Three Generations of Anglers

I fished the Amelia Island back country on a trip set up by Dustin Taylor for he, his dad Ricky, and grandfather Rick - all experienced local anglers who normally fish down in Jacksonville.  They came up Heckshire Drive and met me at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at sunrise then we headed up the Nassau River to fish a creek run out.  It only took a few minutes and grandad Rick had put a hungry Seatrout in the boat!  I think he caught one or two more then Ricky picked up a couple.  We hit an oyster outcrop and fished
Bubblegum Reef with limited success, then made the run to Broward Island to set up outside of another creek mouth.  I think it was Dustin's first cast when he had a strange bite, but FISH ON!  He played the fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice 18" Flounder.  Then Rick put another keeper sized Flounder in the boat and Ricky found a nice "honey hole" for feisty Redfish to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Grandad Ricky
made a toss to the same area and had a strong hookup and battle and landed a good keeper sized 19" Redfish.  The three anglers caught a few more fish here then we made run back to Seymore's Pointe where they got into some fun-to-catch Mangrove Snapper.   Both Rick and Ricky landed a couple of more Redfish.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Fishing Georgia/Florida Week

The Blalocks were back in town for the annual Georgia/Florida football game and it's become a tradition to get in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip.  I met William and his wife Dara, along with dad Bob, and their friend Jason down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at sunrise this morning.  We ran up the Nassua River and made our first stop at Twin Creeks with about an hour to go on a falling tide.  The water was really low and the oysters were fully exposed as the four anglers began to pitch their jigs and mud
minnows to the oyster edge.  Almost immediately the fish began to
bite!  They stayed busy catching feisty Redfish, one after the other for a good 45 minutes.  Dara had a really big Red on for a good while but it was big for a reason and made a quick turn and went full throttle to break the leader, OUCH!  But shortly after that William baited up with a small and lively Pogey, tossed it to the bank, and FISH ON!  He played the big Red patiently and after a good battle, landed a nice Slot sized 23" Redfish!  Later, we moved down the river, found a point sticking out into the river, and fished the oysters.  Again, the anglers had a good bite, and in addition to the Reds, they put a number of keeper sized Trout (up to 16") in the boat.  Jason had a strange bite and after workin the fish to the boat, landed a very nice 16" keeper sized Flounder to round out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  We made our last stop down at Broward Island, found a few fish, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

On The Water After Work

I fished Wednesday afternoon with Brett Caldon and his friends and workmates Lisa and Rick, all who had finished up a business related conference out at the Omni.  We met down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and headed up the Bell River with a baitwell full of live shrimp and mud minnows on the first of an outgoing tide. We made our first stop at some flooded oyster beds and within in moments of gettting there float rigs out to the edge of the marsh grass, they began to get hookups.  The bite was fast and furious as
the three anglers battled with hungry Seatrout and pesky baitstealers.
All three put Seatrout in the boat before we moved on to fish the outside of Tiger Island.  Here they picked up a couple more Trout then we made run up to Jolley River and a larger creek outflow.  Again, they had a few Trout and more baitstealers.  We moved up into the creek and after a number of casts to the corner of some grass, Brett had a stronger hookup and landed a bigger keeper sized Seatrout.  He went back to the same spot and even put his float and bait right up in the grass and within seconds the float went under, and FISH ON!  He played the bigger fish patiently and soon landed a nice Redfish, his first.  We move around to the outside of the creek, caught a couple of more Trout then Lisa put a good Redfish in the boat.  Our last stop was back at Tiger Island and caught a couple of more feisty Reds and even had a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Prettiest Day Yet

I just couldn't believe how pretty it was this morning as the sun came up over Amelia Island.  I had met Bruce Doueck and his son in law Rich out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp at sunrise and with the river so calm it was an amazing sight!  We made a run NE to make our first stop at Bubblegum Reef on the very first of an incoming tide. Rich knocked the skunk off early when he hooked up and landed a nice Seatrout. He had a hot rod going early and got a number of bites, landing a good handful of Seatrout on jigs and mud minnows. We had tossed out a shrimp under a float up  near
some oyster beds and when the bobber began to walk off we knew we had a fish, but we didn't know how nice it was going to turn out to be!  Bruce played the fish patiently and as it neared the boat it made a run deep and to the stern but Bruce was on top of it and walked him around.  The big fish made a couple of more runs before Bruce landed a nice Slot sized 22" Redfish.  We fished Seymore Pointe but had no bites then made the trip down to Broward Island to fish the first of an incoming tide.  Here, Bruce had most of the action and caught 4-5 nice feisty Redfish.  We also picked up a couple of small Sheepshead before we left.  Our final stop was over in Jackstaff, now tossing float rigs with live shrimp.  The hot hand swung back to Rich this time and he put a few more Seatrout in the boat while Bruce picked up one more Redfish.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Son and Father Fishing

We had another outstandingly beautiful day today as we left the City docks to fish a high and outgoing tide.  I met Derek Carter and his dad Bobby early and we ran up the Bell River to fish some flooded oyster beds that I had spotted yesterday on a lower tide.  I think the first stop the tide hadn't started moving yet but as it started to come out of the grass the two anglers began to get bites. They both picked ups some nice size Bluefish then a couple of Seatrout
then Bobby pulled in a feisty Redfish from the grass line. We then made a run around to the outside of Tiger Island and again found a couple of Trout and a Redfish.  We moved closer to the mouth of Tiger and had a good flurry of Seatrout bites and then picked up a couple more Redfish.  We moved to behind Tiger and fished the logs and here both Derek and Bobby found some small flounder (although one was of keeper size, released) to round out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  And again, another Redfish.  When I thought about the whole day the two anglers actually caught a bunch of fish, just like the last couple of days which has made for some fun fishing.  There just hasn't been a whole lot of size to them.  Sooner or later some big one have to show up! Never the less, it was a great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Two Guys Fishing

I fished this morning with Tandy Morton and his buddy Tommy after we had met at the Atlantic Seafood dock and headed up to the Jolley River to fish the very first of an outgoing tide.  The two anglers were tossing finger mullet under float rigs and at the first stop, a small creek run out, Tommy hooked up with a lively Seatrout on his first cast!  I thought to my self, "oh boy, here we go"!  But although it was a beautiful morning with just a slight breeze and overcast skies, the "good" fish didn't want to cooperate.  I think we picked up one more Trout at that spot then we moved down the river about 100 yards and set up outside a larger creek.  Here, both Tandy and Tommy got bite after bite after bite after bite, but they turned out to be small "yellow tail" perch. We moved around in Jolley River, caught a couple of more Trout and Bluefish then we did find a nice feisty Redfish over some flooded oysters.  We made the run around to Bell River to fish some docks and all three of us landed fish right off, then it slacked to nothing. We move to an adjacent dock and picked up one more Redfish.  Our last stop was at a large group of exposed oysters and here the bite was decent.  Both anglers found Seatrout biting as the river rushed around the oysters.  When this bite slowed, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout on Fire

Boy what a beautiful afternoon we had today!  I had met Gene Roudachevski and his son Ira and Ira's friend Lucas at 1pm down at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina and we headed up to fish the logs of Tiger on an incoming tide.  We hit two areas with jigs and mud minnows and had exactly zero bites! OUCH!  We then made a run up to Jolley River to fish the "bank" and again fished a couple of areas with no real bites other than when Gene hooked up and
battled in a rather large Gar Fish!  It was a good battle but not what we were looking for.  Our next and final stop was back to the outside of Tiger Island and this did the trick. And boy did it!  The three anglers had hardly had there float rigs out over some flooded oysters for a few seconds all of them started getting bites and fish.  There must have been hundreds of Seatrout in the area because they couldn't cast without getting a hookup. Gene and Lucas were on the stern of the boat catching fish but Ira was up at the bow tossing to a grass line and he was the one that put 4 keeper sized Seatrout to 18" in the boat.  We fished right on up until we were almost out of bait with Lucas having the hot rod there at the end, boating Trout after Trout.  It was a great way to wrap up a fishing catching trip here at Amelia Island!

Bull Redfish

I fished the river with neighbor Brian Parent yesterday afternoon using heavy tackle and blue crabs for bait.  We got out there a couple of hours before high tide with the wind blowing 10-15 and dropped an anchor to fish the edge of the channel.  The wind was blowing out of the northwest and the current was running against it so we had to stay on our toes to manage the lines.  We had no bites at our first two drops but we kept adjusting our location and as the tide went slack Brian saw one of his poles begin to bounce.  He slowly took up the slack and when he felt the line go tight he
applied just a little stronger pressure and the big circle hook did its job, FISH ON!  And boy it was a big one!  He played the fish patiently and applied the pressure as it tried to run under the boat and after a good battle landed a big Bull Redfish!  Skunk off the boat!  We continued to fish and soon found out that we needed to be on the channel side of the boat with our baits and not long afterwards picked up another even bigger Redfish.  Brian commented that both fish had bit hooks baited with a full crab rather than the half we had on some of the other hooks so with the sun heading down we re-baited all of our lines with a full crab and sure enough, BOOM!  FISH ON!  We landed an released one more of the big Bull Redfish then we headed in with the sun going down, counting it as another great day to be fishing North Florida waters!

Amelia Island (fishing) Honeymoon

Mary and Patrick Stewart-Hillenburg were visiting Amelia Island this weekend celebrating their new marriage and decided to take in a back country fishing trip and sight seeing tour. The tide was forecast to be high around 3:30pm so we did the tour first, cruising Old Town, the Pogey Plant, Cumberland Island seashore (where we saw a large herd of wild horses) and then we wrapped up the tour by cruising up into Beach Creek on Cumberland where we were
treated to an Osprey sighting.  We then crossed back into Florida and found some flooded oysters to toss float rigs and mud minnows.  It took a little while but then the anglers began to get bites.  Mary put the first fish in the boat, a small but neat Flounder then Patrick followed it up with a feisty Redfish.  We continued to fish that area and both anglers put another Redfish or two in the boat then we moved around behind Tiger Island.  Mary had the hot rod here and landed another Redfish and Flounder.  We then made a run around to Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings - and to get out of the wind -and here Patrick had the hot hand.  He picked up a Flounder himself then added a nice Seatrout to round out his very own Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Flounder, and Seatrout.  Mary added one more Redfish then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Walk Off Grand Slam

I kicked off the week fishing with Dan Tillotson, meeting him at the Atlantic Seafood dock, just behind the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Fernandina Beach, Florida.  We left the dock at daybreak and headed up to fish Tiger Island on the first of an incoming tide with jigs and shrimp and mud minnows.  It took a little while for the bite to turn on but eventually it did and Dan broke the ice by landing a nice keeper size Black Drum.  Shortly after that he put a small handful of
"feisty" Redfish in the boat and then landed two Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  Then he had a somewhat stronger hookup and this one wanted to pull some drag!  Dan played the bigger fish patiently and after a good battle that surged deep a couple of times, landed a Slot sized 21" Redfish!  We fished the area completely and landed a couple more of the smaller Reds, then pulled up and ran to fish a large creek in Jolley River.  We began to get bites but they were of the baitstealing variety so we made a final run around to Bell River to fish a flooded bank with float rigs. Here we picked up a couple more of the feisty Redfish then we had a really strong hookup and FISH ON!  This fish ripped the drag also and bulled deep then went from one end of the boat to the other.  Dan stayed with him and applied some gentle pressure until the big fish was wore out and we netted another Slot 23" Redfish!  The last fish of the day took a live shrimp up near the marsh and as it neared the boat I saw that it was a golden colored Speckled Seatrout, about 18" in length, a keeper size, and once landed made it an Amelia Island Back Country "Grand Slam"!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Slot Sized Redfish

I fished this afternoon with Will Carlton and his friend Shea out of the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina. We met at 1pm and headed up to the Jolley River to fish a tide that has been going out for a couple of hours.  The two anglers started off with float rigs baited with live shrimp or mud minnows.  Although they had a few nibbles, there were no takers.  We made a short move to where some oysters were now exposed and switched to jigs and minnows.  It didn't take long and Shea had a strong hookup.  He played the fish perfectly and landed a feisty Redfish. We continued to fish the area and Shea must have had the hot rod because he picked up a couple more of these hard fighting fish.  Then Will got in on the action and had a good hookup.  But this fish was bigger and we knew it when it boiled up near the oysters, FISH ON!  Will kept the pressure on and played the big fish patiently and after a good battle that took him from starboard to port and back again, landed a nice Slot 24" Redfish!  The two anglers picked up a few more of these Redfish then we made a move back to the mouth of Jolley and fished a large creek runout.  Here Will put a keeper sized 16" Flounder in the boat.  We made our last stop at Tiger Island, fished a spot with no real bites, then made a move that put us on fish.  Both anglers were hooking up and fighting small but feisty Reds when Shea had a good hookup that put up more of a battle.  He'd caught enough of these fish today and he was ready and soon landed another Slot sized Redfish.  With that we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Tarpon Under the Moon

I had another "flood tide" fishing trip set up for this morning, this time with Dale Bullard who has fished with me a few times in the past.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at sunrise and with a bright full moon overhead,  headed up to fish the outside of Tiger Island with topwater lures as the tide crept in.  There was a lot of bait action but we had no real takers on the mullet pattern.  As we were fishing some flooded oysters both Dale and I noticed something big was busting bait at the point of some marsh grass.  I had initially thought it was dolphin but when we we saw something long with pointed fins we knew they were Tarpon.  We dropped an anchor at the point and within minutes saw that the Tarpon were rolling and busting bait right behind the boat.  Dale was casting the largest top water lure I had and within minutes he had a strong (I mean STRONG) hookup, and FISH ON!  The big 70lb Tarpon came out of the water shook his head then dove deep.  Dale's rod bent over and the drag ripped out and... FISH OFF!  Boy that was exciting!  We continued to fish the pod and had a few fish look seriously at the lure but had  no more takers.  We began to check the flooded grass and even though conditions were perfect again, we saw no fish.  As we were motoring to another grass flat we could see fish striking in the river and seagulls were diving to pick up the pieces.  Dale grabbed the lure rod again and within a few casts was hooking up with hard fighting Bluefish.  He had one on and we're not sure if it was another Tarpon or a big Blue because it dove deep and snapped the 17lb leader!  Dale picked up a couple of more Blues then we continued on our way in search of Reds.  All of my grass flat spots looked amazingly perfect but there were no fish!  But we ended up having a good time out on the water and counted it as another great day of fishing at Amelia Island!

Experience Angler Comes Through with Big Redfish

I fished this afternoon with the Ahrens family, Brian and Jenifer and their young son Henry, and they also brought along Jenifer's grandfather Richard.  We left the City marina and headed up to Jolley river to fish an outgoing tide with the oysters already exposed.  I set up outside a large creek runout and the anglers began to toss out float rigs with mud minnows or shrimp. They almost immediately began to get bites but they turned out to be small saltwater Perch and then they picked up a couple of Croake and a couple of hungry Seatrout.   For a while there the breeze died down to nothing and it almost felt like August again!  We made a run back to Jolley "bank" and fished it with jigs and minnows and shrimp.  We thought we had a good shot a couple of times at a Bonnethead Shark but it just wouldn't eat what we were offering.  Then, at a marsh runout, Brian hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder.  Shortly after that we had a another bite and young Henry fought the fish.  He did an excellent job of reeling it in and landed another nice Flounder, just a tad bit bigger than his dads!  But Brian wasn't finished yet and pulled another Flounder out of the same spot!  After catching a Stingray we made a run around to Tiger "pirate" Island and fished the downed logs.  Things heated up hear.  Henry caught a nice feisty Redfish to garner the anglers an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Flounder and Redfish.  Henry followed that up with another keeper Flounder then Great Grand Dad Richard got in on the action.  And boy did he!  He had a strong hookup and this one bent his rod double, FISH ON!  He played the big fish patiently and as it dove deep and tried to go under the boat he applied some gently pressure and brought it back out.  The big fish made a couple of drag ripping runs but it was no match for Richard.  He brought the fish to the surface and we netted a big 24" Slot Redfish!  Boy what a fish!  We continued to fish the area and Brian landed a couple more feisty Redfish.
And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Redfish No Show

We had a full moon last night and a forecasted high flood tide this morning at 9:12am so I met James Machado at 7 and we headed out with a boat load of fly rods to hunt for tailing Redfish.  We were on time and immediately saw that some areas were flooding so we eased up and began to look for tails.  At the first spot we saw none so we crossed over to where some mullet were cruising the bank and James tossed a topwater lure until he had a hungry Seatrout explode on it and he hooked it up. We then got serious about the flood tide and hit flooded grass flat after flooded grass flat - to no avail.  Everywhere we looked seemed perfect conditions, but not a one did we see.  Luckily I had a good handful of mud minnows left over from yesterdays trip so we rigged up some float rigs and began to toss them to the edge of the flooded grass. You gotta do what you gotta do!  We soon began to get bites and when James' float went under with a surge we knew he had a decent fish on.  He played the fish perfectly and soon landed a nice 18" keeper sized Seatrout.  We fished the area for a while and we both had a couple of Seatrout and then James landed a feisty Redfish.  We made a short run to the mouth of a large creek and tossed the minnows again.  James had a few more Seatrout with one of them being of keeper size.  We also had a Redfish or two.  The weather was outstanding, the fishing peaceful, and it turned out to be a great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Afternoon Fishing Produces a Variety

I did an afternoon trip today, fishing out of the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina. I had met Marty and Lois Peltzer after noon and we headed up to Tiger Island to fish the last hour or so of an outgoing tide.  We were tossing jigs and minnows and after just a short while Marty hooked up with a nice fish, played it perfectly, and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder.  Shortly after that we had another strong hookup and it fought bigger than it's size!  Lois reeled it in and when we netted it we saw that it was a small Grouper!  That's a first in a long while! We continued to fish the island and Marty landed a feisty Redfish then a hungry Seatrout to round out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Flounder.  We then made a run around to Jolley River and fished the "bank" with jigs as the tide started back in.  There was tons of bait and we saw a big Bonnethead Shark cruising the oysters but it would have none of what we were offering.  We picked up another keeper sized Flounder and another Trout then ran further up the river to fish Snook Creek.  Although we had a few nibbles we had no real bites other than tangling with a high flying Ladyfish - the "poor mans Tarpon".  After cruising Cumberland Island to see some wild horses, we made one last stop outside of Tiger Island. Marty put one more Seatrout in the boat and we had another Ladyfish to wrap the day up,  another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Super Grand Slam for Young Lady Angler

I fished this afternoon with Kevin Flynn and his daughter Madelyn.  Again, the weather was super nice, warming to shirt sleeve temperatures and we had a slight breeze to help keep the bugs off.  We made a quick run up to Tiger Island to catch the first of an incoming tide.  I think it was Kevin's first cast when he had a strong hookup and a good deep diving battle.  He played the fish perfectly and patiently and after a good battle landed a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum - this is the first Drum in a long while.  We fished the logs thoroughly and a little late Maddy had a bite...we thought it got hung up in a downed log...but then it came free!  She worked the fish in to the boat and landed a keeper sized 16" Sheepshead, another first in a long while.  From the same spot Kevin had another strong bite and boated a 20" Slot Sized Redfish to give the anglers an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Drum, Sheepshead, and Redfish!  But these two anglers weren't finished!  They boated a couple of small Flounder to score a "Grand Slam", then we headed up to Jolley River to fish the "bank".  Within minutes Kevin's float disapeared and he had a good fight on his hands.  He played the big fish to the boat and we netted a nice 18" Seatrout.  Now they had a "Super Grande Slam"!  We fished the bank from south to north and just as we were about to leave Maddy had a strange bite.  She cranked the fish and it came to the surface it began to fight but it was too late and we netted a big 17"  Flounder!  We hit a couple of more spots, one in particular produce a good handful of Seatrout for Maddy, then we called it day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Flounder Bonanza

Boy what a pretty day we had today!  It was chilly enough to wear a fleece but there was only a slight breeze when I met Sean and Meagan Rosenquist down at the City docks at sunrise. The tide was high and just going out when we made our first stop outside of  Tiger Island.  I had Sean tossing a topwater lure up on the bow and Meagan was throwing a float rig with live shrimp and they almost immediately began to get hookups.  Trout were nailing the topwater lure and Meagan was hooking up with Trout, too.  We fished the area until the bite slowed then we made a run up to Jolley River and to the mouth of Snook Creek.  We had been fishing for just a short while when Meagan had a strong hookup and, FISH ON!  She played the big fish patiently and after good battle, landed a nice Slot 21" Redfish!  We fished for a short while longer, picked up another few smaller Reds and a couple of Trout, then we moved back to Jolley Bank, switching jigs.  Now Sean's rod heated up.  He landed a nice keeper sized 14" Flounder, then a 16" one, then his biggest, a nice 17" Flounder!  We had a few more Redfish and Trout then made a final stop back at Tiger Island.  Meagan got back on the board when she put another nice Flounder in the boat, a big 18" fish!  I think we had another Redfish or two, then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Having the Hot Hand

I fished yesterday afternoon with Kevin Clickett and his son Jack.  We had met at the Atlantic Seafood dock with a weather forecast of a slight chance of rain, with winds 10-12mph with gusts to 20.  But we had a game plan to fish on the lee side of a land mass so with that in mind we headed out and sure enough, our first stop was like fishing on a calm pond.  It turned out to be a beautiful morning with our float rigs out and the sun coming up, but we had no real bites for the first 45 minutes!  At our second stop we went to jigs and minnows to fish some dock pilings.  We had a few nibbles then

finally a strong hookup, FISH ON!  Young Jack played the big fish patiently and even though it made a couple of strong runs, he kept the pressure on and soon landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish!  If we're only going to get one fish in two hours then it's great to get a nice fish like that!  But these two anglers were not going to be denied.  We made a short run to a second spot, began to fish some more dock pilings and in a short instance, Jack had hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout.  Then we a had a good flurry of catching small but feisty Redfish.  Just before we left neither Kevin or I were getting any bites so Jack stepped up with the "hot hand", made a  cast, and landed one more Seatrout to his catch total.  We then ran around to Tiger Island through some fairly choppy water but when we got in behind the islands it wasn't too bad.  Kevin had a strange bite and hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder to round out the duo's Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  He then added one more feisty Redfish before we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

First Cast Redfish

We had a beautiful morning today with slightly overcast skies and just a slight breeze.  I had met Greg and Julie Gerken down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp on an outgoing tide.  We headed up the Amelia River and into Jackstaff to fish a still flooded oyster bank with jigs an mud minnows.  I think it was Julie's first cast, a good one up to the marsh grass, and she had a hookup!  That's a great way to start a fishing trip.  She worked the fish in patiently and landed a nice feisty Redfish.  We worked the bank slowly and a
little later Greg got on the board when a hungry Seatrout tapped his jig and Greg hooked him up!  There was tons of bait in the creek but we didn't have near as many good bites as I had expected.  We then decided to make the long run to Broward Island and this did the trick.  We fished the deep water for just a short while then the anglers began to get hookups.  They landed a good handful of Seatrout, Redfish and then Julie put two nice Flounder in the boat to round out her personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  We worked the area thoroughly, getting more Trout and Reds, then made a quick run back to Bubblegum Reef to fish the last 15 minutes of the trip.  Julie had made a cast out deep and was working it back slowly when, BOOM! FISH ON!  We could tell right off this was a bigger fish as it was having nothing of being reeled in. But Julie kept the pressure on as the big fish dove deep went form starboard side to port side.  She patiently played the fish and we soon netted a nice 21" Slot sized Redfish!  Now that's the we to wrap up an Amelia Island fishing trip!

Just Like Babe Ruth

The fishing seems to be getting better since all of the rain we had last week.  I met Jay Chincheck and his buddies Mark and Tim down at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina this morning and we headed up to fish the logs of Tiger Island with about an hour left in a falling tide.  The anglers were tossing jigs and mud minnows and it may have been Tim's first cast when he had a strong bite and landed a nice Redfish!  Shortly after that he had an even bigger fish on.  He played the fish expertly but after a good battle the fish had other plans and ran up into the logs and cut itself off!  Then all three

anglers started catching fish.  Most all were feisty Redfish in the 15-17" range.  Jay had one Red that had 14 spots, a sure big money winner in the Spot Tournament when it grows another inch or two!  We worked the area thoroughly and just as we were about to leave, Mark had a good bite, and FISH ON!  He played the big fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice 21" Slot Redfish!  Then Jay followed that up with a keeper sized Flounder.  We hit our first spot one more time, picked up a few more Redfish then Mark put another keeper sized Flounder in the boat. We made

a run around to Jolley River, fished the bank where Tim put three Reds in the boat, then moved further up river to fish Snook Creek.  Again, Tim hooked up but this time it turned out to be a very nice 18" keeper sized Seatrout to round out the trio's Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Flounder and Trout.  Jay picked up another Trout shortly after that and Mark added a feisty Redfish.  We ran back to the marina, made a pit stop for lunch, then ran south to fish the Horsehead Area. Our first stop proved fruitless as it appears the Mangrove Snapper have gone.  Our second stop was up in Christopher Creek where Tim added another Redfish.  We were visited by a small alligator who seemed to have no fear of humans because he swam right up to the boat and hovered for a handout.  We then made a run down to Broward Island and even though the tide was way up we fished the logs anyway.  Jay spotted a small protected pocket and called his shot, just like Babe Ruth, "I'm getting a big fish in there", and made his cast perfectly.  A split second later he had a hookup and FISH ON!  This was a bigger fish and even though it headed for the logs, Jay worked it out and when he got it out deeper, played it patiently.  After a good battle, we landed another big 22" Slot Redfish!  We hit one more area, fished some float rigs, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Slammin Redfish

I fished this morning with Don and Bev Horton, who met me at the
Atlantic Seafood dock with plans to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  We made our first run up to the Jolley River and began to fish the exposed oysters of a long bank.  Here the tide still hadn't made up it's mind to start coming in but the two anglers warmed up, getting used to my light tackle spinning gear.  Just as the tide started in they began to catch fish on our jig and shrimp combo.  Bev tricked a "baitstealer" into biting her hook then she
really knocked the skunk off when she hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  From then on the two anglers landed fish after fish, mostly feisty Redfish which were a beautiful copper color.  But Don added a Flounder then Bev landed on of her own to tally her first Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Flounder!  We worked the area thoroughly, switched to float rigs as the tide got up, and landed a few more Redfish.  We ran further up the river where Bev switched back to the jig rig.  She caught Reds on the jig while Don caught them on the float.  We ran back and through Tiger Creek to Bell River and fished a little more with the float rigs then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!