Beating The Wind For A Grande Slam

 

We knew that the wind was supposed to pick up today as we fished, so we got out early and got some good catches in before it really picked up. I met David Morton and his son Charlie down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we headed up the intracoastal, then up the Nassau to make our first stop at Spanish Drop. I had planned to keep going on up to Seymore's Pointe by I noticed the tide still had about 45 minutes to low so we pulled up and began pitching jigs and live shrimp and minnows to the exposed shell bank. We fished it good, drifted along the bank and fished it more and David kicked things off when he had a strong hookup and battled to the boat a nice Slot sized Redfish.  Charlie "spotted" his dad a few fish - David put another couple of feisty Reds in the boat before Charlie hooked up (with minnow as bait), a keeper sized Black "puppy Drum.

We then did make our way up to Seymore's Pointe to fish some dock pilings on the first of the incoming tide - it's a new dock and we got.....skunked! Not a bite. I motored around to Nassaville and there was a boat fishing where I wanted to stop so we kept going on down to Broward Island - the tide was still going out up there, but we set up and it paid off. Charlie got hot, fishing to a stump - he caught a handful of feisty Redfish, a couple of Sheepshead, one of which was of keeper size. Shortly after, Charlie had a strange "bump", a strange fight, and when he brought the fish to the surface we saw that it was a keeper sized Flounder which he handily landed.  David followed those up with some Redfish catches and a Sheepshead catch. The duo had a Grand Slam in the box - a Redfish, Black Drum, Sheepshead and Flounder.

We fished in a creek further up the river and added a couple of small Redfish to the catch total, then finished up fishing at Littlefield where Charlie added one more keeper sized Drum to the box then one of the biggest Croaker that I have seen. The wind was really kicking by this time but we had stayed in behind land masses and had caught fish so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Out of Nowhere

I wrapped my week up fishing south, meeting the Williams family - John and Mary Margaret and their kids Hadden and Ruth down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. It was a bit cool as we ran up the Nassau and I made beeline for a large drainage knowing the tide had just started out. Sure enough, were were on fish almost from the start. These anglers were tossing float rigs with about a 3' leader and circle hook up beyond a grassy point, letting it naturally drift and BAM! Fish On!  We caught a good handful of Seatrout, a couple were of keeper size, and Ruth reeled in an impressive 16" Sheepshead. We also had a few Bluefish caught, and few good fish that threw the hook. 

Our next stop was around at some docks at Nassauville and here things started slow, but boy did they heat up. John found rhythm and began to feel the "bump" and set the hook and landed a number of Seatrout, one of which was right at 19.5", a fish big enough to move him into 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2024 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). They also caught a couple of Flounder, one of which was of keeper sized. Then, as the fished deeper John hooked up and we both thought it may just be a clump of oysters, but then the rod bounced and the jigs ripped a

bit and we knew it was a big fish!  Hadden jumped in and worked the rod - they fought it valiantly together, and after a good battle brought to the surface and to the net a Big 22" Doormat Flounder, boy what a fish. This fish moved John and Hadden into first place in the Bragging Rights Tournament. 

We finished up fishing down at Broward Island on a tide that was still going out and here Mary Margaret put a nice feisty Redfish in the boat to wrap things up. We had a good handful of fish in the box, some Bragging Rights and as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Banner Day and Busted Bragging Rights

They only come around once in a while but when you have one of those Banner Days, you have to make the best of it, and that's what this trio of anglers did today. I had met Jay Mathews and two of his adult kids Will and Becky down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early. The tide was still coming in, especially way up near Broward Island. so we made the run up the intercoastal, turned west and cut thru Back River and made our way around to Pumpkin Hill where we set up drifting float rigs and live shrimp with the incoming current. It only took a few  minutes and we were on fish! This trio  caught one fish after the other - fat keeper sized Seatrout, hard fighting Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, more Trout, more Jacks, Flounder, and more Ladyfish. I think we were there for an hour and a half!

We finally moved around and fished some grassy patches and here Becky, after making an excellent cast, hooked up, battled and landed a nice Slot Redfish. Will followed that up with a hookup and battle with a large Bonnethead Shark. 

I had planned to head over to Jackstaff where we did pretty good yesterday but as we were passing a spot that I have had my eye on, I pulled up, turned into the current and we again went with the float rigs, drifted up by the grass. I knew that there was plenty of oyster shell submerged and we had the first of an outgoing tide and....BAM! They began to catch Redfish. All three anglers put Slot sized fish in the baot - Will, then Becky, then Jay. They kept going back to the same spot - BAM! Fish On! Will had a hookup and this one was BIG - it was ripping drag and heading north, so much so that we speculated it might be another Shark. But it came back, went to the shoreline, and finally boiled - Big Redfish. Will played it perfectly and after a long battle, landed a oversized 30" Redfish! This fish moved Will into First Place n the 2022 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfish Category. (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).

Not minutes later it was Becky's turn for the big fish. After hooking up her fish too ran like a freight train. But Becky applied the pressure and slowly worked it in, fought it thru multiple runs to the bottom, worked it up and after a good battle landed another oversized 28.25" Redfish, boy what a fish! We added one more Slot Redfish to the  catch and had a good handful of smaller "feisty" Redfish. caught.

After a brief stop down at Spanish Drop we headed back to the ramp and counted it as an outstanding day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.