Oh boy what a beautiful day today! I was really looking forward to getting out on the water after the temperatures dropped over the weekend and sure enough, cool, clear and sunny was waiting on us! I had met Seth Bush and his son Gates down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we headed up the intercoastal, all the way up to Poteat Cut with a plan that Seth would fish spin and bait while Gates tossed the fly on a high and outgoing tide. We baited Seth with live shrimp and started Gates off with a topwater Gurgler. It's hard to beat a live shrimp and Seth "knocked the skunk off" when he boated a couple of hungry Seatrout and tangled with a handful of Ladyfish. Although Gates didn't pick up a fish, he was getting excellent casts and had one "spit" at his fly.
We moved over Jackstaff and fished a couple of outflows, working the bank slowly, Seth on the bow with the bait, Gates off the stern with the fly. Again, Seth had the hookup and expertly landed a feisty Redfish. After running thru Horsehead and down to Back River we set up along a bank as the oysters were just beginning to expose. This time Seth was on the stern and drifting long along the bank, he picked up a handfull of the feisty Redfish. I released the trolling motor and let the boat drop back and Gates made a perfect cast to the shell bank and BAM! Fish On! He was fishing a crab pattern fly and it paid off. Gates played it perfectly and landed a nice Redfish. From then on both anglers were getting fish - Seth off the stern and Gates off the bow. Seth had a big one on, was working it slowly, but this fish had other plans, It made its way to the shore line and submerged oysters and BAP! Fish off! Later, Gates had a big one on the fly rod and the same thing happened, the tippet broke.
But shortly afterwards Gates made a cast up into a gap between two oyster beds and BAM! A fish took it and ran deep, then dug deep. Gates worked it up slowly, stayed patient, and landed a hard fighting Jack Crevalle.
We fished between two docks and Seth caught a couple or three Mangrove Snapper then we ran down to Spanish Drop and fished the bank. We were about to wrap things up and Gates made an excellent long cast up into the mouth of a drainage. As we worked it back, the fly came over a shell point and he had a hookup. The fish wasn't putting much of a fight, but was heavy, and sure enough when Gates worked it to the surface he had a nice keeper sized Flounder! Boy what a catch. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fly fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
We had a beautiful morning forecasted when I picked up Mark DePrimo at the Residence Inn this morning. We made our way down to Sawpit Creek, launched, and made the run up the intercoastal to dip into a side creek up near Horsehead. Mark had wanted to get h is "Fly Fix" in so I had two fly outfits ready, a 7w and a 8w. Mark began tossing the lighter 7w that had a hand tied "shrimp" fly and was getting good casts up to some oyster beds, then he let the current drop it down to about 8' of water. We worked along that bank, had not strikes, then worked the same bank with some spin gear and live shrimp. Mark did have a good bite from a feisty Bluefish.
After making a run thru Horsehead and down to Spanish drop, we worked another expose oyster bed until the outgoing tide hit bottom. After moving up to some docks at Seymore's, Mark fine tuned his hookset and put a good handful of Mangrove Snapper in the boat.
We then made a long run up the Nassau and dipped into a creek where we worked a tree line bank the fly gear then the jig/shrimp. Man it was beautiful back there! And the run paid off when Mark had a strong bite, set the hook and battled to the net a feisty Redfish. After making the trip back to Sawpit, driving back to town and depositing Mark at the Residence, I counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
After a weekend break I was back at it today, meeting down at Sawpit Creek Jason Palosaari, his son David, brother in law Patrick Tighe, and father in law Mike Tighe. We ran up the intercoastal, turned into the Nassau, and after a short run pulled up at Spanish Drop and began fishing some exposed shell beds on the first of an incoming tide. I think the first "demo" cast I bombed, but the second one, as I handed it off to David, Fish On! And that's how it went for the first 45 minutes or so! David worked that fish in nicely - a feisty "Rat" Red, then all the anglers were fishing and catching fish. Mike hooked up and landed a feisty Red, then Jason hooked up and landed a feisty Red, then David had a strong bite - this was a bigger fish! He and his dad fought it patiently, battled it from bow to stern, and eventually landed a nice Slot sized Redfish. We continued to work that stretch and when I saw young David make a cast that landed out deep I was thinking, "not going to get much there", but boy was a I wrong! In just a short time David hooked up and, Fish On! This fish was even bigger and again took him and his dad to the stern where they valiantly battled the fish and after a few strong runs, they brought to the net a 26 3/4" Tournament sized Redfish (all fish caught today were released). Boy what a fish!
Patrick had been at the stern this whole time steadfastly casting a fly rod, switching between flies every dozen or so casts. He was taking up the rear but finally he had a hookup, played it perfectly, and landed a hard fighting Jack Crevalle on the fly. We fished on up to a large drainage where Mike caught and landed hungry Flounder.
Our next stop was at some docks at Seymore's Pointe with jigs rods, to no avail, then fished the rocks at Nassauville with float rigs, again to no avail, then we moved down to some more docks and went back to the jigs. That did the trick. Mike, "the flounder guy" hooked up and landed a 17" Flounder and a then a Mangrove Snapper and Jason added an ugly Toadfish to the catch.
After making the run down to Pumpkin Hill we drifted float rigs along a flooding marsh line. The first stretch didn't pan out but the second stretch had Jason catching a big Jack Crevalle and David wrapping things up with two Catfish catches. The sun was up, we had caught a good variety of fish, so as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
I thought we were due for another beautiful day today and as it stared out it was just that, clear and not too windy. But boy were we in for a blow as the day went on! I had met Greg Raecker up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park before sun up with plans to try some fly fishing mixed in with spin so we headed over to Tyger Island and checked a handful of spots out for tailing Redfish as the sun was coming up. Although the water was plenty high enough, we only saw one tail and that was just for a brief moment.
So Greg set up at the stern of the boat and blind casted in shallow water for Seatrout with a shrimp pattern. That can get real tiring quick, so we
switched to live shrimp under a float and that did the trick. Greg "knocked the skunk off" with a keeper sized Seatrout catch. We worked along a grass line and picked up another keeper Trout. After crossing over the creek and fishing the float rig we found that the wind had picked up a bit, so we decided to make a run over to Lanceford Creek and find some shelter.
We fished up in Lanceford with the fly gear and spin gear and boy was it perfect conditions -sunny and zero wind! But the fish didn't cooperate, we didn't get a bite fishing a stretch of grass, and then "Millie's Spot".
Our next stop was over in Soap Creek and now the tide was going out. In quick succession, Greg put three Seatrout in the boat. We eased up to a small oyster/grass island running parallel to the bank and Greg's first cast produced a feisty Redfish. He went back to the same spot and had a another, bigger bite. This one was ripping drag and staying up at the bank. I knew there was an oyster outcrop between us and the fish and sure enough, the fish found it and, BAP! Fish Off! But Greg went back, this time on the outside of the island and picked up another Trout, then went back to the "honey hole" and caught another Redfish.
By this time it had become overcast and the wind had really picked up. We headed back to the dock, bucking the wind and the waves, but we had squeezed in some good fishing so we counted it as another great day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.
The next time you visit Amelia Island you just have to stop in and check out the new home of Amelia Island Bait and Tackle...and it won't be hard to find...it's just 4 doors down from the original location. Just walk down to the north end of the building and you'll find the spanking new store loaded with all the tackle, rods, reels, accessories and knowledge to help you catch more fish while visiting our island. And they've got a bunch of new angler shirts and hats to make you look good while you're fishing. Need Ice? They've got it out front. Need bait? The new Bait Pod will be right out back, with some new fangled lights and air condition to keep the live bait kicking! Pull your boat around back and come in the back door for all your tackle needs. Stop in and say hello to Nic and Lisa and Chris the next time you're in the area or need some bait and tackle. CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE.
We had another nice morning today, albeit a bit foggy when we started. I had met Zach Peyton, his son Tyler, and his father Bob out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early and we crept thru the fog to our first stop over at Pumpkin Hill with plans to toss float rigs and live shrimp up near the marsh grass on a flooding tide. The trio of anglers were getting excellent drifts but all we got was a couple of nibbles. We fished further down that marsh line with the same results, then ran down to Broward Island and switched to jigs and shrimp. We fished both ends of the island on the last of an incoming tide but had the same results, no fish.
Our next stop was back at Pumpkin Hill but around the corner, in search of a "honey hole" and it was "Pop" who found it. As he drifted his float by a grassy island his float disappeared and he had a hookup! Fish On! Young Tyler was on the net and did an excellent job scooping up a nice Seatrout. Bob went back to the same area and had another hookup - the "skunk" was definitely off the boat.
We then ran up into Christopher Creek and fished a bit with the jigs, then came back out and ran around to Seymore's Pointe, setting up at the mouth of a bay and drifting the floats. Bob had another hookup and reeled in a Trout ,then Zach got in on the action and caught one too, this one of keeper size (all fish caught today were released). Then Bob hooked up and with Tyler's help, they reeled in another keeper sized Trout. After another hookup, we moved on down a line of docks and fished floats and jigs.
Our last stop was down at Twin Creeks, fishing jigs, and we found one more Seatrout. Young Tyler had helped with driving the boat, operating the trolling motor, netting fish, fetching bait, and releasing fish and he was casting his on spinning rod at the end of the trip. We headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
I had Virginia and Paul meet me at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp just a bit earlier than we had planned - the weather forecast called for winds going from 7mph to 17mph while we fished! Our first run was over to Lanceford Creek to try and catch the lower of an incoming tide but alas, we must have been too late because we didn't hardly get a nibble on our jigs and shrimp combo tossed to the dock pilings.
But after we moved around Soap Creek Paul found a "honey hole" and was able to toss a float rig up above it, let it drift, and hookup with some hungry Seatrout. We motored back around and further up Lanceford, fished two spots but sure enough, the south wind was beginning to pick up so we moved on.
After easing thru the back cut along Pirates Woods we came backinto the Bell and set up outside some more docks, still pitching the jigs. Virginia got on the board with a nice Trout catch, then Paul had a hookkup. We moved up a dock and caught another one (all of these were in the 13-14 1/2" range).
Some dolphin were feeding in the next slot so we bypassed them, fished a bit, and when the dolphin left, we dropped back. I was somewhat surprised that the dolphin hadn't run the fish out of there but from the first cast we were catching fish, one after the other. At one time we had a "double" hookup with both Paul and Virginia landing fish. It was steady catching for as long as we wanted, but I knew the wind was going to be bad when we got out into open water so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
With Winter down time I thought I'd try and make Fly Rod Case #2. A few years ago I put together Fly Rod Case #1 and it came out pretty good, but as usual, there were a couple of areas for improvement.
The first step was to cut out some leather. I took a sample piece of leather and wrapped it around my fly rod tube to get the proper width of the leather that I would cut, then cut it out: TIME = 4 hours
The next step was to mark out lines around the edges and then to trace the design on the leather that I wanted. I chose a floral design with a couple of Redfish. The rectangles will be where the strap and buckle hardware are attached.
I went ahead and cut out and made a bunch of buckle and D ring holders...
Then I used a swivel knife to cut out the pattern on the leather. By the way, the leather has been "cased" with water to allow the swivel knife to cut the leather like butter. TIME =2.5 hours
TOTAL TIME = 6.5 hours
Then I used a couple of different beveling tools to knock down all the edges and give the pattern some depth..
Multiple stamps were used to complete the design, then everything else was stamped with a background tool..
And finally, the finished tooled piece of leather. Stay tuned for dyeing and finishing of the leather!
TIME = 7.75 hours
TOTAL TIME = 14.25 hours
Punching holes for later stitching
Beginning the back ground dying - I'm using Forest Green
All finished with the back ground dying!
Dying the fish! After I dyed them, let them dry, I "blocked" them with a finish.
After the "block" was dry, I wiped an antique stain over the entire project.
All the staining is done. I'll put a finish over the entire thing, let it dry, then move on to putting the hardware on.
TIME = 4 hours
TOTAL TIME = 18.25 hours
Straps were stained and finished then riveted to the case. I also reinforced them with some stitching.
I glued the leather to the fly rod tube and tried lacing with the holes that I had punched earlier. It didn't work. So I had to take a rotary hole punch and make each hole bigger.
TIME = 4.5 hours
TOTAL TIME = 22.75 hours
The tube is about 32" long. I begin the lacing using a bent needle!. And more lacing! This is 1/8" wide lace.
TIME = 3.75 hours
TOTAL TIME = 26.5 hours
Sewing on the end cap
Made some straps and finished up the top cap and attached them both.
TIME: = 6.5 hours
TOTAL TIME: 33.0 hours
And here's the finished Rod case! Now I need to make the Reel case to finish up the project.
Cutting and punching the reel case pieces, then carving a design
