Big Fish At End of Trip

After a nasty few days we had clear skies, albeit somewhat cool for an early morning trip today. I picked up Steve Jones and his associate Jake at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort and we made the short (6 minute) trip down to Big Talbot Island Park, launched and ran up the Nassau River to make our first stop at a likely dock on the first of an incoming tide. The anglers were tossing live shrimp and jigs to the dock pilings and even though the conditions were  good and these guys were spot on with their casting, we had very few bites. But Jake finally "knocked the skunk
off" when he had a strong bite, a hookup and after a good battle, landed a nice keeper sized Sheepshead. We continued to fish the dock, moved around to the other side, had a few bites but no takers, so we left and ran down to Broward Island to fish the downed logs. After working the bank for a short while Jake had another hookup and landed a feisty Redfish. He went back to the same spot - just under a branch - and  had another hookup, another Red. Steve persevered and found a hungry Seatrout out deep then he too had a "bump" on his jig. He set the hook and found himself in a battle. He played the fish perfectly and landed another, but bigger, keeper sized Sheepshead. We ran back up the Nassau River and into a creek where we fished some marsh grass then began to work some rocks along the bank. Jake began to pick up Reds at the back of the boat and boated a few with a couple making it into the Slot (all fish were released today). Then he had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! This was a big fish. He played the fish patiently, letting the rod tip and drag do the work and after some deep runs he landed a big 26" Slot sized Redfish, boy what a fish! We worked the rocks and some docks and had a good flurry with Steve Joining in to catch his Red and rounding out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Sheepshead, and Red Drum. Then Steve had a stronger than usual bite and when his drag began to rip we knew, FISH ON! Again!  It was a big one but it was no match for Steve and after a good battle he landed a 27.25" Oversized Redfish - now that's what we were looking for! We fished the area thoroughly and realized that the sun was up and was warming things nicely and as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Hot Spot on a Cold Day

After two days of a windy front passing through we had clear skies but cold temperatures that greeted us this morning down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp. 31 degrees at launch time to be exact! But George Del Valle and I were both dressed for the cold and after the initial run to our first spot in Jackstaff, we knew the worst was over. George started off tossing live shrimp under a float rig on a high and outgoing tide. George was making excellent casts to the grass but we had not a single bite. We made the run through
Horsehead to find some dock pilings to fish with jigs and shrimp. Again, excellent casts produced on fish. We repositioned to the other side and I believe it was George's first cast and BOOM! FISH ON!  He played the fish patiently and after a good battle he landed a nice Slot Redfish. From then on, for about an hour, as long as George put his bait in the "Hot Spot", he'd have a hookup. And the fish got bigger, and bigger. George limited out on Slot Reds and we lost count around 10 (slots) and also caught and released a good handful of smaller "feisty" Rat Reds. Our last stop was down at Broward Island where we picked up one more small Red. The sun was up, the skies were clear, and as we ran back to the boat ramp we knew it was another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island.

Winter Time Grande Slam Fishing At Amelia Island

Boy it was cold this morning with temperatures hovering right at freezing when I launched at the City marina. But I had two anglers waiting for me at Oyster Bay so I ran up the river and when I eased up to the dock they were ready to go! We made the run to fish Eagans Creek on the last of an outgoing tide and after I found a likely dock to fish the two anglers began tossing live shrimp on a jig to the pilings. It wasn't long before Allen had a strong hookup and FISH ON! He played the fish perfectly, patiently working it to the boat and after a good battle landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. He
picked up a few more fish then Kenneth warmed up and began landing fish too, and adding to the "Slot Fish Total Count". They put a few more fish in the boat then they got into some Black "puppy" Drum with two of them being of keeper size, one that Kenneth caught was right at 20" - a nice fish! Allen caught a small but hungry Seatrout to make it an early Amelia Island Back Country Slam and after another Red or two we picked up and ran over to the Tiger Islands at the very first of the incoming tide. I thought it might take a while but  both Kenneth and Allen had hookup, we had the first of few "Double Hookups". Things really picked up  - Allen was catching Redfish on the bow and Kenneth found a spot where he put  three keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. Allen came back and added a fourth then went back to his "Redfish Hole".  The duo made it a "Grande Slam" when Kenneth found a Flounder out deep. They were also catching small but feisty Black "puppy" Drum out deep, too. We fished right up until we ran out of bait and tallied up that we had landed 11 Slot Reds (and released all but a few), 6-8 Black Drum, 6-7 Seatrout, and 1 Flounder. Now that's the way to fish here at Amelia Island!