Gradually Put Together a Mess

 It's great to see a grandmother taking her grandsons fishing!  I met Cindy Gray and her two grandsons Alex and Henry, down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. We made a quick run up the Nassau River and turned into the incoming current to fish a flooded bank. We started out with jigs and minnows, fishing a deeper drop of the river, and we did have one big bite - it took the line, headed under the boat, and was gone!  We then worked along some flooded shell, now tossing float rigs and minnows, but didn't have much action. 

After dropping back to Twin Creeks, we fished the float rigs and here Alex put a small Jack in the boat then Cindy hooked up and landed a keeper sized Seatrout. One in the box! We then made the run down to Pumpkin Hill and drifted floats long, not having much luck, then we fished around the corner. Cindy put a big Jack in the boat, Alex caught a couple of small Seatrout, and Henry got on the board with a Pinfish landing. 

We came back to fish some rocks at Nassauville and after a cast or two Alex had a big bite, battled it to the boat, and landed a huge Mangrove Snapper.  Two in the box! Henry was fishing the same general area and when he had a good bite I thought for sure it was another big Mangrove.  But as Henry worked it to the boat it seemed to get bigger!  He played it perfectly and brought to the net a nice 19.5" Slot Redfish.  Three in the box!  This trio of anglers began to work those rocks vigorously, playing cat and mouse with the Mangroves, and ended up with numbers Four, Five, Six and Seven in the box.

We finished up around at a large drainage, drifting floats around a point and on Alex's first cast, BOOM! A nice Mangrove Snapper, Eight in the box!  Alex finished it off hooking up and landing another keeper sized Seatrout, number Nine. We left them biting and headed back and 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.