We Threw Everything We Had At 'Em

 We had another beautiful day today- I was up early and at the bait shop only to find out they were
temporarily out of minnows AND shrimp. But they had some fiddler crabs, and I had about a dozen minnows left over and still alive, and when I launched at Sawpit I cast netted a good couple of dozen of finger mullet to add to the ammunition!  I had met Tim and Laura Wolfe down early and we made the short run up the Nassau and turned into the current that had just started in, and we baited up with what we had, alternating between the minnows, the fiddlers and the mullet, and all three caught fish. 

It was Laura's year - she boated a couple of Seatrout and a feisty Redfish as we worked the bank, tossing jigs and slowly working them back. Tim made it close, he hooked up and landed the biggest Red of the day, and also had a Seatrout. We fished Broward Island then Pumpkin Hill, had a bit of action there, then made our way thru Horsehead to fish a few spots. We had a beautiful day out on the water, had caught some fish and so as we headed ack to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Pinpoint Cast Proves Fruitful

 The water was like glass when we pulled away from the dock this morning, hardly any breeze and mostly
clear skies. I had met Brian and Janet Roach down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we buzzed up the intracoastal, all the way up to Poteat Point, and began fishing with float rigs and mud minnows on a tide that had been going out for about an hour. They were getting good casts and good drifts and picked up a handful of hungry Seatrout and a couple of Ladyfish.

We came around and ran up into a creek off of Jackstaff and again picked up some Seatrout, then after had made a good cast up past a point- it drifted by it and BAM! Big Fish On! We were all thinking "big Redfish" as it bulled up into the grass, then dashed back out, then bulled back up to the grass - Brian played it perfectly but when it started making that "jab, jab, jab" at the boat we knew it was a Jack Crevalle - a big one at that!  Brian brought it to the net and we photographed and released it.  After fishing Jackstaff "bank" with the floats and picking up another couple of Trout, and fishing a small cut with jigs, we made the run thru Horsehead over to the Nassau River.

The tide was moving out and there was all kinds of bait action at Twin Creeks. Brian and Janet began pitching the jigs to their mouths and when Brian saw some bait get "busted" at the left creek mouth he made a pinpoint cast and BAM! Big Fish On!  Brian patiently brought it to the boat and landed a nice 17.5" Flounder. As we worked that edge, Janet hooked and expertly landed a couple of feisty Redfish, and a hungry Flounder.  

We fished Broward Island for a bit and got another Flounder, then we fished Pumpkin Hill for a bit - Janet tangles with a Gar Fish, then we came back to Littlefield and fished that drainage and got one more Flounder. We had some beautiful weather, some good action, and a couple of nice Flounder sandwiches in the box so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another grear day to be fishing here at Amelia Island Florida. 

It Was a Big One

 We passed on the early morning fishing today with thunderstorms rattling the windows before the sun
came up, but we met at Noon up at Old Town Bait and Tackle to take in an Amelia Island Back Country fishing trip. David and Ellen Capps met me at the dock and after easing out of Eagans Creek we made our way up to the Jolley River and further up to JC's spot to catch the first of an incoming tide and toss jigs with mud minnows to the exposed oysters. It only took a minute or two before David hooked up and expertly landed a feisty Redfish. Both anglers had numerous nibbles after that but no takers.

We came back to Snook Creek and fished that stretch with floats and the minnows, then came further back to Jolley "bank" and drifted it with floats, then back to Tyger Cut and again, fished teh floats. The bites were few and far between. But after running back and around to Lanceford Creek we hit BM#2 spot and here we had some pretty good action. Ellen hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout, David found a trout up deep in a cove, then he caught a nice Redfish, then another. Then he hooked up and when his drag started ripping we knew it was big. The fish came charging to David and he cranked up the slack, thenit drove back into the marsh and over a hidden shell bed - it rolled up, a HUGE back, then BAP! big fish off! Ouch, it was a big one! We finished the day over in Soap Creek and Ellen topped it off with a small Flounder catch. Other than that one spot, most of the others we "sparse", but it was a beautiful day, we had caught a few, and it was a great day to be out fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Amelia Island Slam

 Prettiest day all week! We noted that the water was like glass as we ran up the intracoastal, shore birds all
along the bank made for a nice ride. I had met the Arnett family, David and Kim and their girls Abbey and Bethaney, down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We went up the intracoastal, then dipped into Jackstaff and worked the "bank" with jigs and mud minnows, and finger mullet (and later on, some small Pogey's). We had some pretty good action, picking up some small Flounder, tangling with some Ladyfish, hooking up some feisty Redfish, and finally Abbey put a nice keeper sized Flounder in the boat.

We then ran thru Horsehead and over to the Nassau and fished Twin Creeks and picked up more fish (it seemed like every stop we got fish), Kim battled a hard fighting Jack Crevalle to the boat, then we moved down to a large drainage and fished it (maybe we got skunked here), then we headed down to Broward Island.

It was almost low, still easing out just a bit, and we had some good action here. By this time Bethaney had taken over "Net Girl" duties and did an amazing job - she didn't miss a single one, even the big Slot Redfish that her sister Abbey hooked up and expertly played to the boat. Bethaney went in there fast, under the fish's jaw and netted it right up! David had caught a short Trout earlier but this time he got it above the keeper limit, and we had an Amelia Island Back Country Slam in the box! We had good fish catching action all morning, had some beautiful weather, some a bunch of wildlife and so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Lollie and Pops Went Fishing

 Lollie and Pops went fishing at Amelia Island.

Lollie caught a Red Drum real fast! We call them "Redfish". 

Then Pops caught a lot of Speckled Seatrout. We call them "Trout".

Lollie caught a hard fighting Jack Crevalle. 

We fished near an island with trees and logs. We were using mud minnows for bait.

Lollie caught a Redfish that was 23" long! Pops netted the fish. 

We fished some marsh grass. Pops caught a few Seatrout.

Our last stop, Lollie caught a HUGE Redfish. It was 27 1/2" long! Pops netted that one, too!

We let it go. It was too big to keep. 

Lollie and Pops went fishing at Amelia Island.

 

Two Asterisks and a Slot

 Finally, we had some good weather this morning -just a slight breeze, slightly overcast, and mild 
 temperatures greeted us when I met Lee Warren and David Vice out at Goffinsville Park. We made a short run back down the Nassau and pulled up to Twin Creeks to pitch jigs and mud minnows to the drainages. It paid off - we picked up a couple of feisty Redfish then David had a strong bite that ripped his drag and took him around the boat. I was managing the net and the Go Pro and trying to position myself when David yelled "big Sheepshead" and I was thinking, "naaaah, can't be a Sheepshead" and I even called out "Black Drum?" But then David expertly brought it up to the surface and we saw it was a massive Sheepshead, and when netted we saw it had been foul hooked*. and measured right at 20" - big enough to take first place in the Anglers Mark 2026 Bragging Rights Tournament-Sheepshead Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Boy what a fish!

We fished that area then moved down to fish another drainage. Lee had hauled in a couple of oyster clumps and when he had a heavy rod on another cast he was thinking "shell" but then it began to tug deep and Fish On!  Lee worked it patiently to the boat and landed a big 17" Flounder*. We added one more keeper sized Flounder along that stretch. We fished some dock pilings on the first of the incoming tide and picked up a small Sea Bass and a small Mangrove Snapper, then we made a move.

After making our way down to Broward Island we fished the very last of the outgoing down there and it paid off. We had a good strong bite that was ripping drag - we saw a big Red roll, then it went deep, and....thru the hook! Ouch! But shortly afterwards, David had another good bite, played it perfecty, and brought to the net a nice 22" Slot Redfish. We had good weather all morning long, we had some fish in the box, and so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Atmospheric Changes and Fronts

 We've had a little bit of weather the last few days - lot's of rain showers passing thru and some high
winds. Those winds died down just a bit today, so we decided to fish, but they were still an issue. Anytime we have some of those weather pattern changes it seems to affect the fish bite. Today, I met Larry Soper and his son Dustin up at Old Town Bait and Tackle. We had (what we thought was) a bait well full of live shrimp, with no mud minnows available, and after making our way out of Eagans Creek we made a quick run over to Lanceford Creek and fished some dock pilings with jigs on the very first of an incoming tide. Just as a I thought, the "baitstealers" were a pain- we fed 'em good!  But Dustin, fishing off the bow and out deep picked up a nice keeper sized Whiting. He hooked an had a bigger one to the boat, then a couple of more smaller ones. We moved around the dock and Larry hooked and landed a feisty Sheepshead.

We fished a drainage in Lanceford and here Larry put up a valiant battle with a big Bonnethead Shark which he expertly landed for photograph and release, then we made our way back around and up to the Jolley River. We worked the "bank" with float rigs and Dustin got back in action when he boated a feisty Redfish. We switched back to jigs and had some good action catching those Redfish.  After running further up the Jolley we tried JC's spot for a bit, then came back and fished Snook Creek then Tyger Cut with the floats. Our final stop was around at Bell River fishing the jigs and here Dustin hooked up and brought to the boat a small Flounder. We had gone thru 6 dozen live shrimp with the baitstealers  doing their thing so we ended up tying on some DOA Shrimp to get us thru the trip. We had some actionhere and there, and even though the wind made it a challenge, as we headed back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

My Very First Paid Charter

 I started keeping a fishing journal in 1998 - I'd make note of where I fished and what we caught, etc. After I got my Captains license in 2007,  I continued to keep a written journal while I started running charters and the very first trip was recorded on July 23, 2007:

It reads....

My first paid charter, w/ Bill Evans & grandson(?) Jokim.  Went up Boggy Creek 7am, tide hi, starting out. Started fishing past Police Lodge. Bill hung something big, got off. (Beetle Spin) Jokim caught a nice  bream on worm. Fished until 11:00

I actually remember that trip - Mr. Evans had brought along his 9' fly rod - I had it in one of my console side rod holders. As we ran up Boggy we approached the "Hump Back" bridge -cool if you've never seen it - and I slowed to a crawl to ease thru the pilings safely. But I was so intent on making it thru safely I forgot that Mr. Evan's fly rod was sticking up in the rod holder as we started under the bridge, BAM, BAM, BAM...and the top section of the rod came off!  I cringed. Luckily it just separated and pushed back together with no damage. It was an inauspicious start, to say the least.  Although my "repeat" rate for customers is pretty good, I never got to fish with Mr. Evans again. 

I kept the written journal going and also began to "Blog" my trips in 2008 (keeping a double journal) and did both thru April 2013 - that's a long time of being hardheaded and not turning loose of the "old school" recordings.

Saving The Best For Last

 After a long Labor Day weekend, we were back fishing today, and wouldn't you know it, we
had....WIND!  It wasn't so bad that we did go fishing - the rain chance was down in the single digits, but the wind was forecasted to get up to 14mph, and I believe it did. It made for some "challenging" fishing but my two anglers, Bart Mathews and his longtime friend Jaime were up for the task. We met down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and made our way up the Nassau River to make our first stop at a large runout at Seymore's Point. They were getting good casts with the wind at their back and getting good drifts on the very first of a (very) high and outgoing tide, but we had no takers.

We then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point and drifted that stretch of grass with the floats, and may have had a nibble, but nothing more, then we came back into Jackstaff and fished a small creek and here the action picked up a bit - Jaime hooked up and had a big battle with what I thought was going to be a big Redfish - he played it perfectly - but as closer to the boat it started making that trademark dig-dig-dig and sure enough, when Jaime brought it to the surface we netted a big Jack Crevalle - a great battle! Just minutes later Bart had the strong bite - he played it expertly and I thought for sure we had it but the fish headed right for some submerged oysters and "BAP" fish off! Ouch. 

We ran back thru Horsehead and down to Middle River and fished a stretch, then continued on down to Pumpkin Hill where we switched to jigs and Bart picked up a an "almost legal" Redfsih, then came back to Twin Creeks where we tangled with a couple of Ladyfish. We then moved east to another nice drainage and pitched the jigs. Bart had put on a finger mullet, tossed it to the drainage and almost instantly, BAM! Big Fish ON! And boy was it big. A long fight ensued - that fish took Bart from the Bow, down the port side, around the stern, back around the stern, back around the stern and finally Bart wore 'em out and landed an Oversized 31.5" Redfish - big enough to move into 2nd Place in the Anglers Mark 2026 Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Boy what a magnificent fish! After fishing Spanish Drop briefly, we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Brothers Fishing Bash

 

The Bochy brothers, Joe and Bruce and Mark, all met up here at Amelia Island for a birthday get-together and took in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip this morning. I met them down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and after a short run up the Nassau we made our first stop at Spanish Drop and went with the jig rods and mud minnows on the very last of an outgoing tide. The first "demo" cast produced a hungry Flounder so we were off to a good start! We worked that bank then skipped up to Twin Creeks and here we had some pretty good action.

It seemed each of the brothers had their own expertise - Joe was catching most of the Flounder (one of which was of keeper size), Mark was catching Seatrout, and Bruce was catching Redfish! Joe had made a cast  up to the bank and worked it out deep and had a big Oversized Seatrout take it right at the boat - he worked it in patiently and landed a 20" Seatrout for photograph and release. Bruce was expertly landing fesity Redfish while Joe put the Flounder in the boat. We then fished a dock up at Seymore's Point on the first of an incoming tide - the only spot we got "skunked", then we made our way down to Broward Island where Bruce did put a hungry Trout in the boat. 

The final stop was fishing back at Pumpkin Hill, this time using float rigs and the minnows and here we picked up a nice 18" keeper sized Seatrout. The anglers tangled with a bunch of Lady fish here and Bruce added one more Redfish to his catch total before we headed back to the ramp. It had been a beautiful day, we had some good action, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

One out of Five

 Those "glass like waters" keep on coming - it was a beautiful morning when I met Bob and William
Blalock out at Goffinsville Park boat ramp - I launched at Sawpit and motored up there (according to the County, the ramp repair is "in design and permitting stage"). I had launched early and cast netted some nice finger mullet to add to the mud minnows I had purchased so we had a good well full of bait. We made our first stop down at Twin Creeks and fished jigs to the outlets on a tide that had been coming in for a few hours and it was William who knocked the skunk off with a nice keeper sized Flounder -all fish caught today were released. They added a couple of "junk fish" before we moved on.

Our next stop was down at Pumpkin Hill, drifting the floats. The Ladyfish were ever present but Bob did put a big 18" Seatrout in the boat, then he battled a big Jack Crevalle. We worked around the point then made our was further south to hit a spot that sometimes produces fish - in particular a non-descript point of grass that I've noted produces a big Trout one in five times we fish it. William had made the perfect cast just north of the point and let his float drift naturally and BAM! Big fish on!  He was getting some drag ripping and he and Bob were guessing "Redfish" but sure enough, when William expertly brought it to the net, it was a 20"+ gator Seatrout. We quickly photographed and released her. Crazy how that spot holds a big Trout, on occasion.

We ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point but I think we got there a little too early, the tide was just hitting high, but we ran down to Sawpit and fished a nice drainage that I had been eyeing and it paid off - we picked up a couple of Flounder and Bob caught one that was of keeper size. William had tossed up between some pilings and a big fish hit just as a boat wake rolled us and I thought we might lose William  but he stayed with it - he battled the fish to the net and landed a big Jack Crevalle. We had some good weather, some good action, some big Trout and so as we headed back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

1st Mate Material

 The water was like glass all day today! I had met Bob Miller, his brother Jim and Jim's son Nick and
grandson Sam down at Sawpit Creek early - it was so still that the sand gnats made an appearance! But we got underway and that was the last we saw of them - we headed up the Middle River and around to Pumpkin Hill and drifted float rigs and mudminnows up by the grass on a tide that still had about and hour and a half to high. We had some action - a bunch of Ladyfish and a couple of Jack Crevalle, but Jim did hookup and land a keeper sized Seatrout.

We came back to Seymore's Point and drifted it for a few casts then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point. Again, a lot of "junk" fish - Ladyfish, a Catfish, but then Bob hooked up and put another keeper Trout in the boat. And the Nick/Sam team followed that up with even a bigger Trout, this one measuring right at 18". Jim pulled a small Flounder out of there then we made the mover back over to Jackstaff and tossed jigs and minnows. My jigs didn't make too much of an impression - we didn't catch much, just another small flounder. 

By this time Sam was filling in as "1st mate" - he was retrieving the bait, hooking some of them up, and he had taken over net duties. We finished up back in the Nassau, fishing Twin Creeks with the  jigs, and here Jim finally got a keeper sized Flounder for the box. We had some good action for most of the morning and had 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.

Weekly Wrap Up

 It was an interesting week!  I "fun" fished on Wednesday with friend Tandy Morton using his boat - kinda nice to be a passenger! We left the Amelia Island Marina early and made the run out to the jetties, making our way over to the north jetty, on the inside, about half way between the bend and the end, where we set up with Tandy's trolling motor to hold us at anchor, about 40' off the rocks, on the last of an outgoing tide. Tandy had bought some mud minnows the day before and had cast netted for some perfect sized finger mullet so we had some good bait. Tandy  had a bucktail jig baited with the mullet and I was tossing a 3/8oz jig with the mullet and every once in a while we'd get a good bite. For me, it was kinda weird - that deeper, moving water made it a little difficult to feel the bite, but we got the hand of it. We ended up getting two nice Slot Reds in the boat and one keeper sized Flounder, and we threw back an oversized Red. And we missed at least four good fish - we had 'em on but they just came off!

The next day I took John Raker and Kenny King out there, pretty much to the same area. John had a
good strong hookup on about his 2nd cast, but unfortunately, it too came off. From then on all we had were nibbles. We eased down the jetty tossing to cuts but had no more good bites. So we made a run back in and up the Jolley where we set up along some exposed shell and went back to 1/4ox jigs and mud minnows and this did the trick. Both Kenny and John had good hookups with feisty Redfish. We bounced over to the MOA and picked up another Red, then we came back to the outside of Tyger and worked that bank and picked up a handful of Flounder. 

Yesterday I fished with the Bailey Boys - Douglas and his sons Anderson and Dylan, this time meeting down at Sawpit Creek. We made the run up the intracoastal and dipped into Jackstaff and fished a cut on an outgoing tide with jigs and mud minnows. I was expecting Flounder but I don't think we got a one. They did pick up a feisty Redfish and an "almost" legal Mangrove Snapper. After running through Horsehead we hit few drainages and picked up few fish. After fishing a drainage over at Nassauville where we picked up another Snapper and a small Flounder, we then made our way down to Broward Island where we had our best action. Anderson put a couple of more of those feisty Reds in the boat, Dylan expertly played a keeper sized Seatrout to the boat, but the net man missed him, then Douglas had a strong hookup and battled a nice slot Redfish to the net. While he was doing that Anderson hooked and landed another "almost legal" Mangrove. Then it was Dylan's turn to fight the big Red - he played it patiently to the boat and landed another Slot Redfish. We finished the day tossing floats at Pumpkin Hill but the sun was up and hot and the tide was at a standstill so we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Nothing Like Some Drag Ripping

 I wrapped my week up fishing today with Garland Clark, the "birthday boy"!  We had a good time - we left Sawpit Creek early and headed up the intracoastal, then up the Nassau to make our first stop at Spanish Drop. The tide had been coming in for an hour or so and the shell banks were about covered, but we went with jigs - I had a bunch of live shrimp, a handful of mud minnows and a live well of finger mullet - we were loaded! Garland "knocked the skunk off" early when he hooked up and quickly brought to the boat a couple of feisty Redfish, one after the other.  We moved up the river to a drainage and fished it a few casts, then we moved on up to Twin Creeks and here we hit pay dirt.

First, Garland had had a couple of "nibbles" and finally hooked one up - a nice Black "puppy" Drum (all fish caught today were released. Then, in just a few casts he had his rod bend and his line take off heading west and boy was that drag ripping - it wasn't slowing down - we chased it! I was worried he was going to get spooled. But we teamed up, I followed it up the river while Garland cranked in the line then we hovered over the big fish until Garland wore it out and brought it to the surface - a 4' plus Bonnethead Shark.  We got a couple of pics and tossed it back. 

When Garland had another strong bite I was thinking, "oh shoot, another Bonnethead", but it didn't make that really long run, although it made some strong deep runs closer to the boat. We were speculating what he had and boy was it great to see when it came to the surface that it was a huge Redfish! Garland patiently worked it to the boat and landed an Oversized 28" Redfish, boy what a fish.

We hit a handful of spots where Garland caught a small Whiting, a couple of small Mangrove Snappers, a small Jack Crevalle, then we finished the day when he hooked and landed the first keeper sized Mangrove Snapper! He met the Challenge and claimed the GPK! And with that, we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

One Big Trout and Big Bonnethead

 We had a couple of days of afternoon rainstorms come through and I think it made a difference in the fish bite. This morning we had a tide that was about midway coming in, clear skies, and just a little breeze which made for some comfortable fishing early, but by 11am it was getting HOT! I fished with Kenny King and his crew, John Raker and John's mother Betty, meeting them out at Oyster Bay. We came back down Lanceford and then up the Bell to make our first stop at a point of oysters that were just about already covered. We had a baitwell of healthy shrimp, a handful of mud minnows (caught yesterday) and a live well with about 2 dozen finger mullet. That first stop didn't produce much at all, just a few nibbles.

We made our way down the intracoastal with plans to stop at some structure but a shore angler beat us to it, so we kept going down to Poteat Point where we drifted the floats with the incoming tide. Although we didn't count them as "skunk off", Kenny did pick up Catfish and a Ladyfish, then finally, a hungry Seatrout. After making our way over to Jackstaff we turned into the "bank" and fished it all the way back to the point and may have gotten a fish or two. But when we turned the corner the action picked up with Ladyfish catches then Kenny had a strong bite - it giving him a good fight and we felt sure it was going to be a decent fish, and it was! Kenny expertly brought to the boat a big 19.75" Seatrout, which we photographed and released, boy what a fish!

After fishing a couple of more spots off of Jackstaff, we ran thru Horsehead and fished a drainage at Seymore's Point then finished up the day over on Alligaator Creek. Here, Betty tangled with two Bonnethead Shark - the second one was about 4 foot and then she finished up the day with a nice Seatrout catch. We had caught a couple of big fish and had great weather so as we headed back to the dock we counted it as aother great day to be fsihing here at Amelia Island Florida.

Those Dang Baitstealers

 Sooner or later I'm going to have to quit griping about them, but boy do those baitstealers make it tough to get a good fish! My guests today, Terry Foley and his buddy Chris found out early - after running up the intracoastal, then up Back River and around to Pumpkin Hill we had a pretty good high and incoming tide to drift those float rigs baited with live shrimp (still no mud minnows at the bait shop). They were re-baiting non-stop, unfortunately. But Terry did get one by them and sure enough, BAM! He hooked up and expertly landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. Around the corner we picked up a small Redfish and Chris battled a Bonnethead Shark and a big Jack to the net for photograph and release.

We made a brief stop back at Seymore's Point, then ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point where we drifted the floats. We had bites and Terry had something on briefly but it tangled in an old line and thru the hook. Back over in Jackstaff we switched to jigs and picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout then Chris had a good "thump", he set the hook and patiently brought to the boat a keeper sized Flounder. 

After running back thru Horsehead we hit a couple of drainages as we got to the bottom of our bait. Chris reeled in an "almost legal" Mangrove Snapper and then Terry wrapped the catching up when he hooked a Flounder right at the boat and brought it in. We then headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

I've set a minnow trap out the last couple of days but the tide is either too high or too low or the minnows I catch are too small. Come on Fall!

Catchin Without the Muds

 With the scarcity of mud minnows at the bait shops now days, we're having to go with live shrimp and boy, do we blow thru a bunch! I fished Friday and today with the Raker Team - John and his mother Betty and their friend Kenny King. Friday we fished out around Nassauville and caught a few - we had a small Red, some small Seatrout, a small Flounder and a handful of small Mangrove Snapper, and Kenny tangled with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle.

Today we met out at Oyster Bay and made our first stop back down Lanceford, fishing floats on the very first of a high and outgoing tide. Betty got hot early catching Seatrout off the stern. John picked up a feisty Redfish and Kenny battled two Black "puppy" Drum to the net, one of which was of keeper size. As it turned out we got fish at almost every stop today. We made our way down Lanceford and over to the outside of Tyger and switched to jigs and again had a good flurry of fish catching. Betty put a keeper Whiting in the boat and John battled a huge Bonnethead shark to the boat for pictures and release.  We eased up the outside of Tyger to fish a large drainage with the jigs in hopes of getting Flounder but it was Seatrout that bit our live shrimp on the jigs. Around the corner and up into the Jolley we fished the "bank" and picked up a couple of feisty Reds and I tossed the cast net briefly to get a few finger mullet for bait.

After making our way up the Jolley we stopped at another large drainage and drifted the floats along the exposed shell and here Betty had a good string of feisty Redfish catches. Our bait had dwindled to almost nothing but we had a couple of shrimp left and those few mullet so we worked the outside of Snook Creek and picked up one more keeper Whiting. John had put a mullet under a float and after a good cast we all saw a big fish roll on the bait and BAM! That float was gone! We could tell it was a nice fish - John played it patiently and worked it slowly to the net to landed a big 20" Gator Trout, boy what a fish. Although we didn't have mud minnows the shrimp provided good action so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Fast And Furious Beginning

 I met the McBride boys this morning down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp - Ragan, his father Rand, and his two sons Kellan and Cole. We made a quick run up the intracoastal and made our first stop at a large drainage marked by a whole herd of birds feeding in its flow. The first "demo" cast caught a feisty Redfish that Kellan expertly reeled in and the 2nd cast produced a strong bite. Cole was on the rod initially and it didn't "act" very big but then it started a long run and Cole was in for a battle. The big fish came out and went long and took the line thru the transducer and the engine - we had to open the bail and get the line out, and, OH Boy, we had been spooled! But the dumb fish didn't know any better so we the line free and chased it and Ragan took a turn working the fish up - he played it perfectly and we eventually boated a 4' Bonnethead Shark. That woke everybody up!

We fished that drainage and moved down and fished Spanish Drop and caught a variety of fish - Redfish, Seatrout, Jacks and Catfish and Ragan added a keeper sized Flounder to make it an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. All fish caught today were released. We then made a move up to Seymore's Point where the team picked up a couple of small Mangrove Snapper, then Kellan had a good hookup on a live shrimp - he played it patiently and worked it to the net to land a feisty Black "puppy" Drum, makling it a "Grand Slam". Grandad Rand had been kinda quite, letting the boys fish, but he had a good hookup too. He worked it to the boat and landed keeper sized Seatrout.

After a run south we fished Broward Island for a bit but had no real takers, then we moved up to
Pumkin Hill to fish an incoming tide and here, Cole, fishing off the stern and going long, had is float disappear. He quickly slapped that bail shut and started cranking and Fish On!  He hauled it in and landed a hungry Seatrout. We fished both sides of the point, stopped back at Twin Creeks on the way back, then headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Right From The Start

 It seemed we were catching fish this morning right from the start! I had met Mark Averbuch and Paul
Clark down at Sawpit Creek early this morning and after a short run up the intracoastal, then up the Nassau, we made our first stop just north of Spanish Drop at a nice drainage that poured thru some oysters into fairly deep water (12'). We didn't have mud minnows today! Evidently there is a shortage, so I went with live shrimp and fortunately they were perfect sized mediums, and healthy! Although the bait stealers did cause some issues, not enough to curtail our fish catching! That first stop, within minutes, Paul had a strong bite and his rod bent and his drag ripped and Big Fish On! Paul played him perfectly as it ran from shore out, digging deep and...Mark hooked up with a big one - we had a Double! They both were doing and excellent job playing these big fish and....Paul's came off, dang it! That's twice in the last two trips we've had big Reds just come off and both times the anglers had that pressure on - they must have not been fully hooked. But Mark still had his own and this one cooperated and we eventually netted a nice 26.25" "tournament" Redfish. Paul came back and hooked up and landed a nice hungry Seatrout before we moved on. 

Our next stop was back at Spanish Drop, fishing the very first of an incoming tide and boy did we catch some fish - they put one feisty Redfish in the boat after another. Paul had some good battles with a Jack Crevalle and a Bonnethead Shark while Mark reeled up a Flounder to round out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Our next stop was up at Seymore's Pointe fishing some dock pilings. Mark hooked and landed a Black Drum to make it a Grande Slam, then Paul had a good hard thump and hooked it up. He played it perfectly and worked in a big 18.25" Seatrout (all fish caught today were released). After they snagged a handful of small Mangrove Snapper, we moved on. 

After running down to Broward Island and fishing one spot for a bit, we moved down a ways and fished a drainage and that did the trick. They caught a couple of feisty Redfish that were feeding on bait at the mouth of the drain, then as we moved down the island Paul had another strong take - we could tell, it was ripping drag and wasn't coming in! But Paul had other plans and he worked it to the boat expertly and soon landed a nice Slot sized 21" Redfish. We fished Pumpkin Hill with float rigs for a bit, but did I mention the wind? It had picked up to 14mph and was kicking us around and after Paul tangled with a couple of Ladyfish we decided to head back, but we had caught some good fish this morning and so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Good Variety For The Birthday Kid

 We helped celebrate Landon's birthday today with a back water fishing trip out of Sawpit Creek. I had met his grandfather Steve Locke and his son Justin and Justin's two boys Elliot and Landon early and we headed up the intracoastal then up the Nassau to make our first stop at Spanish Drop where we went with jigs and minnows on a tide that had been coming in a couple of hours. I'm not sure if we even got a bite along there. We then moved down to Twin Creeks and switched to float rigs and that did the trick - Justin hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout to "knock the skunk off". Steve was fishing off the stern and tangled with a Ladyfish but it quickly threw the hook - then he hauled in a feisty Catfish and then, we moved on. 

Down at Pumpkin Hill we stayed with the floats and got immediate action. Steve had gotten in the first drift and it paid off - he was up close to the grass and his float disappeared with a vengeance and Big Fish On! Steve kept that bend in his rod and let it run and worked it in and let it run and worked it to the net. I was betting Slot Redfish but I would have lost - it turned out to be a big Jack Crevalle! We worked that area good - Landon got a nice Flounder then he picked up a small Black Tip Shark.

Our next stop was around at Seymore's Pointe and these anglers played cat and mouse with the Mangrove Snapper, catching a few that measured to 8", so still no keeper sized ones. But Elliot, who had persevered to get his fish, finally had a strong hookup, and like yesterday I was thinking, "finally a big Mangrove", but nope, Elliot expertly played to the boat the only Redfish of the day caught!

After running thru Horsehead we made a stop at a "cut" at the mouth of Jackstaff and fished jigs and
floats. Landon added a Flounder to his catch total, then a small Seatrout from out deep, then his dad picked up another Mangrove on the float then wrapped things up with a......Needlefish! What a variety!  As we headed back to the ramp Landon helped with the throttle, Elliot took over the steering and we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.