Broke Net Flounder Lands Bragging Rights

 We fished up north today after I met Gary Elder, his sister Karen and brother in law Jim, up at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp. We buzzed over to Tiger and fished the logs for a bit and did pretty good catching fish - but all of them were small - Redfish, Seatrout, and Black "puppy" Drum on jigs and live shrimp.

After pulling out and making the run around and up the Jolley River we set  up along side the flooding marsh grass and switched to float rigs and live shrimp. As we worked along, bow into the current, Jim made a toss that was "guaranteed" and sure enough, BAM! Fish on. He worked it to the boat and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. We continued along that bank and when we got to a point of grass where the incoming current was sweeping by, BOOM! Bigger fish on! This fish was pulling deep but Jim kept the pressure on, go it to the boat and as I went in with a quick swoop of the net. BAP! The net broke in half! Landing a big Flounder is always "iffy", even with a net - I grabbed the net portion, (minus the handle) and tried to scoop it - and missed! Luckily Jim was cool, calm and collected and kept that pressure

on and the 2nd or third try I was able to scoop it and get it in the boat. It turned out to be 19 1'/2" and big enough to set the standard as first place in the Angler's Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category. 

Our next stop was around at the docks of Bell River. The rising wind was blocked here and it was absolutely perfect conditions, albeit an incoming tide, but we had no real luck until Jim found another keeper Flounder up behind a floating dock. 

We fished back at Bell River a couple of places and finished up on the outside of Tiger. The wind was up, the skies were cloudy, and we had a broken catch net, but we still counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.