Trout Are Getting Bigger

I fished this afternoon with Paul Ricciardelli and his two sons Mike and Mathew, with the trip being set up by Paul's wife Elizabeth.  We headed out but the wind had picked up from this morning and made the first stop tough to fish our float rigs and live shrimp.  After no bites we moved around to behind Tiger Island and here things heated up.  Young Mike started things off right, hooking up with a big fish, FISH ON!  He worked it patiently and after the fish had taken him from bow to stern, landed a nice Slot Redfish measuring 22"!  The other anglers got in on the action as Paul landed a few Seatrout, one after the other and Mathew found some feisty Redfish to bring to the boat.  We moved up and down the island and as Mike fished deep he hooked up with bigger Trout, this one measuring 18.5" which puts him in first place in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament-Trout Category!   They caught more Trout, a Black Drum, and a Sheepshead to also record an Amelia Island Back Country "grand slam".  We hit a couple of more spots but the NE wind eventually blew us off the water.  However, we counted it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Red to Start the Day

Jorge Noguera set up a last minute fishing trip here at Amelia Island while visiting his father, Jorge Sr. so we meet at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning under cloudy skies but with almost no wind.  We headed up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings and after only a few casts Jorge hooked up with a Big fish, FISH ON!  He played the big fish perfectly and patiently and after an extended battle that went around the boat a couple of times, landed a nice Slot Redfish measuring 25.5"!  What a way to start the day.  We picked up a couple of Seatrout, some smaller Reds, and then two hard pulling 19" Black "puppy" Drum.  When the bite slowed we made a run around to Tiger Island and here Jorge Sr. got on the board with a beautiful copper colored 22" Slot Red.  The duo added another keeper sized Drum and a 16" keeper sized Sheepshead in addition to a good handful of smaller Reds, Seatrout and Sheepshead.  It was a great day to be out on Amelia Island waters fishing with a father and son fishing team!

The Best Filet Knife Ever

I've gone through a number of filet knives over the last 8 years that I've been guiding with some of them being fairly expensive knives.  But after a few fishing trips and fish cleaning I've found that the edge of the blades begin to pit and can't be sharpened without putting them on a grinder.  However, my wife and I purchased a 9" filet knife from the Hammer Stahl booth during the Shrimp Festival last May and it's turned out to be an excellent knife.  I keep a sharpening steel in my captains bag and will swipe the knife a few times before I clean fish and it's as sharp as the day I purchased it.  In addition to being a sharp knife, it looks "sharp" too!
Now, if you enter a special code, you can get 15% off of any product purchased from Hammer Stahl.  Visit www.HammerStahl.com and enter the code "theanglersmark" at checkout.

First Fish and First Redfish

Blake and Karin Flood treated their daughters to their first fishing trip this afternoon, meeting me down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp.  The wind had picked up and I was a little apprehensive about it but these anglers were game!  We made a run up the Amelia River and fished a few creek run outs in Jackstaff.  Young Claire got the "skunk off the boat" by landing a hungry Bluefish, then Karin and Blake followed it up with Seatrout catches.  We ran around to Nassau River to fish the Twin Creeks but had no bites, got out of the wind at Seymore's Pointe for a while, then headed over to Broward Island after the tide had gotten down.  Here things immediately picked up.  Young Abigail landed her first fish caught ever - a feisty Redfish and then Karin had a strong bite.  Her rod bent over and the drag ripped out, FISH ON!  She fought the fish patiently and after a good battle, landed a big 25.75" Slot Sized Redfish, her first Redfish ever!  The anglers continued to fish and picked up more Seatrout and Redfish with Blake getting both and then adding the second Flounder of the year, to round out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  Everyone caught fish and as we headed in, the wind had subsided, and we counted it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Beautiful Day Fishing with your Daughter

I got to fish with Brent Malcom again today and this time he brought his teenage daughter Katie for the fishing trip.  We changed up the locale and met down at the Big Talbot Island Park ramp, which had them driving down from Elizabeth Pointe Lodge, to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  It was a beautiful morning as we headed up the Nassau River to fish some structure  with live shrimp on a jig.  I was expecting Redfish and when Brent hooked up and the drag sang I thought for sure it was a big Red.  Brent played the fish perfectly, slowly working it out and after a good battle landed a nice keeper sized Sheepshead.  Katie hooked up and landed a keeper sized Whiting then Brent pulled in an even bigger Sheepshead.  We made a run to Broward Island and boy things heated up.  The anglers landed Seatrout (some of keeper size) and Redfish to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam and then they added a Black "puppy" Drum to make it a "Grand Slam"!  We hit Jackstaff on the way back and picked up a Seatrout then headed in, counting it another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Close Call

I was able to get down to the south end of the island this morning, meeting Brian, Claire and Robin Lucko at Sawpit Creek in Big Talbot Island Park.  We headed up the Nassau River to fish the first of an incoming tide with jigs and live shrimp.  We had fished for a pretty good while  and had no real bites when Brian felt a "bump" then another - and he set the hook, FISH ON!  Boy this was a big fish!  He played the big fish perfectly and patiently but this big boy had been around the block a few times.  He kept heading for structure but Robin pulled him away.  The fish made one last push for freedom and found it's way into the structure, locking the line down and "bap", fish off!  Ouch.  But Robin's dad Brian went to the same spot (my buddies do that) and in short order hooked up again with a big fish.  It was almost the same battle with the big fish bulling to structure and again, snagging itself.  But this time Brian opened the bale, gave it some slack, and the fish swam out!  FISH ON!  Again.  Brian worked the fish patiently and eventually we landed a Big 31.5" Redfish that put Brian into 3rd place in The Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament -Redfish Category! Scroll down right side of this report for standings.  The fish bite turned off almost immediately with all the commotion so we made a run to Broward Island which turned out to be a good plan.  For a while the anglers got bite after bite, landing hungry Seatrout, feisty Redfish, and Sheepshead.  Claire had a good bite and when her rod bent and drag sang I knew this was a bigger fish.  She fought the fish out into deeper water and after a good battle we landed a Slot size Redfish!  We made one last stop and here Robin got in on the big fish, landing a Slot sized Red to wrap up another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout King

I fished this afternoon with Brent Malcolm and his son Willie out of the Atlantic Seafood launch.  We headed up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings on the outgoing tide.  We hadn't been fishing long (his third cast) when Willie hooked up and played a nice Seatrout to the net!  Brent followed that up with a flurry of fish catching, landing three nice Redfish one after the other.  When the bite slowed we made a run around to Bell River to fish some more docks and again, Willie started it off by catching another Seatrout.  From then on we caught a good mess of fish - a handful of Seatrout and a big handful of Sheepshead which gave the anglers an Amelia Island Back Country Slam for the day.  Willie also added a fat Catfish!  We fished Jolley River oyster beds  and although the tide was right, the weather was right, we had no real bites.  But it was a great day to be out on the water and we had some good catches for the day!

First Flounder of the Year

We couldn't have asked for a prettier morning today, clear skies, very little breeze and mild temperatures.  I had met Joe Price and his daughters Mary Ann and Ginny at the Atlantic Seafood dock early and we had headed north to fish the first of an incoming tide.  We started with jigs and shrimp and it wasn't long before Mary Ann had landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  We continued to fish and then Ginny had a good battle with a feisty Redfish which she landed.  We eventually fished some flooded oyster beds where both Ginny and Joe landed Bluefish.  At out last fishing spot Joe had a hookup and put the very first Flounder of the year in the boat - a 14" fish, putting him in first place of The Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder Category! (scroll down right side of this report for standings)  This also gave the anglers an Amelia Island Back Country Slam for the trip.  After a drive by of Cumberland Island to see some wild horses and Ft. Clinch, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

MIxing a Trip

Alisa Anderson set up a fishing trip this afternoon for her family and another family visiting Amelia Island this week.  I met Brock, his daughter Emily and son Jacob along with Alyssa's daughter Meredith down at the Atlantic Seafood dock on a high and outgoing tide.  We headed north to fish some flooded oyster beds with live shrimp under floats, but had no real bites. We made a move to fish deeper water with jigs and shrimp and this paid off as Emily was able to hookup and reel in a nice hungry Seatrout.  The anglers kept having their bait stolen but Brock figured it out and snagged a keeper sized Sheepshead.  Jacob followed it up with a Sheepshead of his own.  We made our last stop at Jolley River and as we eased along the bank of exposed oysters, Jacob hooked up and landed a nice feisty Redfish to round out the anglers Amelia Island Back Country Slam!  We made a run back to the dock and changed passengers, this time taking Alyssa and the rest of her family for a boat tour of the historic and nature sites of Amelia Island and Cumberland Island. We were treated to multiple sightings of wild horses on Cumberland before we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Fish for a Windy Day

My afternoon trip began in kinda of a jumble.  I met Joshua and Chrissy Williams at the Atlantic Seafood dock after lunch and even though the morning trip had been fairly calm, the wind had picked up.  We made a run up Lanceford Creek but we had only been fishing for a short while when we realized that two young anglers were having engine trouble. So we threw them a rope and towed them down the river, the resumed fishing.  But the wind was blowing so hard we had to leave.  Our next stop was in Eagans Creek and although the anglers were getting nibbles, we had no real bites.  We made a run to Tiger Island and the wind was somewhat blocked and the fish bite began.  Both Chrissy and Joshua landed a good handful of feisty Redfish then Chrissy put a big 24" Slot Redfish in the boat!  We moved about 50 feet and caught Redfish, Sheepshead and Black "puppy" Drum.  We moved another 30 feet and had now real bites.  Back to our original spot, the anglers resumed catching feisty Redfish then Joshua took a turn at a big Redfish. He patiently played the fish and eventually landed a nice 25" Slot Red!  Even though the wind was blowing we were able to salvage a great day of fishing out on Amelia Island waters!