Pentanque and Fishing

Anthony and Cindy Alejandro along with their friend Charlie were in town for the the 2011 Pentanque American Open and scheduled a day of fishing yesterday after playing in the weekend tournament.  They were staying at the Hampton Inn and Suites for the tournament and it made it real convenient to participate in the event, enjoy the downtown area, and take in a fishing trip by just stepping out the back door and walking to the Marina!  We left the dock at 7:30am and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the flooding grass and oyster beds with live shrimp under floats.  The Seatrout were biting and all three anglers began to hookup with the hungry fish.  We stayed there for about an hour, catching Trout after Trout, but they were all undersized so we headed over to "Temptation Cove" to see how the fish were biting there.  I was a little surprised that we had very few bites as I had fished there this weekend and had done great.  I was almost ready to leave when Alejandro's float went under, he set the hook, and FISH ON!  He fought the fish perfectly and after an extended battle, brought to net and nice 24" Slot Sized Redfish!  We caught one other undersized Red then move on to the outside of Tiger Island.  The grass was flooded and the Trout bite was hot and this time there were "keeper" sized fish mixed in with the smaller ones.  The anglers guestimated that they ended the day with about 40 Trout and almost a dozen of those were up to 17".  Both Cindy and Charlie hooked up with feisty Redfish as well.  With Trout and a Redfish to clean, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island!

Late Evening Fishing!

Lee Williams, his wife Helen and their friends Caleb and Sondra Didriksen were visiting Amelia Island from Texas and took in an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.   We left the Sawpit Creek Boat ramp Sunday afternoon at 2pm and headed up to the Horsehead area to fish the entrance of Jackstaff Creek on a high and outgoing tide.  I anchored at a runout and the anglers unlimbered with some float rigs and live shrimp "hangling" and it wasn't long before they were all having hookups with Seatrout and Bluefish.  The Blues were feisty but the Trout were just undersized so we moved across the creek to find that there were Trout, but still undersized.   We made a run through the creek to the Nassau River and pulled up to troll the now exposed oyster banks with jigs and shrimp.  The anglers had some good bites then Caleb's line went taunt and he had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  he played the fish expertly and after a good battle, we netted a nice 21" Slot Redfish!  We fished the area a 2nd time, had good bites, but no takers and then headed up river to make a pit stop at Goffinsville Park.  Here we found that the FWC game wardens were writing citations for undersized Trout and there were a couple of glum faced teenagers on the receiving end!  We made our last stop at Broward Island and even though we had no real bites, we were all treated to a nice sunset that cast a glow on the island.  We headed in after dark counting it as another great day to be fishing on Amelia Island!

NSFA Backwater Tournament

The Nassau Sports Fishing Association held their annual Backwater Tournament Saturday and I fished it with friends Tim Parker and Brian Nicely.  Tim and I met Friday morning early to get out on the water and see if we could find some fish, and we did!  Our first stop was at the Rayonier warehouses and we tried some jigs deep along with a live shrimp floated deep, but had no bites.  We moved to a different spot and were really exposed to a 15-20mph wind, but this was where the fish were!  We caught a number of Trout in the keeper sized range and had large Slot Redfish taking our shrimp under a float.  We also had a 14" Flounder, so if the Tournament was on Friday, we'd have done good!  Another spot produced fish, too, with Tim pulling in a nice 25" Slot Redfish, and we both added Seatrout.  Saturday morning, day of the actual Tournament found us, along with Brian, launching at 5:30am, with very little wind.  After checking in we made a bee-line to the spot where we had caught fish, and sure enough, BAM! Fish on!  We caught Seatrout in the legal range until we didn't want any more and added Redfish up to 26 1/2" with all anglers pitching in. Brian was using Tim's Temptation Bait and was keeping up with the live bait catches.  Tim picked up a Flounder but it was just undersized.  "No Problem", we thought.  It wasn't even 9:30am and we had a large Redfish, some decent Trout and we just needed a Flounder to enter the Slam category of the Tournament.  It was not to be!  We fished Tiger Island, Jolley River, Jefferson Smurfit, and Old Towne and could not find a Flounder.  Ouch!  But we all agreed that it was probably the best two days of fishing we had ever had  and we went home satisfied that we had given it our all and had some great stories to tell, fishing with friends and catching fish!
 

We Didn't Even Try to Count 'em All.

Martin Evans was visiting Amelia Island with his wife, Ruth and staying at Elizabeth Pointe Lodge.  If you have never stayed at this oceanfront Bed and Breakfast, then you don't know what you're missing!  The staff at Elizabeth Pointe Lodge give 5-Star service that rivals any high-end hotel or resort and it's only a bike ride away from Historic Fernandina Beach, Fort Clinch and all the restaurants, shopping and attractions that make Amelia Island such a wonderful place to visit.  For more things to do or places to eat, see Amelia On The Water!  Martin met me at the Fernandina Harbor Marina early this morning and we headed up Lanceford Creek to try and get out of the 15-20mph NNE winds on the first of an outgoing tide.  I slipped around a land mass and anchored up to fish the marsh grass with live shrimp under floats.  No kidding, on our first cast, after a few seconds, the float disappeared and FISH ON!  Martin played the fish expertly and after an extensive battle with numerous drag ripping runs, we netted a 5lb, 25" Slot Redfish!  The wind was blowing, but the sun was peaking out and the fishing was great!  Martin landed another of the large Slot Reds, a few "Rat Reds" and we also had a couple of Seatrout.  We moved on up the creek and anchored up to fish the still exposed oyster beds and boy what a spot!  Martin caught Redfish after Redfish, most in the 16-18" range, but every once in a while he'd hookup with a "Big Un" and after a good fight, he'd bring to net another large Slot Redfish.  On occasion he'd catch a Seatrout, most in the 14-15" range, but a "keeper" sized fish here and there.  As the tide reached it's bottom the fishing slowed so we called it a day, another great one to be on Amelia Island waters!

Wind? No Problem for this group!

When Mills Gallivan and his wife Carol Anne, along with their friends Bill and Kathy Coates walked up to the boat ramp at Atlantic Seafood yesterday afternoon I gave them the same disclaimer I'd given that morning, "the wind's howling, but we can run west and get in behind a land mass, but that's where we'll be all day".  These anglers were game and ready to have a great time out on the water, so we headed out, got a little wet crossing the river, but eventually found some protection from the wind.  It was so nice that most of us shed wind jackets and enjoyed the sunshine!  The fish were still biting and soon all the anglers were catching fish.  We had a few keeper sized Seatrout and a whole bunch of 16-18" Redfish.  With 12-15 fish caught and released and the bite slowing down, we made a move to the south, but to a spot still protected from the wind.  Upon anchoring, the lines weren't out for more than a few minutes when floats started disappearing and the catching commenced again!  Kathy was keeping an eagle eye on her float and was hauling in fish, but Carol Anne, Mills, and Bill joined her to catch their share, too.  Then, Mills made a pin-point cast up by some marsh grass, his float disappeared, and the drag ripped out, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and after a good battle, brought to net a nice 24" Slot Redfish!  Again, the group landed another 12-15 fish at this spot and the big slot Red rounded out another great day to be fishing on Amelia Island!

Can you believe 35 Redfish?

When I met George Bowlin and his friend Ray at the Fernandina Harbor Marina yesterday morning there was a light mist and the wind was "howlin".  We talked about our options and all I could come up with was to head to an island and get out of the westerly wind.  We'd be there all day but hopefully we'd catch some fish.  Boy that was an understatement!  We suffered through the trip across the river but when we arrived we found that most of the wind was blocked so we anchored up and started fishing with live shrimp under floats.  It wasn't long before both anglers were hauling in fish.  I thought, well there's 3, 4, 5 Redfish and then they caught a couple of  keeper sized Seatrout.  Then things got fast and furious with a couple of "double" hookups and George and Ray were catching them as fast as I could get them de-hooked and back into the water!  We were wondering if maybe we would catch at least 20 Redfish, but then the anglers easily surpassed that number and kept on going!  We had a few "keeper" sized Reds, but on the low end of the slot and as the tide changed the count was up around 30 fish!  We made a slight relocation to account for the incoming tide, picked up a few more smaller Reds, then Ray had strong hookup out in deeper water and a Big fish fight on his hands.  This fish was wily and eventually found some structure to break itself off!  OUCH!  But Ray had found the big fish and George followed up with a good, strong hookup and this time he knew to keep the fish headed away from the structure.  He fought the fish like a pro and brought to net a nice 25" Slot Redfish!  Then Ray hooked up with another one and he too played the fish perfectly and landed another 25" Slot Red!  They caught another of those big Reds and added a 18" keeper sized Black Drum to round out the trip with 35 Reds, 2 Seatrout, and one Black Drum!  Boy what a great day of fish catching, especially when we almost canceled the trip!

Fishin is Dawg Gone Good!

John Nuckolls and his friend Dick were visiting Amelia Island this weekend to attend the annual Florida/Georgia football game and pre-scheduled a Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark. We met early at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City Marina and headed up Lanceford Creek with a baitwell of live shrimp, an armory of tackle, and a whole lot of hopes for a good fishing day! We anchored just south of a dock on an incoming tide and fished the already covered oyster beds with Dick throwing a jig and white Gulp Shrimp while John was tossed a a Strike King Spinner Bait and I was using a live shrimp under float. We all got bites and boated some nice, fat Seatrout, a small Redfish, and a Flounder. Our next stop was to the outside area of Tiger Island and as I trolled up to the spot John made a cast and had an immediate hookup and a good battle on his hands. He played the fish perfectly and we netted a keeper sized Trout. Both he and Dick caught a few more Trout and I picked up a couple, too. We made a brief stop behind Tiger to check the flooded grass, fish the log strewn bank, then headed up to Jolley River to fish the now flooded grass line. It wasn't long before we were hooking up with aggressive Trout and we again boated some keeper sized fish. Then John's float slunk under, he set the hook and FISH ON! This fish didn't give up as easily as the Trout and his drag ripped out, and John worked him back in and eventually brought to the net a 4.5lb Slot Sized Redfish! Dick stayed with the white Gulp Shrimp and he steadily picked up Trout. When the Trout began to get small we moved on to "Snook Creek" and anchored to fish the first of the outgoing tide. Again, we caught Trout, some of them keeper sized, and then Dick had a hookup that wanted to hang to the bottom. He played the fish like a pro and worked it to the boat and we soon netted a nice 16" keeper sized Flounder. He also picked up a Puppy Drum and I picked up hard fighting Bluefish. Our last stop around the corner produced a couple of more Trout and then we called it a day. The anglers estimated that they had caught about 40 fish this morning. The skies were overcast from time to time - we got sprinkled on once or twice, but the temperatures were great, there was very little wind, and the water was very clear. Although all fish were released, I tallied "keeper" sized fish of our 3-man bag limit of 15 Trout, one Slot Red, and two keeper sized Flounder.   That's Dawg Gone good fishing!  What a great way to hookup with fishing friends and spend time out on Amelia Island waters!

Doubling Up

Kathryn Birmingham and her friend John Denton scheduled an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip yesterday afternoon on The Anglers Mark.  We headed up the Nassau River and made a dash straight for Broward Island to catch the first of the incoming tide.  It couldn't have been a better guess because the anglers immediately began to pick up Seatrout on a jig/shrimp combo.  As we neared some downed logs Kathryn's rod bent and dragged ripped out, FISH ON!  Then John yelled, FISH ON! and the couple had their first double of the day.  Kathryn played her fish like a pro but the large fish was just too much for the tackle and broke off after a good fight,  but John still had one on and he worked the fish in and we soon netted a nice 20" Flounder!  We fished the log strewn shoreline for the next two hours and both Kathryn and John caught Redfish, Trout and even picked up another Flounder, nailing down an Amelia Island backcountry Slam.  They had at least one, maybe two more "Double" hookups with both playing fish to the boat.  Most of the Redfish measured to 17" with a couple within a hair of being Slot sized.  We moved on to Seymore's point, anchored,and the anglers picked up a few more Redfish on live shrimp under floats, then we ran over to Jackstaff Creek and although we were now out in a wind that had picked up, Kathryn and John persevered and picked up a couple of more Trout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Two Men and a Boat

Kevin Gannon and his wife were visiting Amelia Island for the first time on vacation and Kevin arranged a backwater fishing trip with me on The Anglers Mark yesterday. We met early AM at the Sawpit Boat Ramp, Big Talbot Island Park, and headed up the intercoastal on a beautiful but cool morning. I thought I'd stop by a new spot a fellow captain had told me about so we eased up to the marsh grass and began casting a live shrimp under float on a still high, but outgoing, tide. We had no bites but the spot was looking good. As we motored out of the area the Captain (me) wasn't paying attention and soon realized we'd found ourselves on a mud bank! Folks, this doesn't happen too often, but fishing the backwater you're always bound to find an oyster bed or mud bank. I don't advertise that I offer complimentary exercise options but Kevin was soon given the opportunity to participate in a strenuous morning work out! We both were in the water up to our thighs at times and after 30 minutes of pushing and pulling and tugging and motoring we had the 3700lb boat floating in deep enough water to continue our fishing trip with both of us a little wet and muddy but ready to catch some fish! Kevin couldn't have been a better sport about the whole thing and with his great attitude it paid off because later we found a few Trout in Jackstaff Creek then after we moved around to Nassau River and fished some oyster outcrops the fishing got better. He hooked up and expertly played a Slot sized Redfish to the boat then picked up a keeper sized Flounder. When we reached one particular oyster outcrop he hooked up again, his drag ripped and after fighting the fish perfectly, we soon netted an even bigger Redfish. Kevin found that he could let his jig/shrimp combo fall into a hole outside the outcrop and when it did, BAM! FISH ON! His third Slot Red was the biggest, coming in at 25+ inches and on a 1000FH Shimano and light rod, that's a nice fish to end a trip with!  Kevin also added another Flounder and a small Puppy Drum to round out a "Grande Slam" of inshore fish.  We called it a day, and a memorable one at that! Another great day to be fishing on Amelia Island!

Becks Outboard Inc. to the rescue!

After finishing my fishing trip this afternoon I went to load the boat on the trailer and the engine wouldn't even fire!  OUCH.  I had to use the trolling motor to get the boat up to the trailer and winch it up.  The battery tested OK so I called Beck's Outboard Inc. located at 1257 Broward Road in Jacksonville, Florida and spoke to Charles who diagnosed the problem over the telephone with "sounds like you have a bad starter".  He advised me to bring the boat to their shop and he could check it out so I headed over and sure enough, Charles made a quick test and determined the starter was bad.  He removed the old starter and had a new one in stock to replace it - the test and repair was done in less than an hour!  I'm sure they can't get you in and out like that all the time, but I really appreciate them making the effort to get me back in business - they saved the two trips that I have scheduled for tomorrow!  Becks Outboard Inc.  sells Evinrude engines 25hp and up and they service Johnson and Evinrude engines.  They also have parts for those engines and trailer parts too!  They're a family business and give excellent service and most importantly, they know what they're doing when it comes to servicing Johnson and Evinrude engines.  Thanks Becks!