My Very First Paid Charter

 I started keeping a fishing journal in 1998 - I'd make note of where I fished and what we caught, etc. After I got my Captains license in 2007,  I continued to keep a written journal while I started running charters and the very first trip was recorded on July 23, 2007:

It reads....

My first paid charter, w/ Bill Evans & grandson(?) Jokim.  Went up Boggy Creek 7am, tide hi, starting out. Started fishing past Police Lodge. Bill hung something big, got off. (Beetle Spin) Jokim caught a nice  bream on worm. Fished until 11:00

I actually remember that trip - Mr. Evans had brought along his 9' fly rod - I had it in one of my console side rod holders. As we ran up Boggy we approached the "Hump Back" bridge -cool if you've never seen it - and I slowed to a crawl to ease thru the pilings safely. But I was so intent on making it thru safely I forgot that Mr. Evan's fly rod was sticking up in the rod holder as we started under the bridge, BAM, BAM, BAM...and the top section of the rod came off!  I cringed. Luckily it just separated and pushed back together with no damage. It was an inauspicious start, to say the least.  Although my "repeat" rate for customers is pretty good, I never got to fish with Mr. Evans again. 

I kept the written journal going and also began to "Blog" my trips in 2008 (keeping a double journal) and did both thru April 2013 - that's a long time of being hardheaded and not turning loose of the "old school" recordings.

Saving The Best For Last

 After a long Labor Day weekend, we were back fishing today, and wouldn't you know it, we
had....WIND!  It wasn't so bad that we did go fishing - the rain chance was down in the single digits, but the wind was forecasted to get up to 14mph, and I believe it did. It made for some "challenging" fishing but my two anglers, Bart Mathews and his longtime friend Jaime were up for the task. We met down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and made our way up the Nassau River to make our first stop at a large runout at Seymore's Point. They were getting good casts with the wind at their back and getting good drifts on the very first of a (very) high and outgoing tide, but we had no takers.

We then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point and drifted that stretch of grass with the floats, and may have had a nibble, but nothing more, then we came back into Jackstaff and fished a small creek and here the action picked up a bit - Jaime hooked up and had a big battle with what I thought was going to be a big Redfish - he played it perfectly - but as closer to the boat it started making that trademark dig-dig-dig and sure enough, when Jaime brought it to the surface we netted a big Jack Crevalle - a great battle! Just minutes later Bart had the strong bite - he played it expertly and I thought for sure we had it but the fish headed right for some submerged oysters and "BAP" fish off! Ouch. 

We ran back thru Horsehead and down to Middle River and fished a stretch, then continued on down to Pumpkin Hill where we switched to jigs and Bart picked up a an "almost legal" Redfsih, then came back to Twin Creeks where we tangled with a couple of Ladyfish. We then moved east to another nice drainage and pitched the jigs. Bart had put on a finger mullet, tossed it to the drainage and almost instantly, BAM! Big Fish ON! And boy was it big. A long fight ensued - that fish took Bart from the Bow, down the port side, around the stern, back around the stern, back around the stern and finally Bart wore 'em out and landed an Oversized 31.5" Redfish - big enough to move into 2nd Place in the Anglers Mark 2026 Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Boy what a magnificent fish! After fishing Spanish Drop briefly, we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Brothers Fishing Bash

 

The Bochy brothers, Joe and Bruce and Mark, all met up here at Amelia Island for a birthday get-together and took in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip this morning. I met them down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and after a short run up the Nassau we made our first stop at Spanish Drop and went with the jig rods and mud minnows on the very last of an outgoing tide. The first "demo" cast produced a hungry Flounder so we were off to a good start! We worked that bank then skipped up to Twin Creeks and here we had some pretty good action.

It seemed each of the brothers had their own expertise - Joe was catching most of the Flounder (one of which was of keeper size), Mark was catching Seatrout, and Bruce was catching Redfish! Joe had made a cast  up to the bank and worked it out deep and had a big Oversized Seatrout take it right at the boat - he worked it in patiently and landed a 20" Seatrout for photograph and release. Bruce was expertly landing fesity Redfish while Joe put the Flounder in the boat. We then fished a dock up at Seymore's Point on the first of an incoming tide - the only spot we got "skunked", then we made our way down to Broward Island where Bruce did put a hungry Trout in the boat. 

The final stop was fishing back at Pumpkin Hill, this time using float rigs and the minnows and here we picked up a nice 18" keeper sized Seatrout. The anglers tangled with a bunch of Lady fish here and Bruce added one more Redfish to his catch total before we headed back to the ramp. It had been a beautiful day, we had some good action, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Recipe of The Month: Crawfish Queso

 This came across my screen, from Hymels Kajun Kitchen...

1/2 stick butter      

1  small onion, diced                                                                                   1   can Original Rotel                                                                              1/2 bunch of green onions, the green part, chopped                                2   Tablespoons diced jalapeno's (I used fresh)                                            2  Teaspoons Cajun Seasoning                                                                    1  lb Velveeta Queso Blanco                                                                        1   8oz bag shredded Colby Jack cheese                                                    1  can evaporated milk                                                                                1  lb Crawfish tails  (the tails that I find are always 8oz, so I also cooked 1/2 lb of Hot Jimmy Dean sausage and added that to the mix)                                                                                                                    Tortilla Chips

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the chopped onions, the jalapenos and the green onions and cook them down until soft. Add the can of Rotel and cook for a bit, add some Cajun Seasoning. Add the evaporated milk and stir, add the Velveeta, cut up into chunks, add the shredded cheese and cook over low heat. (I cooked the sausage separately and added it now). Add some Cajun Seasoning if needed. When the mixture begins to get hot, add the Crawfish Tails - they are already cooked so all we really need to do is heat them up. Serve with some Tortilla chips. 

One out of Five

 Those "glass like waters" keep on coming - it was a beautiful morning when I met Bob and William
Blalock out at Goffinsville Park boat ramp - I launched at Sawpit and motored up there (according to the County, the ramp repair is "in design and permitting stage"). I had launched early and cast netted some nice finger mullet to add to the mud minnows I had purchased so we had a good well full of bait. We made our first stop down at Twin Creeks and fished jigs to the outlets on a tide that had been coming in for a few hours and it was William who knocked the skunk off with a nice keeper sized Flounder -all fish caught today were released. They added a couple of "junk fish" before we moved on.

Our next stop was down at Pumpkin Hill, drifting the floats. The Ladyfish were ever present but Bob did put a big 18" Seatrout in the boat, then he battled a big Jack Crevalle. We worked around the point then made our was further south to hit a spot that sometimes produces fish - in particular a non-descript point of grass that I've noted produces a big Trout one in five times we fish it. William had made the perfect cast just north of the point and let his float drift naturally and BAM! Big fish on!  He was getting some drag ripping and he and Bob were guessing "Redfish" but sure enough, when William expertly brought it to the net, it was a 20"+ gator Seatrout. We quickly photographed and released her. Crazy how that spot holds a big Trout, on occasion.

We ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point but I think we got there a little too early, the tide was just hitting high, but we ran down to Sawpit and fished a nice drainage that I had been eyeing and it paid off - we picked up a couple of Flounder and Bob caught one that was of keeper size. William had tossed up between some pilings and a big fish hit just as a boat wake rolled us and I thought we might lose William  but he stayed with it - he battled the fish to the net and landed a big Jack Crevalle. We had some good weather, some good action, some big Trout and so as we headed back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

1st Mate Material

 The water was like glass all day today! I had met Bob Miller, his brother Jim and Jim's son Nick and
grandson Sam down at Sawpit Creek early - it was so still that the sand gnats made an appearance! But we got underway and that was the last we saw of them - we headed up the Middle River and around to Pumpkin Hill and drifted float rigs and mudminnows up by the grass on a tide that still had about and hour and a half to high. We had some action - a bunch of Ladyfish and a couple of Jack Crevalle, but Jim did hookup and land a keeper sized Seatrout.

We came back to Seymore's Point and drifted it for a few casts then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point. Again, a lot of "junk" fish - Ladyfish, a Catfish, but then Bob hooked up and put another keeper Trout in the boat. And the Nick/Sam team followed that up with even a bigger Trout, this one measuring right at 18". Jim pulled a small Flounder out of there then we made the mover back over to Jackstaff and tossed jigs and minnows. My jigs didn't make too much of an impression - we didn't catch much, just another small flounder. 

By this time Sam was filling in as "1st mate" - he was retrieving the bait, hooking some of them up, and he had taken over net duties. We finished up back in the Nassau, fishing Twin Creeks with the  jigs, and here Jim finally got a keeper sized Flounder for the box. We had some good action for most of the morning and had a few fish in the box so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Weekly Wrap Up

 It was an interesting week!  I "fun" fished on Wednesday with friend Tandy Morton using his boat - kinda nice to be a passenger! We left the Amelia Island Marina early and made the run out to the jetties, making our way over to the north jetty, on the inside, about half way between the bend and the end, where we set up with Tandy's trolling motor to hold us at anchor, about 40' off the rocks, on the last of an outgoing tide. Tandy had bought some mud minnows the day before and had cast netted for some perfect sized finger mullet so we had some good bait. Tandy  had a bucktail jig baited with the mullet and I was tossing a 3/8oz jig with the mullet and every once in a while we'd get a good bite. For me, it was kinda weird - that deeper, moving water made it a little difficult to feel the bite, but we got the hand of it. We ended up getting two nice Slot Reds in the boat and one keeper sized Flounder, and we threw back an oversized Red. And we missed at least four good fish - we had 'em on but they just came off!

The next day I took John Raker and Kenny King out there, pretty much to the same area. John had a
good strong hookup on about his 2nd cast, but unfortunately, it too came off. From then on all we had were nibbles. We eased down the jetty tossing to cuts but had no more good bites. So we made a run back in and up the Jolley where we set up along some exposed shell and went back to 1/4ox jigs and mud minnows and this did the trick. Both Kenny and John had good hookups with feisty Redfish. We bounced over to the MOA and picked up another Red, then we came back to the outside of Tyger and worked that bank and picked up a handful of Flounder. 

Yesterday I fished with the Bailey Boys - Douglas and his sons Anderson and Dylan, this time meeting down at Sawpit Creek. We made the run up the intracoastal and dipped into Jackstaff and fished a cut on an outgoing tide with jigs and mud minnows. I was expecting Flounder but I don't think we got a one. They did pick up a feisty Redfish and an "almost" legal Mangrove Snapper. After running through Horsehead we hit few drainages and picked up few fish. After fishing a drainage over at Nassauville where we picked up another Snapper and a small Flounder, we then made our way down to Broward Island where we had our best action. Anderson put a couple of more of those feisty Reds in the boat, Dylan expertly played a keeper sized Seatrout to the boat, but the net man missed him, then Douglas had a strong hookup and battled a nice slot Redfish to the net. While he was doing that Anderson hooked and landed another "almost legal" Mangrove. Then it was Dylan's turn to fight the big Red - he played it patiently to the boat and landed another Slot Redfish. We finished the day tossing floats at Pumpkin Hill but the sun was up and hot and the tide was at a standstill so we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Nothing Like Some Drag Ripping

 I wrapped my week up fishing today with Garland Clark, the "birthday boy"!  We had a good time - we left Sawpit Creek early and headed up the intracoastal, then up the Nassau to make our first stop at Spanish Drop. The tide had been coming in for an hour or so and the shell banks were about covered, but we went with jigs - I had a bunch of live shrimp, a handful of mud minnows and a live well of finger mullet - we were loaded! Garland "knocked the skunk off" early when he hooked up and quickly brought to the boat a couple of feisty Redfish, one after the other.  We moved up the river to a drainage and fished it a few casts, then we moved on up to Twin Creeks and here we hit pay dirt.

First, Garland had had a couple of "nibbles" and finally hooked one up - a nice Black "puppy" Drum (all fish caught today were released. Then, in just a few casts he had his rod bend and his line take off heading west and boy was that drag ripping - it wasn't slowing down - we chased it! I was worried he was going to get spooled. But we teamed up, I followed it up the river while Garland cranked in the line then we hovered over the big fish until Garland wore it out and brought it to the surface - a 4' plus Bonnethead Shark.  We got a couple of pics and tossed it back. 

When Garland had another strong bite I was thinking, "oh shoot, another Bonnethead", but it didn't make that really long run, although it made some strong deep runs closer to the boat. We were speculating what he had and boy was it great to see when it came to the surface that it was a huge Redfish! Garland patiently worked it to the boat and landed an Oversized 28" Redfish, boy what a fish.

We hit a handful of spots where Garland caught a small Whiting, a couple of small Mangrove Snappers, a small Jack Crevalle, then we finished the day when he hooked and landed the first keeper sized Mangrove Snapper! He met the Challenge and claimed the GPK! And with that, we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

One Big Trout and Big Bonnethead

 We had a couple of days of afternoon rainstorms come through and I think it made a difference in the fish bite. This morning we had a tide that was about midway coming in, clear skies, and just a little breeze which made for some comfortable fishing early, but by 11am it was getting HOT! I fished with Kenny King and his crew, John Raker and John's mother Betty, meeting them out at Oyster Bay. We came back down Lanceford and then up the Bell to make our first stop at a point of oysters that were just about already covered. We had a baitwell of healthy shrimp, a handful of mud minnows (caught yesterday) and a live well with about 2 dozen finger mullet. That first stop didn't produce much at all, just a few nibbles.

We made our way down the intracoastal with plans to stop at some structure but a shore angler beat us to it, so we kept going down to Poteat Point where we drifted the floats with the incoming tide. Although we didn't count them as "skunk off", Kenny did pick up Catfish and a Ladyfish, then finally, a hungry Seatrout. After making our way over to Jackstaff we turned into the "bank" and fished it all the way back to the point and may have gotten a fish or two. But when we turned the corner the action picked up with Ladyfish catches then Kenny had a strong bite - it giving him a good fight and we felt sure it was going to be a decent fish, and it was! Kenny expertly brought to the boat a big 19.75" Seatrout, which we photographed and released, boy what a fish!

After fishing a couple of more spots off of Jackstaff, we ran thru Horsehead and fished a drainage at Seymore's Point then finished up the day over on Alligaator Creek. Here, Betty tangled with two Bonnethead Shark - the second one was about 4 foot and then she finished up the day with a nice Seatrout catch. We had caught a couple of big fish and had great weather so as we headed back to the dock we counted it as aother great day to be fsihing here at Amelia Island Florida.

Those Dang Baitstealers

 Sooner or later I'm going to have to quit griping about them, but boy do those baitstealers make it tough to get a good fish! My guests today, Terry Foley and his buddy Chris found out early - after running up the intracoastal, then up Back River and around to Pumpkin Hill we had a pretty good high and incoming tide to drift those float rigs baited with live shrimp (still no mud minnows at the bait shop). They were re-baiting non-stop, unfortunately. But Terry did get one by them and sure enough, BAM! He hooked up and expertly landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. Around the corner we picked up a small Redfish and Chris battled a Bonnethead Shark and a big Jack to the net for photograph and release.

We made a brief stop back at Seymore's Point, then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point where we drifted the floats. We had bites and Terry had something on briefly but it tangled in an old line and thru the hook. Back over in Jackstaff we switched to jigs and picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout then Chris had a good "thump", he set the hook and patiently brought to the boat a keeper sized Flounder. 

After running back thru Horsehead we hit a couple of drainages as we got to the bottom of our bait. Chris reeled in an "almost legal" Mangrove Snapper and then Terry wrapped the catching up when he hooked a Flounder right at the boat and brought it in. We then headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

I've set a minnow trap out the last couple of days but the tide is either too high or too low or the minnows I catch are too small. Come on Fall!