After fishing up and down the island for a good while, we made the run around to the Jolley River and fished a stretch of still exposed shell with float rigs and shrimp and then jigs and shrimp, but to no avail. The wind had picked up and our drifts just weren't....drifting!
A final run around to Bell River did the trick. I was expecting to get Seatrout on the back side of some dock pilings but it was on the front side where Robert found a "honey hole" he had a strong hookup, one that ripped some drag and we knew that if it was a Trout it was a big one, and sure enough, that's what it was, a nice 19" Trout. Robert pulled two three more big Trout out of that same spot before it fell off. After fishing another couple of docks we headed back and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.Thursday, April 3, 2025
Good Fishing Day
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
First Jack of the year
We've fished north the last two times we've fished together but I wanted to show Steve another "side" of Amelia Island. We ran up the Nassau, all the way to a dock that is under repair/construction and got there before the crew showed up to get in a bit of fishing before the sawing and hammering started up! It paid off - Steve hooked up and landed a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum, a feisty Redfish, and the first Jack Crevalle catch of the year.
After the construction workers began work we moved around to Nassauville and fished between two docks. Steve had a few nibbles here and there but not much was happening until he had worked his jigs and shrimp out deep and BAM! Nice Fish On! Steve played it patiently and worked to the surface a big 19" Seatrout. We then moved down the bank a few docks, fished them pretty good and then the same thing happened. I was thinking "big Trout again" but when we netted it we saw it was a big Weakfish! We'll take it!
The tide had started in so we ran down Broward Island, set up and caught a feisty Redfish, then moved on down the island and worked back and this did the trick. Steve hooked up and landed some small, beautifully coppered Redfish then he battled to the boat a nice Slot Redfish.Our final stop was back at Twin Creeks fishing float rigs and this paid off on that higher incoming tide. Steve would make his cast up current, let it drift naturally and BAM! That float would go under. Steve had to quickly pick up the line so the circle hook set and he got most of them! They were small but fun to catch Seatrout and a good way to wrap up another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Grande Slam and a Mess 'a Fish
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Found Some Reds
I wrapped my week up fishing with the Dannenfelser's -David and Michele. We met up at Old Town Bait and Tackle and eased out of Eagans Creek early to make our first run over to Bell River where we set up at a point and drifted float rigs. David had a bite right off but it didn't take, then we worked up and down the edge, seeing multiple fish boil and tail up in the shallows, but they wouldn't eat. Before we left David did manage to get one hungry Trout up near the grass.
We then ran around to Lanceford and fished a deep bend between two docks and this did the trick with both anglers getting some Trout and Michele adding a Bluefish to the catch. One of these Trout was of keeper size but all fish caught today were released. Down a ways, at a grass patch, we circle it tossing the floats. There was a lot of bait action up in the grass but we had no takers until David hooked up and landed another Trout. After fishing Bolton's Bulkhead we moved on.
Over at Soap Creek we worked the edge of the grass on the very last of that incoming tide, and first of the outgoing and again, caught a Trout. After running back down Lanceford, up the Bell and thru Tyger we set up on the outside of the island to fish the first of an outgoing and here we had a bit of action. The duo both caught Redfish which put up a pretty good battle. Michele added another Bluefish to her catch before we crossed the creek and picked up one more Seatrout. The sun never really came out today, but the water was calm, there was enough breeze to keep the bugs off, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Friday, March 28, 2025
The First Three Were Keepers
fishing the back waters of Amelia Island (message me to be added to the "share-a-trip" group). We met down at Sawpit Creek this morning and run up the Nassau to make our first stop at a large outflow to toss float rigs and live shrimp on the first of an outgoing tide. It only took minutes and they were catching fish. The first three fish were keeper sized Seatrout - the biggest being about 17". These guys didn't miss many - we caught a handful of smaller but fun to catch Trout.
We then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point and here Bob, fishing off the stern, caught a couple of smaller Trout. We bounced across the creek and fished some water flowing a few grass islands and this did the trick with another couple of Trout catches. Back at Jackstaff, fishing another outflow, Frank hooked up with another couple of Trout. We fished Jackstaff "bank" but there was no cooperation along there.
After running back thru Horsehead and down to Backriver we set up and fished a shell bank as the shell began to show. Not much was happening until Bob had a strong hookup. He played it patiently and landed a feisty Redfish. Further up the river at the mouth of Pumpkin Hill we worked the bank with the float rigs. When we got to a couple of patches of grass Bob was drifting long and found a couple of more Trout back in a "riffle". Our last stop was fishing some dock pilings back at Seymore's Pointe before we headed back in and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.Thursday, March 27, 2025
Trout Were the Main Fare
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
What A Wrap Up
We then ran thru Horsehead and over to Pompano Point and set up again with the floats and here we did have a bit of current and that paid off with a couple of Seatrout catches. Continuing on up the intracoastal we made as stop and fished some structure with jigs and live shrimp. There were a bunch of baitstealers and only one Trout. After making the run up into behind Piney Island we set up current from some dock pilings and pitched to them, but to no avail. I was beginning to worry.
After getting the fish measured, photographed and in the box, Andy went back to the same spot and BAM! Big Fish On! I was thinking we were in a Black Drum "honey hole" but when this fish came to the surface we saw it was a large Slot Redfish. Andy played it patiently and landed it. He went back to the same spot and had another strong hookup -another Slot Red - they had their limit!
We fished down a dock or two, then came back to the "hot spot" where Jennifer got in on the Big Fish action. She had made a great cast, fished it slow, and had the hookup. Jennifer fought the fish to the surface and the net - another Slot Red which we photographed and released. We had to hit 5 spots but the final one paid off so as we headed back to their dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Monday, March 24, 2025
The Boyz Were Catching
I kicked off the week fishing with the Hutchins family - Matt and Laura and their two sons Garrett and Carter. We met early down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed up the intracoastal to make our way to Poteat Point and break out float rigs and live shrimp on a tide that had been going out for about 2 hours. It only took a minute before those floats were going down! I noted the water temperature was almost 64 and it seemed to turn the small Trout on. Garrett and Carter took turns reeling in Seatrout at that first spot. We did ease forward just a bit and got a couple of more further up.
Our final stop was down at Broward Island, fishing under a Bald Eagle. The current was really ripping but Matt did manage to get one more Trout out of the deep. We had stayed busy at a couple of spots reeling in fish so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Trout Were the Game
That first stop started things off right - Greg was tossing jigs and live shrimp on the last hour or so of an outgoing tide and he caught a good handful of Seatrout. He said he was getting just a faint "bump" - he'd tighten his line and set the hook. Many were undersized but he had a couple that were of keeper size. he also put two keeper sized Weakfish in the boat.
We worked up and down Nassauville fishing in pleasant "pond like" conditions. Every now and then we'd find a dock that produced a handful of Trout. Greg perfected the hookup and didn't miss many. He added to his catch total and keeper total, enough so that we had reached his limit and were tossing 15"+ fish back. One of those keepers was a "Gator" - when he hooked it up I was thinking, "finally, a Redfish" - but I was wrong. Greg played it perfectly, worked it up off the bottom, let it run, worked it in and landed a big 20" Trout, the biggest of the year and worth Bragging Rights for a while!
We fished down the Nassau for the last 45 minutes of the trip and Greg did finally find his Redfish, a feisty one that measured just undersized. We had went out this morning with a plan and it had paid off with some comfortable fishing, some good action, and a few fish in the box so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Private Waters? Trophy Trout!
The weather cooperated with our plans to fish today - it was looking "iffy" earlier in the week but as we got closer today it appeared the winds and rain would hold off until after out trip. I met Don Walters and his longtime friends and fishing buddies Alex and Bruce down at Sawpit Creek early and we headed up the Intracoastal and then into the Nassau to make our way up to Nassauville to make our first stop at a couple of docks to fish the last of an outgoing tide with jigs and live shrimp. The "baitstealers" were on fire! We may have gotten a Trout there but most of the bites were the little perch - good practice for hooking up but not what we wanted!
and pitched to others. This paid off when Bruce, fishing off the stern, had a strong hookup and boated a nice feisty Redfish. We stayed on the outside of the docks, pitching forward, and the trio caught a good handful of small but hungry Seatrout.
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Slowly Got a Slam
After running back around to the outside of Tyger we fished along the marsh bank with jigs for just a bit, to no avail. We then made the long run over to Bell River and fished jigs deep. Glenn put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat and Patti had one to the boat that would have been the biggest Trout of the day but alas, it threw the hook right at the boat. Ouch. It had been a beautiful day, we had some fish in the box, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Fishing In Style
We made our way down to Broward Island and set up to fish the first of an incoming tide. We didn't get any huge fish but we did have a smorgusboard of small er fish - Black "puppy Drum", a couple of Sheepshead, a Catfish and a Perch or two.
We drifted float rigs up at Pumpkin Hill, down each side of the pointe, then finished up fishindg some dock pilings back at Seymore's. It was a beautifly day, we had some action, so as Andy eased the boat back on to the lift we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Friday, March 14, 2025
Wisconsin Boys Catching Some Fish!
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Bar Setting Trout
Sawpit late morning with the sun already up and clear skies to greet us on a high tide that was just about to start out up at Nassauville. And that's where we made our first run to, easing up at a large drainage to break out some float rigs and live shrimp. I think first cast got a bite, 2nd cast got a bite, and on the third, Henry had a strong hookup. He was cranking it in and it was fighting back but Henry had the best of it and soon landed a 19.75" Seatrout - the biggest of the year and good enough to kick off the Anglers Mark 2025 Bragging Rights Tournament -Seatrout Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).The trio picked up a couple of more Trout, floating their baits over submerged oysters, then Greg had the big bite. I was hoping it was another big Trout but it was just as good - a hard fighting Redfish. We then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point where Jerry got on the board with a Seatrout catch. After working a bank thoroughly there, we crossed over and fished a beautiful outflow, but to no avail. Back thru Horsehead we came and up to Back River Point where we drifted the floats, but again, no bites.
We then made the tactical decision to switch to jigs and fish deep and this paid off, Fishing between two docks with the jigs, Henry padded his lead on the catch total, getting another Trout or two. We finished the day down at Broward, fishing under a Bald Eagle. We got another Red there and another Trout before we headed back to the ramp, and we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Catching Dinner
Fredericks and his fishing buddy Dan up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp. We eased out of Eagans Creek then made the run over to the outside of Tyger Island and set up with float rigs and live shrimp with plans to fish the marsh grass as the tide started out. Both John and Dan were getting good casts and good drifts but we didn't get a bite.
We bounced around Tyger, moving up towards Jolley and fished a large drainage with jigs and shrimp and again, no bites. We then ran up the Jolley to Snook Creek, eased inside, drifted floats out the back to no avail, then tossed jigs across the creek, again to no avail - no real bites.
If you've followed the last few days of fishing reports you may have seen that this has been the norm - no fish for the first couple of spots. But following Rule #4 - "if you're not catching fish, MOVE" - that's what we did - we made the run around to Bell River and anchored out from some docks and tossed the jigs up-current and let the jigs bounce down the bottom and this did the trick. Dan, fishing off the stern picked up a couple of Seatrout and a small Black "puppy" Drum. And when we moved up a couple of docks John got in on the action and caught a few of those hungry Trout. We dropped back about 4 docks and fished the pilings and this strategy paid off when Dan hooked up and expertly played to the net a keeper sized Black Drum.
We then made the long run back to Amelia, ran down the Intracoastal and found some more docks to fish. I was expecting Redfish but John found some Seatrout out in the middle of the creek. He landed a good handful, one of which was of keeper size and there were at least three that were just 1/16" shy of being legal - we tossed those back. Our final stop was further down the Intracoastal, fishing deep and on the first cast John hooked up and landed another keeper Trout. That was the only fish we caught there! But these two anglers had some fish in the box for dinner so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Rock Fish at Amelia?
We then made our way over to Eagans Creek and set up current from some dock pilings and it didn't take long before these guys were catching some fish. Lee got hot early and put a couple of Redfish in the boat, one of which was Slot size, and David picked up a Trout out deep. We then made our way over to Lanceford Creek and fished a grass patch, then a bulkhead with the floats and again, no bites. Those float rigs fished in shallow water are just not producing!
After making the run back down Lanceford and then down the intercoastal we made our way to another set of docks Kee got hot again and pulled a couple of Reds out from underneath, and David, fishing off the bow, worked a drainage and caught a good handful of Seatrout, two were of keeper size. Then Lee, who had been quite for most of the morning, began to get hookups. He put a couple of feisty Redfish in the boat and a few of those Seatrout. Between him and David, they caught bunch of those Trout that measured 14 7/8" .David worked those dock pilings again and BAM! Big Fish On! This fish was putting up a crazy battle and digging deep and ripping drag. I was thinking the battle looked different and sure enough, when David brought it to the boat we saw that it was a 23.5" hybrid Striper, boy what a fish. This is only the 2nd Striper landed on my boat in the 18+ years of guiding. But then topped that fish when he battled and brought to the net, a big 25" Slot Redfish. Gary wrapped things with another couple of Seatrout catches before we headed back to the dock and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Big Fish Right Off The Bat
I wrapped my week up fishing with Murray Bonitt and his son Dan and friend Gavin...and some dude named Darron that nobody knew. We met early down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp under cloudy skies but we had very little wind (but enough to keep the gnats away) so as we headed up the Nassau River we had high hopes of catching some fish. I haven't fished the shell beds in a long while but they were exposed on a tide that had been going out a few hours so as we approached Spanish Drop we decided to give it at try - we'd be pitching jigs and live shrimp to those oysters. Gavin and Dan were up at the bow while Murray manned the stern. We had been fishing for about 10 minutes when Murray put an excellent cast up near the oysters and he had a big hookup, Fish On! This fish was ripping drag and when I saw it wasn't wanting to come in I knew it had some size to it, and then it rolled and I knew it was a big Redfish. Murray played it perfectly, worked it in, wore it out, and soon landed a nice 24" Slot Redfish - first fish of the day!We worked that bank thoroughly then made a run the Nassau and fished a large drainage with the jigs.
Here, Dan got on the board with a couple of Seatrout catches and Murray added a couple, too. That Darron guy picked up a Baitstealer.
Friday, March 7, 2025
Oversized One, Two and Three
We then ran up the Intracoastal, up the Nassau and made our way to a drainage between two docks, where I thought it would be a sure thing to catch Seatrout. Dick and David were fishing jigs and live shrimp, Henry stayed with the DOA and...we didn't get a real bite. Ouch. We then ran down to Broward Island to fish it on the last of an outgoing. Here, we did get some action. All three anglers caught Seatrout tossing jigs or the DOA. Actually, the DOA produced pretty good. Throwing the shrimp though, David and Dick caught a feisty Redfish each. But then David had a strong bite, one that dug deep and ripped that drag. I must losing my touch - I didn't think it was going to be HUGE - "just" a nice Slot Red. But David proved me wrong. He worked it in patiently, brought it to the net, and landed an Oversized 30.75" Redfish.
As we eased down the bank, drifting with the current, these three anglers put a good mess of Seatrout in the boat. There were a handful of keeper size, but we tossed them back. Then it was Dick's turn to battle the big fish. He had tossed up into a shadow, hooked up, and BAM! Big Fish On! Dick played it expertly - kept the pressure on, let it run, worked it in, let it run, worked it in, and eventually landed another Oversized Red that measured right at 28". Boy what a fish!We came back to fish a dock at Seymore's Pointe where Henry quickly put a Seatrout in the boat, but we were looking for Drum or Reds so we moved on. The final stop was at Spanish Drop, fishing some shell beds with the jigs and shrimp. Just when I thought the fish had had enough, Dick had made a coast up behind a shell bar and BAM!. There went the drag ripping again! Another Big Fish on! Dick battled it valiantly and soon worked in another Oversized Red, this one measuring in at 29". What a great way to wrap up a fishing trip! e had had beautiful weather and had put some big fish in the boat so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Bragging Rights Bust
I was killing time waiting for that tide to start back in so we stopped in at some docks at Nassauville and pitched the jigs and this gave us a good flurry of action. Both Carol and Wade hooked up and caught Seatrout and I got in a few casts, caught a few, one of which was of keeper size. We then made our way down to Broward Island and fished it as the tide began to hit bottom. We were treated to a Bald Eagle sighting and then a Salt Marsh Mink scampering along the bank - my first sighting of the year. Carol had a good cast up to the bank and in short order, BAM! Fish On! She played it perfectly and patiently brought it to the net - a nice 18"(maybe) Redfish. The measurement was so close we thought we'd have to debate the FWC guy so we tossed it back. Just as we were releasing it Wade had a strong hookup. This fish was heading north and ripping drag and digging deep and we knew it was a big one. But Wade was up the task and put up a valiant battle, working the fish in slowly, letting it run, working it in, letting it run and after about an 8 minutes fight he brought to the net an Oversized 32.5" Redfish. This fish moved Wade into First Place in the 2025 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Boy what a fish!
We fished up and down the bank and picked up another handful of Redfish, one of which was of keeper size. After fishing a small creek and getting two more Reds, we called it a day and headed back in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Saturday, March 1, 2025
Recipe of the Month: Black Eye Pea Stew
much to the recipe, just some good old comfort food on a cold winter's day! Sorry, no seafood in it...
Ingredients:
1 lb dried Black Eye Peas 2 32oz boxes chicken stock 2-3 stalks celery, chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 1 lb bag frozen collard greens 1 lb ground or link smoked sausage Creole seasoning
Soak a 1lb bag of Black Eye peas - pour in a bowl, cover with water and soak overnight in the fridge.
The next day, drain and rinse the peas and put in a pot.
Cover with about one and half box of chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours
At about one hour take a potato masher or mallet and "smash" up some of the Black Eye Peas
Add bag of Collards to pot
In a cast iron skillet brown the sausage, add to pot.
Brown the celery and onion, season with Creole seasoning, add to pot
Season as needed again with Creole seasoning. Add Chicken stock to cover. Simmer covered for another 30 minutes.