Slow Start But Big Finish

Bill and Cecilia Madden were making the best of their visit to Amelia Island by staying at the beautiful Elizabeth Pointe Lodge at the beach and then making the 5 minute drive into town to meet me at the marina for a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am this morning with clear skies, a slight breeze and a falling tide.  Our first stop was the docks of Lanceford Creek and with the oysters still covered, I had Bill tossing a topwater lure up to the marsh grass and Cecilia pitching a jig and shrimp combo.  There wasn't much going on, but Bill did pick up and aggressive Blue up near the dock pilings.  We moved on to the logs of Tiger Island and both Bill and Cecilia saw action with Bill catching a hungry Flounder on a mud minnow and jig while Cecilia reeled in a feisty Redfish.  Jolley Bank started slow but turned out to be the place to be.  Cecilia's rod got hot as she began to pickup hungry Trout after Trout on a mud minnow and shrimp fished slowly from the bank (which rounded out the couple's Amelia Island Back Country Slam) and she also hooked up with a couple more of the feisty Redfish.  As we neared the end of the trip. Cecilia's rod bent and drag began to sing, FISH ON!  She kept the pressure on as she worked the fish in slowly and we soon netted an nice 19 1/2" Seatrout, which put her in 3rd place in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament!  With only a couple of mud minnows left, and not to be outdone, Bill hooked up with a large Seatrout, too.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Redfish on a Jerk Bait

Bob Anderson along with his two teenagers, Zack and Rogers, fished with me this morning and we were all shaking off a bit of "stir crazy" after being cooped up the last few days as Tropical Storm Debbie left the whole area drenched.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings as the tide was falling.  The oysters still weren't showing so Bob tied on a jerk bait that he had brought with him and began to fish it over the flooded oysters.  I had the boys fishing with  jigs and shrimp up near the pilings.  We'd only been fishing for a short time when Bob hooked up and his rod bent, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and after an extended battle we netted a nice 21" Slot Redfish!  What a great way to start the day.  Rogers joined in on the action later by hooking up and reeling in a hard fighting Puppy Drum.  We hit another dock system,  cast netted some nice finger mullet, then headed up to Jolly River to fish the now exposed oysters.  It was tough fishing with the current ripping out and the wind blowing right at us, but these anglers persevered and Bob soon landed Flounder that took one of the mullet under a float.  We moved on up the river and as we were easing into a creek, Bob landed another feisty Redfish, this time on a white artificial jig with a skirt.  We found no sharks up the creek and after hitting another couple of spots, the sun was up and the temp's were in the 90's, so we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

The Jone's Find the Trout

David Jones, his son Keith, and grandad Fred fished with me last evening.  David and his wife Julie own and operate the Blue Heron Inn, an elegantly appointed  Bed and Breakfast within walking distance to the marina. We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 3pm and headed up to the Jolly River, where within just a short time of fishing, Fred hooked up with a large Bonnethead Shark, fought it like a pro, and landed it for pictures and release.   We moved on to another spot, but had no real bites.  The tide was getting right, we had a nice breeze, and I just knew there had to be some fish ready to eat, and these anglers proved me right!  They picked up a hungry trout at one spot and then as we eased up Jolley Bank, they begin to get some serious action.  Keith was floating a live shrimp under a float up near the oysters and was getting good bites.  He then had that float disspapear with a vengeance and he set the hook and hauled in a nice, fat keeper sized Trout.  David added a large 19" Trout and then all three anglers were hooking up.  We passed through a mess of Ladyfish and had a few more Trout.  Later, behind Tiger, Keith reeled the last Trout of the day, so we headed in , counting it as another great day to be on Amelia Island waters!

Shark Catching Adds Excitement

Kurt Freese, his wife Sheila and their daughter Cara, along with Sheila's cousin Scott had scheduled a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark so we met at the Atlantic Seafood dock Saturday morning and made a run up to the Jolley River to fish the first of an incoming tide.  Both Cara and Kurt picked up some hungry Seatrout then Cara had a strong bite, her rod bent over and the drag sang!  FISH ON!  She played the fish for a while, then Kurt joined in to help subdue the big Bonnethead Shark.  Boy, that will wake you up!  After fighting another shark, we move on up the river, made one stop and had no bites, but at the next the anglers picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout.  Fishing outside of Tiger Island, Scott found a couple of feisty Redfish feeding over an oyster bar and Cara pulled in a coupe more Trout.  At our last stop, Kurt had a good battle with a nice Redfish, one that just missed the Slot by an 1/8", OUCH!  But it was a good battle, a good fish, and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Flounder Pounding

The Yeomans, George, George Sr., and young George (Gus) were visiting Amelia Island from the Macon, Ga. area and after business conference's, were able to squeeze in a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark Friday afternoon.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at the City marina at 3pm and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the last of an outgoing tide.  Using jigs and shrimp, the anglers fished the dock pilings, but had no real bites. Our next stop was behind Tiger Island, fishing the exposed logs and here the fishing heated up.  George Jr. had the hot rod early, pulling in a nice Slot Redfish and then adding a large 19 1/2" Flounder, putting him in first place in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament!  Gus added another keeper Flounder to the ice box.  We headed up to Jolly River's Snook Creek and Gus continued his catching ways, pulling in some hungry Seatrout, and George Jr. added another couple of keeper sized  Flounder. They caught and tossed a few smaller Flounder, too.  Fishing Jolley Bank, George Sr. got in on the action, reeling in some Trout and the others caught some too.  They also added another keeper Flounder.  George Jr. claimed a personal keeper Amelia Island Backcoutnry Slam!  We wrapped up the trip as the sun started down, heading in with a nice cooler of Amelia Island fish!

Pouring Rain Can't Stop These Anglers

Milton Harsh and his longtime friend Hayden were in town and set up a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark Friday morning.  The tide had been coming in for a couple of hours so we headed up to Broward Island to fish the still exposed logs and stumps with live shrimp on jigs.  The anglers got unlimbered and were working the bank with the jigs, slowly bumping them back.  Just as they had a good flurry of hookups with  feisty Reds and hungry Trout, the bottom fell out and we all three were soaked to the bone.  I found out that my waterproof captain's bag really isn't waterproof! But these guys were game and we continued to fish until we realized that the heavy rain was washing mud into our fishing zone and the bite had come to an abrupt stop!  We cranked the big engine and headed back to the Horsehead area to fish Bubblegum Reef, but had no bites there.  I trolled through Jackstaff where they picked up a nice keeper Trout on a Temptation Bait grub and later they added a hungry Flounder caught on a mud minnow, finalizing an Amelia Island Backcountry Slam.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

No Shrimp No Problem

The bait shop was without live shrimp this morning so I picked up a few mud minnows and knew that I had plenty of artificial Temptation Bait's on board.  I met Wade Turner and his son Ethan at the south end boat ramp (Big Talbot Island Park)  this morning and we headed up the Nassau River to fish the incoming tide at Broward Island. We started on the south end with Ethan tossing a minnow on a jig and Wade tossing an artificial.  Ethan had the hot rod early, picking up an aggressive Trout to get the skunk off the boat.  Later, his rod bent and drag sang as his line ripped out.  He fought the fish for a good while, saw it roll a time or two, but it broke off out in deeper water. OUCH!  Wade was getting hits, but no takers on the artificials so we pulled and ran to Bubblegum Reef, but had no real bites there.  Later, we fished the flooded marsh grass of Jackstaff Creek with Temptation Bait grubs on jig heads and here Wade got in on the action, boating a couple of nice, fat Trout.  Ethan had a good battle with Stingray to wrap the trip up and we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

I Hate to Admit It, but....

...there was a banana on the boat!  I had made my usual stop early this morning at the Gate station to get my half-and-half cappuccino and decaf and I thought I might want a banana for a snack before I launched.   After loading the boat and making a run to get ice, I was running early so I went ahead and picked up a sausage biscuit for breakfast....and threw the banana in the cooler for later.  OUCH.  As most mariners know, banana's on the boat are bad luck.  Later, I met Brooklyn and Brent Edwards, along with their two sons Ryan and Sam at the Atlantic Seafood dock and we headed out of the marina on The Anglers Mark.
There was already a good breeze blowing out of the east, but we made our first stop outside of Tiger Island and fished with float rigs and live shrimp, but picked up no fish.  We eased around behind Tiger and sure enough, the land mass blocked the wind and we had some easy fishing, but again no bites.  After a short break I headed south down the river past Rayonier to fish Temptation Cove and here Brooklyn got the skunk off the boat by landing a nice, keeper sized Flounder, but that was the only bite.  Two more stops in Lanceford Creek produced only nibblers and no real bites.  Luckily, young Sam had a great time working the bait buckets and keeping all of us with live shrimp.  The anglers were making great casts, but there was a banana on the boat! Tomorrow, there will be NO banana on the boat, and I'm changing hats for good measure!

Late Evening Fish'n

Afternoon fishing trips on The Anglers Mark are a great way to spend time in the backwaters of Amelia Island.  That's IF the afternoon storms will hold off and let you get some fishing in!  Yesterday's trip with Barry and Cindy Shelor who were visiting Amelia Island from Virginia, turned out to get nicer and nicer as the day went on.  The temperatures tend to cool off, and the fishing tends to heat up.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 3pm and headed over to Tiger Island to fish the downed logs.  Cindy had a good hookup and long battle with a fish but just as she was about to get it to the surface, it threw the hook, OUCH!  Barry hooked up and played a nice Puppy Drum a little later.  We moved on to the Jolley River to fish the flooding oyster banks and the anglers had nibblers right off the bat, with both Barry and Cindy honing their hookup skills on small Croaker.  When Cindy switched to a float rig she picked up a couple of  Trout, with one of them over the size limit.  We fished outside of Tiger island, then moved on to the south of Rayonier where the bite seemed to improve with the falling sun.  With Cindy offering sage advice,  Barry was able to find larger, hard fighting Puppy Drum and I joined in with a couple of fat Seatrout.  Barry then had some very strong hookups, both cutting themselves off on the oysters, then, on the third hookup, he battled in a nice Bonnethead Shark.  With the sun heading towards the horizon, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

The Bite Picks Up

Maybe it's because we've got a front moving in or maybe it's because the high tides are receding, but it seemed like yesterday produced a better fish bite.  My guests were John Nelson and his grandson, Dylan, visiting Amelia Island from the Columbus, Ga area, and Alaska, respectively.  The tide had only been going out for about two hours so we made a  two stops outside Tiger Island to fish the still flooded oysters, but found no takers on the live shrimp under floats.  Around behind Tiger the mud banks were beginning to show around the logs so we positioned the boat to cast up between the logs with a jig and shrimp and before long the anglers were getting bites.  John got the "skunk off the boat" by pulling in a hard fighting Puppy Drum, then he landed a keeper sized Flounder.  Dylan reeled in a feisty Redfish and John caught another Drum and Flounder, and also had a small Sea Bass to the boat.  We made a run to Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings on the last of the outgoing tide.  I was tossing a jig just to have another line in the water and had a very strong hookup.  I kept the pressure on, walking down from the bow to Dylan, but I could feel the line rubbing the piling. It broke off. Ouch!  Boy that was going to be a nice fish!  I've been fishing for years, but it's still disappointing to lose a nice fish.  However, it's a good reminder to know how it feels when it happens to my guests.  That's fishin, though.   The good news is, shortly after, we had another strong hookup.  Dylan played the fish perfectly and we netted a nice Slot Redfish!  After trying another dock, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Flounder Catch Tops Trip

Jeremy Sykes lined an Amelia Island back water fishing trip with his girlfriend Nichole and her son Brooks on The Anglers Mark for this morning.  We headed out of the Fernandina marina and ran up to Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings with live shrimp on jigs and floats.  The anglers warmed up and were getting nibbles here and there, then Nichole had a strong hookup and a good battle and eventually expertly landed a nice 17" Flounder.  Jeremy worked patiently and hooked up a feisty Redfish.  We made run up to Jolley River and fished the oyster beds on the last of an outgoing tide.  We hadn't been fishing long when Brooks' rod bent over and the drag began to sing!  He played the big fish around the boat, from stern to bow and back to stern, and made a couple of trips again, around the boat.  He got the hang of  lifting the fish, keeping pressure on it, then reeling down to get another lift and soon brought to net a nice 3'+ Bonnethead Shark.  Shortly later,  Nichole added another Flounder to the cooler and Jeremy pulled in a few more feisty Redfish.  We hit another bank and after Jeremy had hooked up a little baitstealer, he smartly left it on the hook and within a cast or two had caught a very nice 19" Seatrout!  Our last stop was behind Tiger Island and we took advantage of the shade by putting the bow up on a mud bank.  Brooks landed another Bonnethead and Nichole finished off an Amelia Island Grand Slam by bringing in a Puppy Drum  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be on Amelia Island waters!

Rain Rain Go Away

Although we had drought conditions in early spring, the last few weeks we have seen enough rain to cause flooding at times.  Every afternoon has brought thunderstorms and loads of water.  Plan your fishing trip for the morning!  That's what Mark and Shelley Davis did, visiting Amelia Island from Alabama.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning and headed out of the marina under clear skies with a light breeze.  The tide still had an hour or two to hit bottom, so our first stop was the logs and stumps of Tiger Island.  The anglers warmed up, tossing jigs and shrimp to the bank, bumping it back to the deeper water. Although they had numerous nibbles, there were no takers.  We made a stop at the exposed oyster beds outside Tiger and they immediately began to get bites.  Mark had a strong bite and his rod bent over, the drag singing on his reel.  He played the fish expertly with his light tackle Shimano Stradic 1000, 10lb braid, and after a long battle, we netted a 3'+ shark for pictures and release.  We made a move to the Jolley River and again the anglers had some good bites, but no real takers.   We decided to hit the docks of Lanceford Creek and the move paid off.  Shelley was able to reel in a hard fighting puppy drum, and then her persistence paid off when a nice Slot Redfish took her jig and shrimp.  Shelley worked the fish in carefully and we boated the 21" Slot Red.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be on Amelia Island's waters!

Fathers Day Fishing

Sheena Abrams treated her father Steve to an early Fathers day fishing trip this morning.  The family is visiting Amelia Island from Greenville, SC.  Steve brought along his two son-in-laws, Luke and Chris, meeting me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am this morning.  We've been having a ton of rain the last few days but we had a break this morning with clear skies and just a slight breeze.  We headed up to Lanceford Creek to fish the docks on an outgoing tide, tossing jigs and shrimp up to the pilings.  The anglers had a few nibbles and Steve was able to "get the skunk off the boat", hooking up with a hungry Seatrout.   Luke added a feisty Redfish to the catch .  We made a run around to the Jolley River and up to "Snook Creek", fishing the oyster beds on the last of an outgoing tide.  Again the guys were getting bites then Chris had a strong hookup and his drag sang as the line played out.  He played the fish perfectly and after a lengthy battle he brought a 3' Bonnethead Shark to the boat.  Before I could get the net under the fish, he made one last lunge for freedom - and snapped the leader.  No picture of this shark!  We continued to fish the oyster beds of Jolley where Luke hooked up with another hungry Seatrout, then Chris added one that was keeper sized.  Chris had a another couple of battles with the Bonnetheads, but they were having none of coming in to the boat for pictures!  Our lasts stop was at the downed logs of Tiger Island, but the sun was up and getting hot and we had no significant bites, so we headed in, counting it as another great day of fishing!

Not Once But Twice

It was a Granddad, Dad and son's fishing trip on The Anglers Mark Saturday when Dan Zuckschwerdt, his dad Ed, and Dan's two sons Leonard and Nathan made the short trip from St. Mary's, Georgia to Amelia Island.  We met at 7am at the Atlantic Seafood dock down at the City of Fernandina Beach marina and made our way up towards Tiger Island to fish the very last of an incoming tide.  At our first stop the anglers pitched float rigs with live shrimp to flooded oyster beds, but the fish were having none of it. We did have a manatee sighting as the graceful animal cruised by.  At our second stop the anglers were all fishing with intent and as the tide changed and started out, they began to get bites.  Grandad Ed got the "skunk" off the boat, hooking up with a hungry Seatrout, then Nathan caught one, too.  Then Ed had another bite and I could tell that this was a bigger fish because the rod was bent and he was having to work the fish in.  After a good battle Ed boated a nice 18 1/2" Flounder, putting him in 2nd place in The Anglers Mark 2012 Bragging Rights Tournament, Flounder category.  We moved on up to Jolley River and held at a marsh runout.  I was thinking we'd have some good Trout action here but when Nathan's rod bent and the drag began to rip I thought we either had a large Redfish or a Bonnethead shark.  After a couple of runs we figured out it was a shark.  But what surprised me was that 11 year old Nathan continued to battle the shark, lifting his rod and reeling down to work the big fish in.  He fought the big fish through 4, 5, 6 and more runs and finally brought it to the net for pictures and release.  Dan got in on the action and caught an even bigger Shark, then Nathan had another hookup, this time on even lighter tackle, and fought this big Shark in all by himself, again!  We were "sharked out" so we made move and now with the oysters exposed, the anglers were tossing jigs and shrimp.  Dan added a nice 21" Slot Redfish to the live well and later Nathan picked up a 17" Trout to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam, and with that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!