Now Fishing TFO

The Anglers Mark has new editions to it's equipment list, the TFO spinning rods!  For the light tackle jigging that I love to do here fishing Amelia Island, I've added the Gary Loomis Tactical Series 6'6" Medium spinning rod.  I've put my Shimano Stradic 1000's on these loaded with 10lb braid, tipped with a 14lb flourocarbon leader tied to a 1/4oz jig.  The rod is light and keeps you in touch with the bottom and any slight bump from a fish and it has the backbone to work in even oversized Redfish. For the float rigs I've got the new Gary Loomis Signature Series 7' Medium Heavy spinning rod. On this rod I have the Shimano Stradic 2500 loaded with 15lb braid, a Cajun Thunder float, then a 3' piece of 14lb flourocarbon leader and circle hook.  This rod has the strenght to make those longer casts into the wind with the float rig and gives you immediate hookup when that float goes under!  I'll also be using these whenever I want to toss topwater lures or use a Trout rig setup.  Here's a message from Gary Loomis about the rods:

Fishin in the Wind

Brian and Leah Cochran were visiting Amelia Island again and met up with me down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at the south end.  They also had with them Brian's dad Stan.  Although the weather guys had predicted a nice day they were somewhat off on their wind calculations!  It was blowing at least 10 if not more but these anglers were prepared to brave the elements!  We headed up Nassau River and made our first stop at Spanish Drop, fished a creek runout, then moved on to Bubblegum Reef to fish the very last of an outgoing tide.  I noticed the water temperature was around 54 degrees.  Although the wind was not too bad here it was just enough to be aggravating so we moved over to Seymore's Point.  Our first stop at the docks didn't produce anything other than relief from the wind but the second stop brought some action.  Brian was the first to hook up, tossing a live shrimp on a 1/4 oz jig.  He found a hungry Redfish and brought it to the boat.  Then his dad tossed a live shrimp under a float up near the bank and it soon began to walk off and then go under. Stan lifted the rod tip firmly and had a FISH ON!  He played it perfectly and soon brought it to the net, another feisty Redfish.  Then Leah hooked up with a jig and shrimp but this time it was a fat Seatrout.  We fished this spot for a good while and had a few more fish.  Leah broke in my new TFO Gary Loomis Tactical  6'6" rod by hooking up and reeling in a nice Redfish.  Eventually we made run to Broward Island but the wind and wave action made it too aggravating to fish so we made our way back to the shelter of Christopher Creek where we picked up one more Redfish and a few more bites.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out fishing Amelia Island, Florida waters!

Now Showing...

I'm happy to announce my work is now being carried by Beau Outfitters located at 3564 St. Johns Avenue which is in the historic shopping district of Avondale in Jacksonville.  Co-Owner Chase O'Steen felt like my hand crafted leather covered flasks would be a great fit with the quality apparel and accessories that he stocks.  If you're in the area, plan to stop in at Beau Outfitters in Avondale and browse the aisles!  I also have flasks at the two upscale Amelia Liquor stores on Amelia Island.  One is located on Sadler in the Publix shopping center and the other is located on the south end in the Harris Teeter shopping center. 

New Years Eve Blow Out

Brian Corbett and his family were visiting Amelia Island, Florida for the New Year holiday and so he scheduled a light tackle fishing trip with his two sons Conner and Kiernan and his nephew, Knox.  We meet up at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at Big Talbot Island park yesterday morning and headed up the Nassau River in The Anglers Mark with the tide having already turned and coming in for about 3 hours.  The back country water temperature was 53 degrees when we made our first stop and began to fish live shrimp under floats and live shrimp and mud minnows on 1/4 oz jigs.  Almost immediately Kiernan hooked up and had a feisty Redfish on. The other anglers joined in and had hookup after hookup of hungry Redfish and Seatrout.  Knox landed a 9-spot Redfish and Brian hooked up with a Sheepshead to round out an Amelia Island back country slam, of sorts.  When we made a move to deeper water Conner added a keeper sized Trout to the cooler then he "called his fish", putting on a fat Cocahoe minnow and tossing it deep to the rocky shoreline.  BOOM!  FISH ON!  This Redfish wasn't a rat, for sure!  He played the fish perfectly and after a long battler with two or three drag ripping runs, he landed a nice, 28 1/4" oversized Redfish!  We snapped some pictures, measured the beast, then sent him on his way to be caught another day!  We hit Bugglegum Reef at dead high tide and had very little action then move on around to Jackstaff and up into a shallow creek.  The anglers again had some hot action, catching a good handful of Trout then a whole mess of hungry Blues.  Moving out into deeper water they got back into the trout and wrapped up the day catching fish down to the very last shrimp!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Redfish On Fire

Michael Purser, Tim Ralston and Andy Hall were visiting Amelia Island with their spouses for a pre-holiday break and had scheduled a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark well in advance.  The weather was probably ordered up by the Chamber of Commerce because there wasn't a cloud in the sky, no wind to speak of, and the temperature rose to the low 70's.  We met at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on Talbot Island and headed up the Nassau River to fish Bubblegum Reef on the very first of an incoming tide.  We found some Trout,  fishing live shrimp under a slip float and the anglers also caught some on a jig.  As the tide came up we made the run to Broward Island and began to fish just as the tide started in at that location further up the river.  BAM! FISH ON!  BAM! FISH ON!  BAM! FISH ON! The guys started hooking up on almost every cast.  I was huffing and puffing to get the hungry Redfish de-hooked, photographed, and released!  I guestimate that they caught at least 15 Reds if not more and Michael also caught a keeper sized Sheepshead.  Tim landed one Redfish with NO spots while Andy was working a slip float rig and catching fish.  When the bite slowed we ran up to Christopher Creek where the anglers again caught some hungry Redfish, about 6-7 in all.  With that, we called it a day, another great on to be out on Amelia Island waters!

High Tide Trout Fishing

We had an unusual high tide yesterday when we launched The Anglers Mark - the water was way up in the grass and even covering the grass.  Zack Peyton and his friends Carl and Mark met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 10:30 at the peak of the tide and we headed up river to fish with live shrimp under float rigs.    I found it difficult to find my "spots" because the water was so high I couldnt' see my landmarks!  But these anglers were ready to work and after some of the water had left the marsh they began to pick up some hungry Seatrout.   Mark started it out then Carl and Zack got in on the action at Millie's spot up Lanceford Creek.  Later we hit a dock on Lanceford with no real bites then ran around to the Jolley River to fish the "Mother of All" spots.  However the tide was so high and the current running so stiff the MOA didn't pan out.  But on around the corner Zack found a ripple where the Trout were hanging and moved over to let Carl join in on the catching.  Jolley Bank had no fish but as the tide hit bottom we made our last stop at the logs of Tiger Island where Zack picked up a keeper sized trout with a jig on the bottom and also found the only Redfish of the day.  With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Two Leather Projects Completed

I know, they don't have anything to do with fishing! I have some of these on consignment at Amelia Island Liqours and they owners requested that I do an Elk and Bulldawg. You can tell by the picture that the Dawg is "antiqued".   See more at my Fish Craft page.

Amelia Island Surf Fishing Hot for Drum

Albert and Nancy Hudson sent in this report from the Thanksgiving weekend:
The redfish and black drum bite is hot in the surf. We went Friday about 2 hours before high tide and fished for about 2 hours and caught 7 nice keeper puppy drum, 2 slot redfish and 2 huge bull whiting. They were still biting when we left. Went out again Sunday but went a little too early. Nancy caught two small rat reds and 1 huge puppy drum along with a couple of whiting.

Trout'n After Thanksgiving

It was such a pretty day the day after Thanksgiving so  my wife and I and our good friend Ameera launched the boat at Atlantic Seafood shortly after noon and headed up to the Tiger Island area to do some fishing with the tide coming in.  We hadn't been stopped long when we all started getting bites.  The Trout were real hungry for our live shrimp floated near some submerged oyster beds.  We caught about 8 or 10 in less than an hour and three of them were of keeper size.  We made a short detour by Cumberland Island to check out some wild horses, then headed up to the Jolley River where I thought we'd have  a shot at some larger Trout and maybe a Redfish.  But they weren't biting.  We made one last stop south of the Rayonier mill and even though  we had to work for them, both Ameera and I landed 3-4 more Trout apiece and one keeper sized Puppy Drum.  Ameera was making excellent casts and patiently worked her fish in to the waiting net.  With the sun going down, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout Tournament

I fished Friday and Saturday with Tim Parker and Brian Knicely during the Nassau Sportsfishing Association Backwater Tournament.  We caught a bunch of Trout both days.  A mess of Trout.  Both days the weather was fantastic, cool in the morning, but clear and sunny with very little wind.  It made for some great fishing.  I calculated we hit 12 spots on Friday and 9 spots on Saturday!  We picked up plenty of trout on live shrimp and mudminnows and Tim's Temptation baits.  However, most were undersized.  We also had a couple of rat Reds on both days, a drum and a couple of Sheepshead.  On the day of the Tournament we ended up with two keeper sized Trout with one over 17" and a nice keeper sized Sheepshead.  We entered the Trout, knowing that it wouldn't place us in the top 3, but we were "on the board"!  It was two great days to be out on the Amelia Island waters!