Looking at the weather forecast last night I thought for sure we'd be getting wet today. But when I got up this morning it had improved which was great because we were going anyway! I met Henry Ross and his crew - David Gray, and Dick and Ethan Conley - up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp early and we headed over to Eagans Creek with plans to fish some dock pilings on a tide that had been going out for a few hours. The oysters were just beginning to show when we pulled up and began to pitch jigs and live shrimp to the pilings. Ethan was quick to "knock the skunk off" when he hooked up and fought a feisty Redfish to the net
His dad, Dick, hooked up a landed a small but feisty Black "puppy" Drum then short while later he had a strong bite and, Big Fish On! It was nip and tuck there for a while as the big fish pulled deep up into the pilings. But Dick stayed patient and worked it out each time and when it rolled to the surface we knew it was a big Redfish. Dick worked it to the boat and landed a big 29.75" oversized Redfish - a fish big enough to move him into 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2023 Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category. Boy what a fish!
We then made a long run up to the Bell River and fished some docks with the jigs. Nothing much was happening but David did get on the board with hard fighting Jack Crevalle catch. We were wrapping up to leave but Henry was still fishing with a mud minnow and had a good "bump" out deeper and fish on! Henry worked it expertly up to the surface and we netted a nice 16" Flounder. Although not huge, we'll let that set the bar for 1st place in the Anglers Mark 2023 Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).
Continuing on around thru the Bell River we made a stop at the MOA. David was on the bow tossing up current on the very last of the outgoing tide. He had one strong hookup with a fish that was putting a good bend in the rod and....OFF! Dang it! But just a short while later, David made the same cast and it paid off with a Big Fish hookup. This fish had the room to dig deep and boy did it! The drag was ripping and the fish took him from bow to stern, from starboard to port, and then back to starboard, and back to port. I was laying my money on it being a Bonnethead Shark and luckily, boy was wrong! David worked it patiently up and when it surfaced we saw that it was another huge oversized Redfish, this one measuring in at 34", and big enough to take the lead spot, 1st. place, in the Anglers Mark 2023 Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfish Category. Boy what a fish!
We fished the outside of Tyger for just a bit then headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
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