Over in Tallahassee They're Laughing

 We had a bit of wind today which kept things cooler for most of the morning. After meeting Jacob Jones, is fiancé Lexi, and his father Lawton, up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp, we made a long run up and around to the Jolley River, and continued on around to the MOA to catch the first of an incoming tide before the oysters covered up. I think the first "demo cast" produced a nibble, and a hookup. Lexi was on the rod and expertly brought it to the boat - a feisty Black "puppy" Drum. 

From then on for about 45 minutes we were getting bites. Lawton hauled in a pair of huge Catfish and the trio landed a handful of Jacks, a couple of small Redfish, a couple of small Seatrout, then Lexi had another strong bite. She played it perfectly and brought to the net a keeper sized Black Drum.

We moved around to Snook Creek and worked along those oysters. We had numerous bites but no real takers so we moved on down the river. After fishing the "bank" with float rigs and again, no real bites, we moved back up the river and fished a pointe with the floats. And this did the trick. Right off the bat, Lawton picked up a couple of Seatrout, one of which was of keeper size. Then we were "on" again, catching fish We had a whole bunch of Seatrout caught, almost all right at 14", and if you listened close, you could here the FWC guys and girls over at Tallahassee laughing, "another 14" Seatrout caught!"

Our last stop was around at the outside of Tyger, tossing jigs again, now baited with mud minnows, in hopes of catching some Flounder. But we picked up a couple of.....14" Seatrout!  The sun had come out and even with the wind, the heat was getting up so we headed back and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Captain Lawrence Piper is a fishing guide in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida and is a 

 US Coast Guard licensed charter boat operator

Chamber of Commerce Fishing Day

 I met Danne Webb down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning and boy what a beautiful day it was! Clear skies, sunshine, and just enough breeze to make it comfortable for a back water fishing trip. We made a long run up the intercoastal, up the Back River and around to Pumpkin Hill. I  had hoped that the tide would still be coming in but unfortunately it was a dead stop - our floats wouldn't drift, right or left. After fishing a bit along one shoreline we moved around the corner as the tide started out and this did the trick.  There was all kinds of "movement" along the shoreline and after a big commotion Danne made a good cast and within seconds we saw a Bonnethead tracking down his bait and BAM! Fish On!  I was impressed how patient Danne was with the fish fight and it paid off - he worked it in and landed a nice 4' Shark.

Just a few minutes later Danne battled another Shark to the boat for release, then after a good cast up to the grass line we saw his float slowly go under. Danne lifted his rod and let the circle hook set. I was guessing "Flounder" by the way that float went under but when he got it to the net we found it was a feisty Redfish. 

We motored down the Nassau to Twin Creeks and fished the mouth, then worked up along the bank to Athens Drop, now fishing a jig and shrimp. Again, there was movement everywhere - bait fish, and bull wakes, and shark fins, but we had no takers. Needing some action, we pulled up and headed to the docks at Seymore's where we set up current and pitched to the pilings. It only took seconds and we were hooking up on Mangrove Snapper. Most were of keeper size and we had a few right at 12" and we began to "cull" out the smaller ones. Then, after he had made an excellent cast, Danne had a stronger hookup and, Fish On!  He worked it out of the pilings, kept the pressure on, and landed a perfect sized 16" and good eating Sheepshead. 

With our Mangrove limit in the box, we decided to move around to the Nassauville side and fish some rocks with float rigs. Although we were a bit worked about "leaving fish to find fish", the move paid off. In addition to catching a few more bigger Mangroves we had a nice surprise:  While drifting or floats, we heard and saw a big fish "bust" up near the rocks. I had just handed off a baited rod to Danne and he made the perfect cast up from the bust, let it drift and BAM! Sure enough, it was a bigger and when he expertly brought it to the net we found it was a feisty Redfish. What good way to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.