We Skirted The Storms

 After last week's heat, today's weather was a blessing, albeit kind of spooky - there were storms to the eastof us and storms to the west of us, but we stayed dry and safe the entire morning. I had met William Waldman up at Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp and after easing out of Eagans Creek we made our way up and around to the Bell River, set up along a point of submerged oysters, and began to toss and drift float rigs on the last hour and a half of an incoming tide. William got bites right off - he hooked and brought to the net a handful of hungry Seatrout, a handful of high flying Ladyfish, and a....Catfish.

We were waiting for that tide to change so we made a quick run over to Lanceford Creek and stuck with the float rigs - not much was happening other than a Pinfish bite. Back down Lanceford we came, up the Bell and thru Tyger around to the outside of Tyger. The wind had picked up out of the north and with the tide starting out it was really kicking up - felt like we were out at the jetties! The float got a few bites but no takers then we switched to jigs and live shrimp and William, fishing off the stern had a nice "bump" - he set the hook and battled to the boat a nice feisty Redfish. 

Our next stop was up the Jolley River where we positioned the boat alongside a grass line at the mouth of a large drainage. William was working the bank - he had to be close with his cast or that north wind would push him off. We saw his bait get attacked and then his float disappeared and Fish On! This fish was ripping drag and heading east!  William kept the pressure on, turned him, then battled the fish from the stern, around to port, up to the bow, then back around to port and back to the stern, all the while ripping drag. William was up to the challenge and battled a nice 4' Bonnethead to the boat for photograph and release (all fish caught today were released).  Further up the Jolley William had his float slowly go under on a grass point - he caught up the line, lifted the rod to have his circle hook set, and had another good hookup. He patiently brought to the net a keeper sized Flounder.

We fished jigs around in the Bell River, had a flurry of "bait stealing" bites, then made our way back to the dock. Although we had storms north west of us, and storms east of us along the coast of Amelia Island, we had not had a drop so as we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

We Found Some Trout

 I fished Friday with Bill Foran and his daughter Casey, meeting them up at Old Town Bait and Tackle
boat ramp. We made a quick run up and over to the Jolley River, turned into the  "bank" and worked back. Our first cast produced a bite and Fish On! That's the way you like to start a trip!  Casey expertly worked in a nice Flounder to kick the day off. 

The wind was kicking a little bit out of the west and pushing us up against the bank so we ran further up the Jolley and tossed our floats and live shrimp on the outside of Snook Creek. The wind was blocked and the anglers were getting good casts, but we had no luck. After coming back to Tyger Cut we drifted the point and this did the trick. The duo hooked up and caught some keeper sized Seatrout then they battled Bonnethead Shark to the boat from photograph and release. They also caught and released a few hard fighting Jack Crevalle.

We finished up the morning fishing over at Bell River then headed back to the ramp with a box of Seatrout ready to be fileted, and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Slam In The Box

 I fished today with Mark Richardson, his son Braden and his friends Chris and Landon, meeting them up at the Old Town Bait and  Tackle ramp early. We made a run over to Lanceford Creek and fished some flooding oyster beds on a high and incoming tide with float rigs and live shrimp. Chris fairly quickly put a hungry Seatrout in the boat and shortly after that Braden had a strong hookup. This fish was "ripping drag" and I felt pretty sure it was going to be a big one, but it was  not to be. It was thrashing in some shallow water over the shell bed and BAP! Fish Off! Boy that hurts!

We fished a couple of areas there, picking up a couple of Trout by Landon and Chris, then Mark battled a hard fighting Bonnethead to the net for pictures and release. We moved on around to "Millie's Spot" and again caught a couple of Trout, one of which was of keeper size. 

We then made our way down the intercoastal and dipped into a creek and switched to jigs and shrimp. Chris picked up a Seatrout out deep, then Landon found a nice 16" Flounder at the mouth of a drainage. 

Back out  into the Intercoastal and down to some structure, fishing deep with the jigs, and in a cast or two Landon had a strong bite and Fish On! This was a big fish and was ripping drag and the fight was even more difficult when it got back into the current. But Landon was up to the task and patiently battled the big fish to the net, a nice 23" Slot sized Redfish which rounded out the team's Amelia Island Back Country Slam. And with that, we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida