Big 'un Right Off The Bat

 I was back down at the south end today, fishing with the Soper Team - Larry and his sons Garrett and Dustin. We left the Sawpit Creek boat ramp as the sun came up and made a long run up the Nassau to make our first stop at Broward Island. The tide still had a few minutes of going out so we set up on the south end and began to pitch jigs and live shrimp to the edge. It wasn't long before Larry "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up an landed a feisty Flounder. We were thinking that was pretty good! We saw some bait getting smashed over by a drainage so we worked over that way - Garrett had made a good cast to a point and BAM!  That drag was ripping!   Garrett kept the pressure on but all he could do was hold on to that 6'6" rod with the Florida Fishing Products size 1000 reel, spooled with 10lb braid. The big fish rolled a couple of times then dug deep out into the river but Garrett stayed with it and worked it to the boat to land and Oversized 29" Redfish, boy wat a fish!

After moving up north and fishing a couple of spots, and right before we left, Larry had a good "bump" and set the hook on a nice feisty Redfish.  We then made our way back down the Nassau to Twin Creeks where we stuck with the jigs and shrimp. Larry stayed with the hot hand when he hauled in a keeper sized Flounder to go in the box. We moved down to another drainage, fished it for a bit then moved further down to Spanish Drop and switched to float rigs. We had some good action at a point of grass, getting a small Red, a keeper sized Seatrout that Dustin hauled in, and a couple of Ladyfish.

Back  up the river we went, staying with the floats and this paid off. Dustin had a strong hookup after

getting a good drift along the grass and patiently worked to the boat a nice Slot Redfish. Garrett battled a Bonnethead Shark to the boat for photographs and release, and Dustin had another battle with a big Red, but alas, it was not to be! Fish Off! We wrapped the day up over in Jackstaff, working the bank with the floats, and fiddling with baitstealers and Ladyfish. But we had a good morning with great weather and had a few fish in the box so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.