After the Storm

Today was my first day back to fishing after hurricane Matthew came through. I hope all of you who are living on the east coast came through it OK. Chris Jones, his wife Beth and their son Andrew met me up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp next to Leaders and Sinkers bait shop this morning: The boat ramp at the City marina is gone (and thusly closed). But we were itching to get out on the water and see how the fishing is, and wouldn't you know it, the very last of  Nor'easter was passing through so we had some winds! We went fishing anyway! Our first stop was around at the
outside of Tiger Island and even though the wind was pushing us hard, and the tide was really high, Beth "knocked the skunk off" and landed a handful of hungry Seatrout on her float rig with live shrimp. We fished it as long as we could stand it then ran through Tiger Basin, around to Bell River, and over to Lanceford Creek to get out of the north wind. Chris picked up a feisty Redfish and Beth landed another Trout. We stopped off at some docks on Lanceford and young Andrew got on the board with a hungry Sea Bass catch. Our next stop was over at Soap Creek and here Chris caught a Trout while Andrew was the one to reel in another feisty Redfish. Although we had started at Eagans Creek, we ran back to it's shelter and fished the bank on past the boat ramp and Chris found a "honey hole" when he began to hookup with Seatrout, the biggest being 16".  Andrew found another Redfish, Chris caught one, then Beth did, too. Before we left we fished some docks in Eagans and here the anglers rounded out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam when Andrew fought to the boat an nice 17" Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be Back on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fighting Thru the Bait Stealers

Another beautiful morning greeted us today - not so much clear and sunny but, just a tad cooler, some crazy clouds, and a slight breeze to make for a good fishing morning. I had met Allen and Laverne Webb down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and we had a bait well full of live shrimp, mud minnows being in scarce supply. After getting thru the no-wake zone we made a B-line for the Jolley River with plans to fish the "bank" on a tide that had been coming in for about 3 hours. Both Allen and Laverne were tossing float rigs with
the shrimp up near the marsh grass and immediately began to get bites. Unfortunately there were a ton of "bait stealers" - pin fish, small Snapper, Needle fish, etc. that constantly harassed us. But these anglers were ready to fish and we worked thru the junk fish to catch some nice fish. They picked up a Trout or two and landed a couple of the Mangrove Snapper then Allen had a strong hookup and finally, FISH ON! He played the big fish perfectly and patiently and was doing everything right when the big fish burrowed itself up into the grass cut itself off on the oysters, OUCH! That was a nice fish. But we kept on fishing! We move around to the north side of Tiger and here Laverne hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder. We picked up another smaller Flounder then ran around to fish the outside of Tiger as the tide reached its peak. Again, the bait stealers were a pest but Allen fought through it and landed a nice, hard fighting, keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. Our last stop was around at Bell River, again we dealt with the small fish, had some good bites, then called it a day, another great one to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Non Stop Action

For close to two hours, that is! I had met Brian and Amy Easley this afternoon down at the City docks with a pre-planned afternoon trip in mind, just to catch a lower tide. the strategy did the trick as we found at our first stop along Jolley Bank. the two anglers were tossing mud minnows under floats up to the exposed oysters on an outgoing tide, one that had been receding for about 4 hours. they almost immediately began to catch feisty Redfish. Brian was positioned perfectly out from where they were biting and he picked up a few before Amy got in on the action. Then she began to put
fish after fish in the boat. although most were slightly undersized, they were fun to catch and occasion they would land one that measured right at the slot. They had "double" hookups and landings more than once! Brian also caught a couple of keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum (all fish were released today) and Amy landed a Mangove Snapper or two. Both anglers tangled with high flying Ladyfish, Amy snagged a large Gar, briefly, and she also put a Croaker in the boat. We fished the area, (twice!) then ran up to the MOA. Fishing with jigs now, Brian landed two more Reds and a
hard fighting Jack Crevalle and Amy added another Red. We made a final stop back at Tiger Island and the duo added another couple of Reds, another Snapper, and then rounded out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam when they put a Flounder in the boat. We were also treated to a Salt Marsh Mink sighting. The sun was going down so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

High Tide Trout

We had our first cool morning today when I met Corey McKenzie and his dad Jimmy down at the Atlantic Seafood dock. The tide was about two thirds of the way in and still coming so we made our first run around to the outside of Tiger Island and began fishing with float rigs and a top water lure. Corey picked up a couple of Trout but there was nothing hitting Jimmy's lure so he switched to the float too, baited with mud minnows. Both anglers picked up a few Trout before the Ladyfish moved in and became a nuisance. We ran
around to the Jolley River and fished "the bank" and again, picked up a couple of hungry Trout. After fishing further up the Jolley, and then checking out some flooded grass, we ran back and around to the Bell River to fish some flooded oysters as the tide peaked. The two anglers had a fast flurry of Trout bites, the biggest of the day, then again, the Ladyfish moved in, and then, no more bites. Our last stop was around at Lanceford Creek, fishing some docks on the first of an outgoing tide with jigs and minnows. Corey had a hookup and we were all thinking "Redfish", but it turned out to be a rare-for-
our-area Cigar Fish, only the second one we've had on my boat. His dad followed that up with another Trout, caught on the bottom. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fast And Furious

We had some active anglers on the boat, Henry and Oscar who brought along their mom and dad, Jenifer and Bryan. We met down at the City marina and with a high tide that was still coming in, made the plan to run up Bell River and fish some flooding oyster beds with float rigs. We had both live shrimp and mud minnows and both caught fish. It was only minutes after we got the lines out when the young anglers began to catch fish. Both Henry and Oscar landed some high flying Ladyfish then Oscar put the first Seatrout in the boat. Mom was taking pictures but Brian was able to get a
line out and he put the first keeper fish in the boat, a nice 16" Seatrout. It was fast and furious fishing with Trout, Ladyfish, Snapper and Pinfish biting. Our next stop was around on Lanceford Creek to fish a grassy island and even though conditions were perfect for this spot, we had no real bites. On the way out we stopped at a dock to fish and here, Jenifer had tossed a bait out and she was the only one that caught a fish here, a hungry Seatrout. We ran through the marsh and around to the outside of Tiger. Again we had a few bites then Jenifer's float disappeared and, FISH ON! This
was a big fish and the drag on the reel was ripping but Jenifer kept the pressure on. The big fish went from one side of the boat to the other then from the bow to the stern but its struggle was to no avail - it had met its match! Jenifer reeled in a nice hard fighting Jack Crevalle. As we worked the bank, Bryan made an excellent cast between two grass patches and within seconds he had a fish on, and after good fight, landed a feisty Redfish. We made one last stop up in the Jolley River where Bryan added one more Redfish and Jenifer rounded out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam when she caught a keeper sized Flounder. After an in depth discussion with Oscar about dietary preferences, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fighting Off the Baitstealers

There was a shortage of mud minnows at the bait shop today so I went with live shrimp, and boy what a pain. I met Matt and Kaleena Kloepfer, her dad Mo, and his friend Joe down at the City marina early and we headed up to fish the outside of Tiger Island on a high and (just) outgoing tide. From the first cast we were getting bite, mostly "baitstealers", but on occasion they'd land a nice fish. Joe kicked things off, landing a hungry Seatrout, then all four anlgers followed that up with more, working through the baitstealers to get
a good fish. Kaleena put the first Redfish in the boat, a feisty one, then we pulled up and ran around to fish the Jolley "bank". We had a long flurry of fish catching - Matt landed a keeper sized Trout, Kaleena added a couple of more Reds, and Mo did battle with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle. Joe was quietly putting fish in the boat up on the bow. Every one caught fish! But we were burning through the bait so when we finished fishing that stretch of river, we ran back to the bait shop on Eagans Creek and purchased some minnows. Before we left the creek, we fished a large marsh run out
and caught two Flounder, one of keeper size, caught by Kaleena. With only  short time to fish, we ran over to fish the Tiger logs and although the sun was up and the fish catch had slowed, they were able to hookup two more flounder to round out another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Nice Fish All Around

I had the pleasure of fishing with Rob and Elizabeth Torregrossa again today, and after I met them down at the City marina, we made a run north to fish the outside of Tiger Island on the very first of an incoming tide. The two anglers were tossing mud minnows under float rigs and it wasn't long before they began to get fish. Elizabeth put a couple of hungry Seatrout in the boat and Rob hooked up a Needlefish, then battled with a hard fighting Blue. When he had a another strong bite in the same spot we thought for sure it was another Blue, but this one was ripping drag! I then thought his drag
might be too loose...but luckily Rob could feel that it was a big fish! He played it patiently and landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish! They picked up another Trout or two then we headed around to the Jolley River. After one brief stop on the way to fish a marsh run out, we turned the corner and set up fishing the "bank". Within minutes Elizabeth had a good bite. She kept the pressure on and landed a big 20" Seatrout! Rob immediately followed that up with a keeper sized Black Drum (all fish were released today) before we moved on further up the river to fish Snook Creek. Again, Rob landed two more Redfish. Our last stop was back at Tiger Island and we wrapped up the day by catching one Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Grande Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, Black Drum and Flounder. It was another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Rain Showers Can't Dampen These Hot Anglers

Well, the radar showed the rain storms off to the east, and heading north this morning and when I met Joe Godfrey, his son-in-law Cliff, and granddaughter Ansley down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp, the skies were clear as the sun came up. We ran up the Amelia River and dipped into Jackstaff and then into a creek to set up at a large outflow to fish with mud minnows and float rigs. Whoever said catching a fish on the first cast was bad luck didn't know this crew! We had just tossed out our first cast when Ansley's
float went under and when she lifted the rod, she had a fish on! She reeled in a hungry Seatrout to "knock the skunk" off the boat! We picked up a couple of more trout there, then crossed over to fish an oyster lined bank. I think we picked  one small Redfish and another Trout and after fishing a grassy point and landing another trout or two...the rain came! But we were all prepared with rain jackets and since there was no lighting, we continued to fish. Ansley was a true pioneer and hung right in there with us older anglers. When it slacked up we made a dash through Horsehead and over to the
Nassau River and down to Spanish Drop and here the fish catching really turned on. They all began to catch feisty Redfish then Cliff had a big bite and, FISH ON! He played the fish perfectly and patiently but it was not to be because after a hard run, the big fish threw the hook and FISH OFF! But Cliff was not to be deterred. He continued to fish the bank and within a few minutes he had another strong hookup. Again, Cliff worked the fish patiently and after a good battle, landed a nice 25" Slot Sized Redfish!  Ansley was patiently fishing a float rig and when I saw her float go under I looked at her and she too had realized just in time that she had a big fish because it pulled her up off her seat and, another BIG FISH ON! She fought the fish along with her dad and they put another Slot Redfish in the boat. As we fished up and down the bank Joe added another couple of Reds then Cliff and Ansley teamed up a for a double hookup, catching two keeper sized Flounder (all fish were released today) and rounding out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Rounded Out a Good Trip

Tim and Jeanne Carson fished with me today, and although I've fished with them a couple of times, this was the first as a married couple! We met down at the City marina and made a long run up the Bell River to fish some docks on an outgoing tide. We had mud minnows and jigs and the two anglers were tossing them up by the pilings, letting them sink, and fishing them slowly back a ways. Although we had some nibble, there were no real bites, so we made a run around to Jolley River and fished some now exposed oysters. This did the trick - Tim picked up a small Seatrout then a feisty
Redfish. We bumped back around to the MOA (Mother of All) Spots and we had even more bites. Both Tim and Jeanne caught fish - a couple of fatter Redfish, and Jeanne put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. We went down to the mouth of the Jolley and fished the bank where Tim landed another Red and Jeanne added a Croaker to the catch. After fishing the outside of Tiger Island briefly, we made a our last stop behind Tiger. We hadn't fished long we had a strong bite and, FISH ON! Jeanne was on the rod and was fighting it patiently. Although the fish put up a valiant effort, Jeanne subdued it and eventually landed a big, hard fighting Jack Crevalle. And just a  minute or two later we had another strong bite. This time Tim was on the rod and it was fighting just like the Jack did. But as Tim worked it to the surface we saw that it was a Slot sized Redfish! He worked it slowly to the boat and we netted a nice 22" Redfish!  These anglers teamed up to land 3-4 small Flounder, rounding out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam) then Tim wrapped things up when he landed another keeper sized Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Teamwork Lands Fish In Epic Battle

I had the pleasure of fishing with Jeff and Penny Parks and I met them down at the Big Talbot Island Park this morning with plans to fish the last of an outgoing tide. It was a beautiful day as we ran up the Nassau River to make our first stop at a couple of marsh run outs. I think it was Jeff's 2nd cast when he had a hookup and as he got his fish to the boat - a keeper sized Flounder - Penny had a hookup and she landed one, too! We fished that stretch a while, picked up another Flounder, then moved down to another run out
where Jeff caught a feisty Redfish, and so did Penny. Penny put a hard fighting Jack Crevalle in the boat before we ran further up river to fish some fully exposed shell beds. The two anglers "worked 'em silly", but we had no real bites until we got up to Bubblegum Reef. Greg landed a keeper sized Mangrove Snapper then the fun really began. Penny had made an excellent cast between the reef and the shell bed. But I had my back to the cast when I heard her drag begin to sing, and FISH ON! I could tell this was a big fish. Penny applied the pressure and tried to pull the big fish away from the reef and I took the trolling motor off anchor and tried to move further away too, but it was to no avail...the fish got wrapped up in the reef! Well, we trolled right up to it, with me standing on the bow and watching the propeller get inches away from the structure while Penny handed it off the rod to Jeff who reached out and with the tip, unwrapped the line and when it was free....FISH BACK ON!  Penny took the rod back and the battle was on.  Luckily the big fish headed away from the reef and so did we!  This time it was a short battle and as Penny got the fish close to the boat, Jeff reached out and netted it, a nice 25 1/4" Slot Sized Redfish! Boy what a fight! We made one more stop down at Broward Island, had a few nibbles, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Quality and Quantity

Fishing the back waters of Amelia Island is always fun because you never know what's on the other end of the line! Today, fishing with Bob and Nancy Stein, we had nine different varieties of fish caught. Redfish, Seatrout, Flounder (a Slam), Mangrove Snapper, Jack Crevalle, Stingray, Bonnethead Shark, Croaker, and Pinfish were caught on live shrimp. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed up the Nassau River, making a quick stop to fish some exposed oysters with jigs. Bob "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a couple of feisty Redfish. We jumped down to Twin Creeks
and both anglers began to hookup with fish. Nancy put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat and Bob followed that up with one of his on. Then Nancy landed a hungry Stingray and then a feisty Bonnethead Shark. We moved back east in the river and they caught a couple of more smaller trout, then Nancy had a strong bite and FISH ON! She worked the fish patiently to the boat and landed a nice Slot sized Redfish. Somewhere in there she also caught a hard fighting Jack Crevalle and they both landed a couple of more smaller Reds.  We ran up to some docks and fished the pilings and Bob got hot catching small Mangrove Snapper and a couple of Pinfish. We ran down to Christopher Creek on the last of an incoming tide, fished the rocks and Bob wrapped thing up with a Slot Redfish of his own, then topped it off with a small but hungry Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Big Jack Catch

I fished this morning with Adam and Patty Garner, meeting them down at the Atlantic Seafood dock as the sun came up. We eased north through the no-wake zone then ran up to Tiger Island to fish the logs as the tide came in. These two anglers were making excellent casts but there wasn't a whole lot biting. We did pick up a couple of "bait stealers", a croaker, and a hungry Flounder on jigs an shrimp and minnows. We ran around and up to the Jolley River and fished the "bank", tossing float rigs with live shrimp. I think they found two Trout and then Patty landed a small but feisty Jack Crevalle. We bounced around the corner, set up behind a grass patch with the current sweeping by, and within minutes Patty had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  This fish was pulling hard so we took the trolling motor off anchor and kept the fish off to the side. Patty kept the pressure on as she worked the fish slowly to the boat and after a good battle, she landed a nice, big Jack Crevalle. Boy what a nice fish! We fished that area with both floats and jigs, had some good bites, then ran around to the outside of Tiger. The flood tide was up so we poked the bow up into the grass in a couple of places, looking for tailing Reds. Out of 4-5 spots we saw a couple "backing" in the distance and so we tossed some weedless spoons at 'em, but had no takers. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

They Each Had Big Fish

After a two days of non-stop working at the Amelia Island Redfish Spot Tournament I was back to fishing this morning, this time with Dennis Brizzi, his daughter Ginger, and his son-in-law Joe. We met out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early and headed back towards Nassau Sound to make our first stop at Twin Creeks. The anglers began tossing live shrimp and mud minnows on float rigs up to some already flooded oysters and within seconds, they began to get bites. Ginger had a big one on for a good 10-15 seconds but it threw the hook. But shortly after that Joe hooked up and we had
another big fish! He worked it patiently to the boat and landed a nice 20" Seatrout. Dennis picked up a small trout then we began to bounce down the river, hitting runouts and points. At our third one things heated up when they got into a school of small but feisty Redfish. All three anglers put Reds in the boat and both Ginger and Joe tangled with Ladyfish. Dennis picked up a Mangrove Snapper and Joe put a Stingray in the boat. We ran back to Seymore's Pointe, fished some rocks briefly, then headed over to Christopher Creek to catch the very last of the incoming tide.
Fishing some more rocks, Dennis landed another feisty Redfish then he made an excellent cast between two docks and found a keeper sized 16" Flounder. A short while later he went back to the same area and BOOM! Fish on! He kept the pressure on and worked the big fish out from the pilings and even though it went deep a few times, he worked it patiently to the boat and landed a nice 22" Slot sized Redfish. We trolled our way out of Christopher - Joe caught one of the biggest Croaker I've seen - and just as we were about to leave, Ginger had a strange bite. She worked the fish in and we netted a very nice 18" Flounder to wrap up another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Slow Fishing But Dawged Perseverance Pays Off

I had the pleasure of fishing again with Bob Blalock, meeting him down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp early, and with cloudy skies. Although tropical storm Julia had passed through yesterday, we saw a window of opportunity to fish, and we took it! We ran up the Amelia River and dipped into Jackstaff and further into another creek to begin fishing with float rigs and mud minnows at the very peak of a high tide. Both of us had some soft bites but no takers as we fished the flooded marsh grass. We crossed over a creek, switched to jigs and minnows, and again, no real bites. I wouldn't have thought that the storm that passed by would have affected the fish bite, but it may have, because even thought the present weather was very comfortable, the bigger fish just weren't biting. Bob tangled with a and caught a couple of high flying lady fish before we left, ran through Horsehead, and fished some dock pilings. He caught a few feisty Mangrove Snapper then we ran down the Nassau River to fish some marsh runouts. The water was coming out of the marsh by now and bait was moving and fish were beginning to bust and sure enough, BOOM! Bob had a nice fish on. He played the fish patiently and after a good fight, landed a nice Slot Sized 21" Redfish. YAHHOOH (I said).  We worked that bank some more, then bumped up and hit three more, only to find one hard fighting Jack Crevalle. It was a nice day under gloomy skies but Bob's perseverance paid off and put one nice fish in the boat, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing, here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Squeezing in a Late Afternoon Trip

I fished yesterday afternoon, too, meeting Dale Steinkamp and his friend Graeme down at the City marina at 3pm with plans to fish into late evening. We had both live shrimp and mud minnows as bait when we headed north up to the outside of Tiger Island. Both anglers were making excellent casts and getting nibbles here and there, but we had no takers for awhile until Graeme landed a hungry Seatrout. We pulled up and ran up to Jolley River and fished the "bank". Again we had some bites then Dale began to put his rig up into a large run out and caught a few Seatrout. We also had a small
Flounder along the way. We bumped around and fished the outside of Jolley and here things picked up. Graeme reeled in a nice keeper sized Flounder then Dale put one in the boat, too, then he had a strong hookup - a bigger fish! This fish fight brought Dale from the bow back to the stern and from starboard to port as it ripped the drag but Dale played it perfectly and eventually landed a nice Slot sized Redfish. The caught another Flounder or two and Graeme put a nice feisty Redfish in the boat before we moved on to our last stop, behind Tiger Island. The fish bite wasn't on fire, even though the tide was getting right, but we did have two nice fish caught - a large 19" Flounder(which put Dale tied for 2nd place in the Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament 2016 -Flounder Category. Scroll down the right side of this report for standings) and a nice 18" Trout - a good way to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fall Is Right Around The Corner

I was back to fishing yesterday, this time meeting Billy Norrell and his friends Mike and Johnny down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp on Sawpit Creek. We met early and then ran up the Nassau River a short distance, dropped the trolling motor, and began fishing some small marsh run  outs. Billy was on the stern tossing a fly while the other two anglers fished the bow with jigs an live shrimp.  It was Billy who "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a hungry Flounder on a shrimp patterned fly.
We worked the bank and all the anglers got in on the action, catching a couple of small, but keeper sized Flounder, some feisty Redfish, and a nice Trout. Billy added a Redfish to his catch with the fly rod. We ran further up the river and fished some old shell banks and here Johnny had a strong bite. After playin the big fish patiently on my light tackle, he landed a nice 24" Slot sized Redfish. We picked up a good handful of Mangrove Snapper, had a brief encounter with a Ladyfish, had a good battle with a Jack Crevalle, and then Mike put two Black "puppy" Drum in the boat. Our last stop was down at Broward Island and again, we had Flounder and Reds and then we wrapped it up with a big Trout that Mike hooked up deep. It was a beautiful morning, somewhat cooler and with less humidity, and another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.  I even learned some new words!

Cast Iron Cobbler Cooking

A month ago I had purchased the Summer Edition of a quarterly magazine Southern Cast Iron published by Hoffman Media and found so many recipe's that looked delicious. I had also been stopping off at some of the roadside vegetable and fruit stands and have been getting some very fresh and juicy peaches. One of the recipes that caught my eye in Southern Cast Iron was a Blueberry-Peach Cobbler. So yesterday afternoon we texted neighbors and asked them to leave room for some desert after their dinners and plan to stop by for some homemade cobbler and vanilla ice cream. I wanted to cook and I wanted to cook from scratch - in my cast iron skillet. Judging from feedback, it turned out pretty good!

Just A Grande Slam

I had the pleasure of fishing with Cindy and Barry Shelor again this morning and I met them down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp. Although the weather report called for some stiff winds today, it turned out that we had excellent fishing conditions. There was a enough breeze to make it very pleasant to fish the entire morning. We made a run up the Nassau River to the Spanish Drop area and began to fish a marsh run out right at the middle of an outgoing tide. Both anglers had bites early on, and even a couple of hookups, but they threw the hook before we got them to the boat.
OUCH! We moved down a 1/4 of a mile and found a couple of converging runouts and things heated up. Cindy had a strong bite, one that bent her rod double and while she was patiently playing the fish, Barry hooked up, too - we had a double! Barry's came in first, a nice Seatrout then Cindy landed hers, a large Flounder! We fished the area thoroughly and they picked up a good handful of fish with a 4-5 of them being keeper sized Flounder (all fish were released today). As we worked on up the bank Barry had a good bite, a hookup, and landed a feisty Redfish which gave them an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Flounder, Seatrout and Redfish. As we fished the Nassau they also tangled with Ladyfish, out smarted some Mangrove Snapper, caught and tossed a couple of Stingray's, and Cindy reeled in a slimy Catfish. We moved on up near Seymore's Pointe and within a few casts Barry landed a Flounder then a large Seatrout, then a Black "puppy" Drum (making it a Grande Slam). We fished up to Bubblegum Reef, picked up a couple of more Snapper, then wrapped the day up over at some docks where we left the Snapper biting. The wind never did cause a problem and it turned out to be another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island Florida.

A Couple of Slot Reds

After a couple of days off I was back fishing today, meeting Brooke Jordan and her son Christian and their friend Mike, down at the City marina. For bait, we had live shrimp to begin with - some really nice ones - although I would have preferred mud minnows. There was a little more breeze than we've been having so we ran up to Tiger Island to get a little shelter and with the very last of an outgoing tide, it was a good move. The three anglers were tossing their baits on 1/4oz jigs up to the bank and fishing them slowly back and in a short time Mike had a strong hookup. He played the fish perfectly and in short order "knocked the skunk off" with a nice Slot sized Redfish! We fished up and down the bank, dueling with "bait stealers", but still managed to land a couple of small Flounder, a keeper
Flounder and Christian added a nice Croaker to the box. We were going through shrimp fast so we made a run back to a bait shop and picked up some mud minnows then ran back around to the Jolley River. The oysters were still showing, now on an incoming tide, and the "fish catching" heated up. Mike caught a Flounder on his first cast, then added a handful of small, but feisty Redfish. All three anglers tangled with Ladyfish then Christian had a strong bite and, FISH ON!  This was a nice fish  and it was pulling hard but Christian kept the pressure on and even though it made a dash deep and under the boat, Christian turned it's head and brought it back out. After an epic battle, Christian landed another nice Slot sized Redfish, boy what a fight! We worked that bank, picked up another Flounder or two, then ran further up the river and wrapped things up tossing float rigs. It was another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Ran Out of Bait Catching Fish

I wrapped my week up fishing with the Sutherland's - Sherry and Randy, who had brought along their daughter Holly and her husband Skyler. We had clear skies as we ran down the Bell River with plans to fish some docks as the tide crept in. On the second dock Sherry got things started by landing a nice keeper sized Seatrout, caught on a mudminnow and jig. Shortly after that she tangled with a high flying Ladyfish. After fishing those docks thoroughly, we ran around to the Jolley River and fished some flooded oyster beds with float rigs and the minnows. Although
these anglers were making excellent casts, the fish just weren't cooperating. We may have picked up a Trout or two and some Ladyfish, but there wasn't too much to brag about. Yet. Our next stop was on the outside of Tiger Island and they quickly picked up a couple of Trout. We worked the bank, switching back to the jigs and the catching heated up. Randy was in a groove and landed a few keeper sized Flounder and some smaller Trout then all four anglers were catching fish. Skyler put the biggest Trout in the boat and after Randy had landed a larger Flounder, Holly put an even
bigger one in the boat. We went through all our minnows catching fish then switched to an array of artificial baits, and they too caught fish. For bragging rights we summed up the trip as Sherry catching the first fish, a keeper; Randy had the most fish; Holly had the biggest Flounder; and Skyler had the biggest Trout. It was a great way to finish up another Amelia Island fishing trip.

Flounder Assault

 
 
I had the pleasure of fishing again with Ken Peck, who brought along his buddy Brian to fish the back waters of Amelia Island this morning. I made  the quick run to Oyster Bay Yacht Club to pick them up then we made a short hop over to Bell River to fish some flooding oysters on an incoming tide. The two anglers were tossing mud minnows under float rigs and Brian had a fairly quick bite, landing a feisty Redfish. After tangling with a Ladyfish, we picked up and ran further up the Bell to fish some docks with jigs before the tide got too high. Brian again had the hot rod, landing a couple of more feisty Reds and a small Seatrout. We continued on around to the Jolley River, fished around Snook Creek, caught a couple of small Reds, then moved down to the mouth of Jolley. Both Brian and Ken put some smaller Trout in the boat. Somewhere along in there they put a small Jack Crevalle in the boat. So we're thinking "4-5 small reds, 2-3 small trout, a few Ladyfish, and a Jack". Not such a great trip, we caught some fish, but Ho Hum. We made a stop on the outside of Tiger and all heck broke loose! BAM! Trout.
BAM! Flounder. BAM! Flounder. Flounder, Flounder, Trout, Flounder, Flounder, Trout, Trout, Flounder. Most of the Flounder were of keeper size and one Trout that finally got Brian's drag to "rip" ended up being a little over 19" in size. It was a full hour of fish catching and we left them biting! Now that's the way to wrap up a great day of fishing on here at Amelia Island, Florida.
If you ever need a sign, especially military related, contact Ken thru his website at www.altogetheramerican.com

Rainbow Trout

We had another excellent morning to spend out on the back waters of Amelia Island. I met David and Sandra Wilke down at the City marina and we made an easy run up to the outside of Tiger Island to fish the peak of a high tide with float rigs and fresh mud minnows. Sandra was along to enjoy the scenery and David was up on the bow with the whole marsh to himself! The current wasn't really moving but David was able to pick up some high flying Ladyfish to get things started. We ran up to the Jolley River and fished the "bank", trolling along the marsh line and David found a couple of
hungry Seatrout and a feisty Redfish. Sandra took time out from relaxing at the stern to reel in a small but hungry Mangrove Snapper. We ran further up the Jolley, fished the mouth of Snook Creek, slipped in to Snook Creek and fished it for a few minutes. There was a couple of rain storms off in the distance and we saw two nice rainbows along with them.  We then ran out and around to the MOA. Sandra did battle with a hungry Catfish and David put another Seatrout in the boat. The tide was down now so we made a stop back at Jolley Bank and fished jigs on the bottom. David was making excellent casts and staying just beyond the oysters, fishing his jig slowly, and landed another Trout and Redfish. Our last stop was back at the Tiger Island logs and even though the tide was almost perfect, the sun was up and it had gotten rather hot so the fish were through biting, and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.