a couple of keeper sized Snapper. Then he had a good hookup and after a nice battle, landed a keeper sized Seatrout.  The anglers added Pinfish, Perch and then Kevin landed a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum.   He also picked up a neat Stingray.  We made a late run to Broward Island and the fish were really biting here.  The anglers caught a number of Snapper, but Barbara landed a feisty Red Drum and then Kevin landed a Flounder to round out an Amelia Island back country Grand Slam of Seatrout, Redfish, Flounder and Black Drum!  We were having a hard time keeping track of the variety of fish which garnered a comment from Lou that it was "almost like a science class" catching the number and variety of fish that they did.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Last Cast Slot Redfish

The Colucciello family - Steve and Patti and their son Vince and his girlfriend Nikki were visiting Amelia  Island before school starts back and took in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We met down at the Big Talbot Island Park at 7am and headed up the Amelia River to fish last hour of a very high and incoming tide.  The water was way up in the grass so the anglers were tossing float rigs with live shrimp to the tips of the grass.   We had some early action with both Vince and his mom Patti hooking up with a couple of hard fighting Jack Crevalle.  The anglers also picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout.  We moved on around and into Jackstaff and although we had no real bites, we did have a shot at some very nice Sheepshead tailing up in the flooded spartina.  We then fished the mouth of Jackstaff and it wasn't long before Vince had a strong hookup and when his drag began to sing I knew he had a big fish!  FISH ON!  Vince got into the the hang of working the big fish up, letting his rod do the work, and after a battle from bow to stern and back to bow, we netted a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark!    We had a couple of more hookups with these hard fighting beasts and also had a Stingray.  Both Patti and Nikki caught keeper sized Snapper and Nikki added a keeper sized Seatrout.  Our final stop was around at Nassau River and here the anglers found the ever present "baitstealers" - the Croaker.  Steve even put a small, but neat, Grouper in the boat!  It was almost time to leave when Vince had a really good hookup but the wiley fish found a way to break itself off.  Steve tossed to the same area on the last cast of the day and BAM! FISH ON!  He played the fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish!  And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

A Whole Lot of Catch'in

Yesterday was another beautiful day to be fishing at Amelia Island.  The morning started off with very little wind, an outgoing tide and just enough cloud cover to make for some nice fishing conditions.  I had met Scott Wetherington and his son Ivan down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and we headed up to the Tiger Islands for our first stop.  We hadn't been fishing long when Scott had a good strong hookup and the battle ensued!  He played the fish patiently and after a while we netted a nice 18" Redfish!  Ivan had a nice Flounder and a big "poor man's Tarpon" - the Ladyfish.  The ever present Croaker and Snapper were caught, too!  We made a run up to Jolley River, fished the MOA spot with no real bites (how could that be?) then moved around to Snook Creek where the bite picked up.  Both Scott and Ivan landed a good handful of feisty Redfish, then Scott had a good hookup and put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat.  Both anglers caught hard fighting Jack Crevealle, Ivan picked up another Seatrout then we made another move down to Jolley Bank.  Again, a couple of more feisty Redfish then Ivan hauled in a Stingray and a keeper sized Flounder.  Our last stop was back at Tiger where we picked up more Croaker, a keeper sized Snapper, and another keeper sized Flounder.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Shark Makes the Day

There were three generations fishing off of The Anglers Mark today - Mark Barickman, his son Matt,and his father-in-law Steve.  We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early - 7am and I had actually launched just after 6am to try and get some finger mullet to use as bait.  I had just a little over a dozen when the anglers arrived and hung around just a little longer, casting the net to get another dozen.  We made our first stop up at Jackstaff and the anglers picked up a few fish with Matt landing a nice Jack Crevalle and Steve  caught a fairly big Catfish.   They caught one or two feisty Redfish then Matt had a strong hookup and his rod bent and drag ripped out, FISH ON!  We chased the big fish as Matt kept the pressure on and after a long battle that took Matt from bow to stern, he landed a big 3'+ Bonnethead Shark!  This fish woke the boat up!  While all that was going on Mark put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat.  We made a run through Jackstaff and fished the Nassau River side and again caught a good handful of fish, mostly Croaker and Snapper, but Matt also landed a nice Black "puppy" Drum.  Mark had another hookup with a Seatrout here, also.  We made our last stop at Broward Island and landed a couple of more Snapper and a Seatrout, but the highlite of the the trip was when a Manatee came up just at the bow of the boat!  With that,  we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters.

19 Fish

That's the number that young angler Alexis totaled for her personal catch count when the fishing was done today.  I had met her and her Grandad - Bob Miller, his wife Kathy, and their son Chris at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning at 7am and we had run up the Nassau River to fish.  Our first stop was at a large marsh runout or "dump" as one of my buddy's call it.  We were fishing with fresh dead shrimp as there was no live bait to be had at the bait shop.  But the fish didn't care and the anglers began to catch fish right off.  Alexis had the hot rod early and landed a feisty Black "puppy" Drum then a number of Snapper, Croaker and feisty Redfish.  Both Bob and Chris picked up fish, fishing on the bottom with a 1/4oz jig.  Kathy finally got on the board with a nice Croaker.  We moved on up the river with the tide still going out and again caught plenty of Croaker, a few Snapper, added a Seatrout or two, and a couple of Jack Crevalle. Alexis had a Ladyfish to the boat and continued to add to her total fish catch count with a nice hard fighting Catfish.  As the bite slowed I got out on an old oyster bank to cast for finger mullet and 10 year old Alexis followed me to act as my "spotter"!  We ended up with just over a dozen nice bait fish then headed over to Broward Island to fish the very last of the outgoing tide.  The finger mullet did the trick because Alexis soon had a hookup and a battle on her hands!  She worked the big fish in patiently and we soon netted a nice Slot 20" Redfish!  The anglers picked up a couple of more Snapper, Croaker and Chris landed the biggest Jack Crevalle of the day.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Good Tide and Good Fishing

We've had a great run of beautiful mornings and this week happens to have great tides for Amelia Island back country fishing.  I met the Scher family - Greg and Lee and their daughter Hope down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City marina and we headed north, up to Tiger Island to fish the very last of an outgoing tide.  We had live shrimp to bait our 1/4 jigs and soon found out that the "baitstealers" were going to pick us clean on every cast.  But we worked through them and had a good hookup with a nice fish  10 year old Hope worked the fish to the boat with some of dad's help and we soon landed the 19" Redfish.  Greg was getting the hang of snagging the pesky Snapper and Croaker but we decided to move on.  As we pulled away from the island we saw some good schools of finger mullet and after a few casts we were on our way with a baitwell of perfect sized bait.  Our next stop was up at Jolley Bank and we had a few good bites as we eased along the shoreline.  Greg picked up some more Snapper, a couple of feisty Redfish and then he had a very strong hookup - one that ripped the drag out and bent the rod.  Greg fought the fish from bow to stern and then included young Hope in on the action.  But this big fish had probably been through this drill before because it dove deep, under the boat and with a tight line, the leader snapped, OUCH!  But it was a good fight and livened up the boat!  We moved on up into Jolley and the action heated up.  Greg caught more Snapper, a couple of more Reds, and a couple of nice Seatrout.  We eventually called it a day, left 'em biting, and headed in counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!  In addition to a good day of fishing, we saw a raccoon, Atlantic Salt Marsh Mink, Rosette Spoonbills, dolphin, and wild horses on Cumberland Island.

Pretty Good Day of Fishing

It's a new week and it started out great this morning as anglers Bart Woodham, his son Chad and their friend Zack worked the banks and put fish in the boat.  If you're going fishing any time soon I'd recommend using finger mullet as bait, and as a second choice mud minnows.  We started off fishing Nassau River on the very last of an outgoing tide and all we had were shrimp.  The anglers had tons of bites - it seemed like one on every cast, but the "baitstealers" were just killing us!  We landed Snapper, Croaker, Catfish and finally Zack had a good hookup and landed a fat 17" keeper sized Flounder.  Before we left the area we were able to net about 40 perfectly sized finger mullet.  Our next stop was the mouth of Jackstaff and this time I eased along the bank as the anglers cast their mullet and jigs to the exposed oyster beds.  The tide was just starting to come in and it took a while for things to heat up but eventually Bart had a good hookup and, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and landed a nice 21" slot sized Redfish!  The anglers picked up a few hungry Seatrout, Chad landed a fish that I've never seen before (I'll send the pic to Mote Marine to get it identified) and Chad also had the biggest Jack Crevalle of the day.  Zack added another fat 17" Flounder and then on our second pass Bart put another 21" slot Red in the boat!  We made a run to Broward Island and now the tide was really rushing in.  But the anglers persevered even though the temperatures were getting over 90, and picked up a nice Seatrout and Snapper.  Then both Bart and Zack added a fat keeper sized Flounder apiece to the catch to wrap the day up.  These anglers had elected to release all of their fish to be caught another day and that made it all the more satisfying as we headed in knowing that we'd had a pretty good day of fishing on Amelia Island waters!

Red Drum and Black Drum

Robert McCarthy and his son Evan met me down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp yesterday morning.  Boy was it a pretty day!  The water was like glass as I ran up the Nassau River to fish the Horsehead area on an incoming tide.  The anglers were tossing 1/4oz jigs with live shrimp and soon found that they had to work through the pesky bait stealers so common this time of year.  They caught plenty of Croaker, a few Jacks and then Evan had a good hookup and a good battle.  He played the fish perfectly and soon landed a nice keeper sized Black Drum.   He seemed to have the knack for catching the Drum because he landed a couple of

more.  We made run around to Jackstaff and fished the marsh grass, again using jigs even though the tide was up.  The anglers picked up a couple of feisty Redfish then Robert hooked up and this one was a bigger fish.  It bent the rod and ripped the drag but Robert played it patiently.  When it rolled up we know we had a nice Red.  He worked the fish to the boat and w netted a nice 21 1/2" Slot Red!  Later, Evan had a similar hookup and this one was even bigger.  He fought the fish for a good while, we saw it roll up a couple of times and knew it was a a BIG oversized Redfish.  But this wiley fish had been around for a while and when it saw it's chance it through the hook and the battle was over!  Later, Robert had a big hookup too, but this fish ran strong and deep and we knew right off it was a Shark.  He played the fish from bow to stern and back and when we got the big Bonnethead to the boat we broke it off and got back to fishing!  We made a run to Broward Island, picked up a couple of more Croaker, fished Jackstaff one more time, then headedin, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Shark and Big Trout

Mike Maron was visiting Amelia Island again this year with his family and set up an Amelia Island back country light tackle fishing trip.  This year there were so many family members that wanted to go fishing he set up a 3/4 day and split the trip between to groups, 3 hours each.  I met Mike and the younger group - his daughter Libby and son Troy at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 7am and we headed up fish the Horsehead area as the tide was coming in.  We had live shrimp and dead shrimp as bait, tossing jigs to the grass line.  The anglers worked through a bunch

of Croaker, small but feisty Redfish and Mike had a big battle with a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark.  We made our way around to the Nassau River and caught a few keeper sized Snapper.  Troy landed what I think was the biggest Croaker I've ever had on the Anglers Mark and Libby caught a very nice 18" Seatrout.  We dropped  Libby and Troy off back at the dock and picked up the second crew midway through the trip.  Mike's oldest daughter Haylia and her friend Amelia and then made a run up to Broward Island.  Even though we had to brave some stinging rain along

the way it helped cool us off to get the fishing going!  Here, Haylia added a very nice 20" Seatrout to the box and Amelia hooked up with a keeper sized Flounder.  The anglers also added a couple of more Snapper to the catch and a feisty Redfish.  We made a stop at the "twins" on Nassau River and had a good flurry of bites, catching more Snapper, a small Black Tip Shark, a couple of hungry Seatrout and Mike hooked up and played and even bigger Bonnethead to the boat.  Our last stop was back at Jackstaff where we picked up another nice Croaker and some Jack Crevalle's.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

She THINKS She Has a Fish

TJ Mahan and his wife Melissa were in town again this past week and took in another Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  This time they brought along TJ's brother Harris and Harris' daughter Kelli and we met at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 3pm Wednesday afternoon to get in some late afternoon fishing.  We headed up the Amelia River and eased into Jackstaff as the tide was just covering the oysters on an incoming tide.  We had a mixture of mud minnows, finger mullet and shrimp for bait and were tossing 1/4oz jigs to the grass line.  TJ got the "skunk off the boat" early by catching a nice Flounder then all the anglers were working through the pesky Croaker.  During one of these bites Kelli announced that she "thinks I have a bite"  and as her rod bent double and the reel's drag began to sing we all knew that this was a BIG fish!  She fought the fish from stern to bow and back and her uncle TJ stepped in to help her out, showing her how to keep the pressure on with the rod and lift and reel and after  great battle we were able to land a nice 28 1/2" oversized Redfish!  Boy what a fish! We snapped some pictures, made sure the fish was revived,

and sent him on his way.  Shortly after Melissa hooked up with something big, too!  This big fish ripped line and we soon figured out that it was a Bonnethead.  Melissa played the fish patiently on the light tackle TFO Spinning Gear and after a good fight, landed a big 36" Shark.  We made a run around to the Nassau River where TJ put a nice 21 3/4" Slot Red in the box.  The anglers also had more Croaker and Jack Crevalle.  Our next stop was at Broward Island where TJ had something big to the boat but we never got a chance to see it, then Kelli added a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  Our final stop was back at Jackstaff on an outgoing tide.  We had more Croaker, a Catfish, then Harris hooked up with a final big fish, FISH ON!  He patiently played the fish, working him in slowly, and after another long battle, landed a BIG 29 1/4" oversized Redfish!  And with that, we called it a day!  Another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Hot Times in the Marsh

Boy was it warm this morning as the sun came up and with absolutely no breeze it got even hotter.  But anglers Daniel and Jo Courchesne and their son Colin were eager to get out on the water and wet a line so we met at at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on the northern end of Big Talbot Island and headed up the Amelia River to fish the flooded marsh on the last of an incoming tide.  The anglers were tossing live minnows under a float for most of the 1st stretch and had a couple of minor bites then we switched to jigs to get down on the bottom.  This did the trick as Colin
hooked up with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle and patiently played him to the net.  Later we had good hookup and Jo reeled in a keeper sized Seatrout.  We made a move to the Nassau River and the anglers picked up a couple of more Jacks, and also caught a Snapper, Croaker, Catfish and another Seatrout.  We made our last stop at Broward Island and again had some good bites but boy was it getting hot!  These anglers persevered and landed another couple of Seatrout, and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Variety Make s for a Fun Trip

College students Emee and Dillon Herbert were in town visiting their grandmother and took in an afternoon fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 3pm and headed up river, making our first stop in behind Tiger Island.  The first two casts produced hungry Croaker and while we were there the anglers added a handful more.  Dillon must have found a school of Black "puppy" Drum because he landed 2-3 three of them then Emee had a good hookup, played it perfectly and netted a nice 17" keeper sized Flounder.  We made a run up to the Jolley River and fished the flooded oyster banks
with float rigs.  Both Emee and Dillon took turns landing a variety fish including a Needlefish, Pin Fish, Snapper, Seatrout,  and Ladyfish.  We went further up into the Jolley and caught a Whiting then Dillon had a strong bite and a BIG fish on.  He played the fish patiently and fought it from bow to stern and from starboard to port.  The big fish made strong runs and ran deep and, FISH OFF!  OUCH!   The big one that got away!  But it was a good battle and a fun fight.  We made one last stop where Emee landed nice little Bonnethead Shark to wrap up a another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

BIG Grand Slam

I had the pleasure of fishing again with Shawn Boggs and his son Jackson this morning.  The river was like glass as we left the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on a high and outgoing tide.  We headed up the Nassau River and made our first stop at a nice marsh run out.  Fairly early Shawn had a good battle with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, but after that we didn't get much on the float rigs.  But the minute we switched to jigs on the bottom we began to get bites.  Jackson caught a Jack too, then hauled in a hungry Snapper.  Then he had strong bite and his rod bent and his drag ripped, FISH ON!  He played the fish bite pickup.  The anglers caught fish after fish.  All told they probably had 8-10 Croaker, 5-6 Puppy Drum with one keeper sized, and 5-6 Redfish with one just under 18".  We had a big bite and boy was it BIG!  Jackson worked this fish and the fish worked him back!  The fight went from bow to stern and down deep to the bottom and back up again.  But Jackson won the battle and landed a BIG 23" Sheepshead - probably the biggest Sheepshead ever landed on The Anglers Mark!  Shortly after Shawn hooked up and his fish fought and shook.  He kept

the pressure on and landed a big 21" Seatrout!  And to wrap things up he had another hookup, a big battle - from bow to stern and back again a couple of times - and landed an oversized 29" BIG Redfish!  Boy what a day!  Counting the keeper sized Black Drum, the 23" Sheepshead, the 21" Seatrout and the 29" Redfish I'd call that a BIG Amelia Island Back Country Grand Slam!
perfectly and after an extended battle we landed a nice 24" Bonnethead Shark!   We made a run around to the mouth of Jackstaff, picked up a couple of feisty Redfish, a Croaker or Two and then Jackson again had a big hookup.  This fish fought hard and deep and made big runs but Jackson kept the pressure on and after an even longer battle, landed a big 36" Shark!  We ran back to Nassau River as the tide dropped and the oysters began to show and boy did the

Slam and Grand Slam

The weather forecast called for 60% chance of rain this morning but we chanced it anyway and I'm glad we did.  Although we had mostly overcast skies the fishing (and catching) was great.  I had met Steve and Debbie Kraman and their son Seth at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning at 7am and we headed up to the Jolley River to fish a high and outgoing tide.  I had live shrimp for the first time in a month and half and we were getting bites right off.  We caught a handful of hungry Snapper
then Steve had a good hookup on a float rig. This fish put up a good fight but Steve was up to the challenge and eventually landed an nice 18" Redfish.  We moved up the river to a large creek runout and fairly quickly Seth landed a  keeper sized Seatrout.  The anglers added more Snapper then we headed over to the MOA (Mother of All) spots where they again landed Snapper.  We fished Jolley Bank where Debbie and Seth landed more Snapper and Steve put two Black "Puppy" Drum  in the boat.  Our last stop was at Tiger Island and after fishing  for just a little while Steve hooked up with a hard fighting fish.  He played the fish perfectly and after a good battle we landed a nice 17 3/4" Flounder!  This fish puts Steve tied for 3rd in The Anglers Mark 2013 Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder category (scroll down right side of this report for standings).   All the anglers added Snapper to the fish count and Seth picked up a Flounder too, to round out his own personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam!  Counting Steve's Black Drum I'd call it a group "Grand Slam"!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Variety and a Slot Red

The beautiful mornings just keep on rolling in here at Amelia Island.  Today was another one with clear skies and no wind as the sun came up down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp.  I met the Mathews family, Tristan and Dee Dee along with their young adult kids Tristan and Teresa. We headed up the Amelia River to fish the mouth of Jackstaff with the oysters barely showing on an outgoing tide.  With only a cast or two under his belt,  young Tristan hooked up and fought in a very nice 18" Seatrout to get the "skunk off the boat" early!  His dad hooked up a little later with another keeper sized Trout.  The anglers all began to get bites and landed a number of hungry Snapper then Teresa hauled in a
multi-spot Redfish.  Tristan landed a Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam and Teresa tangled with a high jumping Ladyfish.  After a few more catches of Snapper we headed around to the Nassau River to fish an old oyster bank.  Almost immediately Tristan hooked up with something very big and had a good battle before it decided to have none of getting caught!   He continued to fish the deeper water and caught a good handful of Snapper.  Dee Dee had a strong bite and landed hard fighting Jack Crevalle.  All the anglers hooked up with Snapper then Tristan the younger had a good hookup and his drag began to rip, FISH ON!  He played the fish expertly and patiently and after  good battle that took him deep  a couple of times, he landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish! We fished the area for just a while longer then made a run to Broward Island where the anglers added a few more Snapper, a nice Stingray and one more Redfish to the fish count.  All fish caught today were released to be caught another day.  With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Redfish and Snapper Boys

We had another beautiful this morning as the sun came up - very little breeze and Florida sunshine!  I met Coley O'brien and his two sons Brennan and Aiden down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at 7am and cruised up the intercoastal waterway to the mouth of Jackstaff to fish the last couple of hours of an out going tide.  These two young boys had never fished salt water and werer chomping at the bit to get to fishing! They picked up the spin casting in less than 15 minutes and began to work the exposed oysters along the bank.  Both Brennan and Aiden had hookups with Brennan catching a couple of hungry Snapper and  Aiden reeling in a few feisty Redfish.  Coley added a nice Seatrout to the mix.  We moved around to the Nassau River and had a good flurry of bites, catching another feisty Redfish and more Snapper.  We had a stronger hookup and Coley played a larger Redfish to the boat.  The last fish for this spot was a very large 19 1/2" Seatrout that Aiden caught.  Further north the anglers added a Snapper then we made a run to Broward Island and added another Snapper to the catch.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Amelia Island Boat Tour

David and Sarah Post were visiting Amelia Island this week and brought along their 2 year old daughter Maddie for an Amelia Island boat tour.  We headed out of the Fernandina Beach City marina and headed north to see the sites of historic Old Town and Fort Clinch.  We crossed over to Cumberland Island and were pleased to see a nice herd of wild horses browsing the dunes on the south end of the island.  Heading north, we eased into Beach Creek and as we cruised the shoreline slowly Sarah spotted a small alligator laying low in the water and keeping an eye on us!  We also saw porpoises up in the creek and a black crested woodpecker.  Our next stop was Tiger Island where we again spotted porpoises and we found a large old tree full of roosting Rosette Spoonbills.  With that, we cruised the back alley of Tiger Creek to head back to the marina, wrapping up another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Amelia Island Back Country Slam

The Alfrey's were back in town this week - Randy and  his sons Adam and Jason - and took in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today.  The normal weather pattern prevailed, beautiful mornings with little wind, few clouds and calm waters.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am, headed north and made our first stop behind Tiger Island to fish the logs on the last of an outgoing tide.  The bite started slow but picked up steam as the anglers began to land fish.  Both Adam and Jason landed feisty Redfish while Randy added a hungry Seatrout.  They picked up some Snapper and Croaker then
Jason picked up a nice Flounder to round out the trios Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  We had a couple of more feisty Redfish and a Blue then headed up to fish an oyster lined bank in the Jolley River.  The beautiful weather held as the sun came up and the anglers added a few more Redfish, had a hookup with a Ladyfish, and hauled in a couple of more Croaker. We hit a couple of more spots then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Snapper Bite Precedes Slot Red

We had about the prettiest morning on the water that I've seen in a while - absolutely no wind, just a few
clouds, and bait fish moving along the bank.  I had met Greg and Erica Hoag at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at 7am and we headed up the Amelia River to fish the mouth of Jackstaff on the very last of an outgoing tide.  There was bait everywhere in the still waters as we eased along the oyster beds, tossing jigs and mud minnows to the waters edge.  Erica had a good hookup with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle and we also added a small Snapper to the mix.  Greg had a nice Seatrout and we also picked up a small Redfish.  We moved around to the Nassau River and fished a long oyster bank as the tide started back in.  The anglers started getting good bites of keeper sized Snapper, caught a nasty Toad fish and slimy Catfish, then Erica had a strong hookup and, FISH ON!  She played the big fish patiently and after a good battle we landed a nice 21 1/2" Slot Redfish!  We continued to fish the area for a while, getting some good bites, then headed up to Broward Island to fish the downed logs as the tide started in there.  It was perfect conditions at Broward but the sun was up and the fish had quit biting, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Pinpoint Cast Garners Redfish

We got a very early start this morning, meeting at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at Big Talbot Island park at 6am.  I had purchased 6 dozen mud minnows yesterday afternoon in preperation to fish today with Mike Morrill, his son Michael, and his father-in-law John.  We headed up the Nassau River with navigation and stern lights on and made it to our first spot as the sun was coming up.  The tide was perfect having just begun to come in and the anglers began to toss their jigs and minnows and fish
them slowly along the oyster laden bottom.  They had bite after bite from "bait stealers" but no real takers until John hooked up with a big fish, patiently played it, and landed a nice Catfish. Darn it, I thought it was a Red!  Mike did land one of the baitstealers, a Snapper, before we pulled up and headed to Broward Island to fish the incoming tide there.  The wind was blowing out of the south west and the current was still running out but the logs were nicely exposed.  We saw some baitfish scatter up near one of those logs and young Micahel made a pinpoint cast to the spot and very quickly hooked up, FISH ON!  He played the fish patiently as it got back in the current behind the boat and soon landed a nice 21 1/2" Slot Red!  Shortly after, his dad Mike fished a creek mouth and after losing a few minnows to a fish  he hooked up and caught it!  The keeper sized Flounder coughed up two of the minnows when we got it in the boat!  We fished the logs for a while then headed over to the mouth of Jackstaff and cruised the marsh grass.  John had a good battle with a nice Jack Crevalle and Mike landed a couple, too.  With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Ray Starts The Day

The Maguire family had daughters and son-in-laws and grandkids in visiting their north Jacksonville home so they set up an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  I met Chuck Maguire, his son in law Cale, Cale's son Quintin and his nephew Ian at the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp at 7am and we headed up river to fish some dock pilings on an incoming tide.  The anglers had just gotten their jigs and mud minnows out when Ian had a strong hookup and his rod bent over double, FISH ON!  This big fish was running so hard I had to take the trolling motor off of anchor and begin to chase it down. 

Ian fought the fish for a good while then his uncle took over and continued the battle.  At first I thought it was a shark but it rolled up to the surface a couple of times so then I thought it had to be a huge Redfish.  But it was taking long, long runs so I even questioned that.  Finally, after a 30 minute battle, Cale was able to bring the big beast to the surface and we landed a huge Sting Ray!  Boy what a fish fight!  We returned to fish the spot, had a few bites, but headed on around to outside of Tiger Island.  Here Ian hooked up with a nice Ladyfish, Chuck had a Bluefish then Quintin landed a keeper sized Seatrout.  We had a good flurry of bites and landed a couple of more Trout.  We made our way around to the Tiger logs where we had some good bites.  Cale had a strong hookup and good battle with a nice Redfish that measured just an 1/8" under the legal size and also had a Seatrout that measured just under sized.  As we were preparing to go, Chuck had a good bite and he took landed another nice Redfish.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

High Tide Redfish

Jack Viertel has been visiting Amelia Island as a "working vacation" and took in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  He has been staying at the historic and beautiful Fairbanks House which is located just blocks from the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp.  We made our way out of the marina at 7am and headed up to fish outside of Tiger Island with the tide high and coming in.  Our first stop was at "Manatee Creek" where I dropped the trolling motor and Jack began to toss a topwater lure to the marsh grass edge.  There was absolutely no movement of bait fish or feeding fish so after working a bank we moved on around to fish the Tiger logs.  The tide was really up by now but we had a few spots where we could toss a jig and mud minnow and after a brief time we had a hookup and, FISH ON!  Jack played the fish patiently as it made strong runs from bow to stern then dove deep under the boat. But Jack kept the pressure on and eventually we were able to land a nice 21" Slot Redfish!  We continued to work the bank and although we had a number of bites we had no takers.  Our next stop was up to Jolley River and here we had a good flurry of bites and caught a handful of hungry Seatrout on float rigs.  Further up into the river we picked up another Trout and a couple of nice Snapper.  Our last stop was some docks in Bell River where we picked up one more Trout to round out another great day of fishing at Amelia Island.

Slot Red Bonanza

Local resident Trey Dennard treated his young adult kids to a morning of back country fishing on TheAnglers Mark today.  Trey and his son IV and daughter Addison met me down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at Big Talbot Island Park at 8am which was right at the top of the tide.  We headed up the Nassau River and fished a couple of Marsh run outs, or as a friend of mine, Tim Parker, owner of Tempatation Baits calls them marsh "dumps".  The water was still way up in the marsh and we had no takers on our lively mud minnows under floats.   We ran around to the mouth of Jackstaff and fished an oyster lined bank where Trey picked up a Snapper then IV had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and patiently, working the big fish in slowly and letting it run when it wanted to.   We saw the big oversized Redfish a couple of times but today he was not to be caught because sure enough, the hook pulled and, FISH OFF!  Ouch!  We fished the bank a couple of times with Trey picking up a couple of hungry Seatrout then we crossed over and fished a sandbar where we picked up a hard fighting Jack Crevalle.  As we eased along another shore line Trey had tossed his jig and minnow to the edge of some marsh grass, got hung, and when the hook came off, FISH ON!  He too fought this fish patiently and after a good battle we netted a nice 24" Slot Redfish with 7 spots!  We moved back around to Nassau River and found a likely spot and began to fish the jigs deep.  We had at least two hookups with big Redfish and after extended battles lost them to be caught another day.  But these anglers were not to be deterred.  IV had a good battle with a large Catfish then both Trey and Addison boated Slot Redfish.  Trey added a keeper sized Trout then he had another big hookup and big battle.  Trey worked the fish patiently as it ran from bow to stern and back again and after a long fight landed a big 26 3/4" "tournament" Redish!    And with the last mud minnow that had been dead on another rig for an hour or so, Trey hooked up to another Slot Red to wrap up the day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!