Texas Size Mangroves

I fished today with Bob Hampton and his son Jason and his wife Cally. They also had young angler Myles, Bob's grandson and nephew to Jason and Cally. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp, headed up the Amelia River and into Jackstaff to fish the exposed oysters on a tide that had been going out for about 2 hours. Tossing jigs and shrimp, the anglers worked the bank and it wasn't long before Myles announced "Fish On" and he soon landed a nice keeper sized Flounder to "knock the skunk off" the boat. We continued to fish the bank and in a short while Cally had her first
fish, another keeper sized Flounder. We crossed over and fished a submerged sandbar and the anglers picked up a couple of Seatrout. First Jason, then Bob. Then a school of small shark must have come through and Cally landed one then Jason landed a couple. Jason also tangles with a high flying Ladyfish. We ran around to Nassau River and fished some docks and here things heated up.  Myles, Jason and Cally all three had hookups and all three threw the hooks! But they were not going to be denied. Myles put a nice Mangrove Snapper in the boat then Cally had a real strong hookup and, FISH ON! She battled the big fish valiantly  and despite the coaching, landed a nice feisty Redfish! Then Jason put another one in the boat and then another. Bob found a hard fighting Jack Crevalle.They had numerous bites but no real takers so we hit Bubblegum Reef briefly but had no bites. Our last stop was back at some docks and here they found the Mangroves Again. Jason put one in the boat then Bob wrapped it up with a "Texas Sized" Mangrove Snapper. It was another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Two Slots and a Slam

I fished with Joe Gasper today, and he brought along his friend Adam and Adam's daughers Eliza and Megan. We met at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina and made our longest run out to Bell River to fish some docks with just a couple of hours left in an outgoing tide. The girls set up on the back of the boat and began tossing live shrimp on jigs. It took a few casts but then Megan had a strong hookup. She figured out how to lift the rod and reel down on this nice fish and after a good battle, landed a nice 20" Slot Redfish. They all were getting bites then Adam put a nice Red in the boat then Megan followed that up with another Slot Red!  Adam had a bite that was a little different but he set the hook and landed a hungry Flounder. We made the run around to the Jolley River, stopped at the MOA spot and sparred with some Croaker, caught a few and then Eliza had a really strong hookup and, FISH ON!  The big fish took off towards the stern of the boat and, FISH OFF! It snapped the leader! After fishing for a while,  moved on down to the mouth of Jolley and again, the Croaker were present but Joe found a nice Seatrout to help claim an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Flounder and Seatrout. Our last stop was behind Tiger Island and here Eliza's perseverance paid off when she landed a very nice Redfish on a jig and shrimp. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Good Summer Variety

I had the  pleasure of fishing again with Randy Hilyard and his two sons Ryan and Justin, fishing out of the City marina this morning with somewhat overcast skies and a slight breeze to make it very comfortable. We made our first stop behind Tiger Island as the tide reached its bottom and fished with jigs and live shrimp. Randy started things off fairly quickly when he landed a hard fighting Back "puppy" Drum. Then Ryan picked up a Seatrout and Justin
followed that up with a Flounder. We made the run up to Jolley Bank, fished the exposed oysters and Ryan caught his first Flounder ever just as we began our drift. Justin was making good casts and he hooked up and landed a nice sized Croaker. (The Croaker were ever present and somewhat of a nuisance). We moved up the river and Randy tangled with a high flying Ladyfish then Ryan put one more Croaker in the boat to wrap up another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

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.