Quantity or Quality?

Cass Brewer and Ronnie Gaines were in town from the Atlanta area and scheduled an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark with me this morning.  We met down at the Big Talbot Island Boat Ramp at 7am and headed up the Nassau River with a live well full of mud minnows with the tide having been coming in for about 3 hours.  I ran straight to Broward Island and with the logs and stumps still showing,  Cass and Ronnie began tossing  their jig and minnow to the bank.  It was a beautiful morning with hardly any breeze and it wasn't long before  they began to hookup.  Or at least Ronnie began to hookup.  Fishing from the stern, he had hookup after hookup with feisty Redfish, fun to catch, but just undersized. He also had a hungry Seatrout.  Just when we were beginning to wonder if he and Cass needed to switch places, BAM,  FISH ON!  Cass's rod bent and drag ripped out, but he played the big fish perfectly and after a good battle with a couple of rolls, he landed a nice oversized 28" Redfish!  After pictures and measurement, we made sure the big fish swam off into the deep.  Ronnie picked up a couple more of Reds but the logs were becoming a pain so we pulled up and ran to Christopher Creek.  Cass went with a float rig and minnow while Ronnie stayed with the jig.  I also picked up a rod with a jig and for a while,  Ronnie and I were catching undersized Reds on almost every cast.  Cass wasn't gettting much action on the float rig but then, after a cast when his float dissapeared almost immediately and gain, FISH ON!  He played the fish to the boat expertly and we netted a nice 22" Slot Red!  We hit a couple of more spots but the sun was up and the heat was on, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Bragging Rights Blowout

Chuck Martin had set up a fishing trip this moring and included his longtime friend Ron and his father-in-law Paul.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed up towards Tiger Island to fish some flooded oysters.  The tide was still coming in so I had rigged up 3 rods with topwater lures.  The guys began warming up and getting the rust off, tossing the topwaters to the grass line and a couple of times they had a few rolls at the lures, but no takers.  I was just about to break out the float rigs and wasn't really paying attention when I saw that Paul had a fish on.  A BIG fish on!  His light tackle Shimano Stradic 1000 was ripping with the line going out, but Paul kept the rod up an pressure on.  I pointed the boat out to deeper water and away from the oysters and Paul had a battle on his hands.  He slowly worked the fish in but it made a couple of more runs.  When we finally netted and measured the fish we found that we had a Braggin Rights Tournament busting fish at 30 1/2"!  Wow what a fish!  The anglers eventually did switch to the float rigs and mud minnows and picked up a good mess of Seatrout, a couple of Ladyfish and Needlefish.  Chuck put a nice keeper sized Flounder in the box,  rounding out the groups Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Before we left the area, I switched the guys to a jig rig and trolled along an area where I knew there weren't many oysters.  They caught more Trout then Ron hooked up with something bigger and had a good battle with a nice Slot Redfish, having played it perfectly.  We ran up to the Jolley River and here it was non stop fish catching!  Seatrout after Seatrout after Seatrout - most undersized, but Chuck found a nice 19" keeper sized one and Ron added another.  They mixed in a couple of more feisty Redfish. then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Wildlife and Fishing

Boy what a fishing trip today!  I met TJ and Melissa Mahan at the Atlantic Seafood dock in downtown Fernandina Beach at 7am this morning and we headed up towards Tiger Island with a bait well full of mud minnows.  The tide was still coming in so I had the anglers toss float rigs to the marsh grass and flooded oysters.  First Cast - BAM - Fish On!  It was a hungry Seatrout.  Both  TJ and Melissa continued to catch Seatrout, big Ladyfish, Blues and even a small Black Tip Shark for the next hour and half.  Then TJ had a strong bite and good battle with a  nice 18" Flounder and Melissa put a keeper sized Trout in the boat.  While fishing, we were treated with a sighting of a very large buck deer up on the island.  We eventually made a run up to the Jolley River where the anglers again got into some Seatrout and feisty Reds.  We saw some Manatee and when they cleared out Melissa had two good hookups with big Reds but these fish had been around for a while.  They made a run to the marsh grass and dug there snouts into the oysters, breaking off after an exciting battle.  Melissa added one more keeper Flounder to the catch then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Rounding Out a Slam in Style

  I had met Russ and Denice Kesel along with their two sons Noah and Sam this morning at the Atlantic Seafood dock, downtown Fernandina Beach, and we headed up towards Tiger Island on the very last of an incoming tide.  The oysters were flooded so we tossed float rigs with live mud minnows for bait.  I think our first cast produced a bite and from then on the family were catching fish.  Noah got it started early and kept the hot rod as he reeled in a few hungry Seatrout and a couple of them were "keeper size", even though the Kesel's were practicing good game management by tossing their fish back today.  Both Russ and Sam picked up some Trout, too, and Noah added a feisty Redfish.  We moved on around, closer to Tiger, and again the anglers picked up Trout, a Blue, some Ladyfish, and even a Needlefish.  Our next stop was the docks of Lanceford, but even though the tide had been going out for over two hours, the oysters weren't showing and the fish weren't biting!  We hit another set of docks and had no luck there. OUCH.  Our last stop was back at the first set of docks and this timethe oysters were popping out of the water.  Russ picked up a hungry Snapper then we had a strong hookup and FISH ON!  Denice fought the fish back and forth behind the stern and kept the pressure on as it made some strong runs.  With husband Russ manning the net, the duo eventually landed a large, 25 1/2" Slot Red!  I lost track of when, but either before, during or right after that battle, Russ landed a keeper sized Flounder, to round out the Slam.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Early Slam

Blair Bennett treated his two young angler grandkids to an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City of Fernandina Beach Marina at 7am and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings on a falling tide.  The oysters were still covered but we still went with some 1/4 oz jigs and mudminnows, makin sure we didn't get up into any oyster beds.  Young  Ella started the catching early by hooking up with some hungry Snapper.  Later, both she and Ezra caught some feisty Redfish.  Ezra had something heavy on his line and we all thought that maybe he had another "Oyster Fish" when it started pulling back!  He kept the pressure up and eventually worked in a nice 19" keeper sized Flounder, putting him in a tie for 2nd in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament!  With Redfish caught and now a Flounder, it was just a matter of time before these young anlgers had rounded out there Amelia Island backcountry Slam, and sure enough, Ezra reeled one in, all before 8:30 AM!  We eventually made run up to Jolley River to fish some creek runouts and the catching continued.  The Redfish didn't quite make it into the slot but they were fun to catch and put up a good fight.  On our way back into the marina we saw a couple of Manatee lolling in the shallows so we pulled up and watched, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

One Slot Two Slot

We coudn't have asked for a prettier morning today with clear skies and a slight breeze blowing.  Ken Grinstead and his adult son Matt met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City Marina at 7am this morning and we pointed The Anglers Mark up the Lanceford Creek to fish some of the dock pilings.  The tide still had a couple of hours to completely hit bottom so we tossed some live mud minnows on jigs up to the pilings an fished them back slowly. Just when I thought that maybe the fish were not going to show, Matt's rod bent over and his drag ripped out, FISH ON!  We were close to the pilings and Matt worked the big fish in quickly and we soon saw that it was a perfect, in the slot, 24" Redfish!  The anglers continued to fish with both Matt and Ken hooking up with small, but feisty Redfish.  Then Ken had a fish on, but this one acted like dead weight with little pull thrown in and sure enough, it turned out to be a keeper sized Flounder.  The bite slowed so we headed up to the Jolley River and fished the very last of the outgoing tide at a creek runout.  Both anglers again had fiesty Refish, then they picked up some Seatrout to round out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  When the tide changed, we found one more oyster bank to fish and again, the anglers caught Redfish and Trout.  One time they both hooked up with a "double" hauled in Redfish.  As we neared the end of our first pass, Ken had a strong hookup - this Redfish was bigger than most, and after a battle where he played the fish perfectly, we landed another nice Slot Redfish.  We made one more pass, picking up a few more fish, then called it day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Lead Off Home Run

It was a beautiful morning when I met Shawn Boggs and his 11 year old son Jackson at the Big Talbot Island Boat Ramp at 7am today.  The bait shop was out of live bait, but I had a bag full of fresh dead shrimp, so we headed up the Nassau River to fish some oyster outcrops on the last of an outgoing tide.  The anglers warmed up tossing jigs and shrimp to the exposed oysters. We had very few real bites but when we pulled up we were able to catch a few live finger mullet with the cast net.  Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef and after I positioned the boat Jackson placed one of the live mullet up next to the stucture.  Over my shoulder I advised him to let the mullet wiggle around for a while and maybe a fish would find it when I heard him ask, "Like this?"  RIIIIIIIIP the drag went and FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly, keeping it turned away from the structure and eventually fighting it to the back of the boat.  It made a number of hard runs but he kept the pressure on and brought him to the waiting net.  We celebrated the "thrill of victory" with some high fives on the "home run" of a first fish and got some pictures.  When we measured it we found out that it was over the slot, a 27 1/2 fish, placing Jackson tied for 3rd in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament!  We made sure he swam off to be caught another day.  Shawn joined in by picking up some fiesty Redfish, then Jackson hooked up again using a finger mullet.  He worked this big fish to the boat  and net and this one measured 24", in the Slot! And again, his drag ripped out, his rod bent, and another Big FISH ON!  Jackson did great, working the fish away from the structure, but this fish hadn't gotten oversized without learning a few tricks.  He headed for deep water behind the boat and took the line right under the boarding ladder, snapping the line, FISH OFF!  Aaah, "the agony of defeat"!  But these anglers fished on and caught a couple of more feisty Redfish and Jackson also added nice Puppy Drum.  We caught another couple of dozen finger mullet then headed for Broward Island to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  The bait was moving along the shoreline and fish were busting it so we set up about 40 feet from the bank and offered some mullet on our jigs.  Shawn was the first to hookup, catching a nice Trout then both anglers were catching them.  Some were fat but undersized but they were able to get a couple over the 15" size limit.  The sun had gotten up and the breeze that we had enjoyed all morning seemed to die, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Plenty of Fish

Ed and Colleen Suarez were visiting Amelia Island and took in a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  The tide was dead low when we met at Atlantic Seafood so we headed up to the Jolley River to fish the exposed oyster banks.  If you wanted some action then this was the place to be!  Non stop bites and catching and releasing for about 2 hours.  There wasn't a whole lot of size to the Redfish and Flounder that the anglers caught, but there was a bunch of catching.  They mixed in two handfulls of Croaker, some hard fighting, hard jumping Ladyfish, a couple of Snapper, and a nice Bonnethead Shark.  We continued to fish until we ran out of bait then stopped in and picked some more up.  Our next stop behind Tiger Island didn't produce any real bites so we came around to the ocean side and again the anglers were catching fish.  Ed rounded out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam when he picked up a Seatrout.  After more Trout, Ladyfish, and Snapper, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Slam, Slot and Double

Mike and Heather Hingson were visiting Amelia Island with their two kids Emily and Joe and scheduled an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We headed up to the Jolley River on the very first of an incoming tide and with a slight breeze to out backs. Using 1/4 jigs and live shrimp, the anglers began making presentations to the oyster lined banks and the bite began almost immediately and lasted for about 2 hours.  Although the Croakers were thick, the anglers picked up some nice Seatrout and feisty Redfish, too.   Then Mike had a strong hookup and his drag ripped out, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and after a good battle, he directed the fish into the waiting net.  This 24" Slot Red was a nice fish!  Shortly after that Mike and Joe had a double hookup and when they got their respective fish in, it turne out that Joe's Trout trumped Mike's Redfish!  Joe went on to catch a couple of keeper sized Flounder (the family released all of their fish) to round out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  For a while, Emily was on fire, hooking up Trout after Trout, enough to earn the label, Trout Queen! We fished outside of Tiger later and picked up a few more small Trout and Ladyfish, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Constant Bite

David and Whitney Nofsinger treated their two young angler sons, Harper and Willis, to an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We headed up to Jolley River on the first of an incoming tide loaded down with a bait well of live shrimp.  I dropped the trolling motor along an oyster lined bank and we began to inch along, casting jigs and shrimp to the exposed oysters.  From the first cast the young anglers were getting bites, hooking up often and keeping their parents and I busy getting them re-baited and back in the water.  They caught small, but hungry Trout, feisty Redfish, and Croaker's and were getting their casting down when Willis had a strong bite, his drag ripped out, and FISH ON! When he yelled "DAD!",  David pitched in to help hold the rod and when we realized that the fish was BIG, David took over and began an epic battle, fighting the fish from bow to stern with the fish making some strong runs in between.  Eventually he subdued the beast and we finally netted an oversized 28 1/2" slot Redfish!  Wow, what a fish!  This put the duo into First place in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category. We continued fishing the bank, had a few strong hookups and breakoffs,  continued to pick up small Trout and small, but fiesty Redfish, then we made run to the outside of Tiger Island where the anglers continued there catching ways.  Harper caught the largest Seatrout, a keeper sized one and both he and Willis added Ladyfish to their catch.  The sun was up and hot so we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!