Redfish On Fire

Michael Purser, Tim Ralston and Andy Hall were visiting Amelia Island with their spouses for a pre-holiday break and had scheduled a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark well in advance.  The weather was probably ordered up by the Chamber of Commerce because there wasn't a cloud in the sky, no wind to speak of, and the temperature rose to the low 70's.  We met at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on Talbot Island and headed up the Nassau River to fish Bubblegum Reef on the very first of an incoming tide.  We found some Trout,  fishing live shrimp under a slip float and the anglers also caught some on a jig.  As the tide came up we made the run to Broward Island and began to fish just as the tide started in at that location further up the river.  BAM! FISH ON!  BAM! FISH ON!  BAM! FISH ON! The guys started hooking up on almost every cast.  I was huffing and puffing to get the hungry Redfish de-hooked, photographed, and released!  I guestimate that they caught at least 15 Reds if not more and Michael also caught a keeper sized Sheepshead.  Tim landed one Redfish with NO spots while Andy was working a slip float rig and catching fish.  When the bite slowed we ran up to Christopher Creek where the anglers again caught some hungry Redfish, about 6-7 in all.  With that, we called it a day, another great on to be out on Amelia Island waters!

High Tide Trout Fishing

We had an unusual high tide yesterday when we launched The Anglers Mark - the water was way up in the grass and even covering the grass.  Zack Peyton and his friends Carl and Mark met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 10:30 at the peak of the tide and we headed up river to fish with live shrimp under float rigs.    I found it difficult to find my "spots" because the water was so high I couldnt' see my landmarks!  But these anglers were ready to work and after some of the water had left the marsh they began to pick up some hungry Seatrout.   Mark started it out then Carl and Zack got in on the action at Millie's spot up Lanceford Creek.  Later we hit a dock on Lanceford with no real bites then ran around to the Jolley River to fish the "Mother of All" spots.  However the tide was so high and the current running so stiff the MOA didn't pan out.  But on around the corner Zack found a ripple where the Trout were hanging and moved over to let Carl join in on the catching.  Jolley Bank had no fish but as the tide hit bottom we made our last stop at the logs of Tiger Island where Zack picked up a keeper sized trout with a jig on the bottom and also found the only Redfish of the day.  With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Two Leather Projects Completed

I know, they don't have anything to do with fishing! I have some of these on consignment at Amelia Island Liqours and they owners requested that I do an Elk and Bulldawg. You can tell by the picture that the Dawg is "antiqued".   See more at my Fish Craft page.

Amelia Island Surf Fishing Hot for Drum

Albert and Nancy Hudson sent in this report from the Thanksgiving weekend:
The redfish and black drum bite is hot in the surf. We went Friday about 2 hours before high tide and fished for about 2 hours and caught 7 nice keeper puppy drum, 2 slot redfish and 2 huge bull whiting. They were still biting when we left. Went out again Sunday but went a little too early. Nancy caught two small rat reds and 1 huge puppy drum along with a couple of whiting.

Trout'n After Thanksgiving

It was such a pretty day the day after Thanksgiving so  my wife and I and our good friend Ameera launched the boat at Atlantic Seafood shortly after noon and headed up to the Tiger Island area to do some fishing with the tide coming in.  We hadn't been stopped long when we all started getting bites.  The Trout were real hungry for our live shrimp floated near some submerged oyster beds.  We caught about 8 or 10 in less than an hour and three of them were of keeper size.  We made a short detour by Cumberland Island to check out some wild horses, then headed up to the Jolley River where I thought we'd have  a shot at some larger Trout and maybe a Redfish.  But they weren't biting.  We made one last stop south of the Rayonier mill and even though  we had to work for them, both Ameera and I landed 3-4 more Trout apiece and one keeper sized Puppy Drum.  Ameera was making excellent casts and patiently worked her fish in to the waiting net.  With the sun going down, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout Tournament

I fished Friday and Saturday with Tim Parker and Brian Knicely during the Nassau Sportsfishing Association Backwater Tournament.  We caught a bunch of Trout both days.  A mess of Trout.  Both days the weather was fantastic, cool in the morning, but clear and sunny with very little wind.  It made for some great fishing.  I calculated we hit 12 spots on Friday and 9 spots on Saturday!  We picked up plenty of trout on live shrimp and mudminnows and Tim's Temptation baits.  However, most were undersized.  We also had a couple of rat Reds on both days, a drum and a couple of Sheepshead.  On the day of the Tournament we ended up with two keeper sized Trout with one over 17" and a nice keeper sized Sheepshead.  We entered the Trout, knowing that it wouldn't place us in the top 3, but we were "on the board"!  It was two great days to be out on the Amelia Island waters!

Dawg Gone Windy

Tom Johnston was in town with his family for the annual Georgia Florida Football game and postponed their departure time long enough to get in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.   Due to the nearby passing of Hurricane Sandy, we postponed the fishing trip from Friday when the winds were up to 27mph, but were able to meet today with sunny skies, although the wind was still blowing at 16mph.  We went fishing anyway!  Tom had brought along his wife, Leann, there two young adults Ashley and Tommy, and Tom's dad.....Tom.  For once I had no trouble remembering names!  I thought the NW wind may be blocked  on the outside of Tiger Island so we headed that way.  But when we got to the mouth of Manatee Creek we found that it was blowing and the water was really churned up.  We still tossed out some float rigs with live shrimp and Tom and Tommy both picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout and a feisty Bluefish.  Tommy had a good hookup but after he worked it in we found a heavy tackle rod and reel on the end of his line - you never know what you're going to pull up in the saltwater!  We made run around to Lanceford Creek and soon found that the land mass was blocking the wind and the fishing atmosphere was outstanding.  Fishing a grass patch surrounded by flooded oysters, both Leann and Ashley reeled in some Seatrout.  Tom saw his float bumping around like another one of the pesky baitstealers was after his shrimp and Tom patiently waited until the float disappeared to lift his rod tip firmly and BIG FISH ON!  His rod bent and the drag ripped as the fish made a strong run away from the boat, but Tom kept the pressure on and slowly worked the fish to the boat.  It made couple of more runs, headed under the boat and then from bow to stern and back to bow, but we soon were able to net the big fish, a 26" Amelia Island slot Red!  After pictures, Tom gently released the fish to swim away and possibly to be caught another day.  After the bite slowed we moved on down and fished some of the dock pilings and although we were getting robbed repeatedly by the baitstealers, both Leann and Tom Sr. surprising caught a couple of juvenile Grouper!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Bunch of Trout and a Big Red

Claudiu Videlescu treated his dad Stefan to an Amelia Island back country fishing trip yesterday afternoon and brought along friends Daron Pair and Pat Joe.  We met at 2pm at the Atlantic Seafood dock and eased our way out of the marina on The Anglers Mark to make our way up to the Jolley River with about two hours into an incoming tide.  The oysters will still showing so the anglers tossed jigs with shrimp to the edge and it wasn't long before they were hooking up.  Pat and Daron had the hot rods early and were bringing in Trout, Snapper and Croaker regularly.  But Stefan and Claudiu were patient and they too began to make catches of Trout, with Stefan being the first to land a keeper sized Trout.  There were a number of times when the anglers had double hookups.  We fished Snook Creek and had a couple of Trout then hit Manatee Creek outside of Tiger Island where the Trout bite was almost non stop.  We were having so many bites that we ran out of shrimp so we made quick run to the bait shop on Eagans Creek then headed out for one more try at Temptation Cove.  The tide was almost high now and although we may have been a little late getting there, we picked up a few Trout.  Stefan had something take his bait so hard that after a short fight it broke off.  Later, Claudiu's rod bent and this fish was big!  It didn't fight like a Trout and hunkered down and we knew it was either a Red or Black Drum.  He played the fish perfectly, with the fish making runs from bow to stern and even under the boat a couple of times, but Claudiu was patient and with Pat manning the net, they soon landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Fishin and Football

William and Dara Blalock along with their friend Jason were visiting Amelia Island for the annual Georgia/Florida football game and decided to take in an Amelia Island back water fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  We met at the Fernandina Harbor Marina downtown at 7am and headed up to the Tiger Islands with a livewell full of shrimp to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  I used my trolling motor to "anchor" at the mouth of two outgoing creeks and the anglers tossed their baits up near the marsh grass.  Fish On!  Fish On! Fish On!  The Trout bite was on fire and they caught one after another - I entered in my journal that they caught "a ton" of fish - too many to count.  William had seen a tail up near the grass and shortly after Dara's rod bent and this fish had a little more UMPH to his fight!  She played the fish perfectly and we soon netted a nice Redfish.   They all caught some hungry Blues to 14" and Jason had a big Bull Whiting.   We could have stayed there and caught fish longer, but we decided to move in hopes that we could increase our odds at more Redfish,  so we made a move to the Jolley River and sure enough,  the bite was hot.  They boated 8-10 Redfish, having double hookups a couple of times and a good handful of Trout.  Once, Jason had something hit his bait hard, but it broke off almost immediately, taking the float rig with it.  Later, when William  retrieved the float before we left the spot, he found that a Redfish was still attached!  We made a couple of more stops in Jolley picking up a few fish, then finished up at the Tiger Island logs where Jason rounded out a personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam by catching a hungry Flounder.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island Waters!

First Cast First Fish

Nathan and Ted Miller made the drive over from Jacksonville this morning  to fish the Amelia Island back waters on The Anglers Mark.  We met early at the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp and headed up the river to fish outside of Tiger Island on a high and outgoing tide.  After rigging up some float rigs  we tossed them to the marsh grass at some large creek run outs and after gave it a jig, the float disappeared and FISH ON!  He played the fish expertly and we soon netted a nice 18" Seatrout!  He was the only one we caught there so we speculated that he was the alpha trout and had scared all the others away!  We ran up to the Jolley River and fished another large creek run out.  Ted picked up a nice Redfish then Nathan got in on the action and caught a couple of Trout.  Then they both picked up a couple of more Reds and Trout.  We moved on around to the "Mother Of All" spots but it wasn't as hot as it was yesterday.  They did catch a couple of more Trout and a couple of hungry Sheepshead, and a Puppy Drum, rounding out an Amelia Island Backcountry Slam, of sorts.  We fished Jolley Bank and picked up two more Reds, one in the Slot, and then finished up at the logs behind Tiger where they added another couple of Reds to the catch list, along with a whole "mess" of pesky Snapper!  We were treated with a visit from a raccoon chasing our discarded bait, too.  With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water.

Like Fishin in a Barrell

Nancy Hudson, her husband Albert, and their son Bo Vinson won a fishing trip from the World Fishing Network and I was the lucky guide they selected for the trip!  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock in downtown Fernandina Beach, Florida on Amelia Island, and pointed The Anglers Mark out of the marina with the sun just coming up.  We made our first stop at the docks on Lanceford Creek and the anglers warmed up with the jig rods with live shrimp and mud minnows as bait.  The oysters hadn't started showing, but they were able to pick up a feisty Redfish, a Whiting and some Snapper.  We made run over to the logs of Tiger Island were able to make some good passes of the island, being out of the wind.  Again, they had just a few bites, mainly Snapper, but they did boat a keeper sized Flounder. We ran up to the Jolley River and fished Snook Creek where Albert caught a hungry Trout.  I was beginning to wonder - they had caught some fish but they were really having to work for them.  I hadn't been to the "Mother of All" spots in a while but we were real  close so we made the short run and then inched up to some oyster beds. BOOM!  BOOM! BOOM!  They had hookup after hookup after hookup of fish.  Redfish, Drum, Flounder, Trout, and Sheepshead - all five inshore game fish in one spot just a few minutes.  At one time Albert commented that it was like fishing in a barrel!  The tide had just started back in so we stayed there for a while and they added to the box a keeper Redfish and another keeper Flounder. We made a last stop at Jolley Bank and it was on fire, too.  Redfish,  a nice keeper sized Trout, Drum and a smaller Flounder were caught.  The sun was high and we were out of bait so we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Grand Slam Weekend

Julie and Angela Moore, and daughter Maleha, were visiting the area this week and took in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today.  We had clear skies as we headed out of the marina and pointed our way towards the docks of Lanceford Creek.  The tide still had about 2 hours till low, but the oysters were showing so we pitched live shrimp up to the base of the oysters and dock pilings.  The bite was not on fire, but these anglers had a great attitude and worked at it until they began to get some bites.  Angela picked up a feisty Redfish, Julie caught a hungry whiting, and Angela added a Seatrout.  We hit another dock where Angela caught a keeper sized Seatrout and a hard fighting Puppy Drum.  We made a run over to the logs of Tiger Island where Maleah got in on the action with a couple of Snapper and Angela rounded out her Amelia Island Grand Slam by catching a Flounder.  Our last stop was up at the Jolley River.  We eased along the oyster bank and both Maleha and Julie caught Trout.  Angela had good battle with what looked like a slot Red, but the wiley Red tossed the hook, and swam off grinning! OUCH!  We fished the area for a while longer, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Beautiful Day, Lot's of Fish

Harold Cubbidge treated his grandsons Gabe and Jordan to an Amelia Island back country fishing trip today on The Anglers Mark.  It was still dark when we headed out of the marina and eased through the no-wake zone to begin the fishing trip up at the Jolley River.  The tide had just changed and started in so when we got to Jolley Bank we pointed the bow of the boat into the current and began fishing the oyster lined bank.  It took about 15 minutes of casting before the anglers had a good bite, but boy after that, things really got hot.  They worked the bank thoroughly and caught a good "mess" of feisty Redfish and also had a large handful of Puppy Drum, some Croaker and Snapper.   Gabe hauled in a Seatrout and later landed a nice keeper sized 17" Flounder.  Harold was letting the young men catch the fish but after they had caught a few, he joined in a hooked up with a Red, too.  We fished the same bank with float rigs once the oysters had covered, had a few bites, but no real action, so we headed over to Tiger inlet.  The anglers picked up a couple of more Trout and Snapper, then we made our last stop outside of Tiger where Gabe landed another Redfish.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island's beautiful waters!

Flood Tide Reds

My wife said I had to stay away from the house today because she had a lady coming to clean, so what does a guy do when given that directive?  Go Fishing!  There was a flood tide due at noon, so I launched The Anglers Mark at 10am and headed up Bell River.  I scouted one spot just across from the marina, then hit another spot nearby, but saw no tails.  After cruising up Bell and cutting through into Tiger Basin I found a nice, small flooded area where I've caught flood tide reds before.  Sure enough, I wasn't there long when I saw a tail pop up. And then another, up in the taller grass.  It was closer so I took a shot at it, but was ignored.  Another fish was working its way towards me so when it got to within casting distance, I put a spoon fly off to it's right with my 8w Sage fly rod.  I was in luck because the Redfish ate it's way toward where my fly landed and then a made big boil on the fly, and FISH ON!  I had a good battle with this fish and because the water was so shallow I could tell it was a nice slot Redfish.  He eventually wore out and I was able to net a 24" Redfish!  Later, another slot Red was working the edges of the flat and then it too came my way!  The fish got so close I could follow it easily from the bow of my boat and watch it feed in the area.  I made a couple of good casts, had no take, then unfortunately I lined the fish with a cast, OUCH!  It blew out of there like a rocket!  I checked another grass flat behind Tiger, saw not fish, then headed back to an area near the marina. The tide was really up now, almost slack, and off in the distance I could see tailing Reds!  I got out of the boat and waded over some really hard ground to get within casting distance, which I never really did.  These fish must have knew that it would be time to leave the flat soon because as I eased towards each one, they'd disappear under the water and did not show again.  After about 30 minutes of chasing fish I headed back to the boat and called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout Catching Weather

Sarah and Dave Post set up an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this afternoon, so we met at the Atlantic Seafood dock in downtown Fernandina Beach at 3pm.  It had been chilly and overcast all day long but there was only a slight chance of rain as we headed out of the marina and up to the Tiger Islands.  The tide was high and still coming in so we made a stop outside of Tiger Island and the anglers "knocked the rust" off fishing with live shrimp under float rigs.  They had a bunch of baitstealers robbing them so we moved on around to the mouth of Tiger and dropped an anchor at a couple of marsh run outs.  This proved to be the ticket because it wasn't long before Dave got the skunk off the boat with a nice Seatrout.  From then on, both Sarah and Dave caught a number of Seatrout and Sarah landed a nice keeper sized one.  Dave hooked up and his drag ripped out - this fish was running hard!  But Dave played the fish perfectly and we soon landed a nice Bonnethead Shark.  The bite slowed so we headed up to the Jolley River and found a nice creek to fish.  Sarah picked up a few Trout on the float rig but we were in an area where there weren't too many oysters so we switched up to a jig rig, and boy am I glad we did!  Both Sarah and Dave began to get hookup after hookup - almost every cast - and were reeling in the Trout, sometimes two at a time!  They also had a handful of Whiting and a couple of Puppy Drum.  We fished until the sun was setting then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Birthday Red

Rick Alexander treated his son Danny to a birthday fishing trip this afternoon on The Anglers Mark, fishing the Amelia Island backwaters.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock in downtown Fernandina Beach and headed north up the river with a livewell full of live shrimp.  The tide had just peaked at its highest so we were using float rigs with about a 3' leader to fish over the flooded oyster beds.  At our first stop outside of Tiger Island the anglers had almost non-stop action, catching Snapper, a hungry Seatrout and "bait stealers".  We move around to Manatee Cove and again found Snapper and bait stealers.   They were fun to catch but we were looking for bigger fish so we headed up to the Jolley River to fish the shoreline.  We hadn't gone far when Danny's float made a strong disappearance!  He lifted the rod tip firmly and, FISH ON!  This fish was definitely bigger than our earlier catches and after playing the fish perfectly, Danny soon landed a nice, keeper sized Trout!  we fished Jolley Bank until a creek runout, anchored for awhile, had a few bites, then decided to make another pass of the Bank, and I'm glad we did!  After only a few minutes, Danny's float again surged under and this time there was large roll where we lost site of the float,  a BIG Red!  Danny's drag ripped out, but he kept the pressure on and slowly worked the fish to the boat.  With his dad manning the net, they landed the big 23" Slot Redfish for Danny's personal biggest fish to date!  We continued to fish and eventually switched to jigs when the oysters began to show and Rick landed a few more Trout and a hard fighting puppy Drum to round out the anglers Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  After hitting one more spot where Rick picked up a Seatrout on a Temptation Bait Ribbed Shrimp (brown), we called it day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Hush Puppies and Grits

Margaret Gallardo and her two brothers Ted and Bob and Bob's wife Nellie took in an Amelia Island Back Country fishing trip today on The Anglers Mark. We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City of Fernandina Beach marina this morning and headed up to Tiger Island to fish the first of an outgoing tide with live shrimp under floats.  We hadn't been anchored long when Nellie hooked up with a good fish and after a nice fight, she put a keeper sized Trout into the boat!  The anglers caught good handful of smaller Trout then Ted's line took off and the drag zipped on his reel, FISH ON!  He played the big fish perfectlly and I thought for sure it was going to be a big Redfish, but then it showed the tendecies of a shark.  Sure enough, after a long and expert battle, Ted landed a 3 1/2" Bonnethead shark.  We hit another area outside of Tiger then headed up to the Jolley River and again picked up a handful of smaller Trout.  As we fished Jolley Bank they caught a couple of more Trout, some "baitstealers" and a nice Croaker.  Then Bob let everyone know that he had a fish on, and boy did he!  He played the big fish perfectly and worked it patiently to the boat where we netted a nice slot sized 24" Redfish.  Now that, with some grits and hushpuppies, will make a good meal!  We hit the logs of Tiger Island and then headed in, counting it as another beautiful day to be on Amelia Island waters!

Make a Yarn Fly for Casting Practice

You Name It, We Caught It!

It was a very nice morning today, very little wind, overcast, and not too hot.  Jim Maggard had planned to treat his two sons Bryson and Zachory to an Amelia Island back country light tackle fishing trip on The Anglers Mark, so we met at the Atlantic Seafood dock down at the City of Fernandina Beach marina at 7am this morning - just after sun up.  We headed up to the Jolley River, loaded for bear!  We had (4) jig rods, (3) float rig rods, and (3) 8w fly rods and a live well full of shrimp.  We eased up to the exposed oyster beds and the anglers began to toss the jig rods with shrimp up near the bank and it wasn't long before they were catching fish.  They had a few Black (puppy) Drum, a few feisty Redfish, a couple of Ladyfish, and whole "mess" of Snapper, some Croaker, a Bonnethead Shark, a Stingray and a very nice keeper sized Flounder!  We moved on up the river and they picked up a couple of more Snapper then we made a run to behind Tiger Island to fish the downed logs, catching another couple of Snapper and a Croaker.  The tide was high and the oysters were covered by now so we moved to the outside of Tiger and with our last handfull of live shrimp, the anglers caught 5-6 nice Seatrout to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Grand Slam of Redfish, Flounder, Drum and Trout!  We were expecting a flood tide today so we strung up the fly rods and ran to 3-4 flooded grass flats to check them out.  On the last one, Jim had the good eye and spotted a lone "tail" feeding in the flooded grass.  Bryson and I waded out but we hadn't gotten too far from the boat when it disappeared, not to be seen again.  Bryson got in some blind casting then we headed back to the boat and headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

All of a Sudden

Jack Reynolds had arranged an Amelia Island fishing trip this morning for he and his son and after two days of getting drenched and a forecast of 40% chance of rain, I was sure that today would be more of the same!  I met Jack and Brett at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am this morning and we headed up to Jolley River with a baitwell full of live shrimp and Cocahoe (mud) minnows on the last of an incoming tide.  The wind was already blowing over 10mph and was expected to get up to about 16mph, and I think it did.  This made it difficult for the anglers but they persevered and caught a good variety of fish.  They'd pick up a nice Trout here, and a nice Trout at the next stop, but the bite never seemed to take off.  Every once in a while they'd reel in a fat Grey Snapper but they were just a little undersized.  We ran around to the front of Tiger Island and Jack hooked up and caught a nice sized Flounder.  We fished behind Tiger and again, they picked up some Snapper, but then, all of a sudden,  Brett's rod bent and his reel drag ripped, FISH ON!  He couldn't have played the fish any  better and after a good battle, we netted a 29 1/2" oversized Redfish, putting him in 2nd place in the Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament, redfish category (see right column for standings)!  We snapped some pictures and released the big guy to swim off and have a better day.  Continuing to fish behind Tiger, Jack again caught Flounder, but this one had some size about him.  Jack patiently worked the fish to the boat and we netted a Flounder of keeper size.  We fished some Lanceford Creek docks, had some nibbles, then wrapped up the day at Rayonier warehouse.  Jack was working the stern of the boat and had a strong hookup and a long battle on his hands.  He worked the fish up and I netted a very nice 14" Black Drum. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Temptation Baits

I got to fish today with Tim Parker, A.B.E. of Temptation Bait's.  He and his brother Brian met me in the dark this morning at the Sawpit Boat ramp at Big Talbot Island Park.  We wanted to get out early so we skipped all live bait and went with some of Tim's new shrimp colored and shrimp flavored ribbed grubs and some topwater lures.  We motored up the Nassau River with the lights on and got to the Horsehead area just as the sun was coming up.  We were fishing over some flooded oyster beds on the last of an incoming tide and Tim was throwing the grubs while Brian and I were tossing topwaters.  Both Tim and Brian hooked up with Trout as we trolled through the area.  We moved on to the mouth of Jackstaff Creek, had no real bites, then eased into a smaller creek and the action heated up.    Brian and Tim again caught a few Trout but when we saw a big boil up near the grass line we all perked up.  After the fish wouldn't eat a topwater, I tossed one of Tim's Temptation Bait 4" Ribbed Shrimp Grub just beyond the boil.  I felt my jig bounce over an oyster, then BOOM!  FISH ON!  And it was a big one!  We fought the fish around the boat a couple of Times but my Shimano CI4 1000 reel and Terramar rod was up for the challenge.  With a lot of coaching we were able to land a 33 1/2" oversized Redfish!  We snapped some pictures and the beast swam off with a strong - and somewhat ticked off - demeanor!  We continued to fish and both Brian and Tim had Redfish hookups.  We added a few keeper sized Trout and a couple of keeper sized Flounder - all on the shrimp flavored Temptation Bait ribbed grubs.  Did I mention we got wet a couple of times from rain showers?  But it was a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island.

We got Soaked....

.....a couple of times this morning, but the fishing turned out great.  I had checked the weather report last night and it called for a 20% chance of precipitation and I think we got all of it between 8 and 9!  I had met Mathew Shelor and his fiance Katie at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am this morning. If you looked south the skies were OK, but if you looked north, there was huge, dark thundercloud. And that's the direction I wanted to go!  So we headed west.  We ran up Lanceford Creek and fished a flooded oyster flat and grass clump and Katie broke the ice early by hooking up with a couple of feisty Redfish and a Snapper.  The weather appeared to clear north so we pointed toward Tiger Island, but on the way the rain came down with so much ferocity I had to slow down to a crawl in order to see, and we all got soaked!  But we ran through it and made our way to a nice looking spot.  I "anchored" with the Minnakota I-Pilot and just as the anglers got their float rigs baited, the bottom fell out again and the wind picked up to an unbearable blow.  Soaked with rain again, we cranked the big engine and rain around behind Tiger Island and immediately found protection from the wind and the rain quit.  We tied up at first (for me to gather my wits) and Katie again found some Snapper.  Later, as we trolled along the shoreline, Katie picked up a couple of fat Seatrout and as Matt was pulling in a Snapper, she hooked up with  hard fighting keeper sized Black Drum.  Katie was getting all the pictures and was having a lot of success on the boat and graciously offered the bow to Matt, when his rod bent over and drag ripped out - FISH ON!  This fish was big and fighting hard, but Matt played it perfectly and with Katie on the net, they landed a nice, 23" Slot Redfish!  We continued to fish the island, staying out of the wind.  The two anglers already had an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of sorts with Redfish, Drum and Seatrout, but they also added a couple of keeper sized Flounder, a couple more Trout, and Matt wrapped up the trip by landing a nice, keeper sized Sheepshead.  All fish caught today were released to be caught another day.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Gambling with the Weather

Steve Carbonneau, his brother Dan and Dan's friend Joyce were spending their last full day at Amelia Island today and although the weather reports called for at least 50% chance of rain and over 10mph winds, we decided to go for it and go fishing!  With a poor weather forecast, even the bait shop wasn't open so we headed out from the Sawpit Creek boat ramp with top water lures and jigs and plastics.  We made our first stop at the mouth of Jackstaff Creek with the tide high and going out and the anglers began tossing topwater lures with their Stradic 1000FI's and 10lb braid.  They had a few rolls at their lures then Steve had a nice roll and the fish came back and nailed it!  FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and after a nice battle, landed a great keeper sized Trout.  They had a few more hits on the topwaters but we moved on around to the Nassau River as the sun got higher and began to use jigs and Temptation Baits at a creek runout.  Dan hookedup and landed a hardfighting Jack and later had an even bigger one on for a good battle but it eventuallly threw the hook.  We made our way over to Broward Island, but the tide was still high and the logs were covered, making it difficult to fish.  But the anglers persevered and Dan was able to pull a feisty Redfish out of the logs.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout and More Trout

Although the wind was kicking just a little bit yesterday, we had a great time fishing the back country waters of Amelia Island on The Anglers Mark.  I had met Brian Brannum, his girlfriend Chelsea, and Brian's brother Brad, at the Atlantic Seafood dock in downtown Fernandina Beach yesterday afternoon at 3pm.  We had a livewell full of live shrimp when we headed out.  I made a couple of stops to see if we could find any Redfish tailing on the last of an incoming tide, but there were none to be found.  We came out from behind Tiger Island and pulled up at a point of grass.  I was showing Chelsea how to jiggle the float rig on our first cast when, FISH ON!  She worked in a nice Seatrout!  The anglers got their float rigs out and continued to catch Trout after Trout - all of them just undersized, but we could have probably sat right there and caught as many as we wanted for the rest of the afternoon.  However, we decided to move and hit one more oyster flooded area before heading up to Jolley River to fish the flooded bank.  Again, the anglers found Seatrout.  These were just a little bit bigger and Chelsea landed a fat keeper sized one.  Both Brian and Brad hooked up with some larger, hard fighting Blues and Brad landed a big Ladyfish which I brought home for future bait.  Brian had switched to a Tempation Bait white fluke on a red-headed jig and was staying busy working the jig from the bank back to the boat and even commented that he was catching Trout that had bypassed the live shrimp the others were offering!  We fished a couple of more areas, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!