I don't think this has ever happened to me in the backwater. After having to cancel 4 trips last week due to the weather, I was bouncing off the walls to get out and fish. I met John Raker and his fishing buddy Gantt Williams down at Sawpit mid morning and we headed up the Nassau to fish some flooded marsh grass on a tide that had been coming in a few hours. We went with mud minnows under a float and that's all it took. Every time I turned my back the drags were ripping, and I mean REALLY ripping! We counted at least 14 hookups with Big fish. This duo landed 10 of them. Three of those were in the upper slot (we had to measure, re-measure, and re-measure), and the other EIGHT were Oversized, the biggest being caught by Gantt, measuring at 31.75", big enough to move him into 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2026 Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). We fought fish for an hour and 45 minutes. And after that? Nothing! But the pictures can speak for themselves! Click on images to enlarge.
What a great way to wrap up a week of fishing here at Amelia Island! Today I met William and Dara Blalock out at Goffinsville Park as the sun was coming up with an outgoing tide that still had about an hour to hit bottom, especially up at Broward Island, so that's where we headed! We had a smorgasbord of bait - live shrimp, fiddler crab, and about 2 dozen finger mullet and as it turned out, they all caught fish. These two anglers were mixing it up so it was hard to tell what was catching most, except in a couple of cases - stay tuned!
We hadn't been long at Broward before William had a strong hookup that was ripping some drag - he played it patiently and soon boated a nice 22" Slot Redfish (all fish caught today were released). From then on we were catching fish. Dara followed that up with a couple of multi spotted Reds and between the two they caught a good handful of Redfish with a couple of them being in the Slot size. Dara put the only Seatrout in the boat - it too was legal but tossed back.
After running way up the Nassau, we pulled into a small creek and the fish catching continued. After a
handful of Reds were caught, they started picking up some small Sheepshead then Dara "danced her fiddler" on a 1/8 oz jig across the bottom and BAP! She had a hookup. This was a nice fish and Dara played it perfectly and soon brought to the net a big 16" Sheepshead. During that battle William was working a Redfish to the boat. Dara wasn't finished with the Sheepshead - she hooked up and landed an even bigger fish, this one measuring at 16.5" which put her on the Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Board in 3r place-Sheepshead Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). We fished out of there, catching multiple Reds(and one small puppy drum), then we moved on.
The tide was up back at Pumpkin Hill and we could see some action along the grass so we drifted with float rigs and the few shrimp we had left over. Then William switched to a finger mullet and hooked up and battled a big Jack Crevalle. Shortly after that, still using the finger mullet, he went up to the mouth of a drainage with a good cast and BAM! That float was gone! We settled in for a big battle - the big fish stayed up by the grass, then came out, then went back in, then headed north, then south. We were debating whether it was another big Jack or a Redfish - we didn't won't to get our hopes up (yes we did), but it sure was ACTING like a big Red, and sure enough, after slowly working in in, we netted a big 26.5" "Tourney" Redfish, boy what a fish, and a good way to wrap up another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida
We had another beautiful day today- I was up early and at the bait shop only to find out they were temporarily out of minnows AND shrimp. But they had some fiddler crabs, and I had about a dozen minnows left over and still alive, and when I launched at Sawpit I cast netted a good couple of dozen of finger mullet to add to the ammunition! I had met Tim and Laura Wolfe down early and we made the short run up the Nassau and turned into the current that had just started in, and we baited up with what we had, alternating between the minnows, the fiddlers and the mullet, and all three caught fish.
It was Laura's year - she boated a couple of Seatrout and a feisty Redfish as we worked the bank, tossing jigs and slowly working them back. Tim made it close, he hooked up and landed the biggest Red of the day, and also had a Seatrout. We fished Broward Island then Pumpkin Hill, had a bit of action there, then made our way thru Horsehead to fish a few spots. We had a beautiful day out on the water, had caught some fish and so as we headed ack to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
The water was like glass when we pulled away from the dock this morning, hardly any breeze and mostly clear skies. I had met Brian and Janet Roach down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we buzzed up the intracoastal, all the way up to Poteat Point, and began fishing with float rigs and mud minnows on a tide that had been going out for about an hour. They were getting good casts and good drifts and picked up a handful of hungry Seatrout and a couple of Ladyfish.
We came around and ran up into a creek off of Jackstaff and again picked up some Seatrout, then after had made a good cast up past a point- it drifted by it and BAM! Big Fish On! We were all thinking "big Redfish" as it bulled up into the grass, then dashed back out, then bulled back up to the grass - Brian played it perfectly but when it started making that "jab, jab, jab" at the boat we knew it was a Jack Crevalle - a big one at that! Brian brought it to the net and we photographed and released it. After fishing Jackstaff "bank" with the floats and picking up another couple of Trout, and fishing a small cut with jigs, we made the run thru Horsehead over to the Nassau River.
The tide was moving out and there was all kinds of bait action at Twin Creeks. Brian and Janet began pitching the jigs to their mouths and when Brian saw some bait get "busted" at the left creek mouth he made a pinpoint cast and BAM! Big Fish On! Brian patiently brought it to the boat and landed a nice 17.5" Flounder. As we worked that edge, Janet hooked and expertly landed a couple of feisty Redfish, and a hungry Flounder.
We fished Broward Island for a bit and got another Flounder, then we fished Pumpkin Hill for a bit - Janet tangles with a Gar Fish, then we came back to Littlefield and fished that drainage and got one more Flounder. We had some beautiful weather, some good action, and a couple of nice Flounder sandwiches in the box so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another grear day to be fishing here at Amelia Island Florida.
We passed on the early morning fishing today with thunderstorms rattling the windows before the sun came up, but we met at Noon up at Old Town Bait and Tackle to take in an Amelia Island Back Country fishing trip. David and Ellen Capps met me at the dock and after easing out of Eagans Creek we made our way up to the Jolley River and further up to JC's spot to catch the first of an incoming tide and toss jigs with mud minnows to the exposed oysters. It only took a minute or two before David hooked up and expertly landed a feisty Redfish. Both anglers had numerous nibbles after that but no takers.
We came back to Snook Creek and fished that stretch with floats and the minnows, then came further back to Jolley "bank" and drifted it with floats, then back to Tyger Cut and again, fished teh floats. The bites were few and far between. But after running back and around to Lanceford Creek we hit BM#2 spot and here we had some pretty good action. Ellen hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout, David found a trout up deep in a cove, then he caught a nice Redfish, then another. Then he hooked up and when his drag started ripping we knew it was big. The fish came charging to David and he cranked up the slack, thenit drove back into the marsh and over a hidden shell bed - it rolled up, a HUGE back, then BAP! big fish off! Ouch, it was a big one! We finished the day over in Soap Creek and Ellen topped it off with a small Flounder catch. Other than that one spot, most of the others we "sparse", but it was a beautiful day, we had caught a few, and it was a great day to be out fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Prettiest day all week! We noted that the water was like glass as we ran up the intracoastal, shore birds all along the bank made for a nice ride. I had met the Arnett family, David and Kim and their girls Abbey and Bethaney, down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We went up the intracoastal, then dipped into Jackstaff and worked the "bank" with jigs and mud minnows, and finger mullet (and later on, some small Pogey's). We had some pretty good action, picking up some small Flounder, tangling with some Ladyfish, hooking up some feisty Redfish, and finally Abbey put a nice keeper sized Flounder in the boat.
We then ran thru Horsehead and over to the Nassau and fished Twin Creeks and picked up more fish (it seemed like every stop we got fish), Kim battled a hard fighting Jack Crevalle to the boat, then we moved down to a large drainage and fished it (maybe we got skunked here), then we headed down to Broward Island.
It was almost low, still easing out just a bit, and we had some good action here. By this time Bethaney had taken over "Net Girl" duties and did an amazing job - she didn't miss a single one, even the big Slot Redfish that her sister Abbey hooked up and expertly played to the boat. Bethaney went in there fast, under the fish's jaw and netted it right up! David had caught a short Trout earlier but this time he got it above the keeper limit, and we had an Amelia Island Back Country Slam in the box! We had good fish catching action all morning, had some beautiful weather, some a bunch of wildlife and so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Finally, we had some good weather this morning -just a slight breeze, slightly overcast, and mild temperatures greeted us when I met Lee Warren and David Vice out at Goffinsville Park. We made a short run back down the Nassau and pulled up to Twin Creeks to pitch jigs and mud minnows to the drainages. It paid off - we picked up a couple of feisty Redfish then David had a strong bite that ripped his drag and took him around the boat. I was managing the net and the Go Pro and trying to position myself when David yelled "big Sheepshead" and I was thinking, "naaaah, can't be a Sheepshead" and I even called out "Black Drum?" But then David expertly brought it up to the surface and we saw it was a massive Sheepshead, and when netted we saw it had been foul hooked*. and measured right at 20" - big enough to take first place in the Anglers Mark 2026 Bragging Rights Tournament-Sheepshead Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Boy what a fish!
We fished that area then moved down to fish another drainage. Lee had hauled in a couple of oyster clumps and when he had a heavy rod on another cast he was thinking "shell" but then it began to tug deep and Fish On! Lee worked it patiently to the boat and landed a big 17" Flounder*. We added one more keeper sized Flounder along that stretch. We fished some dock pilings on the first of the incoming tide and picked up a small Sea Bass and a small Mangrove Snapper, then we made a move.
After making our way down to Broward Island we fished the very last of the outgoing down there and it paid off. We had a good strong bite that was ripping drag - we saw a big Red roll, then it went deep, and....thru the hook! Ouch! But shortly afterwards, David had another good bite, played it perfecty, and brought to the net a nice 22" Slot Redfish. We had good weather all morning long, we had some fish in the box, and so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
We've had a little bit of weather the last few days - lot's of rain showers passing thru and some high winds. Those winds died down just a bit today, so we decided to fish, but they were still an issue. Anytime we have some of those weather pattern changes it seems to affect the fish bite. Today, I met Larry Soper and his son Dustin up at Old Town Bait and Tackle. We had (what we thought was) a bait well full of live shrimp, with no mud minnows available, and after making our way out of Eagans Creek we made a quick run over to Lanceford Creek and fished some dock pilings with jigs on the very first of an incoming tide. Just as a I thought, the "baitstealers" were a pain- we fed 'em good! But Dustin, fishing off the bow and out deep picked up a nice keeper sized Whiting. He hooked an had a bigger one to the boat, then a couple of more smaller ones. We moved around the dock and Larry hooked and landed a feisty Sheepshead.
We fished a drainage in Lanceford and here Larry put up a valiant battle with a big Bonnethead Shark which he expertly landed for photograph and release, then we made our way back around and up to the Jolley River. We worked the "bank" with float rigs and Dustin got back in action when he boated a feisty Redfish. We switched back to jigs and had some good action catching those Redfish. After running further up the Jolley we tried JC's spot for a bit, then came back and fished Snook Creek then Tyger Cut with the floats. Our final stop was around at Bell River fishing the jigs and here Dustin hooked up and brought to the boat a small Flounder. We had gone thru 6 dozen live shrimp with the baitstealers doing their thing so we ended up tying on some DOA Shrimp to get us thru the trip. We had some actionhere and there, and even though the wind made it a challenge, as we headed back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
