Two Big Reds in the Nassau

I was again fishing out of Sawpit Creek this morning, this time with Paul Deluca, his son Cole and
their friend Sean. We met early and headed up the intercoastal to dip into Jackstaff and begin fishing the exposed oysters with jigs and live shrimp on the very last of an outgoing tide. We worked up the creek, pitching to the bank, had a few nibbles, then Sean "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up, battled, and landed a nice 3' Bonnethead Shark. Cole had a good hookup at a large marsh run out but the fish ran directly to the boat, under it, and BAP! Fish off!

We then ran thru Horsehead and around to some docks to fish the piers with the jigs and shrimp. Sean caught a nice keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum (all fish caught today were released) and Cole put a feisty Mangrove Snapper in the boat.



After moving around
the corner to fish some rocks, the fish "catching" lit up and was on fire. All four anglers found the
hot spot and began to pull one Mangrove Snapper after another out of the "honey hole". The Snapper are BACK!  Many of these were 12-13" and would make some great fish filet's for a fry - again-all were released to be caught another day. When we tired of catching fish (crazy, huh?)  We moved on.

The next stop was down at Broward Island, fishing the first of an incoming. Fishing, not catching. I've about decided to give up on these islands for a while.








We moved north to Pumpkin Hill. Now drifting floats, both Sean and Cole hooked up and landed some high flying Ladyfish, then Cole had his float disappear, he hooked up, played it perfectly, and landed a nice feisty Redfish. Then it was Paul's turn for a Redfish. He was drifting his float up
close and each time his bait caught on the bottom he'd pull it off and, BOOM! Big Fish On! This fish boiled a couple of times up near shore -a Big Redfish - then finally worked its way out deep. But the crabbers have the bank lined with traps and floats and sure enough Paul's fish wrapped the line around the float. Luckily, that braided  line is strong so we inched back to the float, flipped it over the line, and, Fish (back) On! Paul expertly played the fish and brought it to the boat, an Oversized 29" Redfish - boy what a fish.

After fishing down the bank a bit, we moved back to where we started and again, BOOM! Big Fish On! Paul had another one. This time Paul was able to bring it out past the crab traps, play it like a pro, and land a 26 15/16" Tournament Sized Redfish - another nice fish. With two big Reds landed in the last 20 minutes of the trip, it was a great way to wrap up an outstanding fishing trip here at Amelia Island, Florida.