Going South For Big Fish

We switched it up today, fishing out of Goffinsville Park out in Nassauville. I met local resident Jeff Shiver early and we made our first stop down at Broward Island with plans to fish the downed logs with jigs and live shrimp. We worked the area thoroughly for about an hour but had no real bites, even though the conditions were right and it was a beautiful morning.  Our next stop was back at Horsehead, fishing some exposed old oysters and structure and this did the trick. Jeff started it off by hooking up and landing a
large Jack Crevalle - fun to catch - but not necessarily good to eat - unless you were on a deserted island! Shortly after that we had a strong bite and after a good battle, landed a thick 26" Slot Sized Redfish. And minutes later Jeff had another strong bite - he played it patiently and let the rod do all the work - and slowly worked in a big 21.5" Sheepshead, a fish that puts Jeff in a commanding lead in the Anglers Mark 2016 Bragging Rights Tournament - Sheepshead category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).  Then he hooked up and played an even bigger Redfish, this one measuring in at 26.5", a "Tournament Red"!  We continued to fish the oyster bed and picked up a couple of more small but feisty Redfish then we moved over to fish some docks. The bite was almost immediate. Jeff reeled in some keeper sized Mangrove Snapper (the first of the year) and we also landed a 16" keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum.  After putting a good handful of the Snapper in, we moved over to another dock and BOOM! Another fish bite. Jeff put two more keeper sized Redfish and a couple of Snapper. Our last stop was fishing some rocks at Seymore's Pointe and again, Mangrove Snapper. It was a great day, almost a ":banner day", to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.