Size Matters

 

I wrapped up my week today fishing with Mark Britt and his son Ryan, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp early, and we made the run up to Jolley River to make the "bank" our first stop. Boy were the conditions looking good - just a slight breeze, overcast skies, and a tide that had been going out for a couple of hours. But, nope, we struggled early. We worked along the bank tossing float rigs and live shrimp and really didn't get a bite that mattered.

I dropped back around the corner and pulled up to a marsh runout and the duo tossed jigs and mud minnows, to no avail. We then ran up the Jolley and fished Snook Creek, at first with the float rigs, then we switched to jigs and FINALLY, BAM! Mark had a bite, and boy was it a big one! The fish headed north and the braided line almost took Ryan's head off as he was standing on the stern, But he ducked under the line and the battle was on.  Mark came back to the stern and applied the pressure, fought the fish valiantly, and after a long battle, brought it to the surface to be boated, photographed, and released - a big 4 foot Bonnethead Shark.

We fished that bank a bit more, bounced over and fished another, then headed around to Bell River

where we set up current from a dock on the last hour or so of an outgoing tide. Almost immediately, we began to get bites. Ryan reeled in a Spot, then a small Mangrove Snapper then Mark put a keeper sized Mangrove in the boat. Ryan followed that up with a Sheepshead, then Mark caught one, then BOOM! Mark had a big bite. We thought it'd be a nice fish but it turned out to be a Really Nice Fish!  He fought it patiently, worked it to the boat, and we netted a big Oversized 30" Redfish. What a nice fish!

Shortly after that Ryan had the big bite. His fish stayed behind the boat but dug deep. Ryan was up to the task and fought it perectly, letting it run when it wanted to, but working it slowly in. We soon netted a nice 21.75" Sheepshead - the biggest of the year on The Anglers Mark and big enough to set the bench mark as First Place in the 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Sheepshead Category. (scroll down the right column for standings)

We wrapped up fishing some docks at Lanceford Creek on the first of an incoming tide and Mark wrapped it up with a "golden" catch of a Black "puppy" Drum which made for a great way to end a good day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.