First Trip Fishing

..."Remember when, someone took you fishing?"  If  you're like me you still remember that fishing trip that you Grandad or Mom or Dad took  you fishing as a kid. I remember when I was 7 or 8 my Grandfather took me Crappie fishing on Lake Sante Fe over in central Florida and thinking "boy, this is great!  All I have to do is drop a minnow over the side, let it go to the bottom, and wait for a fish to bite!".  The last conversation I had with my father before he passed away was about a great fishing trip we had on Lofton Creek, catching big 'ole Bluegill.
We all have great memories of fishing with friends and family.

Today was Wes and Mary Beth's first trip out with their 2 1/2 year old future angler Jack, and we had a great time.  The weather was outstanding (just before tomorrow's blow) and after we met at Sawpit Creek boat ramp we ran up the Nassau River and over to Broward Island to fish the first of an incoming tide. Jack jumped right in and was picking up and handling the live shrimp and the few mud minnows that we had on board.

Mary Beth was the first to strike when she hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish. She may have landed one more before Wes got on the board with a Redfish catch. Jack was game for touching each fish to feel their scales and even swiped his thumb over the rough bottom lip of a Redfish. We fished up and down the island, landed another Red or two, then, as the wind started to blow, we came back to the Seymore's Pointe area.  Jack was hanging in there, playing with the bait and finding his sea legs around the boat - with Mary Beth's close supervision.

We fished some docks with no real luck then ran thru Horsehead and to the mouth of Jackstaff. The water was  up so we switched to float rigs. Although our fish catching around the oyster beds has been slow lately, Wes was able to catch a Blue fish then a few hungry Seatrout. By this time Jack was sorting the plastic grub box, but he took time out to feel the sliminess of a Trout. Just as he was getting a little bit restless, it was time to go, so we called it a day, another great "first time" fishing day to be on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.