Justin & Heather Harrell, her Dad Greg

It's amazing how things change from one trip to another! Unfortunately we found the boat ramp closed at the south end of the island (for a week) so we all treked to Fernandina Beach and launched from there. These guests were looking for an "experience of a life time" and I think they got it. We faced wind and rain challenges but the fish were biting! Greg hooked up with a trout early and then later we found a nice bite of small red's and black drum and some more trout. There were a few times there when I thought to myself, "this is CRAZY". We had broken out the poncho's and had gotten fairly damp so...we fished on! At one time Heather and her Dad had a "double" of drum - Heather reeled in a Red and Greg reeled in a Black. The MOA (mother of all) produced a number of small drum for Greg - who had zeroed in on the spot. Justin had the big battles with shark and then some smaller reds. After the trip I left my boat parked in the front drive and ran some errands - a bigger storm came through and filled the boat with pine straw -whooee- what fun.

Rodney Mills and friends

What a day! I launched early and cast for finger mullet - neting about 3 dozen - before I picked up Rodney and his friends, Harry and Roy. We also picked up some live shrimp at Atlantic Seafood, but we were able to run to Jolley River and be fishing by 7:30am. It was somewhat cooler today and there was a light mist that turned into a fairly heavy fog by 8:30am. There was no wind - the river was almost like a lake - and once we got settled in we began to pickup Trout and some nice, but undersized, Redfish- quite a "flurry" of action. We moved from spot to spot, picking up a fish here and there and then we settled in at the MOA -"Mother of All" spots. There was a fairly brisk bite as Rodney, Harry and Roy all had Reds, Trout and even a Black Drum. As things began to slow down, Roy had a hookup that produced a reel-screaming run and the fight was on! We all began to speculate as to what species he had on and most of us were leaning towards a Bonnet Head shark. Luckily Roy didn't trust our opinions and break it off because eventually a big 'ole Red tail flopped up and we all knew that this was a nice fish! We eventually got it netted and the fish turned out to be a nice slot-sized 26" Redfish. Later we had a few more trout and then all of the anglers had there battle with the Bonnet Head sharks. What a great day of fishing!

Riverside Art Show -Jacksonville

Whoohee! I've been accepted to show at the Riverside Art Show in Jacksonville, Florida September 6th and 7th. See http://www.riversideavondale.org/index.php?id=46 for more information. This means that after I fish and get the boat washed up and tucked away I'll need to go into my workshop and get some more pieces made for the show! Come see me at space #51 that weekend- we'll talk fishing!

Van and Carol Tilley

Van and Carol Tilley were visiting Amelia Island on business and took some time to get out in the backwaters of Amelia Island. The tide was very high so we fished with live shrimp under a Cajun Thunder float. They caught a number of Vermillion Snapper up near the marsh grass. We also trolled some in Jackstaff creek where Carol hung a nice 3' shark - she's pictured here about 3/4 way through the battle! Van also had something BIG on his line but it broke off after a 5 minute battle. We did have a treat at the end of the trip when an Osprey decided to have it's mullet lunch on a nearby dock pole.

Sure Catch Jigs

I've mentioned using jigs with live bait in some of my past newsletters and postings. I've been using the Sure Catch Jig brand and have pictured a package that you normally see at one of our local bait and tackle stores. I know Jim Johnson at Amelia Island Bait and Tackle is carrying them and the Bait House up at Eagans Creek has them also. These are great for chunking up near the oyster beds and then slowly bouncing them back.

If you're using shrimp, pierce the shrimps tail from the top - all the way through. Then swivel the jig around and come back up through the belly until the point of the hook is pointing away from the shrimps head. Some people even pinch off the tail before putting the jig through the shrimp.

Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament

I fished with friends, Charlie Jones, Leon Freeman, and Anthony Evatt in last weekends Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament. We left the Fernandina Beach checkout at 6:30am and ran up to Cumberland Island and caught pogies for bait. We then ran to south Amelia Island and trolled our baits. We caught a few sharks then we decided to anchor up, begin to chum and set out some lines. We caught a few more sharks and then had a small King to the boat -but it got off. On day two, we ran up to Cumberland for bait but couldn't find the pogies; but we did find large schools of pilchards so we filled our baitwell with them. This time, we anchored at the north jettie and chummed. We caught a few sharks and finally a nice 22lb King. Leon was on the rod so he posed for this picture later on in the ICW.

Personal Journal finished

I"ve finally completed my personal fishing/boating journal. I've kept a journal since 1989 and I ran out of pages in my old one. It took a while to decide what I wanted to carve on this one, but I eventually went with my favorite image - the tailing Red Fish. I did some traditional floral carving on the back.

There are inside pockets and I lined it with some soft leather that Mrs. Hanna had found. The pages are pre-printed with "Date, Tempature, Tide, etc.". I also use the journal to note boat maintenance. These journals are hand cut, hand carved and stamped, dyed and sewn.
I sell them at art shows and fishing shows for $125 and they make
a great gift! Check out my http://www.theanglersmark.com/gallery/leather for examples of other pieces.

Andrew and Jessica

Andrew and Jessica were visiting from the Orlando area and staying at the Addison on Amelia Bed and Breakfast and wanted to take in a boat ride/sightseeing tour. We cruised Old Town Fernandina, Fort Clinch and then crossed over to the Cumberland Island seashore. We cruised up Beach Creek on Cumberland and saw some porpoises crashing bait on the bank. We crossed the channel and quickly found manatee at Tiger Island inlet. I shut the engine, dropped the trolling motor and we eased up into shallow water and dropped anchor. The manatee rolled and played for 30 minutes around and under the boat; they appeared to be courting as one seemed to be pursuing the other and a "teenager" tagged along. They poked their snouts out numerous times and inspected us. We eventually eased out of there and went in behind Tiger Island to see a flock of Roseatte Spoonbills roosting and an Osprey cruising the tree line. We crossed back over the channel and spotted a herd of wild horses on Cumberland. This was a great trip!

Daron Carter trip #2

We had such a good time the other day, Daron, Lindsey and Mike decided to go fishing again with me. This time we launched from the south end of Amelia Island at 7:30am. Although I had a livewell full of live shrimp, we stopped and picked up about a dozen finger mullet with the cast net. We first tried the docks at Longpointe and had a few nibbles from "bait stealers" then we headed up to Jackstaff and immediately started getting good bites on the shrimp. The tide was still going out (low at 10:45am) and we fished the oyster beds, catching trout, reds, jacks, and sharks. We caught a "mess" of fish and ended up with an inshore Slam - Redfish, Trout and a Flounder. Lindsey boated a 3' shark that really gave her a battle -and - chewed my net up! We had a great time and I look forwarded to seeing them next year.

Dodson Family

Scott and Ileene Dodson, along with their two sons Mitchell and Phillip, fished with me July 10th. We left Atlantic Seafood dock at 3pm. The tide peaked at 3:45 so we were able to fish the outgoing tide most of the afternoon. We did some sightseeing first -cruising Old Town Fernandina, Fort Clinch and the Cumberland Island seashore. There was a small group of wild horses in the marsh and I dug out the binoculars. We ran to the mouth of Jolley River and began to get bites almost immediately -most at a small runout that we named "Dodson Creek". We caught Ladyfish, small trout and a couple of small croakers -all on live shrimp. Later in the day I was able to pickup some finger mullet with the cast net and as the sunset Phillip wrestled in a 22" trout (probably the biggest I've had on The Anglers Mark). A little later he pulled in another large trout - a 19"er. I netted this one with a pair of pliers tangled in the net - and my hat got knocked off during the battle! Unfortunately, I somehow deleted all my pictures of this trip - and they were some good ones! Ouch.