Waiting on the Wind

Brent Gore and I postponed our scheduled Amelia Island backwater fishing trip from yesterday morning until the afternoon due to the high winds, gusting to 30mph.  We saw that they were going to die down by noon and the conditions would gradually get better as the afternoon wore on so we planned to meet down at the marina at 2pm.  Brent and his wife, Julie were in town celebrating their wedding anniversary and staying at the Blue Heron Inn, just a short walk to the marina.  By the time 2pm rolled around, Brent and I were both chomping at the bit to get out on the water and do some fishing.  The tide was still going out so we headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings and oyster beds and we hadn't been anchored long before we were hooking up with feisty Redfish.  A couple were more than feisty and turned out to be in the Slot size!  We landed about 7-8 fish, trolled an oyster bank at slack tide, then headed over to Tiger Island to catch the first of the incoming tide.  We found that the best tactic to catch fish was to fish our jig/shrimp combo slower than slow and we picked up a few more Reds, a fat, keeper sized Trout, and a couple of more hungry Trout.  Brett wrapped the day up by hooking up with a hard fighting fish and after expertly working the fish to the boat, we netted a nice 21" Slot Red!  With the sun going down, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Perseverance Pays Off

The Rich Berlinghof family was in in town, visiting Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach all the way from Long Island, New York, and took in an backwater fishing charter with me as their guide on The Anglers Mark.  We met yesterday morning at the Atlantic Seafood dock and headed down the river to fish the flooded oyster beds and marsh grass.  The tide had just turned at 9am and we were tossing live shrimp under floats.  There weren't many bites but young Conner did get us on the board with a nice Seatrout catch.  We made a stop outside Tiger Island where Emily got the hot rod, catching a number of Blue fish.  We moved around to behind Tiger Island where Rich and his wife Deneel picked up a feisty Redfish apiece.  Our next stop was the docks at Lanceford Creek and Deneel added a nice, keeper sized Seatrout, caught on a live shrimp, on the bottom.  After a short break and the tide getting down low we decided to head back to Tiger Island and anchor up off the downed logs.  This proved to be a good decision because it wasn't long before the whole family was catching Redfish.  Luke, Emily, Richie and Conner all caught a couple of Redfish and then Deneel had a strong hookup and after a good battle, landed a 25" 5lb Redfish!  While we were getting this big Red de-hooked,  Rich had a good bite and he too landed a Slot Redfish for a double!  The sun was going down and a light sprinkle had begun so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Amelia Island Backwater Grand Slam

The weather broke up a little this morning, just in time for me to get out on the water with Trey Dennard, his son IV (Eye Vee) and their friend, Gary Simms.  We left the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina just a little after 9am with the tide just beginning to turn and come back in.  Our first stop was behind Tiger Island and it was almost picture perfect with very little wind and the tide creeping in.  The anglers began to get some nibbles then Trey had a nibble nibble then a strong hookup, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and soon brought a nice Sheepshead to the boat.  Shortly after he had another strong hookup but in seconds the big fish broke off. However, it wasn't long when IV had a good bite and he had a good fight on his hands, but he played the fish to the boat and we netted a nice 16" Flounder, putting IV on the board in my annual Bragging Rights Tournament! (See box at right for the leader board).  The bite slowed so we made a run to the Lanceford Creek docks and it turned out to be a good move when Gary had a strong hookup and after working the fish in, we had a feisty Redfish, Gary's first!  We repositioned and then all the anglers began to enjoy regular bites and the party ended up landing 4-5 feisty Redfish.  Then Gary caught another one, but this one put up a bigger fight and when landed turned out to be a nice 20" Slot Redfish.  Trey added another keeper sized fish by picking up the day's only Seatrout then Gary had something take his shrimp and he had a hard fight on his hands.  He played up from the depths and we soon saw that he had a large Sheepshead! Just as Trey netted the fish IV had a hookup and he too landed a Slot Redfish.  After fishing a couple of more spots of flooded oyster beds, we called it a day, another great one to be on Amelia Island waters!

Bragging Rights!

It's a new year and it will take 12 long months to find out who has "The Anglers Mark"!  I'll be measuring and weighing the biggest Redfish, Seatrout, and Flounder this year and recording who is in the lead and at the end of the year we will award bragging rights to the winners.  So far this year Michael Purser leads the Redfish category with a 26" 6lb Redfish and his fishing buddy Andy Hall leads the Seatrout category with a 22" 3lb fish.  These were both some nice fish but it's a long year and the competition will be tough!  Contact me to set up your Amelia Island backwater fishing trip today.

Great January Amelia Island Fishing

Michael Purser and his friends Tim Ralston and Andy Hall were visiting Amelia Island along with their wives  so the guys decided to take in a backcountry fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at the Fernandina Harbor Marina at 9am with balmy 60 degree temperatures, no wind and a heavy fog.  We eased out of the marina just as the high tide peaked and headed south, chugging along through the fog and relying on the GPS to get us to our first spot, which was a oyster flat, flooded with the tide.  Although visibility was only about 75 yards, the guys could see the marsh grass and began tossing their float rigs with live shrimp up to the grass line. After about 15 or 20 minutes they guys had only had a few minor nibbles and I was beginning to wonder whether we should make a move when, BAM!  Michael's float disappeared with a vengeance!  He played the hard fighting fish perfectly and we soon netted a nice 20" Black "Puppy" Drum.  Then Tim got in on the action when his float went under and he had a BIG fight on his hands.  We could see the fish rolling out in the fog, but Tim played the fish to the boat.  But this big Red had grown through the slot for a reason and the wiley fish found his way to the transom and broke his self off on the propeller, OUCH!  Andy joined in by catching another  20" drum,  a couple of keeper sized Trout, one measuring close to 20",  then Tim and Michael both caught and landed two 26" Redfish.  As the bite slowed, we pulled anchor and slowly made our way over and up Lanceford Creek, motoring through the fog, with Dolphin jumping in the large wake, a great sight to see!  We eventually made it to some docks, anchored, and began to fish a jig and shrimp combo.  Michael picked up another Slot Red,  then both he and Andy caught a couple of "rats". Tim was going deep and landed a few more Trout.  Our last stop was behind Tiger Island and although we didn't have too many bites, Andy had one strong hookup, out deep, and after a good battle, landed another 26" Slot Red, wrapping up another great day to be out on the water!

Sawpit Boat Ramp Repairs Extended

My wife and I stopped by the Sawpit Boat Ramp on Big Talbot Island yesterday to see if the repairs were completed and see that they have extended the time for the ramp to be closed until February 17th.  They've installed a new bulkhead on the north side of the drive where the washout damaging the pavement, installed new decking where the bulkhead was installed, and paved the entire area.  No work has been done on the old dock on the south side of the ramp.

Braving the Elements

Saturday morning I fished with Leon and Sharon Freeman along with Charlie Jones, launching from the Goffinsville boat ramp just off the island.  We pulled away from the dock shortly after 8am with clear skies, temperature in the low 30's and a wind picking up.  Our first stop was Bubblegum Reef in the Horsehead area and we anchored at a drop off out from an old oyster bank.  Fishing straight down, it wasn't long before we began to get bites and soon Sharon had a strong hookup, and FISH ON!  She fought the big fish valiantly but it eventually found its way into some structure and cut itself off. OUCH!   We continued to fish and soon began to catch some nice Puppy Drum (Black Drum), catching 5-6 of them with two in the keeper range, above 14".  Leon picked up a few Sheepshead, too.  Eventually the bite slowed and the wind had picked up to about 15mph making it somewhat uncomfortable so we pulled anchor and headed to the shelter of Christopher Creek where we picked up a Slot sized Redfish.  We were pitching to the rocky shoreline hoping for a Trout to round out an Amelia Island Inshore Slam, but we didn't have a bite.  However, one angler who had been trolling the creek slowly said that he had about 6 Trout with a couple being keeper sized.  Back out in the wind  and with NFL football playoffs due to be on soon, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Wilson Neck Boat Ramp offers access to Upper Nassau River

I haven't launched from the Wilson Neck boat ramp in a few years but lately I've been considering a trip to the upper areas of the Nassau River for some personal "fun" Striper fishing so I paid a visit to the Wilson Neck Boat Ramp located in the south side of Yulee.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the County has improved the ramp and parking and have installed a nice floating dock.  There is also handicap access, paved parking, and lighting.  Using this ramp gives you access to Gardner Creek and to Nassau River near U.S. Highway 17, the RR trestle, and I-95 bridges.

This Nassau River area and the St. Mary's River, up around Crandall and White Oak, are known for their Striper fishing.  I've been getting good reports of catches of Redfish, Drum and Trout in the upper Nassau River from Lofton Creek up to the bridges.

The ramp is tucked away in the Wilson Neck area of a Yulee residential area so here are some directions: Turn south on U.S. Highway 17 in Yulee and go 2.3 miles to a traffic light at Harts Road.  Turn left on Harts Road and go 1.1 miles (you will go through a couple of "S" curves).  Turn right on Wilson Neck Road and go just .2 miles to Lana S. Court.  Turn left and go a block or two to Faye Road.  Turn Right on Faye Road.  Follow Faye Road down to the boat ramp and Gardner Creek.  The ramp is just over 11 miles from Amelia Island.

Back to School

If you live in the Fernandina Beach, Yulee, Jacksonville area then plan to sign up for Florida State College at Jacksonville's Amelia Island Backwater Fishing class!  This should be a fun class to learn and share some fishing techniques, rigging, knot tying and more!  I'm sure there will be some fishing stories told and at the last class we'll have a cookout.  Can't beat that!  The class will be Thursdays, beginning February 16-March 15, 6-8 p.m and will be held out at the Florida State College Betty P. Cook Nassau Center, Room T107.

Sheepshead Slam

Dennis Thomsen and his family visited Amelia Island for the holidays and scheduled a backwater fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  Dennis, his son Kendall, and granddaughter Andrea met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 1pm and we headed up to Lanceford Creek on the very first of an outgoing tide.  At our first stop at some flooded oyster beds we fished with live shrimp under float rigs and soon began to catch Seatrout.  All three anglers joined in on the action and ended up catching 8-10 Trout with a couple of them keeper sized.  As the tide dropped we moved on to fish some dock pilings and the "catching" heated up.  Andrea had the hot rod early and picked up a couple of feisty Redfish, Dennis caught a couple and then Andrea and Dennis had a double hookup!    Kendall saw an opening and he too began to catch Redfish.  The three anglers caught 12-15 Redfish with two of them in the Slot.  The bite slowed so we made a run to Tiger Island to fish the downed logs and it wasn't long before we were catching fish again.  The tide was now almost out and the Redfish were biting.  Kendall was at the stern and had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  This one was ripping drag and Kendall played it perfectly but as he fought the fish, Andrea had a hookup, another double!  Andrea brought in her Redfish to be measured and released and soon we were able to net Kendall's 24" Sheepshead, rounding out an Amelia Island backwater Slam!  The anglers caught about 8-10 Redfish here and Kendall added another, even larger Sheepshead and as the sun headed down, we called it another great day to be on the Amelia Island waters!