Redfish School'in

I had a report called in from two buddies, Leon and Charlie, who fished the Horsehead area today.  They got out late morning and began fishing the first of an incoming tide.  We had a very sunny day today, but the water temperature was still holding at 49 degrees.  They ended up anchoring at Bubblegum Reef and fished deep to  catch their limit of slot Redfish.  Charlie said they started off catching Rat reds but they soon began to pick up fish in the slot (18"-27") and even had a few over the slot.  Leon guessed that they caught around 30 fish and could have had 70 if they'd have stayed longer.

Cold December adds to 2010 manatee death toll

For immediate release: January 5, 2011


Contact: Carli Segelson, 727-896-8626

Cold December adds to 2010 manatee death toll

Two periods of unusually cold weather in 2010 contributed to the number of manatee deaths for the year being more than double the yearly average of the past five years. Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) documented 767 manatee carcasses in state waters in 2010.

The cold weather in Florida caused many of these deaths, with the “cold-stress” category accounting for 279 documented cases. Of these cold-related deaths, 244 occurred in the early part of the year and 35 occurred in December. Cold stress also contributed to the deaths of 21 of the 96 manatees in the “perinatal” or “newborn” category. In addition, it is likely the cold temperatures contributed to many of the 214 deaths in the “undetermined” category and the 68 deaths in the “unrecovered” category.

“The unusually high number of manatee deaths in 2010, including those caused by the two periods of cold weather, are of concern to the FWC,” said FWRI Director Gil McRae. “Over the next few years, the FWC will be relying heavily on monitoring programs to better understand any long-term implications for the manatee population. In the meantime, we will continue to work with our partners to enhance the availability of natural warm-water sites and to rescue manatees in distress.”

FWC researchers, managers and law enforcement staff work closely together to evaluate mortality data and identify necessary actions. Managers focus on actions that can reduce risks to manatees and protect foraging and warm-water habitats. The FWC’s Division of Law Enforcement, in cooperation with partner agencies, uses knowledge of local boating habits, well-posted speed zones and up-to-date manatee information as part of its on-the-water enforcement operations. Informing boaters about manatee conservation and enforcing manatee-protection zones is a priority for the FWC.

To learn more about manatee conservation, go to MyFWC.com/Manatee. To view the 2010 preliminary mortality numbers as well as a Web article detailing the cold-related manatee die-off in early 2010, visit http://research.MyFWC.com/manatee and click on “Manatee Mortality Statistics.”

Florida residents can help manatees by purchasing the manatee specialty license plate, available at county tax collectors’ offices. The funds collected for these plates go directly to manatee research and conservation.

To report a dead or distressed manatee, call the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).

Fresh Water Table Fare

Honorary Captain Bud Hill reports that the fresh water fishing up at Kings Ferry on the St. Mary's river is doing just fine, thank you!  He recently fished one of his favorite spots the last 2 hours of an outgoing tide using worms and beetle spins to fish deep to catch this freshwater Grand Slam of Bass, Crappie, Redbellies, Bluegill, and Warmouth Perch!  Bud's an avid fly-fisherman but said nothing much hits the surface this time of year so he ended up catching everything but the Bass and Crappie on earthworms.  The Bass and Crappie took the Beetle Spins.

Year End Report and Off Season Projects

It's drizzling rain outside and below 50, which is actually warm compared to the last month and I'm itching to get out on the water! This was my 3rd full year as a Charter Captain and I feel like it was pretty good one. My trip count was up 66% over last year and going into the Fall I felt sure it was going to be even better. Unfortunatley, November and December were down from the previous year and I didn't do quite as well as I had hoped. December was a brutal month of cold weather and after a year or two of hard times, I can only think that folks decided to hunker down in doors and enjoy the holidays! Luckily I had some projects lined up and was able to stay busy. My mother had handsewn a quilt for me years back and I had used it so much over the years that it had become tattered in places. For our anniversay, my wife Carol found a local quilt lady to make repairs to the quilt and rather than use it we decided to retire it to display. We searched for a small quilt rack in the area antique stores but could only find large, bulky ones, so I made one! It fits perfectly in a corner at the top of our stairway. Our friends and neighbors Marg and Ted have wanted to rebuild their deck for years so they hired me to tear out the old one and build a new one. Marg had some ideas that she had collected from magazines so we came up with a plan to build the 28'x14' deck and use columns to support a cedar pergula. We added cedar railings and bench to finish it off.

Happy New Year at Marie Island

I started the New Year off right by fishing with Don and Kelly Tesiero and their kids, Trey and Marie, on  Saturday, New Year's day.  We left the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp at 8am after a brief safety orientation and headed up the Amelia River to the mouth of Tiger Island.  Dolphins were rolling in the river as we rounded the inlet at Tiger Island and we pulled up at a grassy point to drop anchor and unlimber our fishing lines. Both Trey and Marie proclaimed "no instruction needed" and they begin to cast their light spinning tackle to the shore line with a live shrimp under a Cajun Thunder float.  Bites were few and far between, with water temperature at 49 degrees,  so we pulled anchor and headed up to the Jolley River to fish some creek runouts.  Although we had a few bites, the fish just weren't eating so we headed back to Tiger Island, which last year we had renamed "Trey Island".  We anchored just off the bank and the kids were now casting 1/4oz jigs with shrimp to the shore line and downed trees.  Both kids were making good casts, but Marie put one right next to a log and before we knew it, she was yelling "FISH ON"!  She battled the 18" Redfish to the net for pictures and release, then she proclaimed the island was now "Marie Island"!  We all agreed that the name should stick....at least until next time!  To wrap up the trip we toured Cumberland Island and beach creek, seeing great Blue Herons roosting in the trees, then we eased along the south shore to spot some wild horses grazing in the marsh grass, before heading in to the dock, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Trout on Fire

Albert Hudson and his wife, Nancy fished today at Eagans Creek and Albert reported that the Trout bite was on fire!  He counted 30+ Trout hooked up with only 3-4 of those being undersized and the largest being 23"!  Albert and Nancy were fishing on the bottom with an egg sinker/fish finder rig using live mullet.  Albert said when the bite slowed he could "jig" the rig a little bit and that would produce a bite.  Hopefully the cold weather expected this week won't last too long and all of us can enjoy some of this fine Amelia Island Trout fishing!

WIN a fishing trip!

In my never ending effort to network, I'm offering my fishing friends a chance at a FREE 1/2 day backcountry fishing trip.  I'll provide the bait, tackle, rods, reels and fishing license for up to (3) anglers.  To "enter" this drawing, send me (3) THREE legitimate e-mail addresses of your friends or family who are interested in fishing.  I will add them to my distribution list for this "newsletter" blog.   You've probably noticed that I don't send any correspondence but once a month - the Amelia Island Fishing Report blog, so don't worry about me harassing them with any junk.  PLEASE let them know that I will be adding them to the list, and of course, they can always reply back to be removed.  Your name will go in a "pot" to be drawn for the free trip.  Once I reach 500 new names for the distribution list we will hold a drawing.  Thanks and good luck!

Trout-rageous Fish'n

Can you think of any better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than to plan a Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip to start the holiday week off?  Probably not, so that's what Fred Fishel and his wife have done the last couple of years.  Fred had arranged a fishing trip with me, scheduled for today, so we met at the south end boat ramp (Talbot Island) at 1pm and headed up the Nassau River.  Fred couldn't have picked a better day with clear, sunny skies and the highs expected to reach 75 and only light winds expected.  The tide was still going out, slated to hit bottom around 2:45p, but the oyster beds were exposed so we started out pitching our 1/4oz jigs tipped with live shrimp.  It didn't take long for Fred to get warmed up and he soon began to boat Seatrout and a few Redfish to go along with them.  It was amazing to see how these fish were biting - the trout would peck, peck, peck - almost like the aggravating "bait stealer" pinfish, but then they'd take a good gulp and ...fish on!  Although there wasn't a whole lot of size to them, they were fun to catch, and there was plenty of catch'n!  The Redfish were totally different:  they would attack the bait ferociously and put up a fight that made you think that this was a slot fish for sure, only to find out that it was a Rat just feeling it's oats!  We hit a few spots in Nassau then headed around to the mouth of Jackstaff  for more of the same, plenty of Trout with a few Redfish.  At one point we were catching small Trout with almost every cast and decided to move on to see if we could find more of the same, but larger.  With daylight running out, we headed over to Broward Island to fish the shoreline cluttered with tree limbs and stumps.  Between sightings of Osprey, we had a few bites and then had a 16" Sheepshead chase a jig/shrimp to the boat before finally taking the bite and the fight was on!  We netted the fish, admired it's chompers, then released him to be caught another day.  The sun was setting and a full moon was rising so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Anniversary Fish'in

15 years ago I had the pleasure of attending Michael and Abby Stalvey's wedding and today I was honored to be present on their anniversay for an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip!  Mike and Abby couldn't have asked for a more picture-perfect day to celebrate their anniversary - it was cool, but not cold, very sunny and only a slight breeze.  We left the Fernandina Beach city marina promptly at 7:30am and headed up to Tiger Island to fish the first of an outgoing tide with live shrimp under Cajun Thunder floats.  We had a couple of bites then Mike hooked up with a feisty, hard fighting Redfish.  We eased along the shoreline, pitching the float rigs up near the grass and had a few bites, but no real takers.  After about 30 minutes we cranked the big engine and ran up to Jolley River, anchoring at a nice runout.  Abby's first cast produced a nice Seatrout, which she expertly fought to the boat and waiting net.  Then Mike got in on the action, catching Trout and Redfish.  Eventually we moved on up the river and found some good Trout action at another nice runout - both anglers were pulling in fish.  After a few hours of fishing we made a pit stop at Dee Dee Bartels to stretch our legs, then headed up into Eagans Creek where Abby really turned it on, catching Trout after Trout and putting a couple of nice keepers "in the box".  Mike joined in with a keeper Trout, too.  We fished the rockpile north of Jefferson Smurfit and the docks in Lanceford Creek and although the fish bite had slowed we all agreed that it was another great day to be out on the water - total fish count -(27) Trout, (5) Redfish, (6) Blue's!

Jacksonville Oyster Beds, to Reopen?

 The Jacksonville City Waterways Commission is looking at whether to reopen local oyster beds. See:  Jacksonville Oyster Beds to Reopen?  1st published in the Jacksonville Times Union.