Double Trouble

Tom and Jean Priola, along with their grandaughters Jackie and Taylor,  were visiting Amelia Island from New Jersey and took in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 7am and headed up the Nassau River, making our first stop at Bubblegum Reef.  We got our float rigs with live shrimp out and the anglers were soon getting bites, having their floats dissapear on occasion.  Jean was reeling hers in and had it almost to the boat when her float took off and the line began to rip out! While she was fighting that large fish another float went under and we had a "double" fish fight going on!  The smaller fish turned out to be a Ladyfish and Jean's turned out to be a nice 2'+ Bonnethead Shark.  We eventually headed on up to Broward Island, tied off to a limb and fished in the shade of the island.  The girls caught a couple of nice SeaTrout, Tom had something to the boat and Jean hooked up again with something big!  She fought the fish (I'm pretty sure it was a Redfish - it rolled up a couple of times) but as she got it close to the boat it broke itself off on some logs- the Big One that got away!  The sun was up so we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Must have been the Lucky Shirt

Greg Melasky and his wife were visiting Amelia Island from Texas and Greg decided to take in a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  I had a baitwell of live shrimp and mud minnows so we made our first stop at the docks of Long Pointe and eased along the docks with Greg pitching his minnow up to the pilings.  We did have one good bite but what probably was a flounder turned it lose.  We then headed up Nassau River and a made a couple of stops along the exposed oyster beds as the tide turned and began to come in.  The weather was great but the wind made it almost impossible to work the bank the way we wanted and we had no real bites.  Greg had mentioned that he had on his lucky shirt and with a couple of hours of fishing under our belts and no fish, I was beginning to wonder! We made a run to Broward Island's south end, turned the bow into the wind and current and began to work the long strewn bank and ....FISH ON!  Greg had a strong hookup and then he fought the fish expertly, even though it was doggedly trying to throw the hook.  We eventually netted a nice 22" slot Redfish.  Not long after that Greg had another strong hookup, this one out deeper and shaking it's head.  Greg, an accomplished angler, again played the fish beautifully and we netted a 20"+ Seatrout.   NOTE that I almost titled this report "Keeper Streak" because Greg went on to catch three more nice Seatrout in the 18"-20" range before dropping down to some undersized fish.  We ended the day tossing topwater lures over the now flooded oyster beds and Greg saw more action by hooking up to a large Ladyfish and having his lure rolled on by something of size, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Big Shark Makes the Day

The Calhoun family, Melissa and Wally, along with their two sons, Wade and Alex, took in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark today.  We made our first stop along the shores of Tiger Island and Wally was the first to pick up a Trout, then Melissa hauled in the ferocious predator, a Bluefish.  We made another stop around the corner where the whole family caught Trout.  We made a run up to Jolley River to fish an large creek runout and Wally added to the species list by catching a Flounder and a Ladyfish.  Fishing a jig/shrimp combo on the bottom, Wally hooked up with a large fish that made the drag on his reel scream and he played the fish perfectly.  He got what turned out to be a Shark to the boat a couple of times and just when we thought the fish had tired, it broke off with a snap!  Wow, what a disappointment!  But the anglers were not to be deterred and persevered, soon hooking up with another  large fish.  This time Wally fought the fish around the boat and after period of time, wore the fish out which we promptly netted and tossed to the deck for pictures and examination!  This topped of the day, another great one to be out on the water!

Big Trout Bottom Fish

Gordon Duff of Tifton, Georgia treated his grandson Ethan to a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  We made our first stop outside of Tiger Island, fishing the grass line just as the tide had started out.  It wasn't long before the anglers were hooking up to Seatrout, albeit just undersized.  We made a quick stop behind the island with no real bites then headed up to Jolley River to fish a large creek runout.  Ethan was manning a rod with heavy jig tipped with shrimp in hopes that we'd pick up a shark.  The rod tip jerked and Ethan grabbed the rod only to have it make a deep bend and the drag began to scream as the fish made a run. He fought the fish perfectly while I prepared the net and made my plan to toss the shark onto the deck of the boat when Ethan yelled, "TROUT"!  He finished the battle and we netted a very nice 22" 3.5lb Seatrout.  Later we had a huge Ray come out of the water as all three of us were looking out to the river and what an awesome site it was! We finished the day fishing 1/4oz jigs and shrimp along the oyster beds and picked up two feisty Redfish, then called it another great day to be on the water!

Father and Son Fishing Trip

Rick and Josh Weinberg took in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip this Memorial Day weekend on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed up the river, making our first stop at a flooded oyster bed outside Tiger Island.  We didn't have any takers of our live shrimp under float, so we made our way around to the mouth of Tiger and fished some more oyster beds, picking up a few Seatrout.  We were treated to a Manatee cruising by as we fished.  Fishing behind Tiger island produced a feisty Redfish, still using shrimp under a float, then we headed up to the Jolley River where the guys caught another couple of Redfish.  On further up the river, Josh had a strong hookup and he soon had a good fight on his hands.  He fought the fish perfectly and we boated a nice Shark for pictures and release. It was a beautiful day to start off the Memorial Day weekend, another great one to be out on the water!

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.