No Credit Needed

Oh boy, what a beautiful morning we had today! I had met Chuck and Marca Benton and their daughter Kristin out at the Goffinsville Park as the sun came up - it was cool and clear and only a slight breeze. The tide was still coming in so we headed over to Pumpkin Hill and set up, drifting float rigs along a flooded bank with live shrimp as bait. All three anglers were getting excellent drifts but it was Marca who "knocked the skunk off" when she hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout.  We worked that bank, getting  few nibbles, then moved around the corner, fished it, (picked up a colorful Blue Crab)(and battled a hard charging Bonnethead Shark) then moved down to a grassy island where Marca continued her "trout catching ways" by landing another.

I thought the tide might have started out over at Horsehead so we made our way there, cutting thru the marsh and pulling up at a large drainage to fish the floats. We were seeing a good bit of activity up by the bank, but we had no takes. Back thru Horsehead we went, then we made our way over to some docks at Seymore's, and fished a large bay drainage. Here, the trio of anglers had some good nibbles, some that took their float under, but none that actually took the hook. 

Our next stop was down by Nassauville where we switched to jig rods, but all we found were a couple of small Mangrove Snapper.

The tide had been going out for almost two hours at the "honey hole" so we made our way over and set up alongside  some marsh grass - the shell were still covered. I think it was Kristin's first cast and it had only drifted a few feet when it disappeared. Kristin lifted her rod and let the circle hook set and Big Fish On!  Kristen kept her rod bent and the pressure on and had a good battle on her hands. She played it patiently and after a good battle landed a fat 25.5" Slot sized Redfish.  

Marca went to a "cut" up ahead and BAM! She had a hookup. Her's was a "feisty" Redfih, smaller, but fun to catch, and this one had multiple spots. Chuck followed that up with an 18" Seatrout catch, then it was his turn to tangle with a Big Redfish. I heard his drag begin to sing and when I turned around his float was heading north, another Big Fish on!  And when we saw a "boil" we knew it was another big Redfish. Chuck played it perfectly, took his time, let it run, worked it in, and eventually landed bulky 26.75" Slot sized Redfish (all fish caught today were released). 

These anglers caught another couple of feisty Reds but the bite eventually slowed so we headed back to the dock and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.