First Day of Spring and....Fish ON!

Carol and I launched The Anglers Mark at the Goffinsville boat ramp this morning just after sunup. It was still a cool 45 degrees with no clouds but the weather report called for a high in the low 70's. I noticed that the water had warmed to 57 degrees. What a beautiful day! We cruised down Nassau River with porpoises rolling on both sides, turned the corner at Seymore's Pointe, cut through Jackstaff, made a brief run up the Intercoastal and into a new creek that I have never fished before. More porpoises greeted us as we dropped the trolling motor to fish the oyster banks on the first of an incoming tide. We pitched our Sure Catch jigs tipped with live shrimp to the bank and had a few nibbles but no real bites. As we prepared to pull up the trolling motor we were treated to the sighting of four otters playing and rolling and cavorting across the creek. We watched them disappear up a runout then cranked the Big Johnson and ran back to Jackstaff. The tide was perfect as it creeped in and carried us up the creek. Again, we had a few nibbles but no takers so we pulled up and ran to the southern tip of Broward Island. Carol switched to a float rig with a live shrimp "hanglin" underneath and it wasn't long before she began to pickup bites that made her float disappear then she had one good one and had a fight on her hands...and it got off! Ouch! I had stayed with the jig/shrimp combo and had a couple of "bumps" then UMPH, a good bite, a good battle, and the fish won, getting off after a few runs. Darn it! We had another treat, this time the sighting of a pair of Bald Eagles; I thought they looked a little haggard and I realized that they may be new parents! The sand gnats declared war and Carol retreated to a makeshift tent under my foul weather jacket,

but I "endeavored to persevere", switching to her vacated float rig and was soon rewarded with another strong bite and the fight was on! With me hollering "FISH ON" Carol came out of hibernation and grabbed the net, ready for the scoop. I had full confidence in the FINS Windtamer 15lb Olive braided line so I took my time working the fish to the boat where Carol scooped up what turned out to be a 26" fat Redfish! We continued to fish the log strewn bank with the float rigs and boated a few more Redfish, one being a keeper, and with our limit in the box and the gnats still swarming unmercifully, we pulled up and headed for the open water of Nassau Sound. The drum fishermen were out - I counted 12 boats at Black Hammock as we passed and when we got to the bridges I pulled up short, electing to fish on the west side. We could see through the pilings and estimated 25-30 boats on the ocean side fishing for whiting! We anchored in 25' of water off of Longpoint with only a few boats as neighbors and dropped our bottom rigs to the bottom with a small piece of peeled shrimp as bait. It wasn't long before we were catching whiting ourselves so we sat there and picnicked, listening to the radio, and catching some spring sunshine. We caught 23 whiting, all 12" and under, but had a awesome time, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Project Boat Named

I wanted to thank you all for the entries in the "name the boat" contest - we had 64 entries.


The "committee" met tonight at Shuckers in O'neal and in addition to celebrating a buddy's birthday, we went through the names and made a selection. My personal favorites were Marsh Madness and Water Mark. Other names that made the cut were Miss off the Mark, Pied Piper, Jitter Bug, Fish Finder, S.S. Piper, Legal Limit Hooker, and Breaking Wind. The winner was Piper's Pleasure submitted by Bud Hill. I'll be ordering the lettering in the next day or so to finish out the boat. Congratulations, Bud!

Not Fishing and Not Art but....

I finished a stool for my grandaughter, Burgandy. Normally I find it difficult to get through a project that doesn't have a fish on it, but this one was fun to do! See more pictures HERE.

Nassau Sport Fishing Association 12th Annual Drum Tournament

The Nassau Sport Fishing Association's 12th Annual Drum Tournament will be held from March 12th-April 18th. The big Black Drum are beginning to appear at the jetties and sounds just in time for the tournament. The neat thing about this tournament is that it's over a month long - if you can't fish one weekend, you can catch the next one. See their website for more information.

10th Annual Redfish Roundup

The 10th Annual Redfish Roundup sponsored by the Florida Times Union is right around the corner, slated for Saturday April 10th, 2010. Go to their website to get the sign up form and get it mailed in. This is a fun tournament for all the family, it's inexpensive, it's catch and release, and it benefits a good cause. Just think, you don't have to catch the biggest Redfish, just the one with the most spots!

Not as cold as in Minnasota

Local photographer Libby Wilkes hosted her son, George, his wife Barbara, and their daughter Mary Beth, all visiting this week from Minnesota. With temperatures warmer here than back home, they decided to take in some Amelia Island fishing. We left the North end boat ramp just as the rising tide peaked at 8:30am with a live well full of live shrimp and mud minnows. The wind was already blowing at about 8mph so we headed up Lanceford Creek in hopes that the wind would be blocked by the tree line, and it was. We tried anchoring and fishing the dock pilings and submerged oyster beds, then we trolled the docks, pitching a Sure Catch jig and live shrimp to the pilings. With no real bites, we moved back down the river to Oyster Bay's dock, eased back up in behind it and with the water draining from the marsh, soon began to get bites on our live shrimp under a float. Barbara had the hot rod with a number of bites and boated some nice Sea Trout. We fished behind Tiger Island, but with the West wind picking up, we were "challenged" from the start. Even thought the bite was slow we were treated to siting of dolphin, osprey, ibis and other shorebirds and as we headed back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be out on the water!

I Think I Invented a New Word

I've had a couple of fishing trips where I've used a word that I don't think is in a dictionary. It just comes out. It's probably caused by jittery nerves after meeting my guests for the first time and within about 15 minutes I'm explaining to them how to bait the live shrimp. When we get to the fishing site I show the guest the live shrimp and if we're using the float with leader combo I'll show them how to run the hook under the horn of the shrimp so that it can "Hangle". It's a cross between Hang and Dangle. Hangle!

Whiting Bite Hot

I spoke with some anglers at the South End dock yesterday morning and they said they had caught a nice mess of whiting Monday afternoon in Nassau Sound. I met Don Combs, his daughter Sabrina, and father-in-law Karl at the south end ramp yesterday for some afternoon fishing. We ran to Simpsons creek, back in behind the island to get out of the wind and anchored up, fishing some bottom rigs. It wasn't long before Sabrina was on the board with a nice 12" Flounder. Eventually we moved on down Simpsons Creek, again fishing the bottom, with no real bites. We then made a run back to Gunnison Creek, fishing the mouth and then on up into the creek, tossing the jig/shrimp Combo with just a few bites. After fishing the docks of Long Pointe, we eased out into the Nassau river and dropped baits to the bottom and it wasn't long before all were catching Whiting and as the sun began to set, we called it a day and another great time to be out on the water!

Ladies Rule

I fished yesterday morning with Don and Diane Lloyd of the Austin,Texas area. We had a beautiful morning beginning with a little fog that burned off quickly with some sunshine. We ran up to the Horsehead area, fishing the oyster lined banks on the last of on outgoing tide with dressed jig heads and shrimp or mudminnows. With no real bites we moved on to the rocks of Seymour's Pointe fishing the pilings and rocks with a float rig and the jig combo. I'd have rather of been fishing the incoming tide there, but I think the wind that had picked up kept pushing the water out, so we ran further down to Broward Island for some nice conditions. It wasn't long before Diane hooked up, had a brief run, then lost a fish! Not to be deterred, Diane continued to cast her jig up near the structure and it paid off with another hookup and the battle was one. She played the fish perfectly and eventually boated a nice slot-sized 20" 4lb Redfish! We wrapped up the day fishing Broward Island and counted it as another great day to be out on the water!

Right Time Right Place, Right Jig?

I had a couple of fishing trips Saturday - the prettiest day we've had in a long time. There weren't any clouds in the sky and the wind was only about 3-4mph to begin with. I left the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp with Julie Ryan and her husband, Art and we headed up to Jolley River to fish an incoming tide with the jig/shrimp and jig/mud minnow combo. The conditions were great and Julie and Art gave it the best effort that anyone could, but we had no bites - not even a nibble. We fished the concrete tepee at the mouth of Tiger Island for Sheepshead, tried the Fort Jetties and ended the day behind Tiger Island - with not a real bite to be had. It was great to get out on the water and spend some time with a wonderful couple.

I picked up Don, visiting with his friend from N. Illinois at 1pm and we headed off for another trip, this time stopping at the oyster beds across from the North end boat ramp. No bites. We fished Jolley again, this time on the outgoing tide and although we did pick up a Stingray, there were no more bites. We ran to Bell River to try to get out of the wind that was picking up and fished the docks, this time getting a few hits on our jigs, but no fish! Don's friend Judy called so we picked her up at the boat ramp and did a quick tour of Fort Clinch and Cumberland Island and decided to drop a line one more time behind Tiger Island, getting there about an hour and a half before sunset. I hooked Judy up with a live shrimp under a float and we positioned the bait up near a fallen tree; before Don and I could get baited up, FISH ON! Judy had a nice hookup, fought the fish nicely and brought it to the boat, a 25" 5 1/2 lb Redfish! After snapping pictures we all got baits in the water and for 30 minutes had significant bites, most on a black "dressed" jig baited with a mud minnow. Don had a good battle with a 26" 6lb Redfish, boated, photoed and released then he hooked up with a 18" Redfish and a nice Seatrout. I had tossed out a jig, too, and was amazed at how aggressive the fish were attacking the bait. Just before sundown the bite stopped so we pulled up anchor and called it another great day to be out on the water!