Big Red and lot's of Spots

I fished Sunday afternoon with Jeff Fuchs who was visiting from West Palm Beach with his family and staying at the Ritz Carlton. We left the south end dock around 2pm and had the last of the outgoing tide to fish. Our first stop was at the mouth of Jackstaff Creek up at Horsehead and boy what a way to start! Jeff was an excellent caster and was pinpointing his Sure Catch jig and shrimp bait to the base of the oyters; we had only trolled the bank for about 50 yards when he hooked up to a big fish, fought it to the boat....and it broke off! OUCH! He hooked up with another briefly - it got off, then he hooked up again and fought this large 27", 6lb, 25-spot Redfish to the net (17 spots won the Redfish Spot Tournament in Jax last month). We were both huffing and puffing with excitement. I eased the boat up to the same spot and UMPFF! Fish on! Jeff boated a 18", 2lb Red. We again eased up to the "spot" and Jeff hooked up again, but this time he yelled, "It's bigger than the 1st". After a long battle, Jeff led the large 30", 9 1/2lb Redfish into the net. Like the others, we snapped some pictures and released this beautiful fish to fight another day. We eventually cast netted some finger mullet and picked up a nice Jack Crevalle, a small trout and then ended the day as the sun began to fall with a fat 19" Trout at Broward Island. What a great day of fishing!

The Bait is here! The bait is here!

I fished yesterday afternoon with my buddy, Charlie Jones. He's been off all week and picked me up at the Holley Pointe boat ramp. It was dead low and as we rounded the first bend in Christopher Creek we could see pods of finger mullet along the bank. Charlie positioned the boat while I tossed the cast net and we eventually had 2-3 dozen finger mullet along with a couple of dollar sized crabs. We ran to Broward Island to get out of the wind (will it ever stop blowing?) and trolled up the north end, casting our fresh baits and Sure Catch Jigs up to the shoreline. I hooked up fairly quickly - the fish came to the top of the water, rolled and came off! When I got my bait in, it was intact, so I'm still trying to figure that one out. A little later we eached hooked up, bringing in some nice, fat trout. We caught some more and lost a few, but ended the day with some really good fishing.

Fishing and Sightseeing

We had friends Bill and Denise Sweeney in from Maryland to take in the Shrimp Festival and decided to get out in the boat for a few hours on Friday. We launched from the north end boat ramp around 8am and had a baitwell full of live shrimp; the tide was low at 9am. Our first stop was on the east side of Jolley River, fishing the oyster beds with Sure Catch jigs and live shrimp. We had a few nibbles, but moved up the river to some of the creeks as the tide began to inch back in. The wind picked up so we ran to the docks on Bell River. Again, we had a few bites, some that wanted to take, but never hooked up. With the sun getting high and hot, we made a run by Tiger Island and over to Cumberland for some sightseeing and came upon a small herd of horses with a couple of new foals. Out by noon and on to some Seafood!

County Approves No Wake Zone

By Ryan Smith, Fernandina Beach News-Leader

The Nassau County Commission passed an ordinance Monday creating a no-wake zone in the waters around the North End Boat Ramp. The zone, in which boaters will have to cruise at idle speed, will extend 500 feet north and 500 feet south of the boat ramp. However, some locals don't think it goes far enough, and the commission agreed to investigate extending the zone.
Read more....

Recipe of The Month: Shrimp and New Potato Stew

Another recipe from The Cooks Encyclopedia of Four Ingredient Cooking by Joanna Farrow:

1 1/2 pounds small new potatoes, scrubbed

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

12 ounce jar (or can) tomato and chili sauce

11 ounces peeled shrimp

(I added some chopped celery, Vidalia onion, crushed garlic and corn)

Cook the potatoes in lightly salted water, boiling the water for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Drain and return to pan.

(I browned the garlic in some olive oil, and added the celery and onion, ) then

Finely chop half of the cilantro and add to the pan with the tomato and chili sauce and 6 tablespoons of water (I forgot the water). Bring to boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in the shrimp and cook a few more minutes until they are cooked. Spoon into bowl and sprinke with remaining cilantro pieces.

Sure Catch Jigs - Pro Style

Sure Catch Jigs now has a "Pro Style" jig that has two collars formed onto the jig. You can choose between the standard "Bait" jig or go with the Pro Style. I've found that the Pro Style works just fine with live shrimp and mullet AND you can use them to fish with artificals, such as the popular Gulp products. When you slide the Gulp onto the jig and push it up and over the collars, the artificial is held securely so you don't have to reposition the bait after each cast. Ask for the Pro Style Sure Catch Jig's at your local bait and tackle store!

Fish Bite Turning On

Carol and I were able to get out and do some fishing yesterday afternoon. We launched at the Holley Pointe boat ramp, which was slam full of boaters, and eased across the Nassau River to fish some run-outs. We still had a couple of hours of the outgoing tide and didn't have any real bites so we anchored up at Broward Island and picnicked until the tide slowed. As it reached slack Carol hooked up to a nice, fat 2lb trout that agressivley took her Sure Catch jig with a Gulp root-beer colored mullet. We caught a few more trout and a keeper sized flounder. All of the fish hit aggressively. The water temperature was 73 degrees, up 5 degrees from last week. As we motored into Christopher Creek we noticed some good signs of bait fish along the marsh grass. It looks like the fishing is going to start heating up!

New Projects Finished

I was able to complete a few leather projects this weekend. The book cover/journal pictured was actually the 2nd attempt - I ruined the first. I had completed it and just needed to dye the interior raw leather. I daubed some dark brown dye on it and it bled through and ruined the picture. OUCH. Lessons learned. To see more examples click hear for The Anglers Mark Art blog NOTE: We will not have a booth at the Amelia Island Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival this year, but plan to pursue more consignment relationships with area Fly Shops.

Father and Son fishing trip

I had the opportunity to fish with Todd Sack as he treated his son, David to a fishing trip. David will be graduating soon and heading off to college so it was a great time to get out on the water. The weather cooperated fully as we experienced a nice sunny day with a light breeze - to begin with. I haven't been to the Jolley River in a while so we headed up and started tossing the jig and shrimp combo on the last of an outgoing tide. David hooked up first with a nice trout and then Todd joined in with another. We made a few stops up the Jolley and they caught a few more trout. David even reeled in what looked to be something from prehistoric times - a 34" gar of some sort. It really reeked! The wind picked up out of the northeast so we ran to the Tiger Islands and sure enough, out of the wind. Todd ended the day by catching a keeper sized flounder. We did have a neighbor who caught their only fish, but what appeared to be a 22" fat trout, fishing deep on the bottom. We toured Cumberland Island to see a herd of wild horses, crossed to historic Fort Clinch, and made it back to the dock in time wrap up the day. Good luck David up at school!

Jennings Fishing Trip

Caroline Jennings and her family were staying at Summer Beach Resorts here on Amelia Island and took in a fishing trip with me yesterday. In addition to Caroline and her son Charlie, we had brother-in-law Sam and his two kids Caroline and Jack and we also had grandmother.....Caroline. The sun was out and the weather was warm as we left the dock at 11:30AM but the wind was already up to 15mph out of the southwest so we headed up Bell River to the docks of Pirates Woods in hopes that the tree line would block the wind - and it did, somewhat! All bait shops were out of live shrimp so we were fishing with mud minnows. With only a few casts, Sam hooked up to something big and the fight was on. After some drag ripping runs, we eventually netted a 21"+ Seatrout. All were optimistic that we were in for some serious catching and everyone joined in with rods in the water. We fished and fished and fished and moved from spot to spot (and away from the wind block) and ended up with just some bait stealing action for the rest of the day. As we came out of the Jolley River we were greeted with some rather fierce winds -and salt spray, but the air temperature was still warm and we all survived.