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!
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!
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