Welcome Mat

I was back to work today, this time fishing with Steve and Carron Frost after meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early. We made a short run up the Nassau River and stopped to fish a large marsh run out with jigs and live shrimp. The tide was at dead low and we noticed we had not much of a current and the fishing was slooooww. But the duo did catch a wide variety of "junk" fish - High flying Ladyfish, Jack Crevalle, Shark and Stingray. Then the tide and current changed, started back in, and we were catching small but feisty Redfish, one after the other. It was a bonanza! We fished it until the bite slowed then moved on.

Our next stop was down at Broward Island on the first of an incoming tide. Both Carron and Steve caught and landed a feisty Red, then Steve had a strong hookup and the battle was joined! This fish was ripping drag and making those deep digs and we felt sure it was an ice Redfish, but then it wrapped itself on a submerged log and the line went tight. But Steve was up to

the task, kept light pressure on it, and sure enough the fish came out and, Fish On! Steve worked it to the boat and landed a nice 22.25" copper colored Redfish.

We moved down the way, easing underneath a Bald Eagle, then set up fishing. Steve put a couple of small Reds then he pitched up into a cove. He had a hit but not a taker. Then he went back to the same spot and BAM! :He had a hookup. This fish was fighting differently and sure enough, when he brought it to the net, it was very nice 16" Flounder. 

After crossing the river se switched to float rigs and tangled with a big Jack Crevalle and an even bigger Bonnethead Shark. 

We were getting low on bait and low on time but had one more stop left in is. After getting set we these anglers switched back to jigs and shrimp and in no time they were tangling with some Mangrove Snapper. We'd lose 4-5 shrimp then catch a fish and ended up with a good handful of keeper fish. Carron had made an excellent cast off to one side and she said she had a strange bite, and a hookup. She worked it slowly to the boat and Steve was the one that saw a huge maw of a mouth. Carron brought  it to the net and landed a huge 23.25" Door Mat of a Flounder! Boy what a fish! And big enough to move her squarely in to 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report to see standings). And what a fish to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.