Quick Wake Up Call

 Back at it after a relaxing Memorial Day weekend, I met the Cordill family -Bryan and Leigh and their "birthday girl" Anna Beth - up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. As I was launching the boat, I was gifted with a Doe deer sighting off the side of the ramp! When the Cordill's arrived we headed north and west and over to the Jolley River, turned into the current and fished the "bank" with live shrimp under floats on a tide that had been coming in a few hours. The trio had a some nibbles here and there then Bryan's float disappeared with a vengeance and Fish On! At first it headed toward the grass and I was thinking "big Redfish" but then it headed north, then west, ripping drag as it went. Bryan followed it from the stern to the bow then fought it off the port side. The big fish went deep and hugged the bottom and we both agreed, "Shark"!  Bryan played it patiently and after a long battle on light tackle, boated a 4' Bonnethead Shark.

We moved further up the Jolley and turned into a bank and here Bryan picked up a hungry Seatrout, then it was Leigh's turn to fight the big fish. She had a good drift going along the flooded marsh grass then her float slowly eased under. Leigh tightened up her line, lifted the rod tip and let the circle hook do its job - She had a hookup!  This fish stayed up near the bank, then boiled so we knew it was a Redfish. Leigh expertly played the fish and soon landed a 20" Slot Sized Redfish.

Back towards the mouth, again fishing a flooded bank, it was Ann  Beth's turn
to fight a fish - this one a high flying Ladyfish. Anna Beth kept the pressure on and worked it to the net and landed it.  We fished the outside of Tyger with no real bites, then we fished over at Bell where we had a bite or two, but no takers, then we fished up in Lanceford. Anna Beth had gone in with a cast to a creek mouth - a small drainage - just beyond a crab trap float and when her float disappeared she lifted and had the fish on, but Oh No! - it wrapped around the float! We eased up and got the line around the float and Anna Beth landed another hungry Seatrout. Minutes later, working the bank, Leigh hooked up and landed a keeper sized Seatrout to wrap things up. As we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.