Gator Country

 

Another perfect day for fishing this morning greeted us when I met Derek Poon and his sons Zach and Tyler down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We had clear skies and only a slight breeze as we left the dock and headed up the Nassau River to make our first stop at Spanish Drop with plans to fish float rigs and live shrimp on a tide that had been coming in a couple of hours. As we got the baits out in the water and I started easing along the bank, Tyler had his float in a nice drift and as it slowly went under he raised the rod to set the hook and First Fish On! Tyler cranked it in and landed a nice hungry Flounder to "knock the skunk off".

Only minutes later Derek's float disappeared and the drag started screaming then there was a big boil up near the bank. the fish ran east for a bit then came back and wrapped up all the lines and boy did we have a mess! But Derek kept his cool while I got the other two and cut and cleared away then the battle was on. Derek kept the pressure on, let the big fish run, but slowly worked it in and finally we lifted in a big 4' long Bonnethead Shark, boy what a fight! After that commotion, the fish were scarce, so we moved on. 

We made a run down to Broward and on the way saw a big Gator slither off a shell bank. We fished some jigs for a bit but the fish were having none of it so we eased back to Pumpkin Hill and went back to the float rigs and this did the trick. I think it was Zach's first drift when his float disappeared and after he caught up the slack by reeling extra fast the fight ensued! This fish was big!  Zach's drag was ripping and the fish took him from the stern of the boat around to port and up to the bow then back to the stern. The big fish dove under the boat, headed for the engine, headed for the trolling motor, but all the while Zach was working it!  I was helping for a bit but turned it completely over to him and he did outstanding and finally brought the big fish to the net - a 30" Oversized Redfish!

Derek picked up a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, then Zach added another feisty Redfish then Derek added a Catfish to the fish count. We moved around the corner and the trio added a couple of keeper sized Seatrout. Derek battled a couple of smaller Shark to the net and then a bigger Jack Crevalle. 

Our last stop was back at Seymore's Pointe at the "Mangrove Snapper Hole" and here all thee anglers put Snapper in the boat. Tyler was taking up the stern and making excellent casts and he landed a couple of the Snapper. Zach was on the bow and he put a keeper sized fish in the boat. The sun had gotten up, we had some fish in the boat, we had some good memories, so as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia  Island, Florida.