Meeting The High and Incoming Challenge

I'd set up a fishing trip today with Chuck Butler and his two sons Trey and Trenton and I had already noted that there would be a "high and incoming " tide as we began fishing.  But these anglers were up to the challenge and we ended up catching some really nice fish.  Our first stop was at Temptation Cove where we fished with live shrimp under floats.  Young Trenton hooked up early with a hungry Seatrout and as he was reeling him in Trey had a solid hookup and a fish fight on his hands.  Trey patiently worked th fish in and we soon landed a nice keeper sized 18" Black "puppy" Drum!  Not long afterwards his dad Chuck landed one,
too. We made a run up into Lanceford Creek to fish some flooded marsh grass and here things really heated up.  Trenton had a huge bite that just kept on going!  All the anglers landed some hungry Seatrout then Chuck put a nice 17" keeper Trout in the boat.  Chuck had two good battles with big Redfish, one brief, and one extended when but the big Red got up in the grass and broke off. OUCH!  But Chuck was not to be deterred when again he hooked up.  This big Red also made for the marsh grass but Chuck was able to work him out slowly. After a
good battle we netted a nice 24" Slot Redfish!  We later checked out some flooded grass flats - saw no tailing Reds - then fished the logs of Tiger at the top of the high flood tide with no real bites.  Trenton landed a feisty Stingray then we move to the outside of Tiger to fish the first of the outgoing tide.  Both Chuck and Trey caught a few hungry Trout, Trenton had a feisty Redfish, then he wrapped up the day by landing a nice keeper sized Black drum.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Redfish Catchin

Boy what a beautiful day it was today!  I met Mark and Heather Adams at the Atlantic Seafood dock lat this morning, timed to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  We headed north and made our first stop outside of Tiger Island and tossed out some live shrimp under floats.  We picked up a couple of baitstealers and a couple of hungry Seatrout.  We then made a run up to the Jolley River to a large creek and fished as the tide swept out.  We only had a couple of mini bites but both Mark and Heather had spotted some tailing fish on the other side of large oyster bar.  We re-positioned ourselves and this turned out to to be the trick!  Mark had a strong hookup and after patiently working the fish, landed a nice Redfish!  I picked up a Seatrout then it was pure catching for a good while.  We landed a number of feisty Redfish and Mark caught a keeper sized Black "Puppy" Drum and also landed a Sandtrout which gave him an Amelia Island "Grande Slam", of sorts - Redfish, Seatrout, Black Drum, and Sandtrout.  We also caught a keeper sized Croaker and Whiting to go along with a few Pinfish and Perch - the ever present baitstealers.   We made a last stop behind Tiger and picked up a couple of more Reds as the tide eased to a halt, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

It's the Method

The Mannering family included a back country fishing trip in their family reunion activities this morning.  I had Matt Mannering and his son Mason and their Grandfather Bob and Uncle John meet me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and we headed north to fish the outside of Tiger Island on the first of an outgoing tide.  The anglers were armed with float rigs and live shrimp and began tossing to the grass line.  We had a number of nibbles and finally John got it started by landing a hungry Seatrout.  Matt got in on the action and he and John landed a few more Trout.  John tangled with a good sized Ladyfish and I as I was baiting a  hook I heard a drag begin to sing.  I looked up and saw Matt's rod bent over  and out beyond it I saw a big boil in the water, FISH ON!  Matt exclaimed that he saw the big fish come up and engulf his shrimp and the fight was on!  He played the big Redfish perfectly which tried a number of times to run under the boat but Matt wasn't having anything to do with that.  He kept the pressure on and eventually we netted the 29.5"  12lb fish!  Boy what a fish!  We fished the area for a while longer then made a run up to Jolley River and fished a large creek.  The anglers had no bites on the float rigs so we switched to jigs and shrimp and this did the trick.  All the anglers got in on the action, catching Seatrout after Seatrout with a couple of Croaker and Sanpper thrown in.  Most were in the 14" size but we had a few keepers toke home for fish sandwiches!   Our last stop was at a large marsh runout and here young Mason perfected his "method" and landed a Black "Puppy Drum" and a Flounder to round out his own personal Amelia Island Backcountry Slam.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Aunt Dumpy's Congo Squares

My Aunt Dumpy and Uncle Charles Grant lived here at Amelia Island when I was growing up and I've always fondly remembered Aunt Dumpy's Congo Squares. Come to find out, her recipe was very similar to her neighbor, Florence "Noonie" Partin and Mrs.Partin's niece  Julie is a friend of ours and she had the recipe.  I polled my cousins Susie and Trish for their recipes, merged it with the Partin recipe, baked a few test batches (the neighbors loved them) and here's what I came up with:

1 Box light brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks of butter
2¾ cup flour

½ teaspoon salt (leave out if using self rising flour)

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder (leave out if using self rising flour)

3 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 cup chocolate chips (1 ¼ in mix, ¾ cup on top)

1 cup chopped pecans

OPTIONAL:  ½ cup coconut

 

Melt butter in microwave, mix with sugar,  let it cool!

 (I didn't the first time and when I added the chocolate chips they melted)

ADD vanilla

Add eggs

Stir until all is mixed thoroughly.

If not using Self Rising Flour,  add baking soda and salt to flour and sift a couple of times to get it mixed thoroughly.

Add Chopped pecans

Add 1 ¼ cup chocolate chips

Add coconut if you are using it

Add  sugar/egg mix to dry ingredients and beat with blender.  Spoon into “Large Bar Pan” (Pampered Chef-stoneware) lined with parchment paper and sprinkle the last 3/4  cup chocolate chips over top.  Bake  30 minutes on 325 degrees. Make sure the center is done.

Cut Congo Squares in bar pan then lift out parchment paper and put on cooling rack.

These are great served hot with vanilla ice cream.

Big Flounder Tops Birthday Trip

I had the pleasure of fishing again today with the Teseiro anglers - Don and his kids Trey and Marie.  The fishing trip was part of  Trey's 12th birthday celebration here at Amelia Island.   We met at the Fernandina Harbor Marina as the sun was coming up and headed straight to Tiger Island to get out of the northeast wind.  We had live shrimp and mud minnows and even a couple of small crabs to fish with and it wasn't long before these anglers were getting bites.  Marie started it off first by hooking up with a hard fighting feisty Redfish which she expertly landed.  Shortly after that Trey had a good hookup, played it perfectly, and landed another feisty Redfish - this one with 5 spots!  All of the anglers caught Multiple Snapper and added a few Croaker, too.  Don had a good battle with a hard fighting Black "Puppy" Drum.  Trey made a pinpoint cast to a pocket in the trees, worked his minnow slowly, and then the rod bent over, FISH ON!  This fish was causing the drag to sing but Trey kept the pressure on and after a long battle, landed a big 21.5" Flounder!  Boy what a fish!  This fish put's Trey into 3rd place in The Anglers Mark 2013 Bragging Rights Tournament (scroll down right side of this report for standings).  Don added a keeper Snapper, Trey landed the "ugliest" fish - a Toad Fish, and Marie wrapped it up with a pesky Croaker.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Nor' Easter Blowin

We had a beautiful sunrise today and even though the wind was already blowing 10+ we headed out to do some Amelia Island back country fishing.  Joel and Myra Godwin were visiting Amelia Island celebrating their anniversary so we met at the Atlantic Seafood dock in downtown Fernandina Beach, Florida this morning.  Our first stop was up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings with jigs/mud minnows on the last couple of hours of an outgoing tide.  It wasn't long before the anglers were getting bites and soon Joel hooked up and reeled in a hungry Snapper.  Joel had bass fished his Georgia waters and quickly got the
hang of jigging and hooking up and eventually Myra got the hang of it too and reeled in a fat Snapper. Although the wind was picking up we pulled "anchor" and made a run north to Tiger Island and fished the vary last of the outgoing tide and then the incoming.  Again, the Snapper were present and this time Myra had the hot rod and picked up a few. Later she had a good bite, a hook up, and this time the fish fought differently.  The feisty fish put up a good fight but we soon landed a nice Redfish.  We fished the entire island but the wind was really beginning to blow so we headed over to Eagans Creek to fish some more dock pilings.  There wasn't much action going on but Myra did wrap the day up with a hungry Seatrout catch.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Beautiful Day of Fishing

Boy what a beautiful day we had fishing on Amelia Island's waters!   I had met Chris Kimbrell and his friends Mike and Cassidy down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and we pointed The Anglers Mark nortah to Tiger Island.  There was just a slight breeze but the water was calm as we pulled up to the downed logs.  The anglers got busy casting jigs and shrimp to the shoreline and were soon getting bites.  They landed a number of rather large Croaker and added some fat Snapper to the catch.  Mike had a good fight with a feisty Redfish and before we left the spot Cassidy landed a keeper sized Flounder.  We moved to the outside of Tiger and broke out the float rigs and some live shrimp.  We had a really good flurry of bites and the anglers caught some hungry Seatrout, did battle with some Ladyfish, and then Chrisis landed a feisty Black "Puppy" Drum.  We ran up to the Jolley River and picked up a couple of more Trout and Chris reeled in another Flounder.  Our last stop was to the outside of Tiger again where they had a few more bites and then Mike had a big bite and break off as we were preparing to leave.  That wrapped up another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Seatrout Come On Strong

The last few days of rain and wind gave way to a beautiful day today.  I met Paul and Aimee Kirday, their daughter Abbie and her friend Brooke down at Atlantic Seafood early this morning and we headed north to fish flooded oysters outside of Tiger Island.  The anglers had a few good bites early and Brooke landed a hard fighting Jack Crevalle.  Paul later caught a couple of hungry Seatrout.  We checked out some spartina grass for tailing Reds, saw none, then fished the covered logs behind Tiger but had no real bites.  Our next stop was the Jolley River, fishing the flooded banks, but again had no real bites.  We eased up into the

marsh in a small creek and saw a big 'ole Redfish tailing way out in the middle of a flooded flat!  Unfortunately the flat was surrounded by thick marsh grass and I couldn't find an entry to get the bow into a wade-able area.  We did circle the flat and had some distant shots at the fish (and soon saw that there were more than one fish) but we just couldn't get close enough.  Our next stop was "Snook Creek" and here things began to pick up.  Paul started it off by catching a keeper sized Seatrout then all of the anglers got in on the action.  They caught a good handful of smaller Trout and gradually added keeper sized Trout to the cooler.  Both Aimee and Brooke had keepers and then Abbie caught the only Flounder of the day.   Aimee had a strong hookup with a big fish that took her from bow to stern but this fish just kept going with no intentions of being caught,  After another couple of keeper Trout catches, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout Bite Early

We had six bay boats lined up at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning ready to meet the Herb Lottman fishing group of 12 anglers for fishing trips  into the back country of Amelia Island.  The group of anglers were staying at the 5 Star Elizabeth Pointe Lodge who had also arranged the transportation and box lunches. It was right at high tide so our first stop was outside of Tiger Island.  On The Anglers Mark, I had Herb along with his friend Roy and we started the day out tossing live shrimp under floats to the marsh grass edges.  It wasn't long before the two anglers were getting some good  bites then Roy hooked up with a nice keeper sized Seatrout to get the "skunk off the boat"!  Roy had the hot rod early and landed a few of the Seatrout and even though Herb was getting bites, they just weren't taking.  But then his float disappeared and his rod bent double, and, FISH ON!  He played the fish patiently and after a good battle, with the big fish running stern to bow and back again, we netted a big 22" Seatrout!  We continued to fish the area, picked up a few more trout and Roy had a good battle with a feisty Black "puppy Drum.  There was a big rain storm headed our way and just as Roy had reeled in another keeper sized Trout, the bottom fell out and it began to pour.  We pulled up the trolling motor and headed around to the lee side of Tiger Island to get out of the wind but we still all got soaked!  After the rain subsided, we made a run to Jolley River where we fished a small creek mouth.  Both Herb and Roy had hookups with high flying Ladyfish.  We fished Snook Creek and the MOA and had bites but no takers then we ran around to Bell River and fished some dock pilings. We only found one Croaker so we made a long run to Lanceford Creek where the bite heated up somewhat.  Herb's rod got hot and he landed a couple of nice Snapper then an 11-spot feisty Redfish.  Roy rounded out the day with a very nice Snapper.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Recipe of the Month: Lottie's Spanish Cornbread

My mother let me delve through her recipe box one day and I found this Spanish Cornbread recipe that was my Grandmother Lottie Garner's. It's a great addition to any fish fry or cookout!

1/4 Cup Wesson oil

1 egg
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1 Cup cream style corn
2 Tblsp sugar
1/2 Cup grated cheese
1 Tblsp chopped onion
1 Cup self rising cornmeal
(I also added 1 Tblsp chopped jalapeno peppers)

Mix together and pour into 8"x12" pan. (As you can see I made mine in an iron skillet).  Bake 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

Like a Science Class

We had postponed our fishing trip from Monday until this morning to avoid the higher winds earlier in the week and boy was it a pretty day!  I met Barbara and Lou Montresor and their son Kevin down at the Big Talbot Island Park this morning at 7am under clear skies and with just a slight breeze.  We headed up the Amelia River to the Horsehead area and began our fishing at the mouth of Jackstaff.  The anglers were tossing live shrimp on a jig and almost immediately began to get bites.  As I suspected, most of the fish were the summertime, ever present "baitstealers" but they presented a good challenge early.  All three anglers knocked the rust off of their casting and got the hang of bumping the bottom.  Lou had the hot rod early and caught a couple of hard fighting Jack Crevalle's and a hungry Seatrout.  Both Kevin and I had short hookups with a cruising Bonnethead Shark but they were having nothing to do with coming to the boat and broke off.  We made a run around to the Nassau River and things heated up.  Kevin got hot and landed a "Puffer Fish", then a couple of keeper sized Snapper. Then he had a good hookup and after a nice battle, landed a keeper sized Seatrout.  The anglers added Pinfish, Perch and then Kevin landed a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum.   He also picked up a neat Stingray.  We made a late run to Broward Island and the fish were really biting here.  The anglers caught a number of Snapper, but Barbara landed a feisty Red Drum and then Kevin landed a Flounder to round out an Amelia Island back country Grand Slam of Seatrout, Redfish, Flounder and Black Drum!  We were having a hard time keeping track of the variety of fish which garnered a comment from Lou that it was "almost like a science class" catching the number and variety of fish that they did.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Last Cast Slot Redfish

The Colucciello family - Steve and Patti and their son Vince and his girlfriend Nikki were visiting Amelia  Island before school starts back and took in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We met down at the Big Talbot Island Park at 7am and headed up the Amelia River to fish last hour of a very high and incoming tide.  The water was way up in the grass so the anglers were tossing float rigs with live shrimp to the tips of the grass.   We had some early action with both Vince and his mom Patti hooking up with a couple of hard fighting Jack Crevalle.  The anglers also picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout.  We moved on around and into Jackstaff and although we had no real bites, we did have a shot at some very nice Sheepshead tailing up in the flooded spartina.  We then fished the mouth of Jackstaff and it wasn't long before Vince had a strong hookup and when his drag began to sing I knew he had a big fish!  FISH ON!  Vince got into the the hang of working the big fish up, letting his rod do the work, and after a battle from bow to stern and back to bow, we netted a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark!    We had a couple of more hookups with these hard fighting beasts and also had a Stingray.  Both Patti and Nikki caught keeper sized Snapper and Nikki added a keeper sized Seatrout.  Our final stop was around at Nassau River and here the anglers found the ever present "baitstealers" - the Croaker.  Steve even put a small, but neat, Grouper in the boat!  It was almost time to leave when Vince had a really good hookup but the wiley fish found a way to break itself off.  Steve tossed to the same area on the last cast of the day and BAM! FISH ON!  He played the fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish!  And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

A Whole Lot of Catch'in

Yesterday was another beautiful day to be fishing at Amelia Island.  The morning started off with very little wind, an outgoing tide and just enough cloud cover to make for some nice fishing conditions.  I had met Scott Wetherington and his son Ivan down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and we headed up to the Tiger Islands for our first stop.  We hadn't been fishing long when Scott had a good strong hookup and the battle ensued!  He played the fish patiently and after a while we netted a nice 18" Redfish!  Ivan had a nice Flounder and a big "poor man's Tarpon" - the Ladyfish.  The ever present Croaker and Snapper were caught, too!  We made a run up to Jolley River, fished the MOA spot with no real bites (how could that be?) then moved around to Snook Creek where the bite picked up.  Both Scott and Ivan landed a good handful of feisty Redfish, then Scott had a good hookup and put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat.  Both anglers caught hard fighting Jack Crevealle, Ivan picked up another Seatrout then we made another move down to Jolley Bank.  Again, a couple of more feisty Redfish then Ivan hauled in a Stingray and a keeper sized Flounder.  Our last stop was back at Tiger where we picked up more Croaker, a keeper sized Snapper, and another keeper sized Flounder.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Shark Makes the Day

There were three generations fishing off of The Anglers Mark today - Mark Barickman, his son Matt,and his father-in-law Steve.  We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early - 7am and I had actually launched just after 6am to try and get some finger mullet to use as bait.  I had just a little over a dozen when the anglers arrived and hung around just a little longer, casting the net to get another dozen.  We made our first stop up at Jackstaff and the anglers picked up a few fish with Matt landing a nice Jack Crevalle and Steve  caught a fairly big Catfish.   They caught one or two feisty Redfish then Matt had a strong hookup and his rod bent and drag ripped out, FISH ON!  We chased the big fish as Matt kept the pressure on and after a long battle that took Matt from bow to stern, he landed a big 3'+ Bonnethead Shark!  This fish woke the boat up!  While all that was going on Mark put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat.  We made a run through Jackstaff and fished the Nassau River side and again caught a good handful of fish, mostly Croaker and Snapper, but Matt also landed a nice Black "puppy" Drum.  Mark had another hookup with a Seatrout here, also.  We made our last stop at Broward Island and landed a couple of more Snapper and a Seatrout, but the highlite of the the trip was when a Manatee came up just at the bow of the boat!  With that,  we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters.

19 Fish

That's the number that young angler Alexis totaled for her personal catch count when the fishing was done today.  I had met her and her Grandad - Bob Miller, his wife Kathy, and their son Chris at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning at 7am and we had run up the Nassau River to fish.  Our first stop was at a large marsh runout or "dump" as one of my buddy's call it.  We were fishing with fresh dead shrimp as there was no live bait to be had at the bait shop.  But the fish didn't care and the anglers began to catch fish right off.  Alexis had the hot rod early and landed a feisty Black "puppy" Drum then a number of Snapper, Croaker and feisty Redfish.  Both Bob and Chris picked up fish, fishing on the bottom with a 1/4oz jig.  Kathy finally got on the board with a nice Croaker.  We moved on up the river with the tide still going out and again caught plenty of Croaker, a few Snapper, added a Seatrout or two, and a couple of Jack Crevalle. Alexis had a Ladyfish to the boat and continued to add to her total fish catch count with a nice hard fighting Catfish.  As the bite slowed I got out on an old oyster bank to cast for finger mullet and 10 year old Alexis followed me to act as my "spotter"!  We ended up with just over a dozen nice bait fish then headed over to Broward Island to fish the very last of the outgoing tide.  The finger mullet did the trick because Alexis soon had a hookup and a battle on her hands!  She worked the big fish in patiently and we soon netted a nice Slot 20" Redfish!  The anglers picked up a couple of more Snapper, Croaker and Chris landed the biggest Jack Crevalle of the day.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Good Tide and Good Fishing

We've had a great run of beautiful mornings and this week happens to have great tides for Amelia Island back country fishing.  I met the Scher family - Greg and Lee and their daughter Hope down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City marina and we headed north, up to Tiger Island to fish the very last of an outgoing tide.  We had live shrimp to bait our 1/4 jigs and soon found out that the "baitstealers" were going to pick us clean on every cast.  But we worked through them and had a good hookup with a nice fish  10 year old Hope worked the fish to the boat with some of dad's help and we soon landed the 19" Redfish.  Greg was getting the hang of snagging the pesky Snapper and Croaker but we decided to move on.  As we pulled away from the island we saw some good schools of finger mullet and after a few casts we were on our way with a baitwell of perfect sized bait.  Our next stop was up at Jolley Bank and we had a few good bites as we eased along the shoreline.  Greg picked up some more Snapper, a couple of feisty Redfish and then he had a very strong hookup - one that ripped the drag out and bent the rod.  Greg fought the fish from bow to stern and then included young Hope in on the action.  But this big fish had probably been through this drill before because it dove deep, under the boat and with a tight line, the leader snapped, OUCH!  But it was a good fight and livened up the boat!  We moved on up into Jolley and the action heated up.  Greg caught more Snapper, a couple of more Reds, and a couple of nice Seatrout.  We eventually called it a day, left 'em biting, and headed in counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!  In addition to a good day of fishing, we saw a raccoon, Atlantic Salt Marsh Mink, Rosette Spoonbills, dolphin, and wild horses on Cumberland Island.

Pretty Good Day of Fishing

It's a new week and it started out great this morning as anglers Bart Woodham, his son Chad and their friend Zack worked the banks and put fish in the boat.  If you're going fishing any time soon I'd recommend using finger mullet as bait, and as a second choice mud minnows.  We started off fishing Nassau River on the very last of an outgoing tide and all we had were shrimp.  The anglers had tons of bites - it seemed like one on every cast, but the "baitstealers" were just killing us!  We landed Snapper, Croaker, Catfish and finally Zack had a good hookup and landed a fat 17" keeper sized Flounder.  Before we left the area we were able to net about 40 perfectly sized finger mullet.  Our next stop was the mouth of Jackstaff and this time I eased along the bank as the anglers cast their mullet and jigs to the exposed oyster beds.  The tide was just starting to come in and it took a while for things to heat up but eventually Bart had a good hookup and, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and landed a nice 21" slot sized Redfish!  The anglers picked up a few hungry Seatrout, Chad landed a fish that I've never seen before (I'll send the pic to Mote Marine to get it identified) and Chad also had the biggest Jack Crevalle of the day.  Zack added another fat 17" Flounder and then on our second pass Bart put another 21" slot Red in the boat!  We made a run to Broward Island and now the tide was really rushing in.  But the anglers persevered even though the temperatures were getting over 90, and picked up a nice Seatrout and Snapper.  Then both Bart and Zack added a fat keeper sized Flounder apiece to the catch to wrap the day up.  These anglers had elected to release all of their fish to be caught another day and that made it all the more satisfying as we headed in knowing that we'd had a pretty good day of fishing on Amelia Island waters!

Red Drum and Black Drum

Robert McCarthy and his son Evan met me down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp yesterday morning.  Boy was it a pretty day!  The water was like glass as I ran up the Nassau River to fish the Horsehead area on an incoming tide.  The anglers were tossing 1/4oz jigs with live shrimp and soon found that they had to work through the pesky bait stealers so common this time of year.  They caught plenty of Croaker, a few Jacks and then Evan had a good hookup and a good battle.  He played the fish perfectly and soon landed a nice keeper sized Black Drum.   He seemed to have the knack for catching the Drum because he landed a couple of

more.  We made run around to Jackstaff and fished the marsh grass, again using jigs even though the tide was up.  The anglers picked up a couple of feisty Redfish then Robert hooked up and this one was a bigger fish.  It bent the rod and ripped the drag but Robert played it patiently.  When it rolled up we know we had a nice Red.  He worked the fish to the boat and w netted a nice 21 1/2" Slot Red!  Later, Evan had a similar hookup and this one was even bigger.  He fought the fish for a good while, we saw it roll up a couple of times and knew it was a a BIG oversized Redfish.  But this wiley fish had been around for a while and when it saw it's chance it through the hook and the battle was over!  Later, Robert had a big hookup too, but this fish ran strong and deep and we knew right off it was a Shark.  He played the fish from bow to stern and back and when we got the big Bonnethead to the boat we broke it off and got back to fishing!  We made a run to Broward Island, picked up a couple of more Croaker, fished Jackstaff one more time, then headedin, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Shark and Big Trout

Mike Maron was visiting Amelia Island again this year with his family and set up an Amelia Island back country light tackle fishing trip.  This year there were so many family members that wanted to go fishing he set up a 3/4 day and split the trip between to groups, 3 hours each.  I met Mike and the younger group - his daughter Libby and son Troy at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 7am and we headed up fish the Horsehead area as the tide was coming in.  We had live shrimp and dead shrimp as bait, tossing jigs to the grass line.  The anglers worked through a bunch

of Croaker, small but feisty Redfish and Mike had a big battle with a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark.  We made our way around to the Nassau River and caught a few keeper sized Snapper.  Troy landed what I think was the biggest Croaker I've ever had on the Anglers Mark and Libby caught a very nice 18" Seatrout.  We dropped  Libby and Troy off back at the dock and picked up the second crew midway through the trip.  Mike's oldest daughter Haylia and her friend Amelia and then made a run up to Broward Island.  Even though we had to brave some stinging rain along

the way it helped cool us off to get the fishing going!  Here, Haylia added a very nice 20" Seatrout to the box and Amelia hooked up with a keeper sized Flounder.  The anglers also added a couple of more Snapper to the catch and a feisty Redfish.  We made a stop at the "twins" on Nassau River and had a good flurry of bites, catching more Snapper, a small Black Tip Shark, a couple of hungry Seatrout and Mike hooked up and played and even bigger Bonnethead to the boat.  Our last stop was back at Jackstaff where we picked up another nice Croaker and some Jack Crevalle's.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

She THINKS She Has a Fish

TJ Mahan and his wife Melissa were in town again this past week and took in another Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  This time they brought along TJ's brother Harris and Harris' daughter Kelli and we met at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 3pm Wednesday afternoon to get in some late afternoon fishing.  We headed up the Amelia River and eased into Jackstaff as the tide was just covering the oysters on an incoming tide.  We had a mixture of mud minnows, finger mullet and shrimp for bait and were tossing 1/4oz jigs to the grass line.  TJ got the "skunk off the boat" early by catching a nice Flounder then all the anglers were working through the pesky Croaker.  During one of these bites Kelli announced that she "thinks I have a bite"  and as her rod bent double and the reel's drag began to sing we all knew that this was a BIG fish!  She fought the fish from stern to bow and back and her uncle TJ stepped in to help her out, showing her how to keep the pressure on with the rod and lift and reel and after  great battle we were able to land a nice 28 1/2" oversized Redfish!  Boy what a fish! We snapped some pictures, made sure the fish was revived,

and sent him on his way.  Shortly after Melissa hooked up with something big, too!  This big fish ripped line and we soon figured out that it was a Bonnethead.  Melissa played the fish patiently on the light tackle TFO Spinning Gear and after a good fight, landed a big 36" Shark.  We made a run around to the Nassau River where TJ put a nice 21 3/4" Slot Red in the box.  The anglers also had more Croaker and Jack Crevalle.  Our next stop was at Broward Island where TJ had something big to the boat but we never got a chance to see it, then Kelli added a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  Our final stop was back at Jackstaff on an outgoing tide.  We had more Croaker, a Catfish, then Harris hooked up with a final big fish, FISH ON!  He patiently played the fish, working him in slowly, and after another long battle, landed a BIG 29 1/4" oversized Redfish!  And with that, we called it a day!  Another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Hot Times in the Marsh

Boy was it warm this morning as the sun came up and with absolutely no breeze it got even hotter.  But anglers Daniel and Jo Courchesne and their son Colin were eager to get out on the water and wet a line so we met at at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on the northern end of Big Talbot Island and headed up the Amelia River to fish the flooded marsh on the last of an incoming tide.  The anglers were tossing live minnows under a float for most of the 1st stretch and had a couple of minor bites then we switched to jigs to get down on the bottom.  This did the trick as Colin
hooked up with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle and patiently played him to the net.  Later we had good hookup and Jo reeled in a keeper sized Seatrout.  We made a move to the Nassau River and the anglers picked up a couple of more Jacks, and also caught a Snapper, Croaker, Catfish and another Seatrout.  We made our last stop at Broward Island and again had some good bites but boy was it getting hot!  These anglers persevered and landed another couple of Seatrout, and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Variety Make s for a Fun Trip

College students Emee and Dillon Herbert were in town visiting their grandmother and took in an afternoon fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 3pm and headed up river, making our first stop in behind Tiger Island.  The first two casts produced hungry Croaker and while we were there the anglers added a handful more.  Dillon must have found a school of Black "puppy" Drum because he landed 2-3 three of them then Emee had a good hookup, played it perfectly and netted a nice 17" keeper sized Flounder.  We made a run up to the Jolley River and fished the flooded oyster banks
with float rigs.  Both Emee and Dillon took turns landing a variety fish including a Needlefish, Pin Fish, Snapper, Seatrout,  and Ladyfish.  We went further up into the Jolley and caught a Whiting then Dillon had a strong bite and a BIG fish on.  He played the fish patiently and fought it from bow to stern and from starboard to port.  The big fish made strong runs and ran deep and, FISH OFF!  OUCH!   The big one that got away!  But it was a good battle and a fun fight.  We made one last stop where Emee landed nice little Bonnethead Shark to wrap up a another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

BIG Grand Slam

I had the pleasure of fishing again with Shawn Boggs and his son Jackson this morning.  The river was like glass as we left the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on a high and outgoing tide.  We headed up the Nassau River and made our first stop at a nice marsh run out.  Fairly early Shawn had a good battle with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, but after that we didn't get much on the float rigs.  But the minute we switched to jigs on the bottom we began to get bites.  Jackson caught a Jack too, then hauled in a hungry Snapper.  Then he had strong bite and his rod bent and his drag ripped, FISH ON!  He played the fish bite pickup.  The anglers caught fish after fish.  All told they probably had 8-10 Croaker, 5-6 Puppy Drum with one keeper sized, and 5-6 Redfish with one just under 18".  We had a big bite and boy was it BIG!  Jackson worked this fish and the fish worked him back!  The fight went from bow to stern and down deep to the bottom and back up again.  But Jackson won the battle and landed a BIG 23" Sheepshead - probably the biggest Sheepshead ever landed on The Anglers Mark!  Shortly after Shawn hooked up and his fish fought and shook.  He kept

the pressure on and landed a big 21" Seatrout!  And to wrap things up he had another hookup, a big battle - from bow to stern and back again a couple of times - and landed an oversized 29" BIG Redfish!  Boy what a day!  Counting the keeper sized Black Drum, the 23" Sheepshead, the 21" Seatrout and the 29" Redfish I'd call that a BIG Amelia Island Back Country Grand Slam!
perfectly and after an extended battle we landed a nice 24" Bonnethead Shark!   We made a run around to the mouth of Jackstaff, picked up a couple of feisty Redfish, a Croaker or Two and then Jackson again had a big hookup.  This fish fought hard and deep and made big runs but Jackson kept the pressure on and after an even longer battle, landed a big 36" Shark!  We ran back to Nassau River as the tide dropped and the oysters began to show and boy did the