Slow But Steady Makes a Good Mess of Fish

Wow what a beautiful day it was today! Cool, sunny, and just a slight breeze. Due to the "Super Moon" and high tides, we put off fishing until 11am this morning when I met Betsy Nagle and her fellow anglers Jo and Sally down at the Eagans Creek boat ramp. We made a short run around to the outside of Tiger Island and began tossing float rigs with live shrimp under float rigs. Although we had few bites, Sally was able to "knock the skunk off" when she landed a hungry Seatrout. We ran further up the shoreline, fished a beautiful run out, but it was really ripping with the outflow of water
and we had no real bites. We eased around and into the Jolley River and began to work the "bank" and it wasn't long before Jo had a good hookup and, FISH ON! This was a  nice fish and she worked it in patiently. After a good battle, Jo landed a nice 19" Slot Redfish. But after that, no real bites! We ran further up the Jolley, fished both sides of Snook Creek, and here it was Sally that had the big hookup. This was a REALLY big fish! I guessed shark a couple of times, switched my guess to big Red, then back to Shark. Sally kept the pressure on, worked the big fish slowly to the boat, and
landed a 4'+ long Bonnethead Shark. We ran around to the MOA, and almost immediately Betsy had a good bite. Another Big fish on! She played it perfectly and landed a 20" Slot Redfish, then followed that up with a hungry Seatrout. We made a stop at some docks in Bell River, picked up a Trout (and a squid!, then made the run back to the boat ramp, making one more stop at the mouth of Bell River. In quick succession, the trio landed a hungry Trout, a keeper sized Weakfish and Whiting, and then Betsy wrapped it up with a 18" Trout. Now that's the way to finish a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Double Slot Reds

Although it was a raw looking morning today, my guests were game to get out on the water and get some fishing in. I met Anthony and Cindy Alejondro, her dad Ron and their son Amadeus down at the City marina and we ran up Lanceford Creek to fish some flooded marsh grass on the first of an outgoing tide, tossing live shrimp under float rigs. Although the bite started slow, things picked up when the anglers began to get their rigs out beyond the grass. Grandpa Ron "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a
hungry Seatrout, then Cindy followed that up with a keeper sized one. Anthony had one almost to the boat, but it shook the hook. Ron and Cindy had the father-daughter duo going when they put a couple of more trout in the boat, each. The bite shut off like someone flipping a switch so we eased back, fished some docks with jigs, tangled with bait stealers, then ran around to fish the outside of Tiger Island.  Young Amadeus had made an excellent cast up to a shallow area but it appeared he was hung  up in the oysters. He pulled it off and BOOM! FISH ON! We could tell this was a bigger fish because his drag was ripping. Amadeus kept the pressure on and worked the fish into the boat, a nice 20" Slot Redfish! We fished the area for a while, picking up a couple of Trout, then ran on up to the Jolley River. Amadeus found his second Slot Redfish and his Grandpa Ron landed a Red, too. They added a keeper sized Seatrout along the way. We finished the trip fishing a couple of more spots up in Jolley. The sun came out and warmed things up as we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Weakfish? Sand Trout? White Trout? Yellow Mouth Trout?

Nassau County is home to a special management area for Weakfish. I've found that identifying them is difficult. Now I know why! I found this on line...

There is a difference between the weakfish and the "yellow mouth" trout but that difference may not be determined visually.

Researchers at FWC's Fish and Wildlife Reasearch Institute (formerly Florida Marine Research Institute - FMRI) have recently confirmed the presence of the sand seatrout on Florida's East coast from the St Mary's River through the Jacksonville area down to the Indian River Lagoon. Before this discovery it was thought that the sand seatrout was found only on Florida's west coast. The summary bullet points of an in-house report on a genetic study of the distribution of the weakfish and sand seatrout in Florida are listed below.

1. The geographic and reproductive ranges of weakfish and sand seatrout overlap along the Atlantic coast of north and central Florida.

2. Sand seatrout may be the predominant inshore species of the weakfish / sand seatrout duo in Florida Atlantic estuaries northward to the mouth of the St Johns River.

3. Individuals exhibiting the genetic characteristics of hybrids were identified.

4. Visual identification of these two trout species in the Florida Atlantic, even by experienced biologists, may be tenuous.

I learned from personal communication with the chief scientist on this project that the weakfish of the St Johns River may lose their typical striated color pattern, becoming plain silver colored like the sand seatrout. The hybrid species is also unmarked. Genetics is the only sure way to identify these fish accurately. This poses real potential enforcement problems with regards to bag limits. Please check with FWC Law Enforcement with regards to how they are handling enforcement of the weakfish regs.

Eric Sander
Recreational Fishing Surveys
Fisheries Dependent Monitoring
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
 
And, from the FWC website...

Weakfish Management Zone:

The Weakfish Management Zone includes state waters from the Florida-Georgia line to the southernmost tip of Amelia Island, the inland waters of Nassau County and the St. Marys River and its tributaries east of Highway 17, north of State Highway 200A and north of the Shave Bridge on the Amelia River.

 

Daily bag limit is (1) per person and it can be no smaller than 12" in total length. This Includes weakfish-like fish including weakfish, sand seatrout and hybrids of the two.

 

We caught two today! The tide was extremely high so we had to postpone our start time until

9:30am.  Once we got out fishing, the winds were blowing at 15mph so we had some difficult fishing. But my two anglers, father and son team John and Jack Griffin, stuck it out and picked up a handful of Speckled Seatrout and two of these Weakfish.

 

 

Drum Line

We had a drop in temperature this morning, down in the mid 40's, which made for a cool first run! I had met Randy Allen and his granddaughter Emily down at the City marina early today and we headed up to the Bell River to fish some docks with the tide having been going out for a couple of hours. Randy and Emily were tossing jigs and shrimp and getting a "bump" now and then but we also had a "slip" float out, drifting deep and that was the rig that picked up our first Trout, which Emily reeled in expertly. So both anglers began to toss up current and letting their bait bounce back slowly and they began to catch Trout. They had a good handful of 14 3/4" Trout and one of keeper size. We eased back to another dock, fished it briefly, then ran around to fish the mouth of Snook Creek
with float rigs. Although the wind wasn't blowing hard, it was just enough and right in our faces to make fishing the floats difficult. We switched back to jigs - the oysters were showing anyway - and first cast, BOOM, Randy had a Trout. But after that, we had just a few bites, but  no takers. We back tracked down Jolley and fished the MOA for the first time in months and this did the trick. Randy was on the bow fishing the exposed oysters and BOOM! Big fish on! He played it patiently, working it away from the oysters and when it got deep and back in the current he took his time and worked it in to the net slowly - a nice 20" Black not so puppy "puppy" Drum. After pictures, he went back to the same spot and over and over hooked up with Black Drum, finding a handful of small ones and four more 20"er's. Emily was catching fish too! She was back at the stern and was fishing the back of the oysters and she was catching Redfish and Black Drum (getting an Amelia Island Back Country Slam). She had no problems working the fish in, lifting up and reeling down, and caught many fish like a pro. When the bite finally slowed, we ran around and fished the back side of Tiger Island. The tide was right at the bottom and we were only getting nibbles when Randy had a weird bite. The fish didn't fight too hard initially, then when it wanted to stay deep, Randy applied some pressure then had a fight on his hands! He kept the pressure on and after a good battle landed a 22 1/2" Seatrout to which put him squarely in the lead of the Anglers Mark 2016 Bragging Rights Tournament - Seatrout Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). We fished another pocket or two, then headed in, counting it as another great day for fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Massive Fish Lost

We had another beautiful morning today when I met Wayne and Julie Iurillo down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. It was a tad bit cool - light jacket weather - which made for a great day of fishing here in north Florida. We ran up the intercoastal and dipped into Jackstaff and then further up a side creek to set up outside a marsh run out with plans to toss float rigs and live shrimp. Both anglers jumped right in and were making excellent casts and getting great drifts, but we had no real bites. We bounced across the creek and switched to jigs and here Wayne "knocked the skunk off" when he
boated a hungry Seatrout. And shortly after that he had a stronger hookup and when the drag ripped we knew this was a bigger fish. Wayne played the fish expertly and after a good battle, landed a nice Slot sized 20" Redfish. We continued to work the bank then ran around to fish the Nassau River, hitting outcrops of oysters and marsh grass. Each stop we'd pick up a Trout or two and at the last one we hooked up with a nice feisty Redfish, which Julie worked to the boat. Our next stop was down at Broward Island and again, a Trout or two and a bunch of nibbles. We hit some docks on the way back to the boat ramp and hadn't had a bite until Julie said she had a fish. It wasn't really pulling - I even guessed a Flounder - but as she reeled it up it got heavier and heavier then when it came to the surface we saw that it was a huge Seatrout! And when it realized it was hooked it made a huge commotion and BOOM! It was off!  I made a dash at it with the net but missed and all we could do was guess on how big it actually was. Massive was my guess. We hit a couple of more oyster beds on the way back where Wayne landed a Trout or two, and Julie put a Redfish, Trout and Flounder in the boat, to round out her Amelia Island Back Country Slam. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Left The Trout Biting

From aggravating winds the last two days to almost none today.  I met Dr. Paul Wozny and is cousin Andy out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early and we were spraying insect repellant right off to chase off the sand gnats! We headed over to and through Horsehead to fish the other side of Jackstaff with the tide still having a couple of hours of outgoing. Both anglers were tossing jigs and live shrimp in the calm waters and although we had perfect conditions, we were only able to pick up one hungry Seatrout that Andy caught. We
fished that area for a good while then ran back through the marsh to Nassau River and found some exposed oyster beds. Here, they both picked up a couple of small Trout then we bumped up the river a ways and fished a marsh run out. Again, a couple of Trout and one of them of keeper size. We moved on up to Twin Creeks and here things heated up a bit. Both anglers began catching feisty Redfish - 3 or 4 apiece, then Paul had a stronger hookup. He played the fish patiently and soon landed a nice keeper sized 20" Slot Redfish. After the bite slowed, we ran up west of Bubblgum Reef, fished the oysters, but had not bites, so we ran down to Broward Island to fish the very last of an outgoing tide there. We immediately began to catch fish. The Trout were biting out deep and most all were of keeper size. We also picked up a couple of more Reds. We got down to the last of the live shrimp and it was time to go so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Brotherly Love

Again the wind. But not so bad that we couldn't get out and fish today. Just enough to alter the fishing "plan" though. I had met Sherri Rinker, her dad Lee and her Uncle WC down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning and although we had clear skies, there was already a brisk wind blowing. We ran up the Nassau River and fished some exposed oysters on the last of an outgoing tide. WC was first on the board when he put a couple of feisty Redfish in the boat. I soon learned that these two brothers would keep an easy banter going amongst themselves as each
caught a fish or had a good bite! It made the trip real fun because the two could fish and as the day wore on, we picked up a fish here and then a fish there. We bounced up the river to marsh run out and immediately, BOOM! Trout bite. Both Lee and WC had a flurry of catches. We had an artificial grub out the back and as I was netting WC's fish I saw the rod tip bouncing, FISH ON! Sherri grabbed the rod and worked the fish in expertly, landing the day's only keeper sized Seatrout. We continued on up the river, picked up one more Trout west of Bubblegum Reef, had no real bites at the Reef, then
jumped over to some docks. The first set produced on bites but WC found another Redfish, caught on a float rig (we were using live shrimp all day). The tide had changed and started back in so we decided to go back to where we had caught fish earlier in the morning and it was a good move. We hadn't been fishing long before Lee had a strong bite and his drag began to rip. This was a nice fish! He played it patiently and after a good battle, landed the biggest fish of the day, a nice Slot sized 23 1/2" Redfish. And shortly after that WC put the only Flounder in the boat, a keeper sized one at that. We picked up another Red or two somewhere along the way.  We bounced up and down Nassau River and picked up a couple of more Trout then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Good Battle With Oversized Redfish

Back fishing after a good weekend of rest! I met Tom Davis and his brother in law Al down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning and we headed up the Nassau River with some clear skies but breezy conditions. Our first stop was at some exposed oyster beds on the very first of an incoming tide. The two anglers were tossing jigs and live shrimp and it only took a while before Al "knocked the skunk off" when he caught and landed a nice feisty Redfish. Then shortly after that Tom had a hookup but the fish must have came
toward the boat because we didn't think it was much of a fish until it moved on past and began to rip some drag! FISH ON! Tom had a good fish and he played it patiently as it went deep and long. He kept the pressure on and after a good battle landed an oversized 29" Redfish! We worked the bank, picked up another Red, then moved on up the way and fished a marsh run out, but with little luck. Our next stop was at some docks at Seymore's Pointe and here Al put a keeper sized Trout in the boat. We ran through the marsh and fished the other side of Jackstaff and picked up another trout, still fishing with jigs. Tom put a small but feisty Black "puppy" Drum in the boat. We moved further up a creek and broke out the float rigs. This produced another keeper sized Seatrout (all fish were released today).  Our final stop was back at Christopher Creek and although we had a few bites, we had no real takers other than a hungry Mangrove Snapper. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Nine Pound Tripletail

I wrapped up my week today fishing with Jack Dickens and his buddies Wally and James, meeting them down at the Eagans Creek boat ramp next to Leaders and Sinkers. While we were there, we found a likely dock to fish as the tide began to come in. Whoever said that catching a fish on the first cast was wrong because after our first cast produced a keeper sized Seatrout, we caught fish for a good while after that. All three anglers got in on the action, catching Trout, a small Redfish then Jack had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! This was a big fish - it was ripping the drag on Jack's
reel - and I was guessing BIG Redfish. It even boiled the surface a couple of times, then ran deep and strong. But Jack kept the pressure on and when he got it to the surface we saw that it was a huge Tripletail! Then it ran deep again! After a long and patient battle, Jack landed the beast which we measured at 22"+ and the Boga Grip scale showed right at 9lbs. Boy what a fish! After that, both Wally and James put some keeper sized Black Drum in the boat. When the bite slowed we ran around to fish the outside of Tiger Island but had no bites. We fished Jolley Bank, but had no
bites. After running further up into Jolley we found some more Trout, putting a couple more keeper sized ones in the boat. Both Wally and James did battle with some 4' Bonnethead Sharks then we dropped back to the mouth of Tiger Basin and wrapped things up with a few more Trout catches and then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fly Fishing Perseverance

I fished this morning with two fly fishers, Chris and Dave, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We ran up the Nassau River and made a quick stop to fish some flooding oyster beds on an incoming tide. One angler set up on the bow and one on the stern and they were making excellent casts to the bank as we eased along, blind casting to likely spots. Just as I thought, these fish would rather have a fresh live shrimp and fly fishing will be tough, but Chris and Dave persevered. They'd get a "bump" now and then, but had no takers. We fished down at Broward Island then back at Seymores Point. Dave took a break and switched to shrimp and spinning gear and picked up a couple of Trout - one of them of keeper size (all fish caught today were released). He also outsmarted a couple of small but feisty Mangrove Snapper. We ran down to Christopher Creek, fished it thoroughly with the fly, then made our last stop back in Alligator Creek. And wouldn't you know it, they had a good flurry of hungry Seatrout taking both of their flies! Almost all of them were at the mouth of a marsh run out, although the tide was almost at its peak of coming in. Although they had to work for them, their perseverance paid off and they succeeded in putting some fish in the boat and made it another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Recipe of the Month: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

6 to 8   cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (about 8 medium peaches)
1 1/2   cups fresh blueberries
1/4   cup bourbon
2/3   cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
2 1/2   tablespoons cornstarch
1   teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4   cup all-purpose flour
1   teaspoon baking powder
1/4   teaspoon salt
6      tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2   cup heavy whipping cream
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the peaches, blueberries, bourbon, 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add cream, stirring gently just until dough forms. Spoon fruit mixture into a 10-inch cast iron skillet; top with crumbled dough. Sprinkle remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.   Bake until top is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Recipe from Southern Cast Iron cooking magazine.

Bigger Trout

I'm slowly weaning myself off the mud minnows and going to live shrimp now. There's not quite as many "baitstealers" around and the shrimp are staying alive in the live well. I met Todd Billmire and his buddy Tripp Brown out at the Eagans Creek boat ramp Friday morning with the tide still coming in. So we crossed over to the outside of Tiger Island and fished some flooded marsh grass with float rigs and shrimp. Both anglers picked up some small Trout to get things started. We bumped up further north and fished some more marsh grass as the tide started out and here things picked up a
bit. Both Tripp and Todd picked up a couple of keeper sized Trout then Tripp put a Slot sized Red in the boat, fishing over some flooded oysters in about 4 foot of water. We ran up to Jolley, bypassed the "bank" because another angler was already there and ran further up to Snook Creek. Things really heated up here. Todd landed another keeper Trout then Tripp had a hookup. It was fighting like a Redfish but when Tripp landed it we saw it was a nice 20"+ Trout! Now that's a nice fish! Tripp picked up another feisty Redfish, a small Blue Fish, and both anglers added a couple of 17-18" Trout. Then Todd had a strong bite, fought it patiently, and landed his second Slot Redfish of the day. We stopped back by the bank, fished it with float rigs, picked up maybe one or two fish, then ended the day behind Tiger Island fishing jigs. Although we had no real bites here, we wrapped it up and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Non Stop Catching Action

I fished with the Blalock's again today, Dara and William and Bob, meeting them down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp early. Bob wasn't able to make it yesterday and after hearing about the great catches that Dara and William had,  he (and I) thought that it would be difficult to have two days in a row of good fishing. But wrong we were! You know it's a pretty good day when you debate amongst your selves "did we catch 50 fish? 60 fish? 70 fish?".  All I know is that we went through about 12 dozen's of bait and much of
that was used catching fish. We had run up the Nassau River and stopped at Twin Creeks right at the peak of high tide. It took a few minutes, but then the anglers began to put some Trout in the boat. William added a small but feisty Redfish to the catch. It seemed the fish started biting right when the tide changed. Although it was fun catching small Trout, we decided to move down the river to another marsh run out and here things really heated up. They caught a few more small Trout then began to pickup some keeper sized ones as we trolled along the bank. As we got to some submerged oysters,
BOOM! Redfish began to bite. They caught small ones, medium ones an big Slot sized fish. We had double hookups and Triple hookups. Just when you thought that there were no more big ones, there would be a strong ripping of one of the anglers drag and, Big Fish On! It eventually slowed so we moved up the river a short distance and got into some more fish. They added a handful of Flounder, a couple of small Black "puppy" Drum, and a couple of Stingrays. It was a great day of fishing and this one will be hard to duplicate!

Big Redfish For Big Weekend

We've got the big Georgia/Florida football weekend coming up and Dog fans Dara and William Blalock are in town to kick things off early with an Amelia Island, Fishing trip. I met them up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp early and we decided to stay in the creek while we were there. Both anglers were tossing jigs and live shrimp, and on occasion a mud minnow and at a large runout William picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout. We moved further up the creek and both he and Dara put a few more Trout in the boat. There wasn't a whole lot of size to them so eased out of the creek
and ran up to the outside of Tiger Island and set up at a large runout and continued to toss the jigs. It wasn't long before William had a good hookup and landed a nice feisty Redfish. Then Dara's drag ripped and boy this was a big fish, FISH ON! She played the fish like a pro taking in line patiently as she lifted the big fish when she had the opportunity and letting it run when it wanted to. After a good long battle she landed a nice 27"+ oversized Redfish. What a nice fish! And just minutes after getting pictures and tossing it back William hooked up and another big fish on! He too was working it patiently and had a good battle all the way around the boat and...FISH OFF! The hook tore loose! But William was not to be deterred and in just a few minutes had another big fish on. He worked it slowly to the boat and landed a nice 24" Slot Sized Redfish. We had  one more Red then ran around and fished the back side of Tiger, caught one more Red, then made the run back to Eagans Creek and fished some docks.Things heated up as the tide dropped down. They caught another couple of hungry Trout, two keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum, another Redfish or two, and finally, a small Grouper! Now that's the way to wrap up a great day of pre-game fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Persnickity Fish

We had a beautiful morning greet Paul Benson and I when we met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. There was only a slight breeze, just enough to keep the bugs off, and the tide was getting right as we headed up the Amelia River with plans to dip into Jackstaff to fish a marsh lined bank. We had brought fly gear and spin gear and Paul started out tossing a Clouser on an intermediate line, blind casting to the bank and making excellent casts. We worked the entire bank and about half way through switched to a
sinking Shrimp fly on a floating line, but nothing induced a strike. I had Paul switch to a live shrimp and jig and BOOM! Fish on the first cast! Paul patiently played the fish and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder. As we finished out the stretch, Paul landed a few Seatrout as he bounced his jig on the bottom. We ran through Jackstaff to the other side of Horsehead and down Nassau River just a ways and set up on the outside of two large marsh runouts. Paul had a few hits there but when we got up to some old oysters the fishing got hot. He began to hookup with one feisty Redfish after another, with a Trout thrown in on occasion. We bumped up one more marsh rounout, got another Trout  and then found a big Flounder to add to the catch. Our next stop was up at some docks at Seymore's Pointe but all we caught were a couple of Pin Fish. We bounced across the river and fished a large outflow in deeper water and we added another Trout (Paul had long since tallied an Amelia Island Back Country Slam). After fishing that stretch up to Bubblegum Reef, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Still Catching Fish on the High Tide

I fished yesterday afternoon as part of a "group" trip. I had Mike and Mitzi and George and Sharon on my boat, and what a fun group they were. It's a pleasure going out with folks who appreciate being out on new waters and hope that they might just catch a fish! Well, we were handicapped with a high and incoming tide and on top of that there was somewhat of a breeze, but we made the best of it and caught some fish. Our first stop was up at the outside of Tiger Island, tossing float rigs with live shrimp and mud minnows as bait. George "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a
hungry Seatrout. The bait stealers were out in full force and all of the anglers were doing battle with them. We jumped over to Bell River and George, who had been "living right",  put another Trout in the boat. We ran around to Lanceford Creek and found a flooded grass patch with underlying oyster beds and here things picked up just a tad. Mitzi got on the board when she caught and landed and nice Trout. Then George had a strong bite and this one was pulling harder. He played the fish patiently and landed a nice feisty Redfish. Mike was getting good, long casts and it paid off as he
landed his first Trout of the day. After George and Mitzi put another Seatrout in the boat things slowed so we made one more stop over at Oyster Bay dock. In just a short while Mike and Mitzi had landed another Trout, Mitzi had a Stingray and Sharon saved her catches for last, catching the only Blue Fish of the day, but also a large Stingray. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

The Girls Go Fishing

I fished yesterday morning with Debbie Corbett and her granddaughter Sidney. I picked them up early up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp and it was our first real cool day and my first for wearing jeans after a long spring and summer in shorts! We had a little bit of wind so we decided to fish some docks in Eagans and that turned out to be the right move.  I had a bait well full of live shrimp and mud minnows and for the first time in a while, the shrimp seemed to be the better bait. The two anglers were making
excellent casts with their jig rods and within minutes they were catching fish.  Sidney "knocked the skunk off" with the first catch, a nice feisty Redfish which she patiently worked to the boat. From then on and for about 2 hours were catching fishing. Debbie was fishing out of the stern port side while Sidney fished from the stern starboard side. We had one or two fish take the hook and run up into the dock pilings and break themselves out but finally Sidney had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! She applied some pressure away from the pilings and got the fish out to deeper water. This fish was digging deep and pulling hard but Sidney was up to the challenge and eventually landed a nice keeper sized 18" Black "puppy" Drum. And just a short time later Debbie did the same, fighting and landing another 17" Puppy Drum. We fished and caught until they quit biting, winning some and losing some then we ran further up the creek to try some float rigs around some flooding oysters. We had no real bites there so we ran out and over to Bell River and stuck with the float rigs. Sidney put one more Redfish in the boat here. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Birthday Fishing Trip

Chip Cosper treated his son Christian to a 14th birthday fishing trip and he brought along his brother Henry and his friend Austin to help celebrate. We met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp, had a brief safety session, then headed up the Nassau River to fish a marsh run out on the last of an outgoing tide. The anglers were making excellent casts within minutes, tossing jigs with live shrimp and some mud minnows to the exposed oysters, but the fish weren't cooperating. I predicted that when the tide changed we'd begin to get some bites and sure enough, we did. Austin "knocked
the skunk off" when he landed a hungry Seatrout and Christian followed that up with one of his own. We jumped up to some docks at Seymore's Pointe and the fish catching really picked up.Young Henry hooked up and landed a nice feisty Redfish, Austin put a Black "puppy" Drum. Christian put another Redfish in the boat and there were a handful of Mangrove Snapper landed. Then Chip had a strong bite and FISH ON! This was a big fish as it ripped the drag on Chip's reel. But he kept the pressure on, took his time and after a good battle, landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. And shortly after that
he put keeper sized Black Drum in the boat (all fish were released today). Our next stop was down at Broward Island. Things started slow but picked up as we worked the bank. Christian and Austin added a couple of Seatrout to the catch, Henry landed another Redfish, and Chip caught a Sheepshead. Austin was good at catching the Trout, landing another, then Christian topped it off to get the sole Flounder of the day. This earned these anglers an Amelia Island Back Country "Super Grande Slam"- they caught Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum, Sheepshead and Flounder! We made one final stop where the birthday boy put three Trout in the boat, BOOM, BOOM and BOOM and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Birthday Fishing Trip

Chip Cosper treated his son Christian to a 14th birthday fishing trip and he brought along his brother Henry and his friend Austin to help celebrate. We met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp, had a brief safety session, then headed up the Nassau River to fish a marsh run out on the last of an outgoing tide. The anglers were making excellent casts within minutes, tossing jigs with live shrimp and some mud minnows to the exposed oysters, but the fish weren't cooperating. I predicted that when the tide changed we'd begin to get some bites and sure enough, we did. Austin "knocked
the skunk off" when he landed a hungry Seatrout and Christian followed that up with one of his own. We jumped up to some docks at Seymore's Pointe and the fish catching really picked up.Young Henry hooked up and landed a nice feisty Redfish, Austin put a Black "puppy" Drum. Christian put another Redfish in the boat and there were a handful of Mangrove Snapper landed. Then Chip had a strong bite and FISH ON! This was a big fish as it ripped the drag on Chip's reel. But he kept the pressure on, took his time and after a good battle, landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. And shortly after that
he put keeper sized Black Drum in the boat (all fish were released today). Our next stop was down at Broward Island. Things started slow but picked up as we worked the bank. Christian and Austin added a couple of Seatrout to the catch, Henry landed another Redfish, and Chip caught a Sheepshead. Austin was good at catching the Trout, landing another, then Christian topped it off to get the sole Flounder of the day. This earned these anglers an Amelia Island Back Country "Super Grande Slam"- they caught Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum, Sheepshead and Flounder! We made one final stop where the birthday boy put three Trout in the boat, BOOM, BOOM and BOOM and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Non Stop Bite

I hear cooler weather is coming in this weekend but today we had mild temperatures with a somewhat overcast sky and only a slight breeze, just enough to keep the bugs off and make for a great day of fishing! I had picked up Pamela Linker and her husband Richard down at the City marina and we headed over to Eagans Creek to fish some dock pilings on the first of an incoming tide. I had live shrimp and mud minnows in the well and both seemed to do good. I think it was Pamela's first cast and after she had a "bump, bump,
bump", she set the hook and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. Well whoever said that catching a fish on the first cast was bad luck, was wrong. Because from then until about an hour and a half later, these two anglers were putting fish in the boat. They worked one dock up and down, from shallow to deep, and caught a good dozen feisty Redfish with a Slot sized one also. Richard was picking his spots and picked up another keeper sized Trout along with a handful of smaller ones. He also put two hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum in the boat to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. When the tide got up over the oysters the bite slowed so we picked up and made the long run around to the Jolley River with plans to toss float rigs to the now flooded oysters. Bad move. This produced no fish. Ouch. But we move on around to the outside of Tiger, picked up a couple of small Trout, then Pamela put another keeper Trout in the boat. We moved around to the Tiger logs and the duo added a small Trout, a small Mangrove Snapper, a nice Croaker, and small Flounder to the count. The Flounder gave them a "Grande Slam"! Our last stop was over in Bell River and again, a couple of more Trout. Although Hurricane Matthew messed the fishing up here at Amelia Island, the bite is picking up and making for some great fishing trips.

Uptick in Fish Catching

I've fished the last three days and today was the first where we at least had some "catching" going on. The river is full of silt and mud and grass, many of the bait shops had not been able to completely restock their live bait, and fish just haven't been biting. But today was better! I had met Jason and Sam Bojsa down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning...yes it's open...just the fixed dock and part of the wooden boardwalk roped off. We headed up the Nassau River, all the way to Seymore's Pointe and eased in to fish some still exposed oysters on a tide that had been coming in for an
hour or so. Both anglers were making excellent casts with jigs and shrimp  and after a short while Jason put a hungry Seatrout in the boat. We worked the bank slowly and Jason had another hookup, this time a feisty Redfish. We ran down Twin Creeks, switched to Float rigs with the shrimp and we put a handful of Seatrout in the boat and another Redfish or two. We bumped down the way and fished the now flooded marsh grass with floats and here we had a good flurry of Trout catches. Sam had picked up a couple of Trout, Jason caught a couple, then they had a "double" hookup. Both anglers landed Trout, but Sam's was the biggest, a nice 16" keeper sized fish (all fish were released today). And again, another Redfish. Our next stop was back at Seymore's Pointe to fish some rocks in hopes of landing a Mangrove Snapper, but they weren't home. We ran down to Christopher Creek, switched back to jigs, and Jason's perfect cast to a barely exposed stump produced another Redfish. Then they started picking up Mangrove Snapper. Sam proved adept at catching the sneaky fish and a couple were of keeper sized. We worked that bank thoroughly. We made a few stops on the way back to check out some flooded marsh grass in hopes of seeing some tailing Redfish but they just weren't any to be found, so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Beautiful Morning Slow Bite

I fished again with Dennis Brizzi and his buddy Hal, meeting them out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp. With only a few ramps open after Hurricane Matthew came thru, it's good to have at least one undamaged! We met as the sun came up and boy what a beautiful morning it was. The tide was high and still coming in so we took advantage of that and ran around to fish Christopher Creek while we still had water. I believe it was Hal's first cast and he had a hookup - a feisty Mangrove Snapper - not much size him, but fun to
catch.  We caught a good handful of the Snapper then we eased around the creek looking for something bigger. The sun got a little higher and made for a really nice fishing experience, but the fish weren't cooperating. We made  around to Jackstaff and as we entered the creek we found a severe boating hazard left over from the storm (see pic) - a large pole stuck in the bottom with a beam attached. We got around it and ran through the creek and set up at a large marsh out flow and began fishing with our live shrimp under floats. I don't think we got a single bite as we worked that spot and a lengthy marsh line. We jumped over to the other side of the creek, switched to jigs and Hal immediately hooked up with a Seatrout. That seemed to do the trick and both anglers caught a handful of Seatrout. Our last stop was back at Nassau River, fishing some runouts, and even though the conditions were getting just right, we found just one feisty Redfish and another Trout or two. After giving it our best, we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.