Back Country Grande Slam

We had an outstandingly beautiful morning today, fishing out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. I had met Andy and Mary Ellen Morgan along with their son Drew and we ran up the Amelia River with the sun coming up and a nice enough breeze to keep the sand gnats at bay. We made our first stop at the mouth of Jackstaff and the anglers began tossing live shrimp under floats. We had fished for just a short stretch when Drew hooked up and landed a nice Seatrout. We continued to fish, had a couple of bites, then ran
around to Seymore's Pointe to fish some dock pilings. Here, both Mary Ellen and Drew had good bites, landing Redfish, Seatrout, and a keeper sized Black Drum to garner and Amelia Island Back Country Slam. But the trio wasn't finished. We ran down to Broward Island and fished the exposed logs. Both Drew and Andy had hookups, and even a "double", landing feisty Redfish. Drew had the hot rod and seemed to hone on on the subtle bite of Sheepshead, landing a couple to p the Slam to a "Grande Slam". We fished the area for a while, made a brief stop at Bubblegum Reef, then headed in, counting it as another great day  to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Reds and Trout and Flounder

The Kirday's were in town again, Paula and Aimee and their daughter Abbie and her friend Brooke. We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock early this morning and headed up to the Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide. Fairly quickly did Aimee have a bite and although she missed the first one, she was ready the second time and caught a nice feisty Redfish, knocking the "skunk" off the boat! She then followed that up with a hungry Seatrout. We moved back to the mouth of Jolley fished a while, than moved around to Tiger Island. I think it was Paul's first cast and he had a good hookup. After patiently fighting the fish, he landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. Then young Brooke had strong hookup and she too landed a feisty Redfish. Paul had the bow to himself and he made the most of it, landing another Redfish, a Seatrout, a Flounder and nice Bluefish. The baitstealers were ever present and every once in a while they'd snag one of them. All in all it was kind of a slow fish "catching" day, but still a great day to be out fishing Amelia Island waters!

Safe Harbor Boys Home Redfish Spot Tournament

I fished Friday with friends Tim Parker and his Brian Knicley and then again Saturday in the Safe Harbor Boys Home Redfish Spot Tournament and we had a great time of catching fish! Just not the right one! Friday, there were cloudy skies with storm clouds passing to the right and left us,and the wind picked up, but we never got hit by any serious rain. We caught Weakfish, Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum and Sheepshead with one of the Redfish being in the Slot and with NO Spots!  On the day of the tournament we were ready. We had already purchased live shrimp and had them in the live well with fresh water and an aerator. We were up early and on time at the boat ramp in the dark and after launching made it to our first spot just at the sun came up. Almost immediately did Brian hookup with a fat Weakfish then he followed that up with a Seatrout. We fished the area thoroughly and landed Redfish after Redfish after Redfish but all were unersized and none had more than 4 spots. We made a move down to Broward Island and again found numerous small Redfish and then ended up fishing Seymore's Pointe where we had our choice of catching Redfish or Seatrout, but no Slot Reds that we could think about entering. It was two great day of fish catching with two friends and even though we didn't have fish to enter, we knew it was a great time to be out fishing Amelia Island waters!

Foggy Fishing

We had another foggy socked in day this morning, making it kinda difficult to navigate to "spots". I started up Lanceford Creek with Doug Massey and his two friends Marion and Bill but I was having to go so slow I figured I better go ahead and hit my 2nd choice and fish it until the fog lifted. We eased around to Tiger Island and began fishing on the very last of an outgoing tide. Just as I thought it was a little slow but when the tide changes the three anglers began to catch fish. Dough "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a nice feisty Redfish. Then they were all catching fish - feisty Reds, hungry Seatrout and then they picked up a couple of Sheepshead to claim an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. They then made it a "Grande Slam" when Bill landed a Black "puppy" Drum. We fished the area thoroughly and put two keeper sized Seatrout in the boat before we ran up to Jolley River to fish a flooding oyster bed. Doug had one good hookup with what surely was a Slot Redfish but it buried it's nose in the oysters and broke itself off after a good battle. We had a good day of "catching" so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Flordia!

Creatures of Amelia

I did a tour this afternoon, taking the Steve Buckley family on a "Creatures of Amelia" tour. We headed north and saw the historic sites of Old Town, the Pogey Plant and Fort Clinch, then crossed over to Cumberland Island where we saw a small herd of wild horses. As we cruised the shoreline Steve spotted a pod of Dolphin rolling out ahead of us. We cruised Beach Creek, saw some bird life, then crossed back into Florida and around behind Tiger Island. I had some live shrimp and mud minnows left over from the morning trip so we broke out a couple of rods and gave it a try. After a few casts we had a good hookup and Steve and his oldest son Christian reeled in a hungry Seatrout. We relocated a ways south and Grandad Frank had a strong bite, played the fish patiently, and landed another fat Seatrout. Our next stop was checking some crab traps. The first trap was empty but the 2nd had a crusty old Blue Crab. We made a stop to check a minnow trap and even though it had no minnows, Christian spotted small fiddler crab. Our last crab trap was empty, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be learning about creatures of Amelia Island!

Big Sheepshead Grabs Bragging Rights

We had a great day of fishing this morning with some big fish caught and a whole lot of undersized ones. I had met Randall Gressett and his son James down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and we headed north to fish Tiger Island on the first of an incoming tide. The skies were overcast but there was very little wind as the two anglers began to pitch their jigs and shrimp up near the downed logs. It was a slow start but James finally got things going when he hooked up and landed a nice feisty Redfish. We fished up and down the bank and finally found a hot spot. For the next two hours it was
catching one fish after the other. Randall had a good battle with a 22" Slot Red, then he caught another. Both anglers were catching smaller feisty Reds then James put a 21" Slot Red in the boat. Randall had a really strong bite and as the line zipped across the water and the big fish dove deep we knew that this was going to be the biggest Red so far. NOT! Randall played the fish patiently as the fish continued to put up a fight and when it came to the surface we saw that it was a huge 22" Sheepshead! Boy what a fish. This
fish puts Randall squarely in the lead of the Anglers Mark 2015 Bragging Rights Tournament -Sheepshead category(scroll down right side of this report to see standings). And shortly after that James had a good hookup and again thought it was going to be a keeper Red, but it turned out to be a fat 18" Seatrout, garnering the duo an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Sheepshead and Seatrout. There was one more very large Sheepshead landed, along with more feisty Reds and hungry Trout, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

First Dog Fishing

I fished again with Richard and Cheryl Freshour, leaving out of the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina. Richard and Cheryl brought along "B-Gee", their little dog and it made for a great trip. At first B-Gee was a little annoyed at the remote controlled trolling motor and would emit a low growl as it move around to stay in position but once he got used to that, all was cool. The tide was already high and coming in so we made our first stop at Tiger Island to fish the
logs before they covered up. Richard had a good hookup and as he got it to the boat I saw that it was a nice Seatrout but it threw the hook before we could net it. Shortly after that he had strong bite and a good battle. This fish tried to stay at the bottom but Richard kept the pressure on and soon landed a nice 16" keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum, which we photographed and released. The bite was somewhat slower than it was last week but these two anglers kept on and it paid off when Richard had a really hard bite - this fish hit it hard and immediately ran, and FISH ON!  Richard played it patiently and after a good battle landed a Slot sized 24" Redfish! Again, after pictures, we release the fish to be caught another day. We continued to fish the area then ran up into Jolley River, fished some flooded oysters with float rigs. We then ran back to Tiger, checked some flooded grass flats for tailing Redfish and saw none, then wrapped the day up fishing floats again. Although it was a slow day, we can say we batted 1000, landing two fish that were both keeper sized!

Foggy Day Fishing Fun

Last week we had the sand gnats and this week we've had the sand gnats AND foggy conditions and today it held true. I fished today with Larry Beudry and Tom Sintes along with their friends Richard and Austin and it was foggy enough to alter my fishing plan. But we made the best of it and caught a few fish. Our first stop was in Jackstaff with the anglers tossing live shrimp under float rigs during the last of an incoming tide. Larry "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed  a hungry Seatrout. We made our next stop
around at a dock at Seymore's Pointe and here young Austin landed a nice Weadfish (Sand Trout) which was kinda cool to see.The anglers had a few more bites but no takers and the fog had lifted so we made the run down to Broward Island. Fishing with a jig deep, Tom picked up another Seatrout rather quickly but the tide was really high which made for some difficult fishing and it seemed like we'd have no more fish. But Richard volunteered to toss a float rig up near the shore line and this did the trick. He caught another fat Seatrout and went back to the same spot and caught a feisty Redfish
to wrap things up. The fog had cleared and we had caught a few fish and it turned out to be a great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Black Drum Makes The Day

The fog from this morning carried right in to the afternoon. I had met Eric Slavens at the Fernandina Harbor Marina and we chugged slowly through the fog up to Eagans Creek to fish an outgoing tide with an 8weight fly rod and intermediate line, hoping to find some Trout, but we had no takers. We then fished the logs at Tiger, again with the fly rod, and again no takers. We just couldn't get the fly down deep enough. But when Eric switched to a jig and shrimp it took no time to begin catching fish.  Eric noticed that his line started moving off and when he tightened up the rod bent over and the drag began to sing! It was a good battle and Eric was up to the challenge. He played the fish patiently and soon landed a nice hard fighting 20" Black Drum. We continued to fish the area and caught a good handful of feisty Redfish. The fog lifted somewhat at Tiger, but was still thick on the run back.

Trout on the Comeback

Talk about some fog! If last week we fished in soup, today would have been called stew!  Todd Pate, along with his two associates Kurt and Mike had met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock and when we got out of the marina we found we were socked in, so we chugged along to our first stop. Although the tide was already up and still coming in, we gambled and went with jigs on the bottom. This turned out to be right on the mark - the the anglers caught a good mess of  Seatrout down deep on the bottom and picked up a
handful of feisty Redish. Todd boated a nice 19" Trout that put him in first place in the 2015 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament(scroll down right side of this report to see standings). then Mike "called his shot" saying he was going after a big Redfish up near the bank and sure enough, BOOM! FISH ON! He played the big fish patiently and after a good battle, landed a nice 24" slot Red. The anglers caught a few more Trout then we checked out a flooded grass flat where we found the first tailing Redfish of the year. We took some shots at it with a weed less spoon but it eventually submerged and eases off to deeper water.
After a couple of more spots fishing float rigs, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Keeper Sized Fish and All Released

I fished again this afternoon, this time with Bruce MacLear, again out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We ran back up the Nassau River and made our first stop at Bubblegum Reef. The tide was perfect but the wind was really blowing and made it difficult to present our jig and shrimp. So after a few minutes we moved over to Seymore's Pointe to get out of the wind and fish some dock pilings. We had only been fishing for a few minutes when Bruce began to get hookups and the bite stayed on for a good hour or so. Bruce expertly played keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum to the boat, landed a nice Slot Redfish, a couple of more Drum, a healthy 17" Weakfish, and a handful of Seatrout - all adding up to an Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam! All fish were released to be caught another day. We then decided to brave the wind and headed down to Broward Island. Again, Bruce had numerous hookups of mostly feisty Redfish with a couple of Seatrout thrown in. The wind was blowing but Bruce was able to fish the downed logs with execellent casting and it made for another great day of fishing Amelia Island's back country waters.

Weakfish Catches

I fished this morning with Bill and Pat Collins, leaving out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning to fish the first of an outgoing tide with live shrimp under floats. We made our first stop at the mouth of Jackstaff and fished the flooded marsh grass, easing along, casting to "fishy" spots. Pat got things going when she landed a hungry Seatrout. Although the conditions were right, we didn't have much more action. We made the run through the marsh and fished some dock pilings at Seymore's Point, and this did the
trick. Both Bill and Pat caught a handful of Seatrout and they put a couple of Weakfish in the boat, which was kinda neat. Our last stop was down at Broward Island. Although the wind had picked up a little bit, Bill was up to the challenge and landed a couple of feisty Redfish. It was a beautiful morning and another great day to be fishing Amelia Island, Florida.

The Sun Was Shining

I finally got to fish with Gary and Sherry Elder and brother-in-law Jim and his wife Karen. We had tried to fish last year and got rained out but today was absolutely beautiful! We met at the Fernandina Harbor Marina and made the run north up to Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide with float rigs and live shrimp. We're still not seeing much action up there but Jim was able to "knock the skunk" off when he caught a nice feisty Redfish. I think we had one
more in the area before we made the run back to fish Tiger Island as the tide had dropped. It wasn't long before Gary had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! This was a big fish and was ripping drag, but Gary was patient and slowly worked the fish to the boat to be netted and measured at 24", a nice bulky Slot Redfish! He added another one about the same size shortly after that then called Karen to the bow and she too put a big Slot Red in the boat. We were catching smaller Reds at the stern, but it was Jim's turn to take the bow and sure enough, another Slot Red! We continued to fish up
and down the island, catching a couple of small Seatrout, then a couple of keeper sized  Sheepshead, and even a small Flounder to garner the anglers and Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, Sheepshead and Flounder.  Finally, Jim capped the fishing trip off when he fought a big, oversized Red that measured 27 3/4" to the boat. We took some pictures and released it back to get even bigger! We hit a few more spots, had some really good hookups, landed another Trout, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

All About The Numbers

To Fish or Not To Fish? The weather forecast today said no rain until late morning but as I headed to the boat ramp before sunrise I had my windshield wipers on! I launched the boat, wiped it down, got it ready, and waited in a light drizzle. When Jonathan and Shireen Miller got there the rain had stopped but the sky was cloudy and more rain looked imminent. We went fishing anyway, and it was a good decision. After a run up Nassau River to the Horsehead area, we made a stop to fish some dock pilings. It took a few minutes but then we got a flurry of bites and fish. Our first fish was a hard fighting Black Drum, then we hauled in a 29 spot Redfish - a sure winner in the upcoming Safe Harbor Boys Home Redfish Spot Tournament! Then both Shireen and Jonathan each caught fat Weakfish, something I haven't seen in a while. These rounded out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Drum, Redfish, and Weakfish. After catching a couple of more small but feisty Reds, we made the run down to Broward Island and set up parallel to the bank on the last of the outgoing tide. In just a few minutes Shireen had a strong hookup and FISH ON! This was a big fish but Shireen was up to the challenge and patiently worked the fish in. It made a couple of deep runs then came to the net, turning out to be a 24" big, fat, hawg of a Redfish! From then on it was steady catching: small feisty Redfish, a Sheepshead here and there, then more Redfish.  You can always tell when a big Red hits and Jonathan knew it when he had a strong hookup. BIG FISH ON! This fish stayed down deep but Jonathan kept the pressure on and battled it to the boat - this one oversized at 30 1/4" which garnered Jonathan third place in the 2015 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament! (Scroll down right side of this report to veiw standings) .  As we were getting ready to take some pictures Jonathan noticed that a large lure was lodged in the Reds throat. We removed the lure, took some pictures and release the fish. It lunged away and splashed me good as if to say, THANKS! We continued to fish the area until we ran out of bait, catching Reds and Sheepshead and a small Speckled Seatrout. With five species of Back Water game fish caught: Redfish, Black Drum, Weakfish, Sheepshead, and Speckled Seatrout and well over 30 fish caught, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Fishing in Soup

I met Mark Von Weihe again, this time down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp, along with his sons Max, Ryan - and this time they brought along a "good luck" angler, the youngest son Owen. Like yesterday, we were socked in with fog, but we turned on the navigation lights and eased up the intercoastal and into Nassau River. The fog cleared enough to make a run to our first stop - Bubblegum Reef - and although this anglers were making
excellent casts, we had no real bites. We further up the river to fish some docks and this did the trick. Ryan got us started when he hooked up and battled a nice keeper sized Slot Redfish. Then his dad reeled in another Slot fish and Ryan followed it up with a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum.  The sand gnats  or "no-see-ums" had found us but this time we were ready! All five us donned face netting and this kept them off enough to fish comfortably. After picking up another fish or two, we made the run
down to Broward Island and the fishing was on fire. The group caught fish after fish after fish, enough so where I was huffing a little bit to keep up! Max had long since gotten in on the action and put his share of Redfish in the boat. Mark had a really  strong hookup and this time we knew we had a really big fish as the drag began to sing. He fought the big fish patiently, having a good time letting the fish run, then expertly worked it to the net. This big fish was oversized  so after pictures we released it to swim off for a another anglers to catch. Owen was catching fish on his on and when he pulled in a keeper sized Sheepshead the anglers were able to claim an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Drum and Sheepshead. We almost had a "Grande Slam" when Ryan worked a hungry Seatrout to the boat. It was a great day of fishing with a ton of fish caught here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Battling The Elements

When you get absolutely no wind you'd think fishing would be perfect, right? That's what we had this morning down at Sawpit Creek, but the sand gnats almost carried us off! We eased away from the dock, did the safety orientation on the run, and made our way north to fish Bubblegum Reef on the first of an incoming tide. I had H. Chokshi and his wife May, along with their adult kids Jay and Monica tossing live shrimp and jigs and slowly bumping them back to the boat, but we had no bites, other than the gnats! We made a brief stop at Seymores Pointe, then tried to run down to Broward
Island. Again, the elements were making it a challenge: the fog was so dense I had to idle along at 5mph for 3/4 of the way. We finally came out of it and went full throttle to fish the island. It was Jay's first cast when BOOM! FISH ON! He played the fish patiently to the boat and landed a nice Redfish. We had a really good flurry of fish catching for about an hour with everyone catching Reds and Seatrout. Monica reeled in both a red and Trout, and her dad Chokshi did, too. Jay put a Slot Red in the boat and May wrapped the trip up with the final Redfish. Even though the elements were against us, memories were made fishing here at Amelia Island!

Sheepshead Slam

We had another beautiful day today here at Amelia Island. I was fishing with Danny and Jill Elliott and their young anglers Tucker and Cora. We had met down at the Fernandina Harbor Marina early this morning and made a run up to Tiger Island to fish the first of an incoming tide. We started right off getting bites and it was a scramble to see who got the first fish in, with the title falling to Danny he put a really nice 18" Seatrout in the boat. From then on it
was a flurry of catching fish - both Tucker and Jill caught nice feisty Redfish then Cora reeled one in too. Danny picked up his Red then Cora rounded out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam when she outsmarted a sneaky Sheepshead. We continued to fish the area thoroughly, catching a good quantity of Reds and a handful of Seatrout and a 3lb Sheepshead.  We then we made the run up to Jolly River to fish the now flooded marsh line with float rigs. Although we missed a couple of fish, Danny was on his toes and caught a Red up near the grass.
Tucker was tossing a fly off the stern and was making some excellent casts but we had not takers. After hitting another couple of spots, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Multi Spot Redfish

Boy what a beautiful morning we had today! Almost zero wind, mild temperatures, and sunny skies. I met Mark Von Weihe and his two sons Max and Ryan down at the Atlantic Seafood dock almost at sunrise (with the time change) and after a brief safety orientation, headed north to fish Tiger Island as the tide came in. I think it was Ryan's first cast and we had a big fish on! But it was not to be this time so we got all three anglers rigged and fishing. Max got things going when he put the first feisty Redfish in the boat, then all three
anglers were catching Reds. Ryan picked up a hungry Seatrout then Mark put a keeper sized one in the boat. Almost every trip we find "multi-spot" Reds and today was no exception when Ryan landed an eleven spotter. We continued to fish the area, caught a good mess of Reds and a handful of Trout, then moved around to fish the flooded oysters with float rigs. Young Max had the binoculars out and was finding and naming bird life along the shore. We fished a few spots, had one more strong hookup and break off, then called it
a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Redfish Onslaught

We had sunny skies today but it was a little breezy when I met Curtis and Donna Cooper and their son Cash down at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina. We made a long run up to Bell a River in hopes that we'd find fish around some dock pilings. The anglers were making good casts, had a few bites, but only had one Seatrout. We moved around to fish the MOA (Mother of All) Spot, fished it thoroughly, and had no fish. Our next stop was Tiger Island and like it's been for months, it was Game On. Young Cash started things off almost immediately when he hooked up, battled, and
landed a nice Slot sized 24" Redfish! From then on, he and his dad traded reeling in smaller but feisty Redfish a and every once in awhile they'd put a Slot in the boat. Donna continued to be persistent and landed a Red and a Seatrout. Curtis added another 24" Red and a keeper sized Seatrout, along with some smaller ones. We had almost non-stop action for the last two hours of the trip making it another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Tournament Red First Cast

With winds projected to be well over 10 mph today, we almost didn't go. But go we did and it turned out to be one of those "banner" days! I had met Tom Gaslin and his buddy Steve Foss down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and we headed up to fish Eagans Creek to stay out of the wind. The tide still had about an hour of going out so I set the two anglers up with jigs rods. Steve was out first and before we could even get Tom in the water we heard the ripping sound of a drag and Steve had a FISH ON! This big fish did not want to be caught, diving deep and driving back to some dock pilings. But Steve was up for this epic battle and after a good battle, he subdued this 26 7/8" "tourney red". Boy what a fish! The two anglers went back to the dock and caught fish after fish after fish. Many were small but feisty Reds, but every once in a while both anglers would put another Slot sized fish in the boat. But all good things must come to an end and when the bite slowed, we moved on to another dock, fished it for a while, then ran around to fish Tiger Island as the tide started back in. The fish "catching" was slow for just a few minutes, then like a light switch being flipped, the bite began. Redfish after Redfish were brought to the boat - then Tom battled another big Slot Red -and landed it. Then more Reds and a couple of Seatrout were caught. All together, Tom and Steve had six Slot Reds and umpteen smaller Reds - a really great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island!

Slot Red Caps Off a Good Day

I fished again this morning, this time with Wallace and Rebecca Kenny, fishing out of the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina. We had a high tide just starting out so we made a run up Lanceford Creek to fish some flooded oyster bars and marsh grass. The two anglers were tossing live shrimp under floats but we had no bites. We then fished some dock pilings with jigs but I think the tide was still too high and even though we had a few bites, there were no takers. We
then made the run around to Tiger Island and within a few minutes we had a hookup. Rebecca had been fishing a jig and shrimp slowly on the bottom when she had a strong bite, and, FISH ON! She played the fish patiently to the boat and we netted a nice feisty Redfish, the first fish of the day. We had a good flurry of fish biting from then on. Wallace put a Seatrout in the boat, then a Redfish. Rebecca added another Seatrout then Wallace had a whole handful of Reds and Trout. Then we had a really strong hookup. This big fish did not want to come to the boat, especially when it got out deep and back in the current. But Wallace was patient, kept the pressure on, and slowly worked the big Red up. After a good battle we eventually netted a nice 25.5" Slot sized Redfish! Now that's a fish! After picking up a few more Reds and Trout, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Bragging Rights Busted

We finally had nice weather today and boy was it a good one to be out fishing here at Amelia Island. I met Brian Cochran and his dad Stan down at the Fernandina Beach Harbor marina. Although there were cloudy skies there was very little wind. We headed north to fish the Jolley River and after running a good ways up the river, stopped to fish a marsh runout with float rigs and live shrimp. The two anglers were making excellent casts but we had no takers. We then eased along a flooded marsh line and after good stretch Brian had a hookup and "knocked the skunk off" with a nice feisty
Redfish catch. We then moved up into a large creek, probed the bottom with jigs and shrimp, came back out and fished the shoreline, then made the run back to Tiger Island to fish the downed logs. As usual this time of year, this did the trick. Brian picked up a few more feisty Reds then his dad Stan had a stronger hookup. He battled the big fish a patiently and soon put a 22" Slot Red in the boat. Brian followed that up with a keeper sized Seatrout then Stan found a good hole of Seatrout. We relocated, fished for just a short while, then Brian put a big 24" Slot Red in the boat. It wasn't but a few minutes later when he had another strong hookup, and FISH ON! We could tell right away that this was an even bigger fish - it didn't want to budge and ran at will, pulling against the drag. It came out deep, ran back towards the tree limbs then came out deep again. Brian kept the pressure on and after a long battle, landed an oversized 32" Big Redfish! This fish put Brian in first place in the Anglers Mark 2015 Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category (scroll down right side of this report for standings). Boy what a fish! We continued to fish the area, picked up maybe one more feisty Red, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!