I had the pleasure of fishing again this morning with Wade Dial and his son Pierson. We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed out of the marina with the tide just beginning to come in. We hit some dock piling early and picked up to feisty Redfish then reeled in a nice Flounder. Our second stop was the logs at Tiger Island where Pierson got a fat Snapper and Wade landed a keeper sized Flounder. We moved on the Jolley River and after boating another Snapper and theaving Croaker Wade had a good hookup and battle on his hands. He handed the rod off to Pierson who worked the fish perfectly and we landed big keeper sized Seatrout, to round out the anglers Amelia Island back country Slam! Wade continued to work the bank patiently and every so often he'd hookup and either reel the fish in or hand it off to Pierson. Later, while fishing outside of Tiger Island we found some more Trout and this time Pierson was working the bank patiently and he hooked up, FISH ON! Another Seatrout for a persistent angler! With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
We had a beautiful morning today when I met Bill and Scott Kennedy down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at Big Talbot Island Park. We headed up the Nassau River to fish the incoming tide with jigs and mud minnows. Guess what happened on the first cast? BOOM! FISH ON! Scott worked the big fish patiently and after a good battle he landed an oversized Redfish! 2nd cast? FISH ON! Bill had a hookup! It went like that for at least an hour with hookups, oversized fish, Slot Redfish, nice Snapper (some were keeper sized) and even break offs. One nice hookup had a Slot Redfish but when we got it to the boat there was nothing left but the head! OUCH! We eventually made a run to Broward Island picked up a feisty Redfish, some more Snapper, then Scott hooked up and caught a nice keeper sized Flounder with his TFO Gary Loomis Tactical Series spinning rod. Bill added another Slot Redfish then he rounded out their Amelia Island Slam by landing a hungry Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
We scheduled a late afternoon fishing trip yesterday so I met Ricky Williams along with his two
sons Riley and Cooper and their friend Conner down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at Sawpit Creek. We headed up the Amelia River with a bait well full of mudminnows and "Tiger" minnows that I had gotten from another anglers who was heading home. We started easing along an oyster lined bank at Jackstaff and Conner started things off, catching a Seatrout, then another, then another. Ricky added a Trout, Cooper picked up a feisty
Redfish then a Ladyfish and Riley wrapped up the spot with another Trout. We moved on around to the Nassau River where Cooper's rod began to heat up! He landed a hungry Snapper then he had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! He played the big fish perfectly and we soon netted a nice Slot Redfish! We eventually made a move up to the downed longs of Broward Island and after a little fishing we pulled in a small Flounder then Cooper had another strong hookup and boated another keeper Slot Redfish! With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
Today was one of those once in a lifetime fishing trips that just makes you wonder, "can this be happening?" I had met Robert Golden, his son Tanner and their friend Mark down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning and you could see yourself on the water it was so calm and glassy. We headed up the Nassau River to fish the Horsehead area with just a few hours of an incoming tide. We held up at a marsh runout and began to fish jigs on the bottom with mud minnows. The first casts by Tanner and Mark produced a hookup, a feisty Whiting and a large Sail Cat. Well that was cool to have fish on the first cast but little did I know that we were in for some serious fish catching. Both Tanner and Mark began to hookup with oversized Redfish and two or three times they both had one on, FISH ON! FISH ON! Their light tackle TFO Signature Tactical Spinning Rods were bent double as one fought a big fish at the bow and one fought a big fish at the stern. They'd pass each other at amidships and continuer their fights at the other end of the boat. I eventually had to ask each of the young men to keep a tally of how many of these oversized Reds they caught and released and by the end of this amazing day they each had released 4 fish, measuring to 30.5"! In the middle of the extravaganza Robert was able to put a Slot Red in the boat and Mark added one, too. After being checked out by the FWC officer, we moved back down the river and the anglers wrapped up the day catching Seatrout, Blues, and Jacks. With that, we headed in, counting it as a super great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters!
Kevin Sweeney brought his three sons over to Amelia Island for their first saltwater fishing experience this morning. We met at the City marina at 7am and headed north to fish the outside of Tiger Island with float rigs on the very last of an incoming tide. We had no real bites on our mud minnows so we continued on to the Jolley River and ran a pretty good ways up the river. We fished a nice marsh runout with no real bites then eased into a larger creek and anchored in the grass. Bryce got things started off by hauling in a couple of bottom hugging Stringrays then Ronan had a brief and intense battle with a Shark then Bryce was back at it reeling in a couple of keeper sized Snapper. We moved down to Jolley Bank as the tide really started out and found a good handful of fish. Dana got real hot at the stern of the boat, drifting a float rig along the grass line. He got his own personal "Slam", catching a couple of Redfish, a keeper sized Flounder and a hungry Seatrout. Ronan's rod then heated up as he picked up back to back keeper sized Flounder then he put the last fish in the boat, a very nice 17" Seatrout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
We had a beautiful start to todays fishing trip, launching out of Big Talbot Island Park with sunny skies and just a light breeze. I had met Mike and Sarah Terry and their daughter Madeline at 7:30am at peak high tide and headed up the Nassau River to fish the Spanish Drop area at a nice marsh runout. We held there for an hour or so because the anglers commenced to catch fish! Sarah hooked up with something big to start things off but the big fish had no intention of getting caught! Then Mike had a good hookup and a battle on his hands. He played the fish perfectly and soon landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish! All the anglers caught fish - they had a couple of Seatrout, a Jack Crevalle, and Madeline reeled in a hard fighting Stingray! Before we left, Mike caught a nice keeper sized Flounder to round out their Amelia Island back country Slam. We ran down to Broward Island to get out of the rising wind and held outside of another marsh runout. The anglers added two more keeper sized Flounder. We also had a fast cruising Manatee come by the boat and had a nice visit from the Florida Wildlife Commission who checked us out and gave us the OK! With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
Pat and Sharon Galvin were visiting Amelia Island with their two young kids, Kacey and Drew, who had never been out on a boat. So they set up an back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark for this morning. We met at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp at 7am and headed up the Amelia River to fish the mouth of Jackstaff. Our first stop was at a large marsh run out and then we hit some smaller ones. The anglers were getting some pretty good bites then we all of sudden hooked up with something big, FISH ON! Both Pat and Kadey fought the fish for a while then Drew stepped in to have his share of the battle. His dad, Pat, finished it off and with patiently angling, landed a big 3'+ Bonnet head shark! The wind had picked up out of the east so we headed over to Broward Island which turned out to be a good move because the bite picked up. Drew landed a couple of Snapper then Sharon joined in with one or two also. Kacey picked up a couple of hungry Croaker who croaked their displeasure of being pulled from the water! Then Sharon had a strong hookup, her rod bent and the drag ripped - this was a nice fish! She worked the fish in patiently and we soon netted a nice 22" Slot Redfish! We photographed and released the fish. We picked up another couple of Snapper and Croaker then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
How can you go from one of thebest days of fishing on one day and the very next have to struggle to find a fish? I think the biggest reason was that the water was muddier due to the heavy rainfall we've been having. I had the pleasure of getting out and fishing again with Mark and Shelly Davis today and even though we got a little wet heading to our first stop, that was all the rain we got during our trip. We had an excellent tide with the water moving out of the marsh and the oysters beginning to show. We began fishing with float rigs and mud minnows tossed to the edges of the oysters up in Jolley River but had no real bites. We then made a move to a large creek mouth and tossed the minnows on jigs and may have picked up a Croaker or two. Our next stop was at Jolley Bank and here Shelly hooked up with a handful of feisty, fun to catch, but small Redfish. We then made a run to Bell River to fish the dock pilings and although the conditions looked perfect, we again needed to rely on Shelly to find us a feisty Redfish. This young couple gave it an all out effort and did pick up a few fish but today just wasn't the day for the fish to be biting here at Amelia Island.
The Pleasant family was back in town for their July vacation and took in a back country fishing trip today on The Anglers Mark. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on Big Talbot Island Park and headed up the Nassau River to fish the Twin Creeks. I used the Minnkota I-Pilot trolling motor to hold us a the marsh runouts as the anglers tossed their jig/mud minnow combo on an outgoing tide. William hooked up and landed a keeper sized Trout and they also had some Ladyfish action. We made run around to Jackstaff, fished an oyster bank, and had Alex land a really nice 20" Seatrout. William fought a nice Jack Crevalle and Ben landed a keeper sized Flounder. Our next stop was at Bubblegum Reef with the tide still going out. We'd only been fishing few minutes when Alex hooked up and had a BIG fish! FISH ON! He played the fish perfectly, around the bow and back to the stern, but this wiley old fish had been around for awhile and with the boat held in place, it found some current to add to its weight, and broke off, OUCH! Ben was next up and hooked up to a BIG one too! He fought his fish
patiently but this time I released the I-Pilot and we drifted with the current, fighting the big fish. Eventually Ben landed an oversized 28.75" Redfish! These anglers were in for a big day of fishing because the BIG Reds were not through! Alex hooked up and played this big fish perfectly, determined to land this one, and he did. We measured it before we released it and found it to be 33.5" would put Alex in the lead in my Anglers Mark 2013 Bragging Rights Tournament, Redfish category (scroll down right side of this report for standings) Ben added a 26.5" Slot Red, and then a 30" oversized Red. Alex added 20" Slot Red, and William put two 21" Slot Reds in the boat. The anglers wrapped the day up by landing two keeper sized Black Drum. And with that, we called it a day, another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
(2) Premade 15oz pans of cornbread
(1) 8oz pre-chopped bell pepper combo container
(1) 8oz pre-chopped tomatoes container
1/3 of a 80z pre-chopped purple onion container
(1) Large cucumber, peeled and cubed
(8) large scoops of mayonnaise
Crumble the cornbread onto two cookie sheets and bake in oven at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on cornbread and remove from oven and turn crumbles to get a crispy browning. Let cool then add ingredients and stir thoroughly. Taste and add salt and pepper as you like.
Cut these ingredients in half to make a smaller batch.
I had the pleasure of fishing again this morning with Wade Dial and his son Pierson. We met at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7am and headed out of the marina with the tide just beginning to come in. We hit some dock piling early and picked up to feisty Redfish then reeled in a nice Flounder. Our second stop was the logs at Tiger Island where Pierson got a fat Snapper and Wade landed a keeper sized Flounder. We moved on the Jolley River and after boating another Snapper and theaving Croaker Wade had a good hookup and battle on his hands. He handed the rod off to Pierson who worked the fish perfectly and we landed big keeper sized Seatrout, to round out the anglers Amelia Island back country Slam! Wade continued to work the bank patiently and every so often he'd hookup and either reel the fish in or hand it off to Pierson. Later, while fishing outside of Tiger Island we found some more Trout and this time Pierson was working the bank patiently and he hooked up, FISH ON! Another Seatrout for a persistent angler! With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
