Rat-a-tat-tat and a herd of Manatees

I had the pleasure to fish with Ken Broecker and his son Kyle this morning. They were visiting from Ohio and had tried to pick a day where the rain and storms might let up...and we almost made it. We left the City marina at 7:30 am and ran straight to Jolley River. After warming up a bit with the spinning rods, we started our troll along the marsh grass and it wasn't long before Kyle put the first fish in the boat, a nice trout. Ken hooked up with something big near a submerged oyster bank, fought it for a while, and it broke off. It didn't run like a shark and I'm sure it was a nice Redfish. We moved on up the river to a creek mouth, anchored, and picked up some "baitstealers". Unfortunately, a rain cloud moved in and we began to get wet, so we did our best to outrun the storm and ran to the east side of Tiger Island and anchored. We again picked up some baitstealers then Ken hooked up with a hard running Bonnethead shark which he fought to the boat to a waiting net. Dolphin and a "herd" of about 7-8 Manatee moved in, with a few swimming right under the boat. We also saw a neat plate-sized Sea Turtle and more shark. Off towards Cumberland Island it appeared the Coast Guard gun boats were practicing intercept manuevers on a "bad guy" boat, even firing off rounds to force it to stop. We all hoped that they were shooting blanks!

Blacktip Shark

The Loy family, Rick and Maureen, with their two sons Brendan and Sean, were in town from Orlando and took in a backwater fishing trip this morning. With rain forcast at 30% and increasing to 70% by noon, we were surprised to see clear skies when we left the dock. We ran to the mouth of Jackstaff, anchored, and unlimbered our spinning rods. It wasn't long before a jig tipped with shrimp enticed a Bonnethead shark and the whole family joined in taking turns cranking in the fish. The Loy's had done some crabbing yesterday and we were all excited to see an occasional Bluecrab crawling underwater on an old oyster bed next to the boat. It wasn't long before all of the guys were out of the boat and netting the crab to add to their catch from yesterday! One of the nettings produced a small "Pufferfish", too. We caught couple more shark, lost a few and moved on to "Bubblegum Reef" where Brendan hooked up with a Catfish while Maureen pulled in a keeper sized Croaker. Then something struck a bait furiously and Rick had a fight on his hands. With all the commotion, I called a "Ladyfish", but was proved wrong when we netted a nice Black Tip shark, which was a surprise as I haven't seen many of them in the backwater. The tide was almost completely high when we made our last stop at Broward Island, then we raced to the dock, beating the forecast thunderstorms just in time. What a great day out on the water with a smorgasboard of marine life to experience.

Goffinsville Park and Boat Ramp to open

A Grand Opening of Nassau County's newest park and boat ramp will be held Wednesday, July 22nd at 10:am at the park. Nassau County Building Maintenance and Parks & Recreation Director Daniel Salmon said there will be plenty of door prizes, snacks and drinks available and encourages folks to come out and bring their kids. The park contains hiking trails, the boat ramp, a fishing pier, floating dock, restrooms, six covered picnic tables. There is a building available for a vendor to sell bait and tackle and there is a possibility of having a security residence.

Recipe of the month: Sea Trout Sub

This recipe comes from Tim Parker, a Dawg fan, who hails from central Georgia, but frequents Amelia Island and its estuaries quite often...

Ingredients makes 4 subs:

4 trout fillets (no rib bones)

4 small sub buns

1/2 cup Panko (japanese style) bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 Large egg

1/3 cup milk

small amount of butter or margarine

3 to 4 table spoons vegetable oil

Seasoning -salt or Konriko

Rinse fillets and pat dry, season with Konriko. Mix Panko breakcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in a flat style bowl.

Dredge fillets in the egg/milk mixture, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Heat the vegetable oil and cook fillets 3 to 4 minutes on each side until they are golden brown. While the fillets are cooking, split sub rolls in half, and lightly spread a thin coat of butter on the inside portion. When the fish is done, set aside on paper towels to drain, lay sub rolls face down in same pan and let them brown slightly. Dress your sandwich how you like it! This one had mayonnaise, horseradish spread, lettuce, tomato and onion. Serve with fries, cole slaw...or eat two of the subs!

Croaker,Croaker,Croaker,Croaker, REDFISH!

I got to fish with Ted Szarzanowicz, his wife Michelle, and their kids Amanda and Mathew yesterday evening. I'd picked up some live, but sluggish shrimp so we headed to Tiger Island and trolled the bank. Although we had no real bites, we had a number of Blue Crab come cruising by, one of which I netted. We ran to Jolley River, pulled over to the east side as the tide reached it's bottom, and began to pitch our baits to the oyster beds. Michelle had the hot rod early and began to pick up Croaker after Croaker, some of which were of good eat'n size. Both she and Ted were tossing the jig and shrimp combo and Ted reeled in a few of the Croaker, too, and just when I began to wonder, he hooked up and expertly reeled in a nice 18" Redfish. There was plenty of bait in the river which turned out to be small shrimp after I cast a net; we moved up the river and anchored and soon after Amanda pulled in her Croaker. After a few more of those, we moved around to the MOA -"Mother of All" -spots where Ted caught a Flounder and a Trout, completing his "inshore slam". Matt manned a bottom rig with the crab that we had caught and had numerous bits. We stayed to watch a beautiful sunset and made it back to the marina right at dark. The Szarzonowicz family had great attitudes - I remember thinking, "boy these folks get along with each other real well", and were a pleasure to fish with.

Shaaaark!

David and Celeste Kraus were visiting from Kansas with their teenagers Aaron and Alijah and took in a fishing and sightseeing trip this morning. We left the dock a little before 8am and ran to Beach Creek on Cumberland to see if there were any manateee (none) and then we crossed to Jolley River to begin fishing. All of the Kraus family were excellent casters and began pitching their live shrimp under floats up to the grass. There was a high tide with the current still bringing water up the river and we didn't have many bites, so we cranked up and moved up to a runout and anchored. Although Aligjah had a nice hookup and run, the fish broke off and with no more real bites, we moved up to a larger creek runout and anchored. We were there for only a little while when Alijah hooked up again, this time with line ripping out and rod bent fully. She fought the fish for a long time then it broke off on the hidden oyster shells. Shortly after that, Aaron hooked up and fought his fish to the boat - a 3 1/2' long Bonnethead shark. We made a few attempts with the net then finally got the fish in the boat for pictures. A little while later David hooked up and expertly fought his fish from one side of the boat to the other then we netted another 3'+ Shark. We eventually moved on to Tiger Island, trolled the bank, then crossed back to Cumberland Island to check out the wild horses with some binoculars; then we cruised Fort Clinch and made it back to the dock in time for lunch. Not a whole lot of action, but some good quality action with hard running shark!

Big Catfish, Lots of Wildlife

Saturday afternoon I fished with the Maxwell family, in from Nebraska. Parents Andy and Teggy along with kids Riley and Rogan wanted to see some Florida wildlife; they brought along their cousin, Craig and his daughter, Maddy and we met at the south end boat ramp late in the day in an effort to beat the heat. We ran up to Jackstaff and anchored at a runout as the family practiced their casting then we moved further up the creek to a bend and anchored. It wasn't long before both Teggy and Craig had hooked up and fought to the boat two nice Stingray, to the delight of Rogan and Maddy. We trolled the bank for a while with a high tide pushing water into the grass, but saw now Redfish tails, then we cranked up and moved aroung to Bubblegum Reef where Teggy picked up a small croaker then a huge Sail Cat that made some nice drag-ripping runs. The kids saw plenty of bird life, fiddler crab, porpoise and jelly fish during the day. We ended the day with the sun going down at Broward Island with a pair of Osprey resting in a nearby tree and pairs of porpoise cruising along side the boat. What a great learning experience for the young ones to be out in the wilds of northeast Florida.

Stringray and Croaker Holes

Donald Lorton and his wife Lila, from Tennessee treated their grandson, Luke, to a fishing trip this morning. We left the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 7:30am and ran directly to the mouth of Jackstaff with a tide that high and about two hours going out, with oyster beds showing. We fished the bank and had a number of small bites, then went up the river and anchored in a bend. Luke pulled in a Jack Crevalle, then fought and worked three stingrays to the boat. We went around to Bubblegum Reef and anchored and began to immediately hook up with croaker after croaker. Both Donald and Luke had gotten proficient in casting the 1/4 ounce Sure Catch jigs, tipped with live shrimp and had some fun catching some fish. We made a final stop at Broward Island, but it had gotten so hot we eventually pulled up and ran to the "house". Luke learned a lot, catching a smorgasbord of sealife and had a great time out on the water with his grandparents. I remember to this day fishing for Crappie with my Grandfather on Lake Sante Fe and know that Luke will remember today's fishing trip, too.

Beat'n the heat with late afternoon fishing

With a heat wave pushing tempatures to the mid 90's, I scheduled a fishing trip with visitors Belinda and Don Pottorff for late afternoon yesterday. They were in from Kansas City on a work related trip and were eager to soak in some outdoor experiences along with the ambiance of Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach, Florida. When we left the dock at 4:30pm it was still hot so I cruised over to Cumberland Island and up Beach Creek in hopes that we'd see some manatee, but they were the smarter mammal and were hiding out somewhere cool! We left Cumberland, crossed Amelia River and cut our engine at the mouth of Jolley River. Throwing a live shrimp on a leader under a cork, Don was getting his casts up near the marsh grass with a tide high and going out. It wasn't long before his cork disappeared and Don boated a nice Speckled Sea Trout. We eased along the shore line for about 100 yards and he expertly hooked up and played a number of trout, with some of them in the 19", 2lb range. We went further up Jolley, anchored at the mouth of a creek and Don caught some more trout, a few keeper sized, but the rest rather small. We did hook up, catch, and release a hard fighting 2 1/2' Bonnet Head shark. Playing with the small trout and croaker was fun but we wanted more of the larger variety so we pulled up anchor and headed around to the "MOA" - Mother of All - spots, and sure enough, the trout were there! Don caught a couple more on the shrimp, then we switched to an all white Zara Spook topwater plug and had some fun watching the trout hit and miss and finally hook up. We ended the day as the sun was going down over the marsh and got back to the dock with just a little bit of daylight. This was one of my more "prolific" trips in a long while and makes me want to do some more late afternoon trips!

2nd Annual Clay Roberts Inshore Slam Tournament

Joe and Diane Warwick, owners of the Florida House Inn on Amelia Island, are supporters of the 2nd Annual Clay Roberts Inshore Slam Tournament so Joe, his son, Tanner and father-in-law Paul entered the Tournament and fished with me today. Fishing was to begin at "safe light" so we were out early, even before the bait shops opened. We launched from the south end and ran to the docks at Longpointe and anchored. It wasn't long before we had caught an undersized Red and Black drum and a few "bait stealers". We pulled up and headed up the river to Jackstaff and after trolling the bank for about 50 yards, Tanner yelled, "I got one" and started cranking the spinning reel. We adults were somewhat pessimistic and I even asked for the rod to see if it needed to be pulled loose from an oyster bed but when I felt the rod tip bend and the line rip out I handed it back to Tanner who reeled in a nice 18+" Redfish. We trolled on up the river, anchored at Bubblegum Reef, ran to Broward Island (now dubbed "Tarzan Island" and had a few nibbles hear and there with some croaker and small vermillion snapper in the boat, but no more line-ripping fish. It got so hot that we ended up runnning to the bridges over Nassau Sound to find some shade. Last year Tanner was a foot shorter and wasn't casting much but he's grown, is eager to learn and is well on his way to being an excellent angler.