Hard Fishing Pays Off

I fished this afternoon with Adam Garner and his two sons Jacob and Ryan, and Ryan's girlfriend Morgan, meeting them down at the Atlantic Seafood dock. We decided to run south, down the Horsehead area and fish some rocks for Mangrove Snapper. Sure enough, they were there and the anglers slowly put a "mess" in the box with a few of them approaching 14" in length.  Jacob added a keeper sized Flounder before we moved on, running around to the mouth of Jackstaff. Our first pass went way too fast - the wind pushed us along and we didn't have time to fish it so we turned
around and worked our way back. This paid off when Jacob put another keeper sized Flounder in the boat while Ryan tangled with a Ladyfish. Then Ryan had a strong hookup and a battle on his hands. He played the fish perfectly and soon landed a Slot sized 22" Redfish. Then Morgan put a Red in the boat, then Ryan put one in too. We hit one more spot then called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Big Stingray and a Grande Slam

We had outstanding weather this morning, luckily with some overcast skies that kept things cool throughout most of the trip. I had met William Vickers and his son Jeff down at the City marina and we headed up to fish Tiger Island as the tide started in. Both anglers were making excellent casts and it paid off when Jeff hooked up and landed a nice Flounder. Then he had a strong hookup that ran deep and stayed deep! But Jeff was up to the game and played the big fish perfectly. After that first Flounder we were
all thinking "Door Matt Flounder" but after a good battle Jeff brought to the surface a big Stingray. But it was good fun landing the creature and the anglers kept on fishing. William put a feisty  Black "puppy" Drum in the boat and although we had some good bites later, we decided to run further north to the Jolley river and fish the "bank". William picked up a Seatrout to garner the duo an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of  Flounder, Black Drum and Seatrout then Jeff topped it off when he caught  nice Redfish, making it a "Grande" Slam. Jeff put a small Bonnethead Shark in the boat then we hit a couple of more spots before calling it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Father's Day Outing

We fished today, Darrell Evans, his two sons Grant and Clark, and grandad Richard. We had met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and headed north up the Nassau River to fish some docks at Seymore's Pointe on the very first of an incoming tide.  We had a few bites then both Clark and Grant  hooked up with hard fighting Mangrove Snapper. After putting a few of them in the boat (and releasing them), we headed down to Broward Island.  Here, grandad got on the board when he landed a feisty Redfish then Clark upped him by putting a bigger one in the boat. Then grandad had a strong
bite that took him deep and ripped the line off the reel. We thought for sure we had a nice Redfish but after a good battle, we found it to be a nice Jack Crevalle. Our next stop was back at Jackstaff and here we had a strong flurry of bites. Grandad hooked up with something big that went from bow to stern and back then he handed the rod off to Clark he fought the fish back to the stern and back to the bow. After a hectic battle he landed a nice 3' Bonnethead Shark. Then Grant got hot, catching a Speckled Seatrout, a Black "puppy" Drum (which gave the anglers an Amelia Island Back Country Slam) and then a big Jack Crevalle. Grandad wrapped things up when he put another Bonnethead Shark in the boat. After that, we called it a day , another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Shark Frenzy

We had a beautiful morning today when I met Nick Ferguson and his friend Miranda and their friend Joe down at the City marina. We headed north to make our first stop at Tiger Island, fishing jigs and shrimp on the bottom as the tide came in. It was perfect conditions and as the anglers worked the bank Joe finally had a hookup and landed a nice Sheepshead. Later, Nick had a good bite and after fighting the fish patiently, landed a nice feisty Redfish. We then ran up to the Jolley River, fished the "bank",  fought off pesky Croaker,
then moved further up the river and into a large creek. It didn't take long for the bite to go off. Miranda was now on a float rig and when her line began to rip, we felt confident she had a shark. She played the fish patiently and as she battled it, Joe had a hookup at the stern and he too had a shark on. We had a double! They both did great and landed the two shark for pictures and release. From then on we had good bites with all three angles putting multiple shark in the boat, in addition to a hungry Seatrout which gave the trio and Amelia Island back country Slam of Sheepshead, Red Drum and
Seatrout. We made a run back to the outside of Tiger, fished a while, then eased in closer to Tiger where both Miranda and Joe had Seatrout catches. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Working Through The Croaker

We did an afternoon trip today, starting at 1pm and fishing an high and outgoing tide. I had Will Carlton and his friends Shay and Bob as we headed north up to the Jolley River to fish float rigs up near the marsh grass. We had very few bites but when we switched to jigs and shrimp we had bites almost immediately. But most were Croaker and it took a deft hand to catch them, which Shay proved to have. Bob put a small Sea Robin in the boat then we had one good hookup but it threw the hook at the boat so we moved further up into Jolley. Shay caught a small but feisty Bonnethead Shark then we moved around to the MOA where there
was tons of bait activity, but no fish bites. We made a stop at a dock in Bell River, had no bites, then made the long run around to Tiger Island. Shay landed a hungry Seatrout early then we fished the whole island, but again, the bite was slow. Then Shay had a strong hookup, fought the fish patiently, and landed a nice 18" Seatrout. Shortly after that Will hooked up he too had a good fight. But he played the fish perfectly and landed a keeper sized 17" Black "puppy" Drum. With that, we called it a day. As we left the area we were treated to a convoy of ships escorting a submarine through the channel.

Facebook Trout Blows Away Bragging Rights

I got my boat out of the shop just in time to keep the scheduled fishing trip today with Kyle and Amy Hess, meeting them down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning. We ran up the Nassau River and began fishing an incoming tide with live shrimp under a dock. It didn't take long for Kyle to "knock the skunk off" when he battled a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, and won! We moved around to another spot and got into some hungry Mangrove Snapper with a couple of them up to 14" in length which makes for
some nice fillets.  Kyle had put a couple in the boat when we saw Amy's float begin to wobble and when she hooked we thought for sure she had another big Snapper. The fish zipped from bow to stern and back again but Amy kept the pressure on. It ripped the drag a couple of times and we all wondered how big this Snapper really was. But when it broke the surface we saw that it was a huge Seatrout! Amy landed the big fish and when we measured it we found it to be 24.5" long, a "Facebook Worthy Fish" and it literally wiped out the Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament trout, giving her first place to date! Boy what a fish! Scroll down the right side of this report for standings.  We continued to fish, picked up another few keeper sized Snapper, then ran down to fish Broward Island, even though it was almost completely high tide. We fished the downed logs with no luck but just as we were about to leave, Amy had another strong hookup and landed a nice 17" Seatrout. We made the run around and through Horsehead to fish Jackstaff as the tide started out and here Amy did battle one more time, landing a 22" Jack Crevalle. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Shark Fight!

The water was like glass this morning as the sun came up with not a cloud in the sky. I met Jason Stallings and his team of anglers Trevor and Nicole, down at the City boat ramp and we headed  north to fish the outside of Tiger Island with float rigs as the tide was going out. Both anglers had bites right off but then Nicole's float went under for sure and she had a fish on! She reeled the fish in expertly and landed a nice Flounder to "knock the skunk off" the boat. We fished the area briefly but the oysters were already showing so we ran around to Jolley and up to a larger marsh run
out. Again we had some bites then Nicole had a strong bite, this time it was ripping line off the reel. Her dad jumped in to help then both kids were coaching as Jason played the fish as it ran down the river deep. He kept the pressure on and soon had the fish under control but  not subdued. After and extended battle, though, he was able to land a big 4' Bonnethead Shark. Trevor added a feisty Redfish to the catch before we picked up and ran back to the mouth of Jolley. Within a few casts both Jason and Trevor had a fish on at the same time - Ladyfish - the Poor Man's Tarpon. Jason's tossed
the hook but young Trevor stayed with his and landed it for a picture. We made our last stop at Bell River and here Trevor put both a Black Drum and a bigger Red Drum in the boat. This rounded out the trio's Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Flounder, Redfish, and Black Drum, and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Good Fish Catching Day

We just can't beat the weather we've been having lately. Cloud cover in the morning, a slight breeze and the thunderstorms hold off until late afternoon. I fished today with Chip Wildman,  his wife Bernie, and his daughter Maddie, launching from the south end boat ramp and running up the Amelia River to fish Jackstaff with the tide going out but the oysters still covered. The anglers started with float rigs and live shimp, tossing it to the marsh grass and letting it drift along with the current. It took a while but finally Chip had a
 good bite and a good fight, landing a nice Black "puppy" Drum. We had a few more bites, but no real takers, so we crossed over to fish a flooded sandbar and here the action picked up. The Seatrout were out deep on the other sided of the bar and the anglers found them - first Maddie reeled one in then Bernie caught one too. Chip had a strong bite that  took him from stern to bow and back to stern. I thought it was surely a shark but after a good battle, Chip landed a nice Jack Crevalle. They picked up a couple more Trout then we ran through Horsehead to fish some docks at Seymore's Pointe.
Almost immediately the fish were biting. All three anglers caught Mangrove Snapper, a few were over 12" long, and they picked up a couple of more Puppy Drum. Our final stop was down at Broward Island and again they found some Seatrout out deep. Although there were fish busting bait up near a creek mouth, we couldn't get them to eat what we were offering, so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fishing With The Grandparents

I still remember fishing with my Grandad, down at Lake Sante Fe north of Gainesville. We'd motored out into the middle of Little Lake, anchored, and dropped some minnows down to the bottom and caught some Crappie. Today I had Allen and Ann Richardson who had brought along their grandkids, Anna Claire and Walker and we met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. Another nice day greeted us, just a little overcast and a nice breeze as we headed north up the Nassau River. We made our first stop at Twin Creeks and tossed both float rigs with live shrimp and jigs and live shrimp.
Ann Claire had one strong bite that broke the line, but other than that we had no takers. Our next stop was at dock at Seymore's Pointe and boy, it wasn't long before the two young anglers were catching fish. Walker "knocked the skunk off" when he landed a hard biting Mangrove Snapper then Anna Claire hooked up with a big fish, fought it to the boat, and landed a nice 16" Sheepshead. From then on we had numerous bites, and catches! More Mangrove Snapper, and that seemed to get bigger as the morning wore on. We had a hungry Seatrout to the boat, and landed a couple of more Sheepshead and Black "puppy" Drum. Our next stop was down at Broward Island and I think it was the first casts when the two anglers had a double hookup! Walker put a keeper sized Flounder in the boat (all fish were released today) and Anna Claire had another Sheepshead. There were some thunder clouds sweeping towards us so we ran back closer to the boat ramp, made one more stop where Allen put another Black Drum in the boat, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Slow Start BIG Finish

We had an outstandingly beautiful day today, with just a slight breeze and some nice clouds overhead to keep the heat off. I met Russ and Denice Kesel and their two sons Noah and Sam down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning and we ran north up the Amelia River to fish Jackstaff on the very last of an outgoing tide. The anglers were tossing live shrimp and jigs and even though the conditions seemed just right for fish, we had only a few bites and no takers. We moved across the creek and fished a still flooded
sandbar and this heated things up just a little bit. Noah did the Captain a favor and 'knocked the skunk off" when he landed a nice Seatrout then his dad put one in the boat then Noah followed it up with another. Russ tangled with and landed a small Bonnethead Shark and Denice caught a Stingray. We then ran through Horsehead and to Bubblegum Reef where again, the conditions seemed right but  we found only one Seatrout. We fished Twin Creeks briefly, had no luck and even though we had put a few fish in the boat up until now, it wasn't what I'd have called a "fish
catching day". But our last stop made all the difference. We had not been fishing some dock pilings for about a minute when Noah had a strong hookup, and FISH ON! He fought the fish in and out of the piling and after a good battle, landed a big Jack Crevalle. Then BOOM! FISH ON! Russ had a good hookup. His fish fought hard a deep and went from stern to bow and back before the crew landed a Tournament Sized 26.25" thick Redfish!  And shortly after that, FISH ON! It was Denice's turn at a big fish and she played it like a pro. Her fish ripped back and forth and fought doggedly but Denice kept the pressure on and landed a big 21" Sheepshead, big enough for her to squeeze into 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2015 Bragging Rights Tournament -Sheepshead Caterogy (scroll down right side of this report for standings). Sam got in on the action, catching Black "puppy" Drum, and Sea Bass while Noah answered with a big Blue Fish and Redfish of his own. The anglers already had an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Red Drum and Black Drum, but Russ capped it off when he put a small Flounder in the boat. We left 'em biting, calling it a day, another great one here at Amelia Island, Florida.