Life in the Backcountry

Young Dan McBryan set up an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip today with  his dad, Lou, while they were visiting the area.  We made a plan to get started extra early, 6am, to take advantage of the first of an incoming tide.  Our first stop was an oyster lined bank of the Jolley River and the guys were tossing 1/4 jigs with Gulp minnows and shrimp.  Both anglers immediately began to get bites and soon Lou yelled, "fish on" and he reeled in a feisty Redfish.   The baitstealers were nipping the tails off of the Gulps so we moved on up the river to a large creek where Dan worked his jig slowly along  an oyster bank.  He felt a heavy weight and expertly hooked up on a fish, playing it perfectly to the boat and we netted a good sized Flounder for pictures and release.  He also caught a weird fish that we have yet to identify!  Later in the morning we fished outside Tiger where we were joined by Manatee, then we went inside Tiger and were treated to a large number of Roseate Spoonbills roosting.  The bite had slowed so we made one final stop outside Tiger at a flooded oyster bed and had Dolphin and Manatee cruising by, along with a large pod of Stingray.  We eventually called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Catching the Blues

Al Emerick treated his two sons Richard (RC) and Dylan to an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed up river to fish the outside of Tiger Island with some topwater lures on a high and incoming tide. RC had the hot rod early and had a couple of "spits" at his popping lure and then he hooked up, catching a Blue then a Seatrout.  Later, we dropped an anchor and fished the area with Shrimp under floats and all three anglers began to hookup, catching some rather larger Blues and another Trout.  We fished the Jolley River with shrimp under floats and had hookups with Ladyfish and when we moved into a larger creek RC had his line ripped out by a Sharks.  The first one broke itself off, but on the second we were able to maneuver the boat and RC battled it around and around, and around!  He played the fish perfectly and we soon brought to the boat a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark for pictures and release.  The sun had gotten high, and hot, and after one more stop with not much action, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Bunch of Catch'n

Tyler and Sarah Bolick were visiting Amelia Island and took in an backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark Saturday.  We met at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina at 7am and headed up river to the outside of Tiger Island.  The anglers were tossing topwater lures, had a few "spits", and Sarah hooked up a small Jack.  We switched to shrimp under floats and both anglers began to catch slashing Blues, a small Redfish and Trout.  We also had a keeper sized Flounder to the boat.  We moved around to Snook Creek and Sarah had a big fish bite and her drag ripped out, FISH ON!  She played the fish expertly and we soon netted a nice Bonnethead Shark.  Later they picked up another Trout and when we moved on to an oyster bank that was now exposed, both Sarah and Tyler caught Blues, Trout, Croaker, Redfish and Ladyfish. At one point Sarah hooked up with what had to have been a Slot Red, her drag was rip, rip, ripping and she played it perfectly, but it was not to be.  The fish through the hook, the Big One that got away!  We had a great trip with a lot of catching and eventually called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

It's Not a Shark!

Steve Silverman, his wife Gretchen and their two kids were visiting Amelia Island, Florida and scheduled a backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We met at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at Big Talbot Island Park and headed up the Nassau River, making our first stop at Leon's Drop.  Jason was the first to hookup with a fish and his drag ripped out, FISH ON!  He and his dad fought the fish to a standstill and we soon netted a nice Bonnethead Shark.  The other three anglers joined in and had strong bites, drag ripping action and some good battles.  Note that two of these battles ended with the fish winning - not from broken string or knots that gave, but from broken hooks! OUCH!  We move on to Bubblegum Reef and CJ caught a fat Rock Bass, then we move on around to the mouth of Jackstaff to battle with Sharks.  On one such bite, Steve had his drag ripping out so we maneuvered the boat and he battled the fish around and around, and around!  We just knew it was another shark but when Steve finally subdued it, the whole group yelled, "It's not a shark!"  We netted a very large Jack Crevalle, boy what a fight it put up!  And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Shark after Shark after Shark

Brian Deem was in visiting Amelia Island with his family and set up two backcountry fishing trips, one with his younger kids, and one with the older kids.  We met Thursday afternoon for the first trip with the younger set and left the Fernandina Harbor Marina at 4pm on The Anglers Mark.  Our first stop was outside Tiger Island and we were joined with a few manatee!  The youngest, Noah, was the first to hookup and reel in a feisty Redfish.  Fishing behind Tiger Island, Cameryn caught a couple of Croaker.  We moved on up to Jolley River and things heated up with Riley and Noah, along with their Dad, fighting Bonnethead Sharks. Cameryn added a nice sized whiting to the catch.  Our last stop was up a side creek off of Jolley and the trio of anglers had their hands full by catching one big Shark after another, and as the sun began to set, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

We met Saturday afternoon and this time Brian brought his to older sons, seasoned anglers Jordan and Hunter.  We had chosen to meet at 3pm which was at the very bottom of an outgoing tide.  The oysters were exposed and the three anglers were tossing jig and shrimp combos to their base and soon had some good hookups, with Jordan reeling in a couple of hard fighting Redfish and Brian battling a 2' Bonnethead Shark. We move around to Jolley River and fished the first of the incoming tide and all anglers had Redfish - Hunter picked up 4 on his own, Jordan added a couple more and Brian had a few, too.  As the tide began to rise, the fishing slowed, so we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Slot Reds lead to Slam

Davis Norris and his friend Kevin were visiting Amelia Island with their families last week and they decided to take in an backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed up river to fish the outside of Tiger Island with topwater lures.  Although we had a couple of "spits" at the lures, we had no real bites.  We moved around to the docks of Lanceford Creek when the tide started out and this proved to be the ticket because the guys began to get good bites and hookups on live shrimp under floats.  They ended up catching 10-12 Redfish with at least 3 of those in the Slot.  Davis hauled in a keeper sized flounder and they had a couple of small Trout.  We eventually ran around to the Jolley River and fished an now exposed oyster bank and the guys caught another Slot Red, some smaller Reds, a keeper sized Trout to round out an Amelia Island Backcountry Slam.  We picked up a few more fish then called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!

Twin Slam

An overcast day couldn't keep the Bill Steinauer family from fishing the backwaters of Amelia Island today.  Bill and his wife Pam, along with their twin daughters met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning and we headed up river, stopping The Anglers Mark at a flooded shell bed.   The anglers tossed live shrimp under floats and immediately began to get bites and soon boated a nice Bluefish, a neat Needlefish, a small Jack, and a whole host of other bait stealers!  We ran on up to the Jolly River and anchored in a creek runout and again found a great deal of bait stealers, so we eased out to the mouth of the creek and WHAM!  Bill had a good bite and caught a feisty Redfish.  The move proved to be the ticket because the whole family joined in catching Redfish, a couple of Trout, and Bill added a Flounder to round out the Amelia Island Backcountry Slam.  A number of Croaker were caught, too.  We eventually moved around to Tiger Island where the Steinauer family added a couple of more Croakers and another Redfish. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be on the water!

Smorgasbord of Fish

 I've had a handful of trips the last couple of weeks that have started out slow but picked up with fish beginning to bite right up to the end.   A lot of it has to do with how much the patience the anglers have and if they  "endeavor to persevere"!  Today was one of those days.  I met Sam and Molly Pearson and their two kids Cassidy and Clay at the Big Talbot Island boat ramp, 7am, and we headed up the Nassau River for a morning of backcountry fishing on The Anglers Mark.  Our first stop was at Leon's Drop with the tide going out and the oysters not showing yet - perfect tide for the spot, but no bites.  We headed around through Jackstaff and fished the bank and Clay did pick up a feisty Redfish with a live shrimp under float. We crossed the creek where Sam had a good battle with a Bonnethead Shark, but the Shark won and move on!  Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef and this time we broke out some bait casting bottom rigs.  Cassidy had a rod bending, drag ripping hookup and, FISH ON!  She and I battle the fish briefly then Sam jumped in and took over for a long battle which he won this time, and he brought to the boat a huge Stingray for pictures.  That must have gotten things going because Sam started having good hookups on a jig/shrimp combos.  He had a good strong bite, and played the fish perfectly, then handed the rod off to Clay who brought in a slot sized Redfish.  Then Sam hooked up with another and this time handed it off to Cassidy, who brought in an even bigger slot Redfish.  Sam was on a roll because he eventually boated a "Smorgasbord" of fish including a Sheepshead, Sea Bass, and Black Drum.  Molly joined in and expertly reeled in the Sea Bass. Cassidy added one more Stingray to the mix.  The sun was up and it was time to head in, so we called it a day,  another great one to be on the water!

TripleTail leads off for Grand Slam

Just when you think you've seen it all in the backcountry waters of Amelia Island a fish is caught that just boggles your mind!  A few years ago I was fishing up in Jolley River which is northwest of Amelia Island and I had a hookup, a good feisty fight, and landed a small Snook, to my amazement!   We've been having pretty good catches this summer of Redfish and we've been also catching a few Trout and Flounder, and once in a while a Sheepshead.  But you can imagine my surprise when one of my customers caught a hard fighting fish that just didn't want to come to the boat and when we finally netted it, a TripleTail!

Busted Net

I keep telling myself that I'm going to quit trying to net Bonnethead Sharks.  Today I learned my lesson when Parker Grow, his dad Bill and Parker's 4 1/2 year old son Crawford took in an Amelia Island backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  We left the boat ramp and the City's Fernandina Harbor Marina this morning around 7am and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the docks on an incoming tide.  The oysters were almost covered, so we tossed a live shrimp under float up near the dock pilings.  The anglers had few bites so we headed up to Jolley River;  the oysters were now covered and the jig/shrimp combo wasn't working too well.  We headed further up the river and anchored in a large creek and it wasn't long before Parker had a strong bite and his drag began to rip out, FISH ON!  He had Crawford help him out and the two fought the fish perfectly, bringing it to the boat and wearing it out so that I could scoop him up with the catch net, but as soon as I began to drag this large Bonnethead up the net collapsed!  I grabbed at the fish and the line broke. OUCH!  But it was a great fight and provided some much needed excitement!  We were in the right spot because it wasn't long before Bill had a nice shark on.  He too played it perfectly and this time we grabbed the Shark and tossed him in the boat for pictures and release.  We caught a couple more shark and had a good mess of Croaker to go with them.  The wind had picked up and was really blowing and after a couple of brief stops we called it a day, another great one to be out on the water!