9.9 on the Great Day to Be Fishing Scale

Jimmy Hill of Statesboro, Georgia was visiting Amelia Island with his son Alex, a Pre-Med student taking a break from his studies.  We met at the Sawpit Boat Ramp at 7am just as the tide was hitting bottom and headed straight for Broward Island to fish the incoming tide.  We couldn't have asked for a better day as the temperature was still mild, no clouds and just a very little wind.  There were patches of fog but that soon burned off as the sun came up.  We started our troll along the log strewn island and it wasn't long before Alex had a firm hit on his 1/8 oz jig/live shrimp combo and the fight was on!  Alex played the fish perfectly and we soon netted the feisty Redfish.  Later, Jimmy hooked up with another Redfish and had a good battle.  We made a second pass of the island and when Jimmy yelled FISH ON,   Alex responded with FISH ON, too!  After the second pass we ran back to Seymore's Pointe where the first cast of a live shrimp under a float produced a strong hookup that Alex played perfectly, but the fish must have found one of the rocks to break off on.  Not to be deterred, Alex found another bite up near a dock piling and this time he prevailed, pulling in another Redfish.  We tried our luck at Bubble Gum Reef, then ran through Jackstaff to fish it's mouth where Jimmy briefly fought a Ladyfish, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Nebraska Slam

Don and Peggy Brown were visiting Amelia Island with their two kids, Matt and Madeline and scheduled a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  The Nebraska family and I met at the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp and headed up to Tiger Island for the last two hours of the incoming tide.  We baited up some live shrimp under popping corks and tossed them out...FISH ON!  Madeline had only  had her float out for a minute and she had a hookup and a fish fight on her hands!  She played the fish beautifully and we soon netted a 20+ inch Trout!  Peggy joined in by catching a couple of Bluefish then we headed around to the backside of Tiger.  The wind had picked up and the air temperature was uncommonly cool but the anglers perservered and Matt's patience paid off because he soon landed a nice keeper sized 16" Flounder.  The tide reached it's peak so we headed to the docks of Lanceford Creek and although the tide was still pushing in somewhat, Don found a feisty Redfish to battle with, completing the Brown Family Slam,  and Peggy hooked up with a nice Trout.  Our last stop was further up Lanceford and the family boated more Trout with Matt adding to the cooler another nice Flounder.  With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Saltwater Variety

Ricky Anderson and his friend Lisa arrived at Amelia Island on a motorcycle and wanted to take in some backcountry Amelia Island fishing during Ricky's first visit to Florida.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 2pm on The Anglers Mark and headed up to the docks of Lanceford Creek on the first of an outgoing tide.  The water temperature has dropped from last week to 72, but it hasn't affected the excellent fishing.  We anchored just south of a dock and tossed our live shrimp under Cajun Thunder floats to the pilings and like this morning, first cast, FISH ON!  Lisa played the fish expertly and we soon landed a nice Redfish for pictures.  More casts to the pilings produced more Redfish with a couple pushing the Slot size and the anglers totaled 5-6 fish in about 30-45 minutes.  We eventually ran around to behind Tiger Island  where they caught more Red's and Trout then Ricky hooked up with something big - it rolled and flashed and we both thought "BIG TROUT", but when he successfully fought it to the net we found it to be a very nice Sheepshead!   We cruised Cumberland Island to view some wild horses then we move on up to the Jolley River and trolled the oyster banks - the wind died down and it turned out to be perfect fishing weather.  Ricky caught a Ladyfish that landed itself with one of its jumps and we ended the day catching Trout on the jig/shrimp combo at dead low tide and headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

First Cast, FISH ON!

Pete Parsons and his family were in town for a family reunion so he and his relatives Foster and Bob planned a Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7:30 this morning with overcast skies and a brisk breeze.  The tide had been coming in for a couple of hours so we headed up to the docks of Lanceford Creek and anchored up-current for some easy casting to the pilings.  Pete's Uncle Foster was the first to get a live shrimp in the water and as he played the line out to allow his bait to drift to the pilings and, FISH ON!  The other guys hadn't had a chance to get their rods unlimbered and Foster was playing a hard-fighting Redfish to the waiting net and pictures.  We fished the docks and  had few bites after that and the SE wind was picking up so we headed to the shelter of Tiger Island and anchored in a good spot to present our baits.  Foster must have had a "hot" rod early because he soon boated a larger SeaTrout then Bob got in on the action by catching Trout and we also picked up a nice Flounder to complete our "Inshore Slam".  We moved on up to Jolley River where Bob hooked up and fought some hard jumping Ladyfish then the trio added a couple of more Trout.  We ended the day fishing a larger creek where Foster heated up his rod again, boating keeper sized Trout, one after another.  Bob had Trout, too, then Pete hooked up with a fish that caused his reel to scream and the fight was on!  Pete fought the fish expertly and soon tired the 2 1/2'+ Shark and we tossed it in to the boat for pictures. Then Pete added another Trout to wrap things up,  and we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

The Gato Roared!

I had the pleasure of fishing again this morning with Pinson and Tina Neal and their two kids P4 and Landon.  We had seen that severe thunderstorms were due to hit the area around noon so we planned to leave the Fernandina Beach Marina at 7am, just after the tide had peaked and started out.  We headed The Anglers Mark up Lanceford creek to fish the docks with live shrimp under floats.  I noted that the wind hadn't started yet and it was really nice conditions.  Tina started things off right by hooking up with a hard fighting keeper sized 18" Trout and brought it to the boat expertly.  P4 did the same, hooking and catching a nice Trout.  We moved on to another dock and it turned out to be the right move as all anglers began to catch feisty Redfish after Redfish, boating about 7-8 fish in all in about an hour.  Both Landon and Pinson hooked up for a "double" Redfish, causing Landon to exclaim, "let the Gato Roar!"  Then Pinson tossed a quarter ounce jig with shrimp out deeper and soon had his rod bent with something bigger than the earlier Reds.  He played the fish perfectly, pulling it out from around the pilings and landed a 20" slot Redfish.  The wind was picking up so we headed to Tiger Island but it offered no shelter and we had no bites.  Our next stop was Jolley River  where P4 got a small shark to the boat, but we had no other real bites after that.  We caught some finger mullet and made one more stop at a creek runout where Tina added to the box another keeper sized Trout caught on one of the finger mullet fished deep on a jig and with that, we wrapped up the day, counting it as another great day to be out on the water.

Gator Trout?

Josh Jenette was in town with his grandparents, visiting Amelia Island from Kentucky, and took in an Amelia Island light tackle fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday afternoon.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock with some brisk winds out of the southeast so we headed to Tiger Island in hopes that it would shield the wind, and it did!  Josh caught a nice Redfish before we ventured back in to the wind to fish the outside of Tiger where we came across a nice school of Sheepshead feeding near shore around the oyster beds.  We shortened our leaders so that our live shrimp would float over the oysters, but we couldn't get the Sheeps to eat!  Our next stop was up in Jolley River and it wasn't long before Josh was reeling in Trout after Trout, then he had a good hookup and a nice battle with a 2' long Shark!  He caught a couple more shark and a few more Trout and nice Whiting then we headed back to Tiger Island to catch the  first of the outgoing tide.  It was a good move because Josh was a able to catch a couple of  keeper sized Trout for his Grandparents dinner.  We had almost decided to call it a day when a "nibbler" took our float down unimpressively, then the rod bent over and the line ripped out!  FISH ON!  We both took turns battling this monster and after a good battle we boated a huge 27"  7lb Gator Trout!  Wow, what a fish!  That helped wrap up another great day to be on the water!

Manatee Sighting and Big Shark

Pinson and Tina Neal were visiting Amelia Island from Virigina and took in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip yesterday on The Anglers Mark with their two kids P4 and Landon.  We left the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 7am and headed up the Nassau River to make our first stop at Spanish Drop where Tina started the catching off by hooking up with a nice Seatrout.  Later her line began to rip out and she had a fight on her hands!  She played the fish perfectly and we soon brought to the boat a nice 3' Shark for pictures and release.  Our next stop was Bubblegum Reef where Pinson caught a feisty Redfish.  The wind had picked up so we moved on to Broward Island and Pinson picked up a fat Seatrout.  The tide just wasn't right at Broward and after a short run we were fishing the mouth of Jackstaff, catching Seatrout.  Landon joined in to get things rolling with a Trout catch then P4 heated up the action, catching Trout after Trout. While anchored, we were all startled when a huge Manatee rolled out of the water, cruising rapidly up the creek!  We ended the day with a "double" hookup of trout, and counted it as another great day to be out on the water!

Pleasant Slams

I fished with the William Pleasant family Monday, doing a morning trip then taking a break to follow up with a late afternoon trip.  Visiting Amelia Island from North Carolina, William and his two sons, Ben and Alex, met me at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we pointed The Anglers Mark up the intercoastal to the mouth of Jackstaff where the anglers soon began to pick up Redfish and Trout on their jig/shrimp combo.  The tide was still going out and the oyster beds were exposed with the water temperature at around 77 degrees.  We fished the area for an hour or so and Ben, who already had boated a Trout and Red, hooked up and caught a nice Flounder, completing his Inshore Slam.  William and Alex both came close on their own, but combined to complete a Slam of their own.  William had an 11 spot Redfish that would have been a "money fish" in the Jacksonville Redfish Spot Tournament.   We fished briefly at Bubblegum Reef where Ben picked up another Red then we headed to Broward Island and as soon as the tide changed to come back in the anglers were catching Reds and Trout.  Later that afternoon the trio added some help when William's wife, Shannon, decided to join us.  We started at the docks of Lanceford.  The wind had picked up and the tide still had not started back out so we headed to the shelter of Tiger Island where Shannon contributed by hooking up and expertly playing a couple of keeper sized Trout.  We caught a few more Trout there then headed up to Jolley River where Ben caught a big shark, then a couple of more keeper sized Trout.  Alex caught his shark, too!  After a day of fishing, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Call'in His Shots

Libby Wilkes had her daughter Margaret and her grandson Will visiting Amelia Island and wanted to take in some backcountry fishing on The Anglers Mark today.  We left the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp at 7:30am and headed up to fish the banks of Tiger Island as the tide started back in.  It wasn't long before Will had a hookup and was soon reeling in a nice Redfish.  As we trolled the log-strewn bank he caught a couple more Reds and a fat SeaTrout.  We eventually moved on and ran up to the Jolley River where I started trolling the exposed oyster banks.  Will had just said he sure would like to catch a shark when BOOM!  Fish On! and his line was ripping out, heading up river!  Will fought the fish expertly and went around and around the boat with the Finns Braided Line keeping the fish under control.  The catch became a team effort and we soon netted the Shark for pictures and release.  What a fish!  We continued on up the bank, fished a little, moved on to another creek where Will caught two more Sharks.  After a tour of Cumberland Island and Fort Clinch we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

4 Times Around the Boat!

Roger Edmiston, his wife Laura and their son Noah were visiting Amelia Island and took in a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock yesterday afternoon and made our first stop on the banks of Tiger Island, but had no bites!  We move on up to the Jolley River and anchored at a nice runout where Noah hooked up with a Big fish;  he fought the nice Trout to the net and we measured it to 20"!  We caught a few more Trout at that spot then moved on up the river to Snook Creek where Roger caught a nice Redfish, Noah caught a couple of more Trout, then FISH ON!  Noah's FINS Braided Line was ripping out, but he held on and the fight was on.  His mother, Laura pitched in and the two fought this big fish around the boat, not once, not twice, but FOUR times!  Roger and I were getting out of the way as they went 'round and 'round but soon the duo subdued the beast and we used the net to toss this 3'+ Shark into the boat for pictures.  Boy, what a fight!  We  eventually moved on to Tiger Island and picked up a few more Trout, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!