Tourney Red Tops Off the Trip

I fished this morning with Glenn Aldredge, his son Nick and their friend Luke, meeting down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp. We headed up the Nassau River with clear skies and just a slight breeze, running all the way down to Broward Island to fish the logs on the first of an incoming tide. We had live shrimp and mud minnows and the shrimp seemed to be the bait preferred. Nick knocked the skunk off early, landing a nice Seatrout and from then on it was "fish catching" for about 2 hours. All three anglers got in
on the action. Luke picked up the technique quick and landed a couple of feisty Redfish and Seatrout. They also landed a Sheepshead, Black "puppy" Drum and a Flounder to lay claim to a "Super" "Grande" Amelia Island Back Country Slam! Then Glenn had a strong hookup and the fight was on! This was a big fish on a light rod and reel combo but Glenn was up to the challenge. The fish went deep, went long and went from starboard to port but Glenn kept the pressure on After a good battle (during which Luke landed a smaller Red) we netted Glenn's 26 3/4" Tournament sized
Redfish.  Boy what a fish! We continued to fish the area, picked up a few more fish then ran around to fish some docks at Seymore's Pointe. Nick put another Trout in the boat then we ran through Jackstaff to fish the other side where Nick put one more Trout in the boat. After that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

A Different Kind of Slam

This afternoon I fished with Kay and Dale Bullard, again out of the Atlantic Seafood dock. But we hadn't fished south in a while so we made the trip down thru the intercoastal and up into Poteat Cut, making our first stop at a marsh runout, on an outgoing tide.  It didn't take long for both Kay and Dale to boat a couple of hungry Seatrout. Our next stop was over in Jackstaff and here we trolled the bank, tossing float rigs and jigs with live shrimp. The conditions were right but we had no real bites. We ran thru Jackstaff over to
Seymores Pointe, fished a dock, and this did the trick. Dale had some nice hookups with Seatrout and so did Kay with both landing "keeper" sized fish. Then Kay had strong bite and we new this was not a Trout. The fish fought hard but Kay was up to the task and soon landed a hardy keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. Then Dale followed that up with a big fat Weakfish garnering the duo an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Black Drum and Weakfish - an unusual Slam, but a Slam in my book! They picked up one more keeper Trout then we ran further south to Broward Island to fish the last of an outgoing tide. The conditions were right but the fish didn't want to cooperate, although they did catch another Trout or two. It was getting late and we had a long run back to the marina so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Reds and Trout

We had a beautiful morning today as we left the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina on an incoming tide and headed straight up to Tiger Island to fish the logs while they were still exposed. It took a little while but these two anglers were excellent casters and it was only a matter of time before they started putting fish in the boat. First, Charles boated a nice feisty Redfish then
both he and Theresa traded the lead in the "most fish" count. In addition to a good handful of Reds, they had another good mess of Seatrout with one measuring in at 18". We fished the area until the tide got up too high then we ran thru Tiger Basin to Bell River and fished some flooded oyster beds - but we had no real bites. We ran up Lanceford Creek, fished a dock with no luck, then fished some more flooded oysters. Further up Lanceford we found a grass patch that held some Trout and another Redfish, then we wrapped it up south of Rayonier. All told, they probably had 10-12 fish for the day, so we counted as another great one to be fishing at Amelia Island, Florida

Gators in the Back Water

I had the pleasure to fish again today with the McKinnons -Murray and his two sons James and Thomas. We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock but elected to make the long run south to fish the Horsehead area and beyond. We actually went all the war to Broward Island to catch the incoming tide while the logs were still exposed and I'm glad we did. We had only been fishing for a short time when James had a strong hookup and landed a nice feisty
Redfish. From then on it was fish catching time. The anglers landed more Reds, a good handful of Seatrout, and Thomas found the knack for catching Sheepshead which garnered them another Amelia Island Back Country Slam. We fished until the tide got up then headed over to Christopher Creek. We had just put the trolling motor down when both James and Thomas noticed that we had a visitor! It was a 4 1/2' long alligator! He hung around for a while, followed us up the creek as we fished some dock pilings, and we decided that this must be his territory because we didn't get a single
bite. Our next stop was some docks at Seymore's Pointe where James picked a big Bluefish then we ran through Jackstaff to the other side and fished the now flooded oysters. Just when I thought there would be no fish, James and Thomas proved me wrong and put a good handful of Seatrout in the boat and then a couple of almost legal Flounder. Just as yesterday, no fish were kept today, other than a legal Trout that didn't revive. The wind had picked up and it was time to go and we all agreed that it was another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Slow Early But Great Finish

I fished this morning with the McKinnon family, Murray and Beth Ann, along with James and Thomas. We had a high and still incoming tide as we left the Fernandina Harbor Marina so we picked some flooded oysters to fish with float rigs and live shrimp. I think our first 3 stops, 4 if you counted crossing from one side of a creek to the other, where we got no real bites. OUCH!  But these anglers were persistent and were making excellent casts and the
next stop brought some fish. We had switched to jigs and shrimp, even though it was still high tide, and James "knocked the skunk off" when he caught a nice hungry Seatrout. Shortly after that Beth Ann was fishing up near some logs and she had a strong hookup. The fish fought hard but Beth Ann was up to the task and landed a feisty Redfish. The anglers traded catches, catching  some Reds and now and then a Seatrout and even a Bluefish. Then Murray went back to where Beth Ann had caught her Red and, BOOM!  FISH ON! This big fish was having none of coming to the boat but luckily it headed deep and down river instead of into the tree limbs. Murray kept the pressure on and slowly worked the fish to the boat. When we saw it roll we knew it was a big Redfish. After a good battle Murray landed a nice 28.5" oversized Redfish, boy what a fish!  We continued to fish the area, picked up a few more fish, then ran up to Jolley River. They picked up another Trout and another Blue, then we made our last stop around at Bell River. Thomas had the hot hand early here, putting a feisty Redfish in the boat and a Flounder to help the group claim an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Then James wrapped it all up when he found another handful of Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Super Slam?

I fished this afternoon with Phillip Maginnes and is daughter Kate - running up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings while the tide was still going out. We had very few bites until Kate had a strong hookup and landed a nice feisty Redfish. We made the run around to Tiger Island and this did the trick. Both Kate and Phillip had good hookups, catching a good handful of Redfish and Seatrout, then they put a keeper sized Sheepshead in the boat to get an Amelia Island Slam, then Kate hauled in a Sheepshead to make
it a "Grande Slam". We fished up and down the island, picking up a Redfish here and Seatrout there, then Kate had another hookup and....landed a nice Black "puppy" Drum. So I guess they had an Amelia Island Back Country Super Grande Slam!  Redfish, Seatrout, Flounder, Sheepshead and Black Drum. One of the Seatrout Kate caught was 17.5", putting her in 2nd place in the 2015 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament. (Scroll down right side of this report for standings) All fish were released this trip. It's always fun for me to see father's and daughters getting out on the water and this turned out to be a great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

The Fishing Got Better

I fished this morning with the Freeman family - Scott and Kathy along with their two youngest sons David and Will. We ran north to fish some flooded oysters outside Tiger Island where Scott quickly "knocked the skunk off" and landed a hard fighting Blue Fish. The David picked up another before we moved further around the island, and both Scott and Will caught some nice Seatrout. We ran up to Jolley River and fished the still flooded oysters with float rigs
but even though the conditions were right, we had no real bites. Our last stop was at Tiger Island and here things heated up. All four anglers got in on the action of catching feisty Redfish and Seatrout, with a couple of those being of keeper size. It was good to see things pick up and some nice fish caught, and we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island,Florida.

Father Daughter Fun Fishing

I had Kent Taylor and his daughter Abbey fishing with me today, and after meeting down at the City marina, we headed up to Eagans Creek to fish the first of an outgoing tide. Our first stop was at a clump of marsh grass and it wasn't long before Kent put a couple of hungry Seatrout in the boat.  We made our way around to some docks and switched to jigs and shrimp, fished slowly on the bottom. It took a few minutes but the two anglers began to catch fish, and catch fish and catch fish. They put some feisty Redfish in the boat and Kent had one that was in the Slot (all fish were released today),
then Abbey had a keeper sized Seatrout. Abbey seemed to have the hot hand for catching Blue Fish then she had a strange bite, hooked it up, played it patiently, and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Flounder. But these two anglers were not done! We made the run to Tiger Island where Kent caught a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum to up there catch to a "Grande Slam". Both he and Abbey had a few more Seatrout, another couple of Black Drum, and then a whole slew of feisty Redfish. Although we had some overcast skies early,  the sun had come out, the clouds had moved on, and we ended up having a great day of catching fish here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Back Country Grande Slam

We had an outstandingly beautiful morning today, fishing out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. I had met Andy and Mary Ellen Morgan along with their son Drew and we ran up the Amelia River with the sun coming up and a nice enough breeze to keep the sand gnats at bay. We made our first stop at the mouth of Jackstaff and the anglers began tossing live shrimp under floats. We had fished for just a short stretch when Drew hooked up and landed a nice Seatrout. We continued to fish, had a couple of bites, then ran
around to Seymore's Pointe to fish some dock pilings. Here, both Mary Ellen and Drew had good bites, landing Redfish, Seatrout, and a keeper sized Black Drum to garner and Amelia Island Back Country Slam. But the trio wasn't finished. We ran down to Broward Island and fished the exposed logs. Both Drew and Andy had hookups, and even a "double", landing feisty Redfish. Drew had the hot rod and seemed to hone on on the subtle bite of Sheepshead, landing a couple to p the Slam to a "Grande Slam". We fished the area for a while, made a brief stop at Bubblegum Reef, then headed in, counting it as another great day  to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Reds and Trout and Flounder

The Kirday's were in town again, Paula and Aimee and their daughter Abbie and her friend Brooke. We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock early this morning and headed up to the Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide. Fairly quickly did Aimee have a bite and although she missed the first one, she was ready the second time and caught a nice feisty Redfish, knocking the "skunk" off the boat! She then followed that up with a hungry Seatrout. We moved back to the mouth of Jolley fished a while, than moved around to Tiger Island. I think it was Paul's first cast and he had a good hookup. After patiently fighting the fish, he landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. Then young Brooke had strong hookup and she too landed a feisty Redfish. Paul had the bow to himself and he made the most of it, landing another Redfish, a Seatrout, a Flounder and nice Bluefish. The baitstealers were ever present and every once in a while they'd snag one of them. All in all it was kind of a slow fish "catching" day, but still a great day to be out fishing Amelia Island waters!

Safe Harbor Boys Home Redfish Spot Tournament

I fished Friday with friends Tim Parker and his Brian Knicley and then again Saturday in the Safe Harbor Boys Home Redfish Spot Tournament and we had a great time of catching fish! Just not the right one! Friday, there were cloudy skies with storm clouds passing to the right and left us,and the wind picked up, but we never got hit by any serious rain. We caught Weakfish, Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum and Sheepshead with one of the Redfish being in the Slot and with NO Spots!  On the day of the tournament we were ready. We had already purchased live shrimp and had them in the live well with fresh water and an aerator. We were up early and on time at the boat ramp in the dark and after launching made it to our first spot just at the sun came up. Almost immediately did Brian hookup with a fat Weakfish then he followed that up with a Seatrout. We fished the area thoroughly and landed Redfish after Redfish after Redfish but all were unersized and none had more than 4 spots. We made a move down to Broward Island and again found numerous small Redfish and then ended up fishing Seymore's Pointe where we had our choice of catching Redfish or Seatrout, but no Slot Reds that we could think about entering. It was two great day of fish catching with two friends and even though we didn't have fish to enter, we knew it was a great time to be out fishing Amelia Island waters!

Foggy Fishing

We had another foggy socked in day this morning, making it kinda difficult to navigate to "spots". I started up Lanceford Creek with Doug Massey and his two friends Marion and Bill but I was having to go so slow I figured I better go ahead and hit my 2nd choice and fish it until the fog lifted. We eased around to Tiger Island and began fishing on the very last of an outgoing tide. Just as I thought it was a little slow but when the tide changes the three anglers began to catch fish. Dough "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a nice feisty Redfish. Then they were all catching fish - feisty Reds, hungry Seatrout and then they picked up a couple of Sheepshead to claim an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. They then made it a "Grande Slam" when Bill landed a Black "puppy" Drum. We fished the area thoroughly and put two keeper sized Seatrout in the boat before we ran up to Jolley River to fish a flooding oyster bed. Doug had one good hookup with what surely was a Slot Redfish but it buried it's nose in the oysters and broke itself off after a good battle. We had a good day of "catching" so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Flordia!

Creatures of Amelia

I did a tour this afternoon, taking the Steve Buckley family on a "Creatures of Amelia" tour. We headed north and saw the historic sites of Old Town, the Pogey Plant and Fort Clinch, then crossed over to Cumberland Island where we saw a small herd of wild horses. As we cruised the shoreline Steve spotted a pod of Dolphin rolling out ahead of us. We cruised Beach Creek, saw some bird life, then crossed back into Florida and around behind Tiger Island. I had some live shrimp and mud minnows left over from the morning trip so we broke out a couple of rods and gave it a try. After a few casts we had a good hookup and Steve and his oldest son Christian reeled in a hungry Seatrout. We relocated a ways south and Grandad Frank had a strong bite, played the fish patiently, and landed another fat Seatrout. Our next stop was checking some crab traps. The first trap was empty but the 2nd had a crusty old Blue Crab. We made a stop to check a minnow trap and even though it had no minnows, Christian spotted small fiddler crab. Our last crab trap was empty, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be learning about creatures of Amelia Island!

Big Sheepshead Grabs Bragging Rights

We had a great day of fishing this morning with some big fish caught and a whole lot of undersized ones. I had met Randall Gressett and his son James down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and we headed north to fish Tiger Island on the first of an incoming tide. The skies were overcast but there was very little wind as the two anglers began to pitch their jigs and shrimp up near the downed logs. It was a slow start but James finally got things going when he hooked up and landed a nice feisty Redfish. We fished up and down the bank and finally found a hot spot. For the next two hours it was
catching one fish after the other. Randall had a good battle with a 22" Slot Red, then he caught another. Both anglers were catching smaller feisty Reds then James put a 21" Slot Red in the boat. Randall had a really strong bite and as the line zipped across the water and the big fish dove deep we knew that this was going to be the biggest Red so far. NOT! Randall played the fish patiently as the fish continued to put up a fight and when it came to the surface we saw that it was a huge 22" Sheepshead! Boy what a fish. This
fish puts Randall squarely in the lead of the Anglers Mark 2015 Bragging Rights Tournament -Sheepshead category(scroll down right side of this report to see standings). And shortly after that James had a good hookup and again thought it was going to be a keeper Red, but it turned out to be a fat 18" Seatrout, garnering the duo an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Sheepshead and Seatrout. There was one more very large Sheepshead landed, along with more feisty Reds and hungry Trout, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

First Dog Fishing

I fished again with Richard and Cheryl Freshour, leaving out of the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina. Richard and Cheryl brought along "B-Gee", their little dog and it made for a great trip. At first B-Gee was a little annoyed at the remote controlled trolling motor and would emit a low growl as it move around to stay in position but once he got used to that, all was cool. The tide was already high and coming in so we made our first stop at Tiger Island to fish the
logs before they covered up. Richard had a good hookup and as he got it to the boat I saw that it was a nice Seatrout but it threw the hook before we could net it. Shortly after that he had strong bite and a good battle. This fish tried to stay at the bottom but Richard kept the pressure on and soon landed a nice 16" keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum, which we photographed and released. The bite was somewhat slower than it was last week but these two anglers kept on and it paid off when Richard had a really hard bite - this fish hit it hard and immediately ran, and FISH ON!  Richard played it patiently and after a good battle landed a Slot sized 24" Redfish! Again, after pictures, we release the fish to be caught another day. We continued to fish the area then ran up into Jolley River, fished some flooded oysters with float rigs. We then ran back to Tiger, checked some flooded grass flats for tailing Redfish and saw none, then wrapped the day up fishing floats again. Although it was a slow day, we can say we batted 1000, landing two fish that were both keeper sized!

Foggy Day Fishing Fun

Last week we had the sand gnats and this week we've had the sand gnats AND foggy conditions and today it held true. I fished today with Larry Beudry and Tom Sintes along with their friends Richard and Austin and it was foggy enough to alter my fishing plan. But we made the best of it and caught a few fish. Our first stop was in Jackstaff with the anglers tossing live shrimp under float rigs during the last of an incoming tide. Larry "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed  a hungry Seatrout. We made our next stop
around at a dock at Seymore's Pointe and here young Austin landed a nice Weadfish (Sand Trout) which was kinda cool to see.The anglers had a few more bites but no takers and the fog had lifted so we made the run down to Broward Island. Fishing with a jig deep, Tom picked up another Seatrout rather quickly but the tide was really high which made for some difficult fishing and it seemed like we'd have no more fish. But Richard volunteered to toss a float rig up near the shore line and this did the trick. He caught another fat Seatrout and went back to the same spot and caught a feisty Redfish
to wrap things up. The fog had cleared and we had caught a few fish and it turned out to be a great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Black Drum Makes The Day

The fog from this morning carried right in to the afternoon. I had met Eric Slavens at the Fernandina Harbor Marina and we chugged slowly through the fog up to Eagans Creek to fish an outgoing tide with an 8weight fly rod and intermediate line, hoping to find some Trout, but we had no takers. We then fished the logs at Tiger, again with the fly rod, and again no takers. We just couldn't get the fly down deep enough. But when Eric switched to a jig and shrimp it took no time to begin catching fish.  Eric noticed that his line started moving off and when he tightened up the rod bent over and the drag began to sing! It was a good battle and Eric was up to the challenge. He played the fish patiently and soon landed a nice hard fighting 20" Black Drum. We continued to fish the area and caught a good handful of feisty Redfish. The fog lifted somewhat at Tiger, but was still thick on the run back.

Trout on the Comeback

Talk about some fog! If last week we fished in soup, today would have been called stew!  Todd Pate, along with his two associates Kurt and Mike had met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock and when we got out of the marina we found we were socked in, so we chugged along to our first stop. Although the tide was already up and still coming in, we gambled and went with jigs on the bottom. This turned out to be right on the mark - the the anglers caught a good mess of  Seatrout down deep on the bottom and picked up a
handful of feisty Redish. Todd boated a nice 19" Trout that put him in first place in the 2015 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament(scroll down right side of this report to see standings). then Mike "called his shot" saying he was going after a big Redfish up near the bank and sure enough, BOOM! FISH ON! He played the big fish patiently and after a good battle, landed a nice 24" slot Red. The anglers caught a few more Trout then we checked out a flooded grass flat where we found the first tailing Redfish of the year. We took some shots at it with a weed less spoon but it eventually submerged and eases off to deeper water.
After a couple of more spots fishing float rigs, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Keeper Sized Fish and All Released

I fished again this afternoon, this time with Bruce MacLear, again out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We ran back up the Nassau River and made our first stop at Bubblegum Reef. The tide was perfect but the wind was really blowing and made it difficult to present our jig and shrimp. So after a few minutes we moved over to Seymore's Pointe to get out of the wind and fish some dock pilings. We had only been fishing for a few minutes when Bruce began to get hookups and the bite stayed on for a good hour or so. Bruce expertly played keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum to the boat, landed a nice Slot Redfish, a couple of more Drum, a healthy 17" Weakfish, and a handful of Seatrout - all adding up to an Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam! All fish were released to be caught another day. We then decided to brave the wind and headed down to Broward Island. Again, Bruce had numerous hookups of mostly feisty Redfish with a couple of Seatrout thrown in. The wind was blowing but Bruce was able to fish the downed logs with execellent casting and it made for another great day of fishing Amelia Island's back country waters.

Weakfish Catches

I fished this morning with Bill and Pat Collins, leaving out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning to fish the first of an outgoing tide with live shrimp under floats. We made our first stop at the mouth of Jackstaff and fished the flooded marsh grass, easing along, casting to "fishy" spots. Pat got things going when she landed a hungry Seatrout. Although the conditions were right, we didn't have much more action. We made the run through the marsh and fished some dock pilings at Seymore's Point, and this did the
trick. Both Bill and Pat caught a handful of Seatrout and they put a couple of Weakfish in the boat, which was kinda neat. Our last stop was down at Broward Island. Although the wind had picked up a little bit, Bill was up to the challenge and landed a couple of feisty Redfish. It was a beautiful morning and another great day to be fishing Amelia Island, Florida.

The Sun Was Shining

I finally got to fish with Gary and Sherry Elder and brother-in-law Jim and his wife Karen. We had tried to fish last year and got rained out but today was absolutely beautiful! We met at the Fernandina Harbor Marina and made the run north up to Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide with float rigs and live shrimp. We're still not seeing much action up there but Jim was able to "knock the skunk" off when he caught a nice feisty Redfish. I think we had one
more in the area before we made the run back to fish Tiger Island as the tide had dropped. It wasn't long before Gary had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! This was a big fish and was ripping drag, but Gary was patient and slowly worked the fish to the boat to be netted and measured at 24", a nice bulky Slot Redfish! He added another one about the same size shortly after that then called Karen to the bow and she too put a big Slot Red in the boat. We were catching smaller Reds at the stern, but it was Jim's turn to take the bow and sure enough, another Slot Red! We continued to fish up
and down the island, catching a couple of small Seatrout, then a couple of keeper sized  Sheepshead, and even a small Flounder to garner the anglers and Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, Sheepshead and Flounder.  Finally, Jim capped the fishing trip off when he fought a big, oversized Red that measured 27 3/4" to the boat. We took some pictures and released it back to get even bigger! We hit a few more spots, had some really good hookups, landed another Trout, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

All About The Numbers

To Fish or Not To Fish? The weather forecast today said no rain until late morning but as I headed to the boat ramp before sunrise I had my windshield wipers on! I launched the boat, wiped it down, got it ready, and waited in a light drizzle. When Jonathan and Shireen Miller got there the rain had stopped but the sky was cloudy and more rain looked imminent. We went fishing anyway, and it was a good decision. After a run up Nassau River to the Horsehead area, we made a stop to fish some dock pilings. It took a few minutes but then we got a flurry of bites and fish. Our first fish was a hard fighting Black Drum, then we hauled in a 29 spot Redfish - a sure winner in the upcoming Safe Harbor Boys Home Redfish Spot Tournament! Then both Shireen and Jonathan each caught fat Weakfish, something I haven't seen in a while. These rounded out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Drum, Redfish, and Weakfish. After catching a couple of more small but feisty Reds, we made the run down to Broward Island and set up parallel to the bank on the last of the outgoing tide. In just a few minutes Shireen had a strong hookup and FISH ON! This was a big fish but Shireen was up to the challenge and patiently worked the fish in. It made a couple of deep runs then came to the net, turning out to be a 24" big, fat, hawg of a Redfish! From then on it was steady catching: small feisty Redfish, a Sheepshead here and there, then more Redfish.  You can always tell when a big Red hits and Jonathan knew it when he had a strong hookup. BIG FISH ON! This fish stayed down deep but Jonathan kept the pressure on and battled it to the boat - this one oversized at 30 1/4" which garnered Jonathan third place in the 2015 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament! (Scroll down right side of this report to veiw standings) .  As we were getting ready to take some pictures Jonathan noticed that a large lure was lodged in the Reds throat. We removed the lure, took some pictures and release the fish. It lunged away and splashed me good as if to say, THANKS! We continued to fish the area until we ran out of bait, catching Reds and Sheepshead and a small Speckled Seatrout. With five species of Back Water game fish caught: Redfish, Black Drum, Weakfish, Sheepshead, and Speckled Seatrout and well over 30 fish caught, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Fishing in Soup

I met Mark Von Weihe again, this time down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp, along with his sons Max, Ryan - and this time they brought along a "good luck" angler, the youngest son Owen. Like yesterday, we were socked in with fog, but we turned on the navigation lights and eased up the intercoastal and into Nassau River. The fog cleared enough to make a run to our first stop - Bubblegum Reef - and although this anglers were making
excellent casts, we had no real bites. We further up the river to fish some docks and this did the trick. Ryan got us started when he hooked up and battled a nice keeper sized Slot Redfish. Then his dad reeled in another Slot fish and Ryan followed it up with a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum.  The sand gnats  or "no-see-ums" had found us but this time we were ready! All five us donned face netting and this kept them off enough to fish comfortably. After picking up another fish or two, we made the run
down to Broward Island and the fishing was on fire. The group caught fish after fish after fish, enough so where I was huffing a little bit to keep up! Max had long since gotten in on the action and put his share of Redfish in the boat. Mark had a really  strong hookup and this time we knew we had a really big fish as the drag began to sing. He fought the big fish patiently, having a good time letting the fish run, then expertly worked it to the net. This big fish was oversized  so after pictures we released it to swim off for a another anglers to catch. Owen was catching fish on his on and when he pulled in a keeper sized Sheepshead the anglers were able to claim an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Drum and Sheepshead. We almost had a "Grande Slam" when Ryan worked a hungry Seatrout to the boat. It was a great day of fishing with a ton of fish caught here at Amelia Island, Florida!