Windy? Not a Problem!

A windy morning today was a little bit unusual for this time of year but it didn't hold this father and son fishing team back! I had met John Alexander and is dad Al down at the City marina and we headed up the Bell River to fish some flooded oyster beds with float rigs and live shrimp and minnows. John kicked things off when he landed a hungry Seatrout then he put a nice keeper sized one in the boat. Al was not to be outdone and he too caught a couple of Trout. We moved around to Lanceford Creek and fished a grass patch and
although the fish catching was not outstanding in quantity, it stood out in quality! Al had tossed  his bait up near the grass and when his float slowly went under - a tail-tail sign of a Redfish - he gently raised his rod, and FISH ON! You could tell Al's many years of fishing was paying off because he played the big fish perfectly and soon landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish! We fished the area thoroughly and had no more bites until Al's float again disappeared (in almost the same spot). I was thinking another Red but when Al worked him to the boat we saw it was a keeper sized Flounder, rounding out his personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam. We fished some docks at Lanceford, had a bite or two, then hit another dock at Oyster Bay where Al picked up one more Trout. After that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Somewhat Breezy Today

We had a stiffer breeze today which kinda helped with the heat. I Had met Bill Kennedy, his son Scott and son-in-law Ricky down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and we headed up the Bell River to fish a flooded oyster bed with the tide still coming in. It took a while but Bill found a honey hole and pulled a few small, but hungry Seatrout out of it. We made a run through Tiger, around to Tiger Island and there were charter boats everywhere! So we kept going up to the Jolley River and fished the "bank". Here, both Scott and Bill found
Seatrout along the bank as they tossed mud minnows under floats up the the marsh grass. Scott landed a Bluefish as Ricky tangled with a Ladyfish. We moved further up the river, fished another line of marsh grass, tossing into the wind and then all of a sudden Ricky hooked up with a nice fish, then Scott did too! Both patiently worked their fish to the boat and each landed keeper sized Seatrout,. Shortly after that, Ricky's float disappeared up near the grass and, FISH ON! This was a much bigger fish. It zipped back and forth across the submerged oysters and once even ran up into the grass. But Ricky kept the pressure on  and worked it out. He played the fish back to the boat then it ran deep then around the bow. But after a good battle Ricky landed a nice 23" Slot sized Redfish. After fishing the area thoroughly we ran around to Bell River, fished some docks with jig rods and here Scott hooked up and landed another Slot Redfish. Ricky wrapped it up when he put another hungry Seatrout in the boat,. With that, we called it  day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

It Was A Hot One

Although we had another beautiful morning today, it got kinda hot as the day wore on!  I met Cory Relling and his father-in-law Keith down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and with a bait well full of live shrimp and mud minnows, we headed up the Nassau River to fish some rocks along Seymore's Pointe on the very first of an outgoing tide. The two anglers were tossing float rigs up near the rocks and almost immediately were getting bites. And they got bites. And they got bites.  I thought sure there would be some Mangrove Snapper here but finally Cory snagged one and it was a Pinfish! So we pulled up and headed over to Jackstaff, still tossing float rigs, and here they began to get some fish. Cory put a hungry Seatrout in the boat then Keith added a feisty Redfish. Then Cory added another Trout then Keith added another Redfish. We tangled with a Ladyfish briefly and then Cory landed a small Bonnethead Shark. We ran around to Nassau River and found a dock to fish and again we had some decent bites. Cory caught a keeper sized Mangrove Snapper then Keith put a 17" keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. They caught a couple of smaller Redfish then Keith put a nice Slot sized in the boat to wrap up another great (but hot) day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fish Catch'n Picking Up

You can't beat these beautiful mornings we're having here at Amelia Island. I had met Rusty and Staci Byrd and their adult kids Austin and Elizabeth, down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning. We had clear skies and a slight breeze (which lasted all morning) as we headed up the Amelia River to fish Jackstaff on an outgoing tide. The oysters were just starting to show but we started with float rigs and live shrimp and mud minnows. There wasn't much biting these but when we switched to jigs the anglers started
getting bites immediately. Austin knocked the skunk off when he landed a feisty Redfish then Rusty put a rather large Ladyfish in the boat after a high flying battle. We fished the deep side of a sandbar and here things heated up. Both Austin and Rusty were hooking up with 14" Seatrout so Staci and Elizabeth picked up a rod and caught some, too!  Rusty added hard fighting Jack Crevalle then a Flounder  and Austin hauled in a small Stingray. We actually left the Seatrout biting, gambling that we might find something bigger. The gamble paid off as we set up off a dock over at Seymore's Pointe: The whole family was hooking up with Mangrove Snapper, small Redfish, Flounder and then Rusty had a bite that ripped some drag on his reel, FISH ON! He played the big fish patiently and soon landed a nice 19" Seatrout. Shortly after that Austin hooked up with what was probably the biggest fish of the day, but this big fish was having none of it and went right through the pilings, broke the leader, and kept going! We made  final stop at Broward Island, caught another keeper sized Flounder and a small Red, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Snapper Action

We had another beautiful morning here at Amelia Island. I had met Matt Sedgwick and his son Luke down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and we made a run up the Nassau River to fish Twin Creeks with float rigs and live shrimp. We did get one bite but I believe the tide had already gone out too much so after a few minutes of fishing, we continued on to fish some docks at Seymore's Pointe. There was a lot of "bait busting" action going on and soon Matt had hooked up with a high flying Ladyfish. Luke
took over and worked the big Lady in and soon landed it for a picture and release. I was expecting Mangrove Snapper here but we didn't get a one so we moved around to fish some dock pilings and this did the trip. Both Luke and Matt had some good bites and landed a good handful of Mangroves up to about 14" in size. Our next stop was down at Broward Island and here we picked up a feisty Redfish. There was tons of bait in the water and all kinds of fish smashing the bait. Luke had one fish that he found right up in the logs. He got the hookup but this fish was smart and stayed in the structure until the leader broke. We made one more stop over in Jackstaff then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Flounder Action

I fished today with the Kilborn family, Bill and Shannon and their two young anglers William and Kaitlyn. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning and headed north up the Amelia River, easing in to Jackstaff to fish the last hour or so of an outgoing tide. Just like Monday, the demo cast picked up a fish, this time a nice hungry Seatrout that Kaitlyn reeled in. We fished the entire bank, tossing mud minnows and dead shrimp on jigs up to the exposed bank and later had a funky bite, a hookup, and William
worked in a keeper sized Flounder. We fished the area thoroughly, saw some Bonnetheads, but they wouldn't bite, then ran around and down to Broward Island. The tide was still going out here as we fished the deeper water. Then Bill had a hookup and he too landed a keeper sized Flounder. Our last stop was back at some docks at Seymore's Pointe and although we had few bites, we had no takers. We saw a ton of bird life - Egrets, Cranes, Osprey and Rosette Spoonbills which made for another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters.

Four Guys Fishing

Ricky Williams and his two sons Riley and Cooper were in town and brought along their friend Jackson to do some back country fishing here at Amelia Island. We met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and headed up the Amelia River then eased into Jackstaff to fish an extremely low tide with jigs and mud minnows. All four anglers were making excellent casts but it was Riley who knocked the skunk off, reeling in a high flying Ladyfish and then a hungry Seatrout. We worked the entire bank, crossed over to fish a sandbar, then ran through the marsh to fish
Bubblegum Reef. Cooper picked up a fairly nice sized Croaker then we moved over to fish some dock pilings. Here, Ricky got on the board when he caught a hungry Mangrove Snapper. Jackson wrapped the catching up when he patiently played and landed a feisty Redfish. We tried our hand at Tarpon fishing with some heavier tackle that I brought along, using dead Pogies as bait and we had about 12 Tarpon roll near us but they wouldn't bite. It was cool to see though and it's only a matter of time before we hook one up. The fish catching was kinda slow today but we didn't get skunked and had a great time fishing the back country of Amelia Island.

Red Dawn

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! After the long weekend, I fished today with Brian and Patti Harnish and their daughter Megan, leaving out of the City marina early this morning and heading over to Eagans Creek to fish the first of an incoming tide. We had just gone over the "demo" cast, tossing a mud minnow on a jig up to some dock pilings when , BOOM, FISH ON! This fish was a nice fish and Brian played it perfectly, landing a nice Slot Redfish to start the day! All three anglers got there rods going and within a short while, they were catching more Redfish. Brian and Patti reeled in a couple then Brian had a really strong bite and boy this fish was BIG! He worked it patiently out from the dock pilings, kept the pressure on, fished it from port to starboard, from bow to stern and eventually landed a "tournament" sized 26" Redfish.  Then Megan followed that up with a nice 23" big Red of her own. We picked up a few more fish then ran around to fish the logs of Tiger Island. There were a couple of boats already there so we skirted them, picking a few spots to fish, and just before we left Brian put another Slot Red in the boat. We made the run up to Jolley River, fished a now flooded oyster bank, Patti found a hungry Seatrout and a feisty Redfish, then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Trout Fest

I had the pleasure of fishing with Roy Carter and Rodney Mills today, meeting down at the Atlantic Seafood dock with plans to run up Bell River a short ways and fish a flooded oyster bank on a high and still coming in tide. The two anglers mixing it up with live shrimp and mud minnows and it didn't seem to matter as both put a couple of small but hungry Seatrout in the boat. We ran through Tiger Basin and to the outside of Tiger and eased along a flooded grass line and again found Seatrout to catch. There was ton's of bait in the water and bigger fish were popping everywhere but we couldn't get them to bite. Our next stop was up in Jolley River and we had only been fishing for a short time when Roy's float got sucked under and, FISH ON! He played the fish patiently as it dug into the marsh grass, slowly working it out into deeper water, then taking his time to bring it to the net, a nice 22" Slot Redfish! We worked that bank thoroughly then made one last stop back at the mouth of Jolley, picking up another Trout or two then calling it a day , another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters!

Big Trout and Bigger Shark

I fished this morning with Steve Moore and his friends and workmates Brent and Eston, meeting them down at the City boat ramp this morning. We ran north and made our first stop outside of Tiger Island, tossing live shrimp under floats to some flooded oysters on the last of an incoming tide. Right off, the anglers were getting bites but they were small "baitstealers". But they kept at it and picked up a handful of small but hungry Seatrout. We ran through Tiger and over to Bell and again set up off some flooded
oysters. After picking up one or two small Trout Brent had a different kind of bite which he hooked up and landed - a nice keeper sized Flounder. He went back to the same area and in a short while had a much stronger bite. This was the biggest fish we'd had all day and Brent played it perfectly and soon landed a 21.5" Seatrout and boy was it fat! This fish moved Brent into 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2015 Bragging Rights Tournament-Trout Category (scroll down right side of this report for standings)  We made a pit stop to pick up more live shrimp then headed up to the Jolley River and fished a grass line. It took a while but they found a couple of multi-spotted Redfish (giving them and Amelia Island Back Country Slam) and a trout or two. When Eston switched to a jig and shrimp it wasn't long before his rod bent over and the drag began to sing, FISH ON! He played the big fish patiently and a after a long battle landed a 3'+ Bonnethead Shark. We moved back down the river, fished some oysters that were now exposed, picked up another Redfish, then Brent did battle with another large Bonnethead. He also put a high flying Ladyfish in the boat and Steve added a keeper sized Whiting. After fishing one more bank in the Jolley, we ran around to fish some docks at Bell River. Although the sun was up and the bite had died, Steve persevered and picked up a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum to round out a "Grande" Slam and wrap up another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.