I fished with Ross and Rob Gibbs today, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early., We made the run up the intercoastal and dipped into Jackstaff, and into a smaller creek then set up outside a drainage on the first of an outgoing tide. This was the same exact spot where I fished yesterday and we had gotten a nice keeper sized Seatrout and I was thinking, "maybe again"! And sure enough the guess paid off - Rob had his float rig with live shrimp disappear and after he caught up to it, he lifted his rod and "fish on"! Rob brought it to the net and landed a nice 18" Seatrout to start the day!
We had a couple of bites but no takers until Ross had a strong bite that started ripping drag and heading south and BAP!, Fish Off! Then Rob hooked up and landed a small but feisty Jack Crevalle. We moved over to Poteat Cut and fished a stretch but had no luck, then we ran thru Horsehead and fished a large drainage there. We did have some bites but no takers so we moved down the Nassau.
Our first stop was at Twin Creeks and here we switched to jigs and shrimp. Rob hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout and when we moved own to another drainage, Ross hooked up and landed another. We fished Spanish Drop for a bit then made another run, this time up the Nassau and into a little creek. The duo of anglers worked it thoroughly and although the conditions were perfect, we had no bites.
Back to Seymore's Pointe we came to fish some docks and here they sharpened their skills dueling with Mangrove Snapper. Some they won, and some they lost. We made one final stop back at Sawpit where they picked up a couple of baitstealers. Ross did have a good fish on for a bit, one that was putting a bend in the rod but it threw the hook to send us on our way. But as we headed back to the ramp we 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 wrapped up my week today fishing with Eddie Byrd, his son-in-law Mike and grandson Bobby, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We made the run up the intercoastal, dipped into Jackstaff, and eased into a side creek to set up fishing float rigs and live shrimp to the grass on an outgoing tide. Mike got off to a hot start with a feisty Redfish catch and then he tangled with a Ladyfish. We backed over to the other side of Jackstaff, fished the bank for a stretch and here Bobby got on the board with a Redfish and Flounder catch.
After running thru Horsehead we pulled up at Eddie's favorite dock and fished it thoroughly, putting a good handful of Mangrove Snapper in the boat with a few of them rather nice size, and keepable! We then motored down the Nassau to Spanish Drop and worked thru a large drainage pitching jigs and mud minnows. We had no real bites until we came along the shell bank and then it was a light had switched!
Mike began to catch one feisty Redfish after another, a few of them had multi-spots, and one had 29 spots! He then added a keeper sized Flounder to the catch. As we reached a bend where the water was deeper Eddie went to the bank, had a hard bite, set the hook and, Fish On! Eddie played it perfectly and soon brought to the boat a nice 21" Slot Sized Redfish. And just a short time later, Bobby, on the bow of the boat, made an excellent cast up current with his jig and a large minnow and BAM! The fish hit so hard it came out of the water! But Bobby was up to the task, kept the pressure on, and after a good battle, landed a chunky 21" Slot Redfish.
Our next stop was up at some docks at Nassauville, fishing the jigs, to no avail. It was getting hot! We came back around to Horsehead, fished a shell bank and here Eddie put a neat Puffer Fish in the boat! Boy was it now hot! We headed back, getting some breeze blowing, and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
