Rain? What Rain?

 When I looked at the weather forecast last night, rain was predicted to be around 67% for the morning and when I called my guest they just weren't up for the wetness. But after yesterday's excellent trip, and no real storm predicted with the rain, and now a day off, I had already decided I was going fishing. When I called friend and neighbor Bill Maceron he was of the same opinion -"let's go!" . I even "bet" that the weather would be better when we got started today. I was wrong and would have lost the bet!

When I stepped outside this morning it was drizzling rain and when I picked Bill up around the corner it was drizzling and when we stopped to get some live shrimp it was drizzling and when we launched it was drizzling. But we both had rain coats on and we made our way from Sawpit Creek up the Nassau and around to what I hoped would be the "honey hole". 

In the rain, things started off a bit slow but as the tide dropped and the oysters began to show, we began to get bites. It turned out that Bill came to catch fish while I came to fish for fish. Fishing float rigs with the live shrimp, Bill "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a keeper sized Seatrout. We both caught a handful of small but feisty Redfish and a couple of hard fighting Jacks. Then Bill, up on the bow, had s strong hookup and this one was ripping drag. Bill played it expertly, let it run, worked it up, let it run, and eventually brought to the net a big 26" Slot sized Redish...and behind us a beautiful rainbow appeared!

And not shortly after that Bill had another strong bite. This one ripped the drag too, boiled up near the bank, then dug deep. But Bill stayed with it and after a good battle landed another big 24" Slot Redfish. Although shorter than the first, it was a bit more "bullish" - thick!

We ran back to Spanish Drop and fished the back side of a bar and picked up another feisty Red or two, then ran back to Broward Island and again caught a few of those small Reds. The rain had  come and go throughout the morning but we had some fish in the box so as we headed back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Captain Lawrence Piper is a fishing guide in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida. He is a US Coast Guard licensed charter boat operator