Skunkape Sighting and Big Bluegill

Carol and I took the "Pleasure" up Lofton Creek for a test run the Friday of Shrimp Festival. Lofton Creek, north of S.R. 200 is a nice creek for small boats, canoes and kayaks. There's plenty of logs and overhanging trees, lots of swamp area, and it's easy to access with a nice boat ramp. We puttered up the creek, taking it easy because it's been years since I've been all the way up to Pages Dairy Road. There are more logs than I remember and the kicker bumped up and over a few. I'd gotten my camera out to take some pictures of the train trestle and I let the boat drift closer to shore to get a better angle. Just as the current carried us up against the swampy shoreline there was a loud roar and a hairy, vile smelling beast came out of the muck, rocking the boat violently, almost sending both Carol and I overboard, and me snapping pictures the whole time! A Skunkape! The 7' tall creature crashed the













palmettos and disappeared into the blackness of the swamp leaving us with hearts racing - we cranked the outboard and gunned it back towards the ramp, knowing that we had escaped with our lives! On our way back we passed a couple and their son, who were high-fiving after just fighting to the boat a feisty slab of a Bluegill. This picture that I took does not do it justice (just like the Skunkape picture), but if the fish was turned, you could see it was a huge Bluegill. They were about 200 yards north of the S.R. 200 bridge.

Shrimp Fest Puppy Drum

My daughter Ashley, her husband Nathan, and granddaughter Burgandy were in town today and through the weekend for Shrimp Fest. Nathan and I were able to get out on the water today, launching late after I took care of things on my to-do list. We picked up live shrimp at the Bait House, launched at the North end and headed to Tiger Island just as the tide peaked at high. We fished a half a dozen spots, using live shrimp under a float, live shrimp on a jig, and shrimp on the bottom, only to have a few nibbles. Eventually we headed out to the north jettie, anchored, and it wasn't long before Nathan felt a bump on his rod, had a hookup and a fight on his hands. The fish went up and down the length of the boat, showing itself once, and we thought we either had a sheepshead or drum. Nathan expertly worked the fish to the boat and we netted a nice 20"+ 4 lb Black Drum. We moved out from the jetties, dropped anchor, and fished on the bottom for whiting for a while, then headed in to take in the Shrimp Festival Parade. The weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky, cool but not cold, with a slight breeze, a great day to be out on the water!

Free Wooden Sailboat to a Good Home

Nan Kavanaugh wants a good home for this delightful wooden sailboat that is on a custom trailer. The boat and trailer are free to someone who wants a project and is good with woodworking. I've seen this boat up close and she has a lot of character. Here is a little history on her...The boat is named Little M. It was built as a sister boat to a large boat called the Margaret for a wealthy family who lived in New York. The builders, The Albury Brothers have been building boats for over 200 years on Man-o-War Cay in the Bahamas. They built the boat in 1951 by eye on the beach. Ms. Kavanaugh actually spoke to one of the Albury family who remembers their uncle working on it. She is a 23 ft sloop, gaff rig. Please contact Nan at
nanrk2@gmail.com for more information.

Winners Journal Finished

I finally finished the "Name the Boat" contest winner's journal. Bud Hill of Kings Ferry won the contest and selected a journal as his prize. This is the first journal that I've used a double loop lacing around the edges. The lace was a natural leather so I antiqued it. See more pieces at the GALLERY

How About some Local Oysters?

A recent article in our Fernandina Beach News Leader touched on a subject that I'm often asked about when guests are on my boat: Can you harvest the oysters for consumption? I've heard about the studies that have been done that point to "contamination" as the reason why we can't harvest our local oysters, but I've also talked to some folks in the commercial fishing industry and they've pointed to "politics" as the reason why our beds are closed. I bought oysters this year, ranging between $32 and $35 a bushell, well up from the $22/bushell a few years ago. My vote is to open up the oyster beds around Amelia Island to recreational oyster pickers! Read the News Leader article by Angela Daughtry HERE

Beautiful Weather and a "Slam"

Patton Kline was visiting the Island for a business trip and decided to squeeze in some fishing before his meetings started. We left the South end boat ramp at 7:30 this morning with very little wind and a nice cloud cover. Our first stop was the bridges at Sawpit Creek and even though Patton had a few hits at his red head jig and sparkle grub there were no real takers so we headed up to Jackstaff to take advantage of the incoming tide. We had trolled the bank for less than 50 yards with Patton pitching a jig/shrimp offering to the bank, bumping it back, and UMPH, FISH ON! Patton commented that the fish hit aggressively, then it hunkered down and put up a strong fight. The 10lb FINNS Windtamer braid held up as usual and Patton worked the 20" 3lb Redfish to the boat and the waiting net. We snapped a few pictures and then released it to the river. We eventually moved on to Broward Island and although the tide, wind, and time of day were almost perfect, we had no real bites. Coming back to Bubblegum Reef, we were soon anchored and it wasn't long before we were getting hits on the jig/shrimp combo and then Patton hooked up with a Seatrout. He found a "honey hole" at the bow of the boat and caught a few more Trout, a few Bluefish, and even had a Sheepshead chase the bait to the boat. We moved down the river, anchored and Patton completed his "Slam" with a stealthy Flounder that took a live shrimp under a float. We headed in around noon, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Two Guys Fish'n and a Redfish Battle

I had the pleasure of meeting and fishing with Cy Gray this morning, and a beautiful one it was. We left the Fernandina Beach City Marina at 7:30am with only a few clouds in the sky, very little wind, and the temperature already over 60. We made a couple of stops, anchoring to fish the oyster beds and marsh grass with live shrimp under a float rig but had no real bites. We eventually ended up behind Tiger Island and with the land mass blocking the breeze that had picked up we had a great setting for our first fish, a nice Sea Trout. Cy had cast his float rig up near the bank and as soon as it hit it was taken under; he set the hook and reeled the fish to the boat and net. We moved on to Lanceford creek and tried some docks, picking up more Trout, fished the Rayonier warehouse, then moved on south of Rayonier, trolling the marsh grass, pitching the float rig to the shore line. We hooked up with something big that took the bait like it was out for Sunday brunch, slow and easy, but when it realized that it was hooked the fight was on! Cy played the fish beautifully, allowing it to run, ripping drag, enough that I thought I may need to chase it down, then up to the boat, and then it bulled away for another run. On about its third visit to the boat the big Red decided another tact and went under the boat, but Cy was ready and dipped the rod into the water deep until the fish came back out and kept the pressure on. We eventually netted the nice 26" 7lb Redfish, snapped some pictures, and watched it swim back to the deep when we released it. Cy commented that the fish may be out of the "slot" next year and may get to live a long and happy life! We headed to the dock, counting it as a great morning to be out on the water!

Superstition Doesn't Pay Off

I don't consider myself a superstitious person but from time to time I think to myself, "it can't hurt"! If I see a penny laying on the sidewalk I pick it up and put it in my pocket. If I'm wearing a hat that's "catching fish", I continue to wear it until it let's me down. So Friday when one of my guests had the "hot rod" and could do no wrong, catching fish when her parents vacated a spot, I knew that I'd be using that rod in Saturday's Redfish Spot Tourny! On my trip to pick the boat up, 4:30 in the morning, I saw the first shooting star that I've seen in years! All things good were lining up! I met my buddy Don Hughes, we checked out, launched the boat and made a run up the inter coastal to Amelia Island to fish our "spots". At our first stop we had bites, Bluefish, then I hooked up with something heavy and hugging the bottom. I sure hoped it was a Redfish, but it just wasn't running, staying on the bottom as much as it could, and when we got it to the boat, a Stingray! OUCH. We hit spot after spot, picking up a nice Flounder at one, Trout and Bluefish at others, but no Redfish! We fished right on up to 1:30pm, the latest that we figured we could get back to the weigh-in, then called it a day, a great one to be on the water, even though we had no fish to weigh in. Congratulations to the winners, good job!

Trout Explosion

It was still raining when I came over the bridge at 6:30am
this morning and the wind was blowing the forecasted 13 knots, if not more, so you can imagine my trepidation as I made my way to the bait shop. But as the sun came up you could see the clouds being pushed offshore by the west winds. I met my guests, the Arnetts, David and Kim, with their two girls, Abbey and Bethany, at the City Marina boat ramp at 7:30am, live shrimp in the bait well and a "plan" to beat the wind. With other captain's launching their boats, we headed for Lanceford Creek and the shelter of the adjacent land mass, making our first stop at one of the docks, with the first of an outgoing tide. I anchored up, baited float rigs and the whole family was fishing. Abbey had a few bites then hooked up with a nice keeper sized Trout. Kim joined in with another Trout and then Abbey pulled in another. They had more hookups and even let Bethany reel in a few. We eventually moved to another dock and caught more Trout, with Kim pulling in a 19" one and Abbey fighting to the boat a 20" Trout. David joined in with a Black Drum then Abbey caught a Flounder. A few Blues were picked up in between. It was becoming more and more evident that Abbey had the "hot rod" - she could cast to spots that the others had vacated and soon would have a hookup! We moved to another spot - another Trout. As we moved on, my intentions were to go in behind Tiger Island, but the wind was kicking up white caps in the river so we turned in to Eagans Creek, idled in a short ways and anchored on the last of the outgoing tide. Before long, all were catching Trout with David adding to the "keeper" list, and Abbey, Bethany and Kim catching a few more.
Then Kim had her float disappear and knew right off that this fish was different - it pulled stronger and held to the bottom. She fought the fish like a pro and eventually got it to the net, a Redfish, just shy of the 18" mark. It had 11 spots, a possible prize winning fish in next years Spot Tournament! After catching a few more trout, we headed in with approximately 25-30 hookups for the day, another great one to be out on the water!

Smorgasboard of Fish

I met Chad Hood and his son Alex at the southend ramp Tuesday afternoon with the tide a couple of hours short of high. We ran straight back to Broward Island where we had some good fishing earlier in the day and with the island blocking the SE wind that had picked up, we began fishing the bank, tossing live shrimp under a float up near the logs. Chad hooked up with a hard fighting Blue right off then as we got to the middle of the island I anchored up. Will got really accomplished at casting the bottom rig and in a short while had hooked up with a sneaky and hard to catch Sheepshead. We also had visitor, a Pilated Woodpecker that was pecking away at a dead pine tree searching for food. Chad continued to toss the shrimp/float combo and picked up a nice, fat, keeper sized Seatrout. With the tide peaking, we pulled and ran to Poteat Cut, anchoring at a creek run out, and fished it with the float rigs. Alex continued to toss the bottom rig and was rewarded with a large whiting. After another stop or two, we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!