Cold Morning Heats Up with Big Fish

We knew it was going to be sunny and cold this morning and that there were 11mph winds forecast but that just made things a little more interesting. I met Tim and Jontelle Forbes down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 7:30 this morning and with all three of us bundled up in layers, we headed out to fish the first of an incoming tide. Our first stop was at Tiger Island and it wasn't unusual for a fish to bite our jig and shrimp combo on the demo cast, which is what happened this morning! After that first fish the two anglers got busy and in no time were landing small, feisty and fun to catch Redfish measuring up to 17 3/4", just under the Slot size. We worked the entire island, finding Reds in most spots and then both Tim and Jontelle began to catch hungry Seatrout down deep. Every once in a while we were able to get into some sunshine and warm ourselves up. Jontelle spotted a huge Otter coming down to the shoreline to enter the water then she pointed out a majestic Bald Eagle that had landed in one of the oak trees to keep an eye on our catch. After we fished the area thoroughly, we made the run around to Eagans Creek and fished some dock pilings and boy was this the right move! I think it was Tim's first cast and BOOM! Big Fish On! He applied the pressure to keep the fish out of the pilings then played the fish patiently as it ran deep a number of times. But the fish was no match for Tim and after a good battle we netted a big "Tournament Redfish" that measured right at 26", just in the Slot. Tim went back to the same spot and again landed another big Slot Red and then he landed another! Finally there was a break for Jontelle to get her bait to the spot and she too had a strong hookup - and even stronger! Her fish fought hard and big but Jontelle worked it out of the structure, keeping the pressure on using her light tackle, and after long battle landed an Oversized 30 1/2" Redfish, putting her squarely in the lead of the 2015 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament (scroll down right side of this report to see standings). We continued to fish and I believe Tim and Jontelle had about 7 Slot Reds, the Oversized one, and we lost a couple of big ones to the pilings. We fished float rigs later over flooded oyster beds but had no real bites but as we headed in we knew we'd just had another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Beautiful January Day of Fishing

I fished this afternoon with Di Dier DeBruyn and his wife Dominque and his daughter Fran. Unlike yesterday, we had very little wind and it had warmed up nicely for our 1pm launch. We made our first stop a short distance up Bell River and the anglers tossed some float rigs with live shrimp on an outgoing tide with some oysters just beginning to show, but we had no takers. Our next stop was further up Bell River, this time fishing some dock pilings and after a good amount of fishing, Fran finely"knocked the skunk
off" and put a nice Seatrout in the boat. We continued to fish the area and may have picked up one or two fish, but they just weren't biting. We then made the long run around to Tiger Island and as usual this time of year, this did the trick. Almost immediately the fish began to bite. Di Dier put the first Redfish in the boat then all three anglers were catching fish. There was a nice flurry of fish catching, then things slowed down, but everyone in a while they'd get a hookup. Dominique was fishing deep and caught a nice keeper sized Seatrout and all three anglers caught Trout. We worked the bank thoroughly, picked up a few more fish, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Sunny Windy and Cold

Jim Nelms set up a couple of boats to fish with some of his associates while on business here at Amelia Island so we met today at the City marina with a plan to fish the back waters of Amelia Island. We had sunny skies but the wind was blowing 10-12mph with gusts over 15 and it was in the 50's which made for a tough day to be fishing. But it was sunny and these anglers were up for the challenge so I headed out with Kevin, Ryan and James on my
boat. We made a short run over to Lanceford Creek, fished some flooded oysters to no avail then fished some structure. Although we had a couple of good bites and "fish on" briefly, they threw the hook to be caught another day. We then made a fairly long run (right into the wind) around to Tiger Island to fish the downed logs at the middle of the outgoing tide. It didn't take long for Kevin to find some fish and he put one, two, three feisty Redfish in the boat right off the bat. Ryan jumped in and after a couple of casts, he too
hooked up, played the fish perfectly and landed another feisty Red. We moved up and down the bank and on the south end James got on the board when he found some small, but hungry Seatrout. He got the hang of fishing the jig and shrimp slowly on the bottom and caught five of the Trout. We moved back to the original spot, landed a couple of more feisty Reds, then James had a stronger hookup, FISH ON! He immediately pulled the fish away from the downed logs then patiently played it. We didn't think it was going to be real big but when it began to "pull drag", diving deep a couple of times. After a good battle, James landed a Slot sized 24.5" Redfish! We fished on then James had another strong hookup. This fish turned out to be even bigger! It made even stronger runs, tried to stay down deep, but James kept the pressure on and eventually landed an oversized 28" Redfish! Boy what a fish! We continued to fish the same spot and Kevin got in on the "Slot sized fish" catching when he put a nice 18.5" Red in the boat. What started out as a slow day turned out to be a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island!

Must Be a Front

I fished a trip this afternoon with Mort Demott and his son Dan, leaving the City marina around 1:00pm to fish the Amelia Island backwaters on the very first of an incoming tide. I really like this tide and was expecting a better bite but as I mentioned to Mort, there must have been a changing weather pattern. But these two anglers were up to the challenge and persevered to put some fish in the boat. We fished behind Tiger for about an hour and found two small but feisty Redfish. We then made the long run around to Bell River to fish some dock pilings and here things picked up somewhat. I think Dan's first cast with a 1/4oz jig and grub netted him a nice Seatrout. Shortly after that Mort put one in the boat, too. At one time they had a double hookup. They continued to fish the area with artificial grubs and live shrimp and found a handful of Trout to add to their catch. We ran back towards the marina, made one stop at some still exposed oyster beds, then eased up into Eagans Creek to fish the marsh line. Although the bite was somewhat slow, it was still great to get out on Amelia Island waters and do some fishing!

Steady Catching

                                                  I fished again this afternoon, this time with Zach Feldkamp, who brought along his two friends Mark and John to fish the back waters of Amelia Island. The wind was still kicking out of the north east so we headed straight to Tiger Island and camped out there for a couple of hours. It took a little while but soon the anglers were catching fish. Mark started it off when he hooked up with a feisty Redfish. He added a couple of more then Zach put a Seatrout in the boat. John got the hang of it and put another Trout in the boat. The trio had to work at it but every once in a while they'd pick up a fish, fishing jigs and live shrimp slowly on the bottom. Then Mark had a strong hookup, FISH ON! This one wanted to pull some drag so we knew it was bigger. Mark played the fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice Slot sized 24" Redfish! After picking up a few more Trout, we made a run around to Jolley River, fished some flooded oyster beds with float rigs, then continued on to the Bell
River to fish some docks. Here, Mark picked up another Redfish and Trout while John and Zach landed more Trout. The sun was going down and it was getting somewhat cool, so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Grand Slam in January

This morning was pretty cool and we had winds up to 12mph but this Florida weather was nothing to deter a couple from Vermont! I met Nathan and Christine Tuttle down at the City boat ramp early this morning and we ran up Lanceford Creek to fish some flooded marsh grass with float rigs and live shrimp, but the fish hadn't woken up yet! We fished some dock pilings at Oyster Bay, again with no real bites, then made a run around to fish Tiger Island as the tide dropped. This did the trip and soon Nathan had boated a nice
Redfish to get things rolling. He later added a Slot sized Red and picked up a Seatrout, too. Christine got in on the action and put a feisty Redfish in the boat then both anglers were catching fish. Nathan picked up a keeper sized Sheepshead and a little later landed an even larger one. We caught a handful of small Trout then surprisingly found a handsized Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Back Country "Grand Slam" of Redfish, Seatrout, Sheepshead and Flounder. The sun had come up and the wind was blocked so we had another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island!

Big Reds For Bragging Rights

I fished this afternoon with Ryan Smith and his 4 year old son Owen. Although we'd had a cool morning, the sun was overhead and heating things up nicely. We made the short run to Tiger Island to fish an incoming tide with jigs and shrimp. The two anglers had only made a cast or two when Owen yelled that he had a fish, and he did! He worked the fish in and "knocked the skunk off" with the first fish of the day! Both Ryan and Owen caught feisty Redfish at
that first location then Ryan put a keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. We worked up and down the bank and then we found some Big fish! Owen had a strong bite and yelled FISH ON and  boy was it a fish! He and his dad fought the fish from stern to bow and back to stern and then the fish went deep, but the duo kept the pressure on. After a good battle  they landed a nice oversized 28" Redfish! We kept fishing, picked up some smaller feisty Redfish then the father/son team caught two Slot Redfish. Things slowed a bit, then BOOM! Another big fish on! Another monumental battle! But Ryan and Owen were up to the task, patiently playing the fish and eventually landed another oversized fish, this one measuring in at 29.5" and securing them top spot in the 2015 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament! (Scroll down right side of this report for standings). We enjoyed the beautiful day and wrapped it up when the two anglers landed a nice keeper sized Sheepshead. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Cold Morning Heats Up

It was about 43 degrees this morning when I met brothers Dale and Evan Stewart, but there were clear skies and we were all bundled in layers. We headed over to Eagans Creek to fish an outgoing tide with jigs and shrimp and it wasn't long before Dale "knocked the skunk" off with a nice Redfish. He landed another and then a hungry Seatrout. I think Evan was just spotting him a few fish but then he started putting some keeper sized fish in the boat. First he landed a nice 17" Seatrout and then he put a 22.5" Red in the boat.
We fished the area for a good while, landing a handful of more Reds then we made a run around to Tiger Island. The fish were biting here too! Dale had a strong bite and his rod bent double, FISH ON!  He played the big fish patiently and after a good battle landed a nice 24" Slot Redfish, and this one had no spots! Although we weren't in the Spot Tournament, the fish placed Dale in the Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament! He then followed that up with the biggest Sheepshead to date, an 18"er. Somewhere during the trip Evan spotted an Atlantic Saltmarsh Mink scurrying
along the bank.  We fished the area thoroughly, catching a few more feisty Reds and hungry Seatrout, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island!

Limiting Out In January

Yesterday was so beautiful and I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't have a fishing trip so when Di Dier De Bruyne called and wanted to get some fishing in this morning I was super ready! I met him down at the Atlantic Seafood dock at sunrise and we headed south to fish the Amelia Island back waters with live shrimp and jigs and float rigs. It took about20 minutes but then the fish began to bite on the last of an incoming tide. Di Dier was patiently fishing
the jig slow in about 10 foot of water when he had a strong hookup and after a good "head shaking battle", landed and nice keeper sized Seatrout. He then got into a mess of keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum and landed one after the other. Before the day was done he had his limit of five in the boat. We added another good handful of Trout with three more in the keeper range, and we also had 10-15 Redfish. One of those was a bruiser, measuring in at 25", a perfect Slot Red to give Di Dier an Amelia Island Back Counry slam of Seatrout, Drum and Redfish. We fished the area for about 3 hours, never having to move because the bite was so good, then made one stop on the way back to the marina. It was a nice sunny day and a great time to be out fishing Amelia Island waters!

Wind Can't Deter These Anglers

You could say that it was a beautiful day today, warm - shirtsleeve weather, partly cloudy. But the wind that was forecast for up to 12mph was all that, and more. I met Yale Miller, his wife Hillary and their friend Chris down at the City docks this morning,  holding off to 9am to fish the outgoing tide. We made a run up Lanceford Creek to fish "Millie's Spot" with float rigs and live shrimp, but had no takers. Our next stop was Oyster Bay docks and even though we immediately got bites, they turned out to be bait stealing Perch. The
wind was kicking so we cut through the back side of Bell River to Tiger Island and began fishing deep with jigs and shrimp. Just like yesterday, this did the trick. Yale knocked "the skunk off" when he hooked up deep with a keeper sized Seatrout. I think I was happier than he was to see a fish in the boat! Then all three anglers began to get bites.  Chris, dubbed the "Redfish Kid", found a Redfish hole and zeroed in on it, catching one each time he got his cast pin pointed.  Yale was on the bow and picked up Seatrout and a Redfish now and then.  Hilary was making good casts, stayed with it, and
caught a Redfish and then put the biggest Seatrout of the day into the boat. After Chris landed a Sheepshead to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Sheepshead, he then found a bigger Red, fighting it to the boat patiently and we soon netted an nice 18 1/2" Slot Red. Hillary had a strong hookup, played the fish to the boat and just before we netted what appeared to be a huge 24" fish....it slung the hook and swam off to be caught another day! The anglers picked up a few more fish then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!