Blustery March Fishing at Amelia Island

 Although the forecast called for (finally) some sunshine today, it also called for winds beginning at 13mph and getting up to 17mph as the day wore on, which can sometimes make for a tough time fishing. And it did!  I had met Steve and Lara Bunkowske and their two angler kids Nate and Alex up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp early and with the wind already whipping, we headed over to Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings with jigs and live shrimp. Even though the boat was not cooperating in the wind, these anglers were able to get some good casts and finally it was Nate who outsmarted a wily Sheepshead, hooked it up and brought it to the boat to "knock the skunk off". 

We fished another dock to no avail, then headed over to Soap Creek and set upwind from an exposed oyster bed. Steve and Alex were on the stern pitching to the oysters and although we weren't getting many bites, Alex had the big hookup and, Fish On! Alex played it perfectly and worked it to the net to land a nice 21" Slot Redfish, boy what a fish!

We later fished Tiger Island logs on the first of an incoming tide, the best time to be there IMO, but it was not to be. The wind was affecting my boat handling and the anglers casts and the fish didn't want what we presented to them. But it was a beautiful sunny day so when we called it  day, we counted it as another great day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.