We had a beautiful start to todays fishing trip, launching out of Big Talbot Island Park with sunny skies and just a light breeze. I had met Mike and Sarah Terry and their daughter Madeline at 7:30am at peak high tide and headed up the Nassau River to fish the Spanish Drop area at a nice marsh runout. We held there for an hour or so because the anglers commenced to catch fish! Sarah hooked up with something big to start things off but the big fish had no intention of getting caught! Then Mike had a good hookup and a battle on his hands. He played the fish perfectly and soon landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish! All the anglers caught fish - they had a couple of Seatrout, a Jack Crevalle, and Madeline reeled in a hard fighting Stingray! Before we left, Mike caught a nice keeper sized Flounder to round out their Amelia Island back country Slam. We ran down to Broward Island to get out of the rising wind and held outside of another marsh runout. The anglers added two more keeper sized Flounder. We also had a fast cruising Manatee come by the boat and had a nice visit from the Florida Wildlife Commission who checked us out and gave us the OK! With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
Pat and Sharon Galvin were visiting Amelia Island with their two young kids, Kacey and Drew, who had never been out on a boat. So they set up an back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark for this morning. We met at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at 7am and headed up the Amelia River to fish the mouth of Jackstaff. Our first stop was at a large marsh run out and then we hit some smaller ones. The anglers were getting some pretty good bites then we all of sudden hooked up with something big, FISH ON! Both Pat and Kadey fought the fish for a while then Drew stepped in to have his share of the battle. His dad, Pat, finished it off and with patiently angling, landed a big 3'+ Bonnet head shark! The wind had picked up out of the east so we headed over to Broward Island which turned out to be a good move because the bite picked up. Drew landed a couple of Snapper then Sharon joined in with one or two also. Kacey picked up a couple of hungry Croaker who croaked their displeasure of being pulled from the water! Then Sharon had a strong hookup, her rod bent and the drag ripped - this was a nice fish! She worked the fish in patiently and we soon netted a nice 22" Slot Redfish! We photographed and released the fish. We picked up another couple of Snapper and Croaker then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
How can you go from one of thebest days of fishing on one day and the very next have to struggle to find a fish? I think the biggest reason was that the water was muddier due to the heavy rainfall we've been having. I had the pleasure of getting out and fishing again with Mark and Shelly Davis today and even though we got a little wet heading to our first stop, that was all the rain we got during our trip. We had an excellent tide with the water moving out of the marsh and the oysters beginning to show. We began fishing with float rigs and mud minnows tossed to the edges of the oysters up in Jolley River but had no real bites. We then made a move to a large creek mouth and tossed the minnows on jigs and may have picked up a Croaker or two. Our next stop was at Jolley Bank and here Shelly hooked up with a handful of feisty, fun to catch, but small Redfish. We then made a run to Bell River to fish the dock pilings and although the conditions looked perfect, we again needed to rely on Shelly to find us a feisty Redfish. This young couple gave it an all out effort and did pick up a few fish but today just wasn't the day for the fish to be biting here at Amelia Island.
The Pleasant family was back in town for their July vacation and took in a back country fishing trip today on The Anglers Mark. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on Big Talbot Island Park and headed up the Nassau River to fish the Twin Creeks. I used the Minnkota I-Pilot trolling motor to hold us a the marsh runouts as the anglers tossed their jig/mud minnow combo on an outgoing tide. William hooked up and landed a keeper sized Trout and they also had some Ladyfish action. We made run around to Jackstaff, fished an oyster bank, and had Alex land a really nice 20" Seatrout. William fought a nice Jack Crevalle and Ben landed a keeper sized Flounder. Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef with the tide still going out. We'd only been fishing few minutes when Alex hooked up and had a BIG fish! FISH ON! He played the fish perfectly, around the bow and back to the stern, but this wiley old fish had been around for awhile and with the boat held in place, it found some current to add to its weight, and broke off, OUCH! Ben was next up and hooked up to a BIG one too! He fought his fish
patiently but this time I released the I-Pilot and we drifted with the current, fighting the big fish. Eventually Ben landed an oversized 28.75" Redfish! These anglers were in for a big day of fishing because the BIG Reds were not through! Alex hooked up and played this big fish perfectly, determined to land this one, and he did. We measured it before we released it and found it to be 33.5" would put Alex in the lead in my Anglers Mark 2013 Bragging Rights Tournament, Redfish category (scroll down right side of this report for standings) Ben added a 26.5" Slot Red, and then a 30" oversized Red. Alex added 20" Slot Red, and William put two 21" Slot Reds in the boat. The anglers wrapped the day up by landing two keeper sized Black Drum. And with that, we called it a day, another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
(2) Premade 15oz pans of cornbread
(1) 8oz pre-chopped bell pepper combo container
(1) 8oz pre-chopped tomatoes container
1/3 of a 80z pre-chopped purple onion container
(1) Large cucumber, peeled and cubed
(8) large scoops of mayonnaise
Crumble the cornbread onto two cookie sheets and bake in oven at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on cornbread and remove from oven and turn crumbles to get a crispy browning. Let cool then add ingredients and stir thoroughly. Taste and add salt and pepper as you like.
Cut these ingredients in half to make a smaller batch.
I had the pleasure of again hosting the Kesel family fishing this year - Russ and Denise and their two young anglers Noah and Sam. We met yesterday morning at the Atlantic Seafood dock and headed up river to fish some dock pilings of Eagans Creek. As I was getting the jig rods ready I handed one off to Russ who made a good cast up to the pilings and BOOM! FISH ON! First Cast! He played the big fish patiently and landed a nice Slot Redfish! Boy what a way to start a fishing trip! From then on it was a good 'ole fish catching time. Noah was catching Slot Reds, Denise joined in on the action and then Sam had a strong hookup and the fight was on! He and his dad worked the big fish around the stern, to deep water and back, and after a few deep runs, they brought to the net the biggest fish of the day, a 28 1/4" oversized Redfish! All of the Kesel fish were photographed and released. They also had a number of fat Snapper, a couple of black Puppy Drum and some Croaker. We then hit another dock where Noah caught another Slot Redfish and then a very nice keeper sized Trout. We fished Jolley River and had a few bites, then the outside of Tiger Island to wrap up another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
The Conroy's - Neil and his son, Lewis, and grandfather Bob fished with me Thursday afternoon. The weather was actually pretty nice with some cloud cover but the wind had picked up to 10-15 mph and made it difficult to fish open water areas. But these anglers were here to fish and persevered through the conditions to catch some fish. We hit Jackstaff as our first stop, had a Ladyfish hookup and then Neil landed a hungry Seatrout. The wind was rocking the boat so we made a run to the sanctuary of Broward Island and fished the downed logs. Here, Neil floated a lively mud minnow past a submerged log and when the float rig disappeared he had hookup, FISH ON! He worked the nice Trout in to be photographed and released. We ventured back out into the wind, fished the Twin Creek area of Nassau River and picked up a Jack Crevalle, two hungry Redfish and a Sea Bass. The wind was again making fishing difficult so we ran over to the docks of Black Hammock, fished them, then wrapped up the trip back at Sawpit Creek.
I got to fish with Kurt Freese and his family again they other day - he, his dad Clyde, his daughter Kara and his grandson Julian. We met down at the Big Talbot Island boat ramp on Sawpit Creek Thursday morning and headed up the Nassau River to fish Bubblegum Reef with jigs and mud minnows on the first of an incoming tide. Clyde got things started off, hooking up with an aggressive Croaker. We ran around to Jackstaff and the fishing picked up with Julian hauling in a Ladyfish then he picked up the biggest Trout of the day. Kurt landed a couple of Trout and Kara landed a Jack Crevalle. Then she had a really good fight with a large Jack that ripped the drag on her reel. We fished the Nassau River Twin Creeks area where Clyde wrapped up the fishing action, picking up a nice Trout and another Jack. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
We had to let a late afternoon thunderstorm pass through yesterday but when it did we had clear skies for a beautiful few hours of fishing. Adam Garner, his son Ryan and Ryan's girlfriend Morgan met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock and after the storm we headed north to fish some dock pilings at Eagans Creek. We had numerous bites and caught Croaker, Snapper, small Trout and a Puppy Drum. Then Ryan hooked up with something big up near the pilings. He played the fish patiently working 'em away from the dock, and we soon landed a nice 20" Slot Reddish! We made a move to another dock, fished for a while then Morgan had a hookup, a head shaking
fight, and landed a nice 20" Seatrout. Minutes later she had another bite and this fish was big! Morgan took her time as the big fush went deep and from stern to bow and back to stern. After a 5 minute battle (and some unneeded coaching from the peanut gallery) she landed an oversized 29 1/2" BIG Red! We photographed and released the fish. Then Adam hooked up and he to landed an over sized Red. Then Morgan battled another to the net, this one measured 32 3/4", putting her in first place in The Anglers Mark 2013 Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfish category! Now, all three categories are led by the ladies! (scroll down right side of this report for standings). We moved on, fished a couple of more spots, landed 2 flounder to round out an Amelia Island back country slam, then headed in as the sun was setting, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
John Massey had his son, John Allen and grandsons Jonathan and Joshua set up to fish with him The Anglers Mark. We headed up to the Jolley River to fish the incoming tide with the water creeping up on the oysters. The anglers immediately began to get bites and hookups with hungry Croaker. Then, Allen hooked up (kinda!) and had a battle on his hands. The big fish circled the bow then headed to the stern and out to deeper water. We soon saw a nice sized shark....and then it was off! Allen reeled up his line and found a half eaten Croaker! The shark wasn't hooked but had latched on and it was a tug of war that ended in a tie! Young Jonathan caught a hard fighting Puppy Drum while his Grandad reeled on a feisty Redfish. Later, John also caught a angry Jack Crevalle. The tide got up and we hit a few more spots with Jonathan catching a high flying Ladyfish. During the trip we saw dolphin, osprey, Rosette Spoonbills, a raccoon, and numerous bird life today in the backwaters of Amelia Island.
We had a beautiful start to todays fishing trip, launching out of Big Talbot Island Park with sunny skies and just a light breeze. I had met Mike and Sarah Terry and their daughter Madeline at 7:30am at peak high tide and headed up the Nassau River to fish the Spanish Drop area at a nice marsh runout. We held there for an hour or so because the anglers commenced to catch fish! Sarah hooked up with something big to start things off but the big fish had no intention of getting caught! Then Mike had a good hookup and a battle on his hands. He played the fish perfectly and soon landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish! All the anglers caught fish - they had a couple of Seatrout, a Jack Crevalle, and Madeline reeled in a hard fighting Stingray! Before we left, Mike caught a nice keeper sized Flounder to round out their Amelia Island back country Slam. We ran down to Broward Island to get out of the rising wind and held outside of another marsh runout. The anglers added two more keeper sized Flounder. We also had a fast cruising Manatee come by the boat and had a nice visit from the Florida Wildlife Commission who checked us out and gave us the OK! With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
