From Slow to a Good Mess

I must have read the forecast for today wrong last night - I saw it with temperatures in the mid 50's, partly
sunny, and only a slight breeze. When I met Ed and Madonna up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp it was in the 50's, just a slight breeze but no sun. Granted it was 7:15am, but we never saw the sun, and the wind picked up as the day went along until it was blowing as we headed back!

But we made our first stop over at some dock pilings on a tide that had been going out for a few hours, fishing jigs and live shrimp, and when Madonna reeled in a feisty Redfish that almost measured legal I thought sure we were going to "get busy".  But the current never seemed to pick up and the tide never got to where the oysters were showing and the fish never bit again!

We hit another dock down the river, fishing the jigs and here the oysters were showing and even though I felt like we were in the right spot at the right time, not a bite. Ouch. While we were in the area we decided to fish one more dock system and this paid off. 

Madonna got things going when she hooked up and landed a Slot Redfish, then caught another feisty Redfish. Then Ed hooked up - it was a heavy fish and even a bit "haughty" -it didn't put up a real big fight for what turned out to be a 26.5" Slot Red, and big enough to take first place in the 2024 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament. The two anglers teamed up to catch a small Black "puppy" Drum, a small Seatrout and another Redfish or two.

We then made a long run up to Tyger Island and fished the logs, working the bank with the jigs and here Ed added a keeper sized Sheepshead and Madonna added a keeper sized Seatrout. They also put another Sheepshead in the boat and a couple of Puppy Drum. 

We had started slow but as we headed back to the ramp busting thru wind and waves, we counted it as another great day of fishing with a good mess of fish in the box here at Amelia Island, Florida.