Birthday Girl On Fire

Mark Pettijohn and his kids Gareth, Chloe, and Lincoln were visiting Amelia Island all the way from Kansas and using the weekend to celebrate Chloe's birthday.  We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning at 7:30am and with a NW wind blowing, we headed up into Lanceford Creek to fish the last few hours of an outgoing tide.  Our first cast with a jig and live shrimp produced a huge bite but this craftt fish was more ready than us and headed into the pilings after a brief battle and broke us off, OUCH!  But it was a sign of good things to come because the anglers began to catch Sea Trout and Redfish.  Chloe expressed mild interest at first but when the bite got hot, so did she!  Her and her dad both put keeper Sea Trout in the boat and they also added a couple of Sand Trout.  Mark had a strong hookup and after a long battle brought to the boat a nice 19 3/4" Sea Trout to the boat, putting him in first place in my Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament - Sea Trout category (scroll down right side of this report).  Both Gareth and Lincoln added to the take total, catching Trout and Reds.  We eventually braved the wind and made a run to the logs of Tiger Island and these anglers continued to catch fish regularly.  Chloe added another keeper Trout and also picked up a nice Puppy Drum while Lincoln landed a frisky Black Tip Shark.  With the sun getting high, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Out of the Ballpark

Philip White had arranged an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark for this morning with his two sons, Charlie and Sam.  We met at the South End boat ramp at Sawpit Creek at 7:30 and headed up the Nassau River with two hours left in an outgoing tide.  We made a stop at Spanish Drop and both Philip and Charlie picked up a few hungry Seatrout.  Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef and Philip quickly picked up a Seatrout and Sam brought one to the boat.  Then Charlie's rod bent over and, FISH ON!  His drag ripped out repeatedly but he played the fish perfectly on the Gary Loomis TFO Tactical rod loaded with 10lb braid and we soon subdued the fish and brought a nice 19" Black Drum to the net.  The anglers caught a few more Trout and some aggressive Blue's then again Charlie hooked up!  And boy was this a fish!  Charlie was fishing with a broken foot that had a cast and when the fish headed under the boat to deeper water  he passed the rod to his dad and made it a team effort.  Philip put the rod down and around and under the trolling motor and finished the fight, bringing in an oversized 29" Redfish!  This blew first place in The Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfish category "out of the ball park! (scroll down on right side for standings).  It also rounded out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Trout, Black Drum and Redfish.   The wind picked up so we moved in behind Seymore's Point,  had no real bites, then made a run to Broward Island to fish the very last of the outgoing tide.  The wind was beginning to howl and the boat was rocking and rolling, but  Philip picked up another Trout then 8 year old Sam got in on the big fish action.  He had made his own cast to the outside of a downed log when his rod bent and the drag ripped.  He played the fish perfectly and we netted a 19" Slot Redfish for the dinner table!  We made our way back to the shelter of Seymore's point where Charlie caught a Whiting and a Sand Trout then we headed in  just before the rains hit, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Tough Conditions for These Two Anglers

Anglers Eric Arnold and his longtime friend Keith were visiting Amelia Island for one of their other friends batchelor  weekend get away.  They scheduled a fishing trip with me on The Anglers Mark Saturday morning, the day after their big celebration!  OUCH!  But even though heads were throbbing these anglers were game so we headed up into the backwaters of Amelia Island with light tackle gear and some live shrimp.  I could tell these guys had fished before because their casting was right on and we soon had some strong bites and Eric reeled in a keeper sized Trout.  Then Keith got in on the action and caught a few feisty Redfish.   The tide was almost high and the wind was blowing close to 15mph so these were tough conditions and tide to be fishing, but they made the best of it.  We fished the outside of Tiger Island and made a run to Jolley River where they had a few more bites and picked up another Seatrout.  It was a beautiful day other than the wind and the headaches but it was great to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Brother Anglers Get Out On The Water

Paul Landahl and his brother John scheduled a trip to Amelia Island, coming all the way from Chicago to escape the last of some winter weather.  We had scheduled to fish on Wednesday but the wind was howling so we moved the trip to Friday afternoon and boy did it turn out to be a beautiful day!  We eased The Anglers Mark out of the marina and headed up to the Jolley River and fished an oyster lined bank with live shrimp under floats as the tide began to drop.  It took us a few spots but eventually Paul found a nice keeper sized Whiting.  We also caught a few Blues and a Puppy Drum. We returned to Lanceford Creek and the anglers picked up two nice Redfish and another couple of Puppy Drum as the tide reached it's bottom.  It was a gorgeous day at Amelia Island and a great way to spend some time with your brother!

Old Friends Fish Amelia

Friends Bill Lavery, Joe Harter and their long time buddy Tim fished with me on The Anglers Mark Friday morning.  We left the Atlantic Seafood dock in historic downtown Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island at around 7:30am and headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the dock pilings.  After only a cast or two Bill hooked up with a hard fighting Redfish and brought it expertly to the net - a Slot Red!  The anglers hooked up with 3-4 more Redfish and Tim reeled in a Puppy Drum before we left the area.  Outside of Tiger Island we caught a Seatrout and a number of Blues.  As we left the island we had a dolphin surfing our wake!  Tiger Island logs produced no bites so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water.

First Fish Redfish

Shree Prasad and his son Neal were visiting Amelia Island for a few days and scheduled an Amelia Island back water fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this afternoon. We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 1pm and headed up to Lanceford Creek to get out of the westerly wind.  Shree and Neal hadn't fished much but they picked up the casting and fishing and catching rather quickly!  They were both bumping live shrimp on a jig up near the dock pilings and it wasn't long before Neal was fighting his first fish.  He played it perfectly and we soon netted a feisty Redfish.  He caught a few more, with two being in the Slot, and then his dad got in on the action and picked up a couple.  Neal added a few more Redfish to total 9 nice Redfish for this spot.  We later motored around to the Tiger logs and even though the wind was blowing us around, Shree stayed patient and picked up one more Redfish.  We took a short tour of Cumberland Island, saw some wild horses, toured Fort Clinch and Old Town, then headed in, counting it as another great day on Amelia Island waters!

Big Red First Cast

John Brayfield and his friend Paula were in from Illinois and took in an Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip this morning.  We had a wind out of the north west so we headed over to Lanceford Creek in hopes that the land mass would give us some protection, and it did.  I set John up with a jig rig on the last few hours of an incoming tide and after he had made his first cast I turned to get another rod ready and FISH ON!  The drag ripped out and the rod bent over as John played the big fish and after an extended battle we landed a 26 7/8" Slot Redfish, just under the size limit!  This put John in the lead in the Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament - Redfish category.  We snapped some pictures and released the beautiful big fish knowing that he had only an 1/8" to grow before he was oversized and illegal to harvest!  John continued to fish and picked up a few more Redfish with one more in the slot.   He also caught his very first Flounder.  Paula kept track of two bottom rigs I had out the stern of the boat and reeled in two feisty Sharks.  We hit a couple of more spots but the wind was really hampering us so we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Sharks Are Moving In

Bruce Brown, his wife Nancy and their son Jeff fished with me this afternoon.  It was somewhat grey out today and the longer we fished the wind picked up, but these anglers were game and persevered throughout the day to catch a nice variety of fish.  We were also handicapped by not having in live shrimp - all the bait shops were out today. So we went with artificial grubs and flukes on jig heads and made the best of it.  At our first stop in Lanceford Creek we had no real bites so we ran to the logs of Tiger Island and fished the last of an outgoing tide.  We were getting some bites here and when we move in close to the island it wasn't long before Jeff had a strong hookup and a fish fight on his hands!  He played the fish perfectly and we soon landed a nice Redfish!  I did have some dead shrimp on the boat so I rigged up a couple of bottom rigs and the anglers began to pick up some fish, with Bruce bringing in a keeper sized Whiting.  Later Jeff caught a small, but aggressive Black Tip Shark and then picked up two Puppy Drum.  The resident Raccoon was back looking for a handout!  We made a run to Eagans Creek and fished most of the stretch from the mouth to the bridge and eventually ended up back at the mouth where Nancy hooked up with  a hungry Seatrout and Bruce pulled in the final fish of the day, a nice Puppy Drum.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Red, White and Blue and a Slam

Boy what a beautiful day!  Daniel Garcelon and his son Josh fished with me today and we met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 8am this morning to fish the very last of an incoming tide and then the outgoing tide.  We made our way to just south of Rayonier (Temptation Cove) and although we had a few bites on our live shrimp under floats, we had no takers.  We moved around to south of the pipeline and here Josh began to get hot with his "catching"!  He picked up a few hungry Seatrout and some nice WHITE-ing.  We made a run to Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings and caught a couple of REDfish and a few more Trout, with one keeper sized.  We moved on down to Millie's Spot, had few bites but no takers, then made a run to the Tiger Island Logs.  Fishing was really good here.  These two anglers stayed busy catching Seatrout  and once in a while reeled in a BLUE.  Josh had made a good cast and was slowly retrieving his jig when his rod bent and...FISH ON!  He played the fish perfectly and after a good battle his dad netted a very nice 17" Flounder, which put's Josh on the board and in first place in my Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder category and also nailed down an Amelia Island Back Country Slam!  We couldn't of asked for a better day and even had visits from a Raccoon, an Otter, and a Florida Wildlife Commission officer who checked us out and gave us an A+ in preparedness! We eventually wrapped it up and headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Amelia Island Bachelor Party

Mau-En Lee had me set up 3 Amelia Island backwater boats to take he and his eight friends fishing today.   They are all visiting to help send off one of their friends who will be getting married soon.  We each had 3 in a boat an left the marina at 7:30 this morning.  I had Mau-En, Daniel, and "V" with me as we headed up into Lanceford Creek.  At our first spot I had the anglers tossing float rigs to a flooded grass patch but we had no takers.  We moved on to some dock pilings and this did the trick when V started it off by hooking up with a nice Redfish.  Then they all began to get hookups and we were able to stay at this spot for almost two hours.  Most were smaller but feisty and fun to catch while a few of them reached into the Slot and put up some really good battles.  Daniel added a nice18" Puppy Drum to the box.  We made a move around to the logs of Tiger Island where Mauen picked up another Red then all the anglers were catching Seatrout off of the bottom with jigs and shrimp.  This rounded out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam, but then Mau-En topped it off by reeling in a Flounder!  We also caught our first Bonnethead Shark of the year, a hungry 12" one!  It was a beautiful day, all sunshine, and a great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!