Lead Off Home Run

It was a beautiful morning when I met Shawn Boggs and his 11 year old son Jackson at the Big Talbot Island Boat Ramp at 7am today.  The bait shop was out of live bait, but I had a bag full of fresh dead shrimp, so we headed up the Nassau River to fish some oyster outcrops on the last of an outgoing tide.  The anglers warmed up tossing jigs and shrimp to the exposed oysters. We had very few real bites but when we pulled up we were able to catch a few live finger mullet with the cast net.  Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef and after I positioned the boat Jackson placed one of the live mullet up next to the stucture.  Over my shoulder I advised him to let the mullet wiggle around for a while and maybe a fish would find it when I heard him ask, "Like this?"  RIIIIIIIIP the drag went and FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly, keeping it turned away from the structure and eventually fighting it to the back of the boat.  It made a number of hard runs but he kept the pressure on and brought him to the waiting net.  We celebrated the "thrill of victory" with some high fives on the "home run" of a first fish and got some pictures.  When we measured it we found out that it was over the slot, a 27 1/2 fish, placing Jackson tied for 3rd in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament!  We made sure he swam off to be caught another day.  Shawn joined in by picking up some fiesty Redfish, then Jackson hooked up again using a finger mullet.  He worked this big fish to the boat  and net and this one measured 24", in the Slot! And again, his drag ripped out, his rod bent, and another Big FISH ON!  Jackson did great, working the fish away from the structure, but this fish hadn't gotten oversized without learning a few tricks.  He headed for deep water behind the boat and took the line right under the boarding ladder, snapping the line, FISH OFF!  Aaah, "the agony of defeat"!  But these anglers fished on and caught a couple of more feisty Redfish and Jackson also added nice Puppy Drum.  We caught another couple of dozen finger mullet then headed for Broward Island to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  The bait was moving along the shoreline and fish were busting it so we set up about 40 feet from the bank and offered some mullet on our jigs.  Shawn was the first to hookup, catching a nice Trout then both anglers were catching them.  Some were fat but undersized but they were able to get a couple over the 15" size limit.  The sun had gotten up and the breeze that we had enjoyed all morning seemed to die, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Plenty of Fish

Ed and Colleen Suarez were visiting Amelia Island and took in a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  The tide was dead low when we met at Atlantic Seafood so we headed up to the Jolley River to fish the exposed oyster banks.  If you wanted some action then this was the place to be!  Non stop bites and catching and releasing for about 2 hours.  There wasn't a whole lot of size to the Redfish and Flounder that the anglers caught, but there was a bunch of catching.  They mixed in two handfulls of Croaker, some hard fighting, hard jumping Ladyfish, a couple of Snapper, and a nice Bonnethead Shark.  We continued to fish until we ran out of bait then stopped in and picked some more up.  Our next stop behind Tiger Island didn't produce any real bites so we came around to the ocean side and again the anglers were catching fish.  Ed rounded out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam when he picked up a Seatrout.  After more Trout, Ladyfish, and Snapper, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Slam, Slot and Double

Mike and Heather Hingson were visiting Amelia Island with their two kids Emily and Joe and scheduled an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We headed up to the Jolley River on the very first of an incoming tide and with a slight breeze to out backs. Using 1/4 jigs and live shrimp, the anglers began making presentations to the oyster lined banks and the bite began almost immediately and lasted for about 2 hours.  Although the Croakers were thick, the anglers picked up some nice Seatrout and feisty Redfish, too.   Then Mike had a strong hookup and his drag ripped out, FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and after a good battle, he directed the fish into the waiting net.  This 24" Slot Red was a nice fish!  Shortly after that Mike and Joe had a double hookup and when they got their respective fish in, it turne out that Joe's Trout trumped Mike's Redfish!  Joe went on to catch a couple of keeper sized Flounder (the family released all of their fish) to round out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  For a while, Emily was on fire, hooking up Trout after Trout, enough to earn the label, Trout Queen! We fished outside of Tiger later and picked up a few more small Trout and Ladyfish, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Constant Bite

David and Whitney Nofsinger treated their two young angler sons, Harper and Willis, to an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We headed up to Jolley River on the first of an incoming tide loaded down with a bait well of live shrimp.  I dropped the trolling motor along an oyster lined bank and we began to inch along, casting jigs and shrimp to the exposed oysters.  From the first cast the young anglers were getting bites, hooking up often and keeping their parents and I busy getting them re-baited and back in the water.  They caught small, but hungry Trout, feisty Redfish, and Croaker's and were getting their casting down when Willis had a strong bite, his drag ripped out, and FISH ON! When he yelled "DAD!",  David pitched in to help hold the rod and when we realized that the fish was BIG, David took over and began an epic battle, fighting the fish from bow to stern with the fish making some strong runs in between.  Eventually he subdued the beast and we finally netted an oversized 28 1/2" slot Redfish!  Wow, what a fish!  This put the duo into First place in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category. We continued fishing the bank, had a few strong hookups and breakoffs,  continued to pick up small Trout and small, but fiesty Redfish, then we made run to the outside of Tiger Island where the anglers continued there catching ways.  Harper caught the largest Seatrout, a keeper sized one and both he and Willis added Ladyfish to their catch.  The sun was up and hot so we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Bait Busters

We had a beautiful morning today - sunshine and just a slight breeze.  I fished with Abby and Daniel Vines along with Steve and Susie Komisar.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock early - 6:30am, and headed up to the Jolley River to fish a tide that had been coming in for about 2 and half hours.  We eased along the bank tossing finger mullet on jigs up to the still exposed oysters and the anglers were getting bites.  They caught plenty of hungry Trout and feisty Redfish along with a couple of Snapper and Croakers.  Unfortunately, the "baitstealers" were hungry too and in less than an hour and a half we had worke through all of our bait1  We picked up and made a run to the Bait House and got 5 dozen live shrimp, then headed over to the outside of Tiger Island to toss the shrimp under floats to the flooded oyster beds.  It wasn't long before the anglers again were catching fish - Trout, Reds, Ladyfish and a couple of small Black Tip sharks! We made a stop in Lanceford Creek and a stop justs south of Rayonier, then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Let the Music Play

Ralston Creswell was in town with his friends Quinn and Zack and took in an Amelia Island back water fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.  We met at Atlantic Seafood and headed down the river to fish Temptation Cove with two hours remaining on an incoming tide.  Although we had a few nibbles on our mud minnows under a float, there were no takers.  We headed back up to the outside of Tiger Island and fished some flooded oyster beds and here Zack picked up a feisty Redfish and Ralston picked up a hungry Trout.  We moved on around to the mouth of Tiger Basin and fished a spot until the tide started out then we headed up to Jolley River to catch the first of an outgoing tide.   All three anglers caught some small trout and small Redfish then Quinn had a good strong hookup and FISH ON!  He played the fish briefly but the wiley Red must have buried his snout into the oysters and, FISH OFF!  Ouch!we continued to fish the flooded oysters and Zack rounded out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam, picking up two Flounder in a row.   We had a couple of Ladyfish then we made a second run of a good bank and this time the anglers were tossing jigs and mud minnows.  Zack had turned on some music and it may have been the trick because we had only fished a short while when Ralstons drag ripped out and his rod doubled over and he had a big battle on his hands.  He played the fish perfectly and we soon netted an oversized 27 1/2" Red, which put Ralston tied for 2nd in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament, Redfish Category!  Later, Zack picked up a nice keeper sized Trout.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big and Bigger

John Allen and his family were making their annual visit to Amelia Island and made a point to get in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark.  John and his son Andrew along with their friend, Gage,  met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock, downtown Fernandina Beach, at 7am, and we headed up the river to make our first stop outside of Tiger Island.  We had live mud-minnows and just a few live shrimp and with the tide high and going out, the anglers were tossing float rigs over some flooded oyster beds.  And got no real bites.  However, after making a second run up to the Jolley River, John was positioned in the stern of the boat and was fishing the bank  with intent, and it paid off because his float soon went under and his rod bent from a big fish, FISH ON!  He patiently played the big Red and after a good battle, we netted a nice 23" Redfish.  We continued to troll along the bank and both Andrew and Gage picked up some hungry Seatrout then Gage had a good hookup and boy was this fish big!  He worked the fish to the boat after a long battle and after netting and pictures, we found the Big Red to measure 26 7/8"!    Andrew later landed some keeper sized Trout to round out the trio's Amelia Island Back Country Slam and with that, we called it a morning.  We met later that afternoon down at the Talbot Island State Park ramp and this time they included John's nephew, Jacob.   There were thunderstorms to our west, so we made quick stop at the Longpointe docks then made a run up to Bubblegum Reef, but had no real bites at either spot.  The storms moved off so we ran down to Broward Island and though the fishing was slow, Andrew did find a hungry Trout.  We slipped in to Christopher Creek and the fishing (and catching) heated up.  Andrew had the hot rod today and boated three nice keeper sized trout while the others picked up some smaller ones.  I was a little surprised that we didn't catch any Red's here, but the Trout were fun to catch.  After another stop or two, we headed in with the sun going down, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Fishing Against The Wind

I fished yesterday afternoon and the wind had picked up making fishing very diffucult for my guests, David Jones, his kids Sam, Melissa, and Keith who also had along with them their Uncle Dave.  The weather was actually very nice, sunny with just a few clouds, but very breezy.  We hit Jolly River, fishing float rigs with live shrimp and soon found that trying to toss the wind-catching rigs to the grass line was very tough.  But the anglers persevered and we fished on!  Melissa was the first to hook up and reeled in a hungry Seatrout.  Later at a runout, Uncle Dave found another Seatrout, but the real bites were few and far between.  Sam found a Snapper near the logs of Tiger Island but although we were finally sheltered from the wind, the fish just weren't cooperating.  The good news is that all of the anglers casting improved over the course of the trip and  some new skills were picked up, and the family got to get out on the water together, making the fishing trip a success in some ways.

Birthday Double Slam

Lisa Alexander treated herself and her son Danny to a birthday back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday morning.   After meeting up at Atlantic Seafood at 7am, we headed over to Lanceford Creek to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  The oysters were still flooded, but the anglers warmed up on some hungry Snapper around some dock pilings.  We moved on to the Jolley River and after using the Minnkota I-Pilot to "anchor" us at a creek run out, the fish catching heated up.  Both Lisa and Danny began to hookup with hungry Seatrout and feisty Redfish.  They were keeping a tally in a friendly competition and were staying neck and neck and at one time had a "double" with both anglers reeling in fish.  Lisa completed her inshore Slam when she reeled in a nice Flounder, then a little later,  Danny had a strong pull on his line, the fish stayed deep, but Danny worked him and we landed a nice, keeper sized Flounder to give Danny his inshore Slam.  I think they counted a total of 23 fish between the two of them and after a couple of more stops, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout and Reds. Trout and Reds

Quinton White and his daughter Stephanie and son Garrett fished with me this morning, meeting me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am.  We had a high outgoing tide and with mud-minnows in hand, we headed to Jolley River to fish the grass pockets of an oyster lined bank with float rigs.  Our first pass produced a number of bites from hungry Seatrout and feisty Redfish.  We netted a number of fish before Quinton hauled in a keeper sized Trout.   The oysters were showing well above the water line when we made our second pass so this time the anglers were tossing jigs and mud-minnows, letting their baits get down to the bottom, and again, they hooked up with Trout and Reds, Trout and Reds, with a keeper sized Trout thrown in.  We made a run further up into Jolley and although the bite had slowed, the anglers added another keeper Trout, this one the largest.  Our last stop was at Tiger Island where we found one Trout to wrap up the day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!