Today had to have been one of the worst day's weather-wise that I've fished in a long time. We had checked the forecast and saw that by mid morning their was a 64% chance of rain but those Weathermen are notoriously wrong, right? Not today! I met Todd Johnson and his fishing buddy Patrick Davis down at Sawpit Creek on a tide that when we reached Nassauville, would just be starting to come in . When we reached our first spot we tossed jigs and live shrimp to some dock pilings but only produced two "aquarium" sized Seabass.
As we motored to the next stop we began to get sprinkled on and for the rest of the day it either sprinkled or drizzled, or drenched us. And just when we were rejoicing that we had very little wind. the "No-See-Ums" hit us with a vengeance. I had them in my eyes and swallowed a good handful. I thought for sure we'd get fish at that spot but had not a nibble. But we eased down a bit and fished the bank with the jigs, caught a few "feisty" Redfish when Patrick hooked up and his drag began to rip I knew he had a big one!
Boy what a battle! This fish was not coming in and I began to worry that it might be TOO big. He played it perfectly, battled it from starboard to port and back again, and then did it again, and when he finally got it to the surface we saw that it was a huge Redfish. I had trouble getting it into the net and had to try a 2nd time! After landing the fish it measured right at 35" which moved Patrick comfortably in the lead in the 2024 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category.
After moving down the bank even more and turning into the current, we fished back a ways and just as we were about to leave Patrick put a perfect sized 24" Slot Red in the boat.
Our next stop was up the Nassau, fishing a creek with the jigs. As we worked along the bank I began to wonder if this spot was going to "skunk" us. But once we found a tree to pitch under we found the "honey hole". Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam we caught fish. Todd put a keeper Slot fish in the boat and caught and landed a few more that were in the slot. Then Todd, trolling behind the boat, had a THUMP and then his rod bent and Fish On! Todd worked it patiently to the net and landed a nice 17" Flounder, big enough to kick off the Bragging Rights in that Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).
We were soaking wet, and had gnat bites all over our hands, but as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
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