Boy, Were We Wrong

 It was one of those "Chamber of Commerce" days with clear skies, sunshine, and only a slight breezewhen I met Jeff Key and his fiancé Sally down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. The gnats were bad at the dock but after we made our way up the river we never saw them again. Our first stop was up at Pumpkin Hill where we drifted float rigs and live shrimp with the last of the incoming current and it didn't take long for Jeff to hookup and bring to the boat a nice keeper sized Seatrout. He caught a couple more smaller Trout then he had a good hookup, one that was ripping some drag - I called "small Redfish" but as Jeff worked it to the net he landed a big 19.5" oversized Seatrout - big enough to move Jeff in to 2nd Place in the 2026 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). But I wasn't done being wrong!

On another drift Jeff had a hard take and almost immediately a big dark form rolled up. Jeff and I called it a "Ray" while Sally called it a dolphin. It was ripping drag and digging deep and I thought for sure that, being a Ray, it would break off any minute. But Jeff kept the pressure on and fought it patiently -it rolled again but didn't actually show, but we new it was big! Jeff worked it around the stern of the boat, let it run, worked it closer, then I saw that it was a huge Redfish. After landing the fish we measured it (twice) as 27.5" - oversized but big enough to move Jeff into 2nd Place in the Redfish Category of the Bragging Rights Tournament! We added one more keeper Trout along here, and also had some small throw backs. 

We fished around a point and picked up another smaller Trout, then ran back to Seymore's Pointe where I just knew we'd be getting some more fish. Wrong again! We didn't get a real bite. Thru Horsehead we went and on the other side we set up and fished a drainage, to no avail. We went over and fished Poteat Point where Jeff did hookup and land another nice keeper sized Seatrout. Back over at Jackstaff we pulled up to fish a cut with jigs. The two anglers weren't getting any bites but then I saw Sally's rod bend and Fish On!  Sally played the fish expertly and slowly worked it up to the surface - a tale-tale sign- and sure enough as it came up we saw it was a nice Flounder. Sally brought it to the net and we measured it at 16.5", big enough to set the bar for 1st Place in the 2026 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category. And shortly after that Jeff hooked and landed a smaller Flounder. 

We ran back thru Horsehead and down to Twin Creeks where we wrapped the trip up tossing jigs and minnows. We had some good fish in the boat, had thrown back some oversized ones, and had made a mark on the Bragging Rights board so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Made The Run

 I wrapped my week up fishing with the Conforti guys today, meeting them up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp early. The weather had cleared from yesterday and it was a bit cooler, but winds were expected to pick up as the day went on. We made our first stop over at Tyger Island, fishing the logs with jigs and live shrimp but the first area produced nothing.  After moving down the way Fred(the middle) hooked up and expertly landed a feisty Redfish. Then Fred(the younger) had a strange bite, a hookup, and he landed a nice Flounder. 

The wind was already picking up as we ran thru Horsehead over to the Bell and down to Lanceford where we headed up the creek to fish some docks with the jigs. We were somewhat sheltered here but after fishing a couple of docks we had no real bites, so we moved on.

I had intended to run way up the Bell River and fish those docks but I figured it was about the same distance as running south  to where we had some good action yesterday, so we made the run. We did stop off at one spot to fish a deep hole, but again, no bites.

Reaching Seymore's Pointe we all switched to float rigs and tossed them up wind to get good drifts across a shallow oyster pocked flat and here we had some action. Leo put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat, then Fred(the senior) had a strong hookup, one that ripped some drag. He fought it valiantly and after battle landed a Slot sized 21" Redfish. Fred(the middle) had the same kind of fight, played it perfectly and put another Slot Redfish in the boat. The anglers added another couple of smaller Reds, smaller Trout,and a Bluefish before Leo topped things off with another keeper Seatrout. 

We were a long way from the ramp and running into the wind but as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Grande Slam For The Day

 I fished with the Prolog's Hand and Mary and their daughter Mollie to day, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. And after running up the Nassau to our first stop at a dock at Seymore's I was feeling pretty confident that we were going to get in to some fish today. The tide was supposedly low and just starting in, and it was at this spot, but we struggled with bait stealers swiping our live shrimp off the jigs. We did outsmart a couple of them but had no luck with any bigger fish. 

Our next stop; was down at Broward Island and even though it had been "low tide" for about 45 minutes, it was still going out. We fished a good bit and dealt with the bait stealers again, then we moved on down the way and fished back. Here, we finally got into some fish - Mollie "knocked the skunk off" with a nice Seatrout catch. But again, that was it. 

Back up the island we went and now that the tide had begun to come in, we finally started catching.  Mary put a keeper sized Sheepshead in the boat, then all three anglers were catching Redfish, one of which was in the Slot. Mary had a Seatrout catch which gave here an Amelia Islands Back Country Slam. When the bite slowed, we move on, heading back to Nassauville. 

Fishing between two docks we didn't get too much action, but Mary did have a strange bite, a hookup, and patiently brought to the net a almost legal Flounder to round out her very on Grande Slam. 

Our final stop was up the Nassau and into a Creek where we worked bank with logs. It was some finesse casting but they were up to it and caught a couple of Seatrout and Redfish. We had had a beautiful day and had pulled in some fish so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Steady Catch'n

 

I kicked off the week fishing with David Vice and his friends Robert and Henrietta, meeting them out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp at sun  up. We made a quick run over to the Back River and set up to fish float rigs with mud minnows on a tide that had been going out for a couple of hours. It was only minutes when they began to get bites. David started it off with Seatrout, catching one after the other. Robert followed that up with some feisty Redfish catches then they were all catching fish. Redfish, Seatrout, Redfish, Redfish, Seatrout. Henrietta was on the stern and picked up a couple of her own.

We the ran down the Nassau and fished Spanish Drop, sticking with the float rigs and tangled with some Ladyfish, then moved up to a large drainage and caught more Redfish, more Seatrout, and Henrietta hooked and landed a keeper sized Flounder (released due to the closed season). We fished a dock later and caught a couple of Mangrove Snapper, a Whiting and a small Sea Bass. 

After fishing another dock where we caught a couple of more Mangroves, we made our way down to Broward Island on the last of the outgoing tide, but the wind had kicked up, and the bite fell off so we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

High Tides and Low Tides

 It's amazing how different the fishing can be depending on the tides. This morning I met Warren Hearn and his brother-in-law Dave up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp. We had a tide that was already high and still coming in so we went with float rigs and live shrimp as the tactic. Our first stop was over on the outside of Tyger and almost immediately Warren had a hookup and after expertly playing it, landed a big Bluefish. Then Dave had a hookup, one that pulled a bit of drag, and he brought to the net a big 18" Seatrout. We bounced around all morning, drifting edges with the float rigs  and this duo caught a good handful of Seatrout and another nice Blue.

This afternoon we were fishing a tide that had been going out for a few hours. I had met Kay Hartinger and her partner Sue at Old Town and we made a long run up the Bell to fish some docks with jigs and shrimp. The first spot produced no fish but we got in closer between a couple of more docks and fished back to the pilings. Kay and Sue began to catch fish - hard fighting and feisty Black "puppy" Durm, some feisty Redfish, then Kay put a Slot sized Red in the boat.  We came back to the Eagans Creek area and fished some more dock pilings and  for two hours we caught Redfish, one after the other! Kay added a keeper sized Black Drum, then patiently played a 23" Slot Red to the net. Sue followed that up with a nice 21" Slot fish of her own. When the dust had settled I guestimate we had caught at least 25 Redfish, four of which were of legal size.  But not a single Trout, like this morning! Hah! As we headed back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Flipped a Coin

 

We had a low tide early and I was trying to decide whether to fish dock pilings or Tyger Island so in my mind, I "flipped a coin" and went with the dock pilings. Glenn and Patti Langford were right on time so we headed over to some docks at Egans Creek and set up where the two could pitch jigs and live shrimp to the bases. Patti's first cast and BAM! Fish ON!  Her and Glenn traded catches, one after the other - most of them just shy of Slot sized, then Patti had a strong hookup and the fight was on! 

Patti played it expertly and after a good  battle landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish. They continued to pitch the dock - Glenn hauled in a feisty Black Drum, then Patti put an even bigger 23" Slot Redfish in the boat. They kept fishing, catching Reds, and Patti wrapped it up with one more 21" Slot fish (this one went back due to the new rules).

We motored over to small creek and drifted float rigs to a flooding oyster island and here the duo caught another Redfish and a small Flounder.  After running over to the Bell river we fished a grassy point and here Glenn picked up a Seatrout to round out their Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam of Redfish,  Black Drum, Flounder and Seatrout.

After buzzing thru the cut to behind Tyger we switched back to jigs on the bottom with mud minnows and caught another Flounder, but not big enough to keep. We braved a wind that had picked up and ran up to the Jolley, fished some flooded grass with floats, landed another Trout, then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.