Catch Prediction and Firsts

 

My wife advised me last night that "we wouldn't be catching many fish today" in that two of her friends had called in sick with symptoms of high barometric pressure - one with a migraine and one with vertigo. Unfortunately, she was close to being right - we struggled a bit to catch fish today. I had met David Vice and his fishing partners Lee and Raj out at Goffinsville Park and with the tide just hitting high we made our way around Seymore's Pointe and set up at a large drainage to fish float rigs and mud minnows as the current started out. I don't think we had a single real bite.

We then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Pointe where I thought for sure we'd get into some Redfish. Raj had noted that it was his first time fishing and it was he that "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a feisty Jack Crevalle. We had a couple of nibbles along that stretch but no more takers, other than fat Catfish that David put in the boat. We crossed back to Jackstaff and fished a creek off of it with the floats and again, not much happening.

After running back thru Horsehead and down to the Back River we fished a stretch with the oysters now showing (that high tide wasn't very high and it didn't take very long for the oysters to start popping up). We did have a bit of luck here - David hooked up and caught a hungry Seatrout then he followed that up with a Redfish catch. We had one other small Redfish from that spot before we moved on. 

Over on the other side we drifted some floats along the marsh grass and here Raj got busy - he picked up a small Redfish then battled a hard fighting Jack - this one was ripping some drag - it made a dash from the grass to deep water then took Raj from the bow to the stern. Raj worked it in slowly and soon landed the Jack Crevalle. 

Fishing down at Spanish Drop with jigs, it was David who put a nice Flounder in the boat on his first or second cast. We fished two or three drainages with the jigs and minnows but not much was happening as the sun had gotten up. They had counted Nine fish plus one "oyster fish" caught for the day and although it wasn't "on fire", we had a bit of action and had caught our first fish so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fishing With The Grandsons

 I remember the one time I went fishing with my grandfather, Lawence M. Piper. He and my
grandmother had purchased a "lake place" on Lake Sante Fe down just east of Gainesville, Florida. He was a Jacksonville policeman, she at one time owned and operated Avondale Florist  and they lived just off of Cassat Avenue in Jacksonville, Florida. But they were able to purchase the lake place, and as I understood it, they added on, and added on, and built a dock and boat house, and built a "cabin" for rentals and it became a place for our family to visit and spend summers and holidays. There usually was a jon boat that my cousin Chuck and I were allowed to use - we'd get up early, load the boat with cane poles and Zebco's and tackle box's and snacks and putter down the lake to where the docks ended and the lilly pads started- we fished with worms or crickets and targeted panfish. It was some fun times. One day my grandfather suggested that he and I go and it's the only time I remember fishing with him, alone. He may have joined the family fishing off the end of the dock, at night, but on this trip it was just he and I.  I have to say, I don't even remember if we caught any fish. We did motor over to "Little Lake Sante Fe" and I remember we dropped anchor out in the middle of the lake and dropped shiners to the bottom in hopes of catching Crappie. I was thinking, "boy, this is easy fishing!". In retrospect, as I write this, he was probably thinking, "I don't have to untangle any lines and I don't have to retrieve any lures out of trees!". But I do remember the trip - it was about 60 years ago!

Today I fished with Gary Myers who brought along his two adult grandsons Nicholas and Jackson - we met down at Sawpit Creek and after they pulled an angler out of the river who had slipped and fallen in while stepping on his boat, we headed up the intracoastal and made the long run up to Poteat Pointe and began tossing jigs and mud minnows on a tide that had been going out for a few hours. The oysters were exposed and these anglers were making excellent casts to their base. We picked up a couple of feisty Redfish along there, then we came over to the mouth of Jackstaff and worked that bank.

After running thru Horsehead and down the Nassau to Spanish Drop we fished the drainages. The trio caught another couple of Redfish and also caught a couple of Flounder, one of which was of keeper size -photographed and released. We fished Seymore's Point, then moved around and fished some docks. We had picked up a small Blue Crab and we baited pieces of that up and here we did have a couple of good bites, one that ripped some drag briefly, but it let go, Ouch!

We had some good cloud cover, had a caught a few fish, and the "boys" had gotten to fish with their Granddad so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Slot Reds and Snook as Icing on the Cake

 It's always a surprise when we put a Snook in the boat and today we did just that!  I had met Brad Goodwin and his son Gray, his father-in-law Jack, and brother-in-law Tyler down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made a short run up the intracoastal then up the Nassau to make our first stop at Spanish Drop where they began to toss jigs and minnows to the shore line on an outgoing tide. The bite wasn't "on fire" but they stayed busy catching fish, now and then. I think it was Brad's first cast when he had the "thump", set the hook, and brought to the net a keeper sized Flounder.

We worked four drainages along there and they caught more flounder, a couple of Seatrout, and a couple of small but feisty Reds. Jack was fishing off the stern and letting his jig/minnow bounce down the bottom and hooked up. He patiently played to the boat a feisty little Snook! Boy what a surprise. Also caught along there was a slimy Catfish. Each drainage produced fish. Jack added another keeper sized Flounder and Brad expertly landed a 20" 12 spot Redfish.

After fishing a drainage between two docks over at Nassauville (we added a flounder to the catch there), we moved around to fish some pilings at Seymore's Pointe. I wasn't expecting much but boy was I wrong! After Gray got an ugly old Toad Fish out of the way, he put a fat Sea Bass in the boat. Then he and Tyler had simultaneous hookups and Fish On! They played their fish patiently and worked them slowly in. Gray's was first to the boat, what appeared to be a Slot Red, but the Net Man missed it and, Fish Off! Ouch. Tyler worked his in next and landed the biggest of the day, a 24" Slot. We had another strong hookup and Gray was not to be denied. He expertly worked it in and landed a 19" Slot Redfish. That was a good spot.

We were almost out of minnows - it had been a good morning, but we ran down to Broward Island and worked that bank until we were out of minnows, then we switched to DOA Shrimp and some GULP Minnows. All four anglers were getting excellent casts and we had a couple of "bumps"  but no takers. The sun was up the nice breeze that we had had all morning long had subsided and it was getting hot, so we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.