Boy what a pretty day we had today! It was chilly enough to wear a fleece but there was only a slight breeze when I met Sean and Meagan Rosenquist down at the City docks at sunrise. The tide was high and just going out when we made our first stop outside of Tiger Island. I had Sean tossing a topwater lure up on the bow and Meagan was throwing a float rig with live shrimp and they almost immediately began to get hookups. Trout were nailing the topwater lure and Meagan was hooking up with Trout, too. We fished the area until the bite slowed then we made a run up to Jolley River and to the mouth of Snook Creek. We had been fishing for just a short while when Meagan had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! She played the big fish patiently and after good battle, landed a nice Slot 21" Redfish! We fished for a short while longer, picked up another few smaller Reds and a couple of Trout, then we moved back to Jolley Bank, switching jigs. Now Sean's rod heated up. He landed a nice keeper sized 14" Flounder, then a 16" one, then his biggest, a nice 17" Flounder! We had a few more Redfish and Trout then made a final stop back at Tiger Island. Meagan got back on the board when she put another nice Flounder in the boat, a big 18" fish! I think we had another Redfish or two, then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
I fished yesterday afternoon with Kevin Clickett and his son Jack. We had met at the Atlantic Seafood dock with a weather forecast of a slight chance of rain, with winds 10-12mph with gusts to 20. But we had a game plan to fish on the lee side of a land mass so with that in mind we headed out and sure enough, our first stop was like fishing on a calm pond. It turned out to be a beautiful morning with our float rigs out and the sun coming up, but we had no real bites for the first 45 minutes! At our second stop we went to jigs and minnows to fish some dock pilings. We had a few nibbles then
finally a strong hookup, FISH ON! Young Jack played the big fish patiently and even though it made a couple of strong runs, he kept the pressure on and soon landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish! If we're only going to get one fish in two hours then it's great to get a nice fish like that! But these two anglers were not going to be denied. We made a short run to a second spot, began to fish some more dock pilings and in a short instance, Jack had hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout. Then we a had a good flurry of catching small but feisty Redfish. Just before we left neither Kevin or I were getting any bites so Jack stepped up with the "hot hand", made a cast, and landed one more Seatrout to his catch total. We then ran around to Tiger Island through some fairly choppy water but when we got in behind the islands it wasn't too bad. Kevin had a strange bite and hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder to round out the duo's Amelia Island Back Country Slam. He then added one more feisty Redfish before we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
We had a beautiful morning today with slightly overcast skies and just a slight breeze. I had met Greg and Julie Gerken down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp on an outgoing tide. We headed up the Amelia River and into Jackstaff to fish a still flooded oyster bank with jigs an mud minnows. I think it was Julie's first cast, a good one up to the marsh grass, and she had a hookup! That's a great way to start a fishing trip. She worked the fish in patiently and landed a nice feisty Redfish. We worked the bank slowly and a
little later Greg got on the board when a hungry Seatrout tapped his jig and Greg hooked him up! There was tons of bait in the creek but we didn't have near as many good bites as I had expected. We then decided to make the long run to Broward Island and this did the trick. We fished the deep water for just a short while then the anglers began to get hookups. They landed a good handful of Seatrout, Redfish and then Julie put two nice Flounder in the boat to round out her personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam. We worked the area thoroughly, getting more Trout and Reds, then made a quick run back to Bubblegum Reef to fish the last 15 minutes of the trip. Julie had made a cast out deep and was working it back slowly when, BOOM! FISH ON! We could tell right off this was a bigger fish as it was having nothing of being reeled in. But Julie kept the pressure on as the big fish dove deep went form starboard side to port side. She patiently played the fish and we soon netted a nice 21" Slot sized Redfish! Now that's the we to wrap up an Amelia Island fishing trip!
The fishing seems to be getting better since all of the rain we had last week. I met Jay Chincheck and his buddies Mark and Tim down at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina this morning and we headed up to fish the logs of Tiger Island with about an hour left in a falling tide. The anglers were tossing jigs and mud minnows and it may have been Tim's first cast when he had a strong bite and landed a nice Redfish! Shortly after that he had an even bigger fish on. He played the fish expertly but after a good battle the fish had other plans and ran up into the logs and cut itself off! Then all three
anglers started catching fish. Most all were feisty Redfish in the 15-17" range. Jay had one Red that had 14 spots, a sure big money winner in the Spot Tournament when it grows another inch or two! We worked the area thoroughly and just as we were about to leave, Mark had a good bite, and FISH ON! He played the big fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice 21" Slot Redfish! Then Jay followed that up with a keeper sized Flounder. We hit our first spot one more time, picked up a few more Redfish then Mark put another keeper sized Flounder in the boat. We made
a run around to Jolley River, fished the bank where Tim put three Reds in the boat, then moved further up river to fish Snook Creek. Again, Tim hooked up but this time it turned out to be a very nice 18" keeper sized Seatrout to round out the trio's Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Flounder and Trout. Jay picked up another Trout shortly after that and Mark added a feisty Redfish. We ran back to the marina, made a pit stop for lunch, then ran south to fish the Horsehead Area. Our first stop proved fruitless as it appears the Mangrove Snapper have gone. Our second stop was up in Christopher Creek where Tim added another Redfish. We were visited by a small alligator who seemed to have no fear of humans because he swam right up to the boat and hovered for a handout. We then made a run down to Broward Island and even though the tide was way up we fished the logs anyway. Jay spotted a small protected pocket and called his shot, just like Babe Ruth, "I'm getting a big fish in there", and made his cast perfectly. A split second later he had a hookup and FISH ON! This was a bigger fish and even though it headed for the logs, Jay worked it out and when he got it out deeper, played it patiently. After a good battle, we landed another big 22" Slot Redfish! We hit one more area, fished some float rigs, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
I fished this morning with Don and Bev Horton, who met me at the
Atlantic Seafood dock with plans to fish the very first of an incoming tide. We made our first run up to the Jolley River and began to fish the exposed oysters of a long bank. Here the tide still hadn't made up it's mind to start coming in but the two anglers warmed up, getting used to my light tackle spinning gear. Just as the tide started in they began to catch fish on our jig and shrimp combo. Bev tricked a "baitstealer" into biting her hook then she
really knocked the skunk off when she hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. From then on the two anglers landed fish after fish, mostly feisty Redfish which were a beautiful copper color. But Don added a Flounder then Bev landed on of her own to tally her first Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Flounder! We worked the area thoroughly, switched to float rigs as the tide got up, and landed a few more Redfish. We ran further up the river where Bev switched back to the jig rig. She caught Reds on the jig while Don caught them on the float. We ran back and through Tiger Creek to Bell River and fished a little more with the float rigs then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
We've endured about a week of rain here at Amelia Island but the weather forecast called for only a 20% chance of rain this morning so Mike Gintoff, is buddy John Souter made the short drive from Elizabeth Pointe Lodge and met me down at the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp to chance an early morning fishing trip. As it turned out, we didn't get wet, but the wind made it difficult for my boatmanship and the anglers fishing. However, these two anglers had great attitudes and were up to the challenge! We fished the docks of Lanceford Creek and even though we were out of the wind
and had a few bites, we had no takers so we made a run around to Tiger Island. Here the two fished between the logs and eventually both picked up some nice, fat Seatrout. We ran through Tiger Basin over to Bell River and set up behind a large flooded oyster bed and this did the trick. Both anglers began to get hookups, landing a handful of Seatrout and then a few hard fighting Redfish. When the bite slowed we hit one more spot, a small grass patch back at Lanceford Creek. Mike picked up another Redfish and John battled an even larger Redfish but it was not to be. The big fish got big for a reason and new all the tricks, it roiled to the surface then burrowed it's nose down in the oysters and cut itself off! But we had a great time and even though the skies stayed overcast, it was another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
I fished this morning with Duncan Warren and boy what a beautiful morning we had! Sunny skies as the sun came up and only a slight breeze made for a perfect day to fish here at Amelia Island. We had met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and headed up the Amelia River and into Jackstaff to fish the very last of an incoming tide. It took just a little while to get bites but after tangling with a Ladyfish, Duncan put a nice Seatrout in the boat to knock the skunk off. We had another couple of Seatrout along that first stretch, a feisty Redfish, and another couple of Ladyfish. We then fished another bank and here picked up a couple of more Seatrout (all of these on float rigs with live shrimp). We then fished a creek run out, this time with a jig and shrimp. Duncan was fishing the rig perfectly and when his line went tight he set the hook and hooked up with another hard fighting Redfish. We made a run around to Seymore's Pointe to fish some rocks with the float rigs again and within minutes Duncan had a hookup! This fish was fighting hard to get back in the rocks but Duncan worked him out patiently and put a nice keeper sized Vermillion Snapper in the boat. For the next 45 minutes we had good bites and hookups and a few of them turned out to be about 16" - the biggest Snapper we've had all year. I counted 8-10 Snapper that we put in the boat before the Needlefish began to get too pesky so we made a run to briefly fish Broward Island where we picked up one more Redfish. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
I fished again today with the Richardson men, Allen and his son
Mark and son-in-law Jason. This time we met at the Atlantic Seafood dock in Fernandina Beach and ran north to fish the Jolley River on the first of an outgoing tide. The grass was still flooded and it took a while to get some bites but when they came, boy did we get some bites! Jason was 2 for 2 starting things off, catching the first fish of both days, this time a hungry Seatrout, which he proved adept at! We fished around a large creek mouth and as we got to the other side the fish caching heated up. All three anglers began to catch fun to feisty Redfish - not a lot of size to them, but fun to catch. These fish are ranging between 12"-16" in length and appear to be adding some girth. Jason had one fish hit hard and break the braided line, taking hook, float and some line. Twice we saw the float pop up near the grass so we made a plan to grab the float and net the fish in one swoop. But the fish attached was having none of it. On the second try we retrieved the float and hook, but no fish! Mark was at the bow of the boat and when he had a stronger hookup we knew this was a bigger fish. He played the fish perfectly and patiently and soon landed a nice Slot 22" Redfish. We dropped back to fish Jolley Bank and again the fish catching heated up. There was a few times where we had "double" hookups and almost a triple. The anglers were landing Redfish, Ladyfish, Blues, Jack Crevalle, Perch and Jason added a keeper sized Seatrout. Our last stop was over at Bell River, fishing some docks and here Allen put a nice Redfish in the boat and Jason added one more Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
Today's weather was almost perfect! It stayed sunny all morning, we had very little breeze, and it didn't get too hot. I had met Allen Richardson and his son Mark and son in law Jason down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at 7am and we headed north up the Amelia River to fish Jackstaff on an outgoing tide. I had mud minnows and live shrimp in the well and we used both under float rigs. We had trolled the bank for about 25 yards, tossing to the marsh grass, when Jason had a hookup and the first fish of the day, a nice, feisty Redfish! Both he and Allen had found a spot and they
had a good flurry of catching these Redfish and then they added a Trout and a couple of Ladyfish to the catch. Mark got in on the action and he too landed a couple of the Redfish. Before we left the area the anglers switched to jigs and Mark put a Seatrout in the boat. We made a run around to the Nassau River and fished "Twin Creeks", with two of the anglers tossing jigs and Jason fishing a float rig along the marsh grass. I think it was Mark's first cast and he hooked up with Redfish. He went back to the spot, put another couple of Reds in the boat, then had a weird bite, but FISH ON! He
worked the fish in patiently and put the first keeper fish in the boat, a nice Flounder. This rounded out Mark's personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, and Flounder. We then made a run to Broward Island and even though it seemed conditions were just right, the fish weren't co-operating. But Allen was able to manage a Seatrout then later Jason had a good hookup and put an nice keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
I fished this morning with Lisa Duke and her visiting childhood friends Mary and Jan. We had met at the Atlantic Seafood dock with the tide going out with a couple of hours to go so we headed up to fish the Tiger Island logs with jigs and live shrimp and mud minnows. We hadn't been fishing long when Jan picked up a hungry Croaker then a feisty Redfish to "knock the skunk off" the boat! We fished the island south then north and all three anglers put Redfish in the boat. Then Lisa had a strong hookup, and...
FISH ON! This fish was pulling drag and we could tell right of that it was bigger. But Lisa played the fish patiently and after a good battle, landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish! We continued to fish the island and the trio put a Seatrout and a Sheepshead in the boat to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Sheepeshead. Then Mary had a strong hookup but here line went slack and we thought she'd lost it but then all of a sudden a huge Ladyfish came out of the water right at the boat! There was a lot of yelling (screaming) going on but I stood fast and netted the high flying fish! As it hit the deck both Lisa and Jan yelled, "Fish on!" and they too had fish! They both fought their fish expertly and soon Lisa put a keeper size Flounder (a Grande Slam) in the boat and Jan landed another Redfish. When the bite slowed we made our way to Jolley Bank and fished the first of an incoming tide. Here the anglers stayed pretty busy catching Redfish, Seatrout, Croaker, Catfish, and Perch while tangling again and again with Ladyfish. We ran out of bait just as we were ready to wrap up so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
Boy what a pretty day we had today! It was chilly enough to wear a fleece but there was only a slight breeze when I met Sean and Meagan Rosenquist down at the City docks at sunrise. The tide was high and just going out when we made our first stop outside of Tiger Island. I had Sean tossing a topwater lure up on the bow and Meagan was throwing a float rig with live shrimp and they almost immediately began to get hookups. Trout were nailing the topwater lure and Meagan was hooking up with Trout, too. We fished the area until the bite slowed then we made a run up to Jolley River and to the mouth of Snook Creek. We had been fishing for just a short while when Meagan had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! She played the big fish patiently and after good battle, landed a nice Slot 21" Redfish! We fished for a short while longer, picked up another few smaller Reds and a couple of Trout, then we moved back to Jolley Bank, switching jigs. Now Sean's rod heated up. He landed a nice keeper sized 14" Flounder, then a 16" one, then his biggest, a nice 17" Flounder! We had a few more Redfish and Trout then made a final stop back at Tiger Island. Meagan got back on the board when she put another nice Flounder in the boat, a big 18" fish! I think we had another Redfish or two, then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
