Fly Fishing Perseverance

I fished this morning with two fly fishers, Chris and Dave, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We ran up the Nassau River and made a quick stop to fish some flooding oyster beds on an incoming tide. One angler set up on the bow and one on the stern and they were making excellent casts to the bank as we eased along, blind casting to likely spots. Just as I thought, these fish would rather have a fresh live shrimp and fly fishing will be tough, but Chris and Dave persevered. They'd get a "bump" now and then, but had no takers. We fished down at Broward Island then back at Seymores Point. Dave took a break and switched to shrimp and spinning gear and picked up a couple of Trout - one of them of keeper size (all fish caught today were released). He also outsmarted a couple of small but feisty Mangrove Snapper. We ran down to Christopher Creek, fished it thoroughly with the fly, then made our last stop back in Alligator Creek. And wouldn't you know it, they had a good flurry of hungry Seatrout taking both of their flies! Almost all of them were at the mouth of a marsh run out, although the tide was almost at its peak of coming in. Although they had to work for them, their perseverance paid off and they succeeded in putting some fish in the boat and made it another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Recipe of the Month: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

6 to 8   cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced (about 8 medium peaches)
1 1/2   cups fresh blueberries
1/4   cup bourbon
2/3   cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
2 1/2   tablespoons cornstarch
1   teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4   cup all-purpose flour
1   teaspoon baking powder
1/4   teaspoon salt
6      tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2   cup heavy whipping cream
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the peaches, blueberries, bourbon, 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add cream, stirring gently just until dough forms. Spoon fruit mixture into a 10-inch cast iron skillet; top with crumbled dough. Sprinkle remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.   Bake until top is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Recipe from Southern Cast Iron cooking magazine.

Bigger Trout

I'm slowly weaning myself off the mud minnows and going to live shrimp now. There's not quite as many "baitstealers" around and the shrimp are staying alive in the live well. I met Todd Billmire and his buddy Tripp Brown out at the Eagans Creek boat ramp Friday morning with the tide still coming in. So we crossed over to the outside of Tiger Island and fished some flooded marsh grass with float rigs and shrimp. Both anglers picked up some small Trout to get things started. We bumped up further north and fished some more marsh grass as the tide started out and here things picked up a
bit. Both Tripp and Todd picked up a couple of keeper sized Trout then Tripp put a Slot sized Red in the boat, fishing over some flooded oysters in about 4 foot of water. We ran up to Jolley, bypassed the "bank" because another angler was already there and ran further up to Snook Creek. Things really heated up here. Todd landed another keeper Trout then Tripp had a hookup. It was fighting like a Redfish but when Tripp landed it we saw it was a nice 20"+ Trout! Now that's a nice fish! Tripp picked up another feisty Redfish, a small Blue Fish, and both anglers added a couple of 17-18" Trout. Then Todd had a strong bite, fought it patiently, and landed his second Slot Redfish of the day. We stopped back by the bank, fished it with float rigs, picked up maybe one or two fish, then ended the day behind Tiger Island fishing jigs. Although we had no real bites here, we wrapped it up and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Non Stop Catching Action

I fished with the Blalock's again today, Dara and William and Bob, meeting them down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp early. Bob wasn't able to make it yesterday and after hearing about the great catches that Dara and William had,  he (and I) thought that it would be difficult to have two days in a row of good fishing. But wrong we were! You know it's a pretty good day when you debate amongst your selves "did we catch 50 fish? 60 fish? 70 fish?".  All I know is that we went through about 12 dozen's of bait and much of
that was used catching fish. We had run up the Nassau River and stopped at Twin Creeks right at the peak of high tide. It took a few minutes, but then the anglers began to put some Trout in the boat. William added a small but feisty Redfish to the catch. It seemed the fish started biting right when the tide changed. Although it was fun catching small Trout, we decided to move down the river to another marsh run out and here things really heated up. They caught a few more small Trout then began to pickup some keeper sized ones as we trolled along the bank. As we got to some submerged oysters,
BOOM! Redfish began to bite. They caught small ones, medium ones an big Slot sized fish. We had double hookups and Triple hookups. Just when you thought that there were no more big ones, there would be a strong ripping of one of the anglers drag and, Big Fish On! It eventually slowed so we moved up the river a short distance and got into some more fish. They added a handful of Flounder, a couple of small Black "puppy" Drum, and a couple of Stingrays. It was a great day of fishing and this one will be hard to duplicate!

Big Redfish For Big Weekend

We've got the big Georgia/Florida football weekend coming up and Dog fans Dara and William Blalock are in town to kick things off early with an Amelia Island, Fishing trip. I met them up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp early and we decided to stay in the creek while we were there. Both anglers were tossing jigs and live shrimp, and on occasion a mud minnow and at a large runout William picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout. We moved further up the creek and both he and Dara put a few more Trout in the boat. There wasn't a whole lot of size to them so eased out of the creek
and ran up to the outside of Tiger Island and set up at a large runout and continued to toss the jigs. It wasn't long before William had a good hookup and landed a nice feisty Redfish. Then Dara's drag ripped and boy this was a big fish, FISH ON! She played the fish like a pro taking in line patiently as she lifted the big fish when she had the opportunity and letting it run when it wanted to. After a good long battle she landed a nice 27"+ oversized Redfish. What a nice fish! And just minutes after getting pictures and tossing it back William hooked up and another big fish on! He too was working it patiently and had a good battle all the way around the boat and...FISH OFF! The hook tore loose! But William was not to be deterred and in just a few minutes had another big fish on. He worked it slowly to the boat and landed a nice 24" Slot Sized Redfish. We had  one more Red then ran around and fished the back side of Tiger, caught one more Red, then made the run back to Eagans Creek and fished some docks.Things heated up as the tide dropped down. They caught another couple of hungry Trout, two keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum, another Redfish or two, and finally, a small Grouper! Now that's the way to wrap up a great day of pre-game fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Persnickity Fish

We had a beautiful morning greet Paul Benson and I when we met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. There was only a slight breeze, just enough to keep the bugs off, and the tide was getting right as we headed up the Amelia River with plans to dip into Jackstaff to fish a marsh lined bank. We had brought fly gear and spin gear and Paul started out tossing a Clouser on an intermediate line, blind casting to the bank and making excellent casts. We worked the entire bank and about half way through switched to a
sinking Shrimp fly on a floating line, but nothing induced a strike. I had Paul switch to a live shrimp and jig and BOOM! Fish on the first cast! Paul patiently played the fish and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder. As we finished out the stretch, Paul landed a few Seatrout as he bounced his jig on the bottom. We ran through Jackstaff to the other side of Horsehead and down Nassau River just a ways and set up on the outside of two large marsh runouts. Paul had a few hits there but when we got up to some old oysters the fishing got hot. He began to hookup with one feisty Redfish after another, with a Trout thrown in on occasion. We bumped up one more marsh rounout, got another Trout  and then found a big Flounder to add to the catch. Our next stop was up at some docks at Seymore's Pointe but all we caught were a couple of Pin Fish. We bounced across the river and fished a large outflow in deeper water and we added another Trout (Paul had long since tallied an Amelia Island Back Country Slam). After fishing that stretch up to Bubblegum Reef, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Still Catching Fish on the High Tide

I fished yesterday afternoon as part of a "group" trip. I had Mike and Mitzi and George and Sharon on my boat, and what a fun group they were. It's a pleasure going out with folks who appreciate being out on new waters and hope that they might just catch a fish! Well, we were handicapped with a high and incoming tide and on top of that there was somewhat of a breeze, but we made the best of it and caught some fish. Our first stop was up at the outside of Tiger Island, tossing float rigs with live shrimp and mud minnows as bait. George "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a
hungry Seatrout. The bait stealers were out in full force and all of the anglers were doing battle with them. We jumped over to Bell River and George, who had been "living right",  put another Trout in the boat. We ran around to Lanceford Creek and found a flooded grass patch with underlying oyster beds and here things picked up just a tad. Mitzi got on the board when she caught and landed and nice Trout. Then George had a strong bite and this one was pulling harder. He played the fish patiently and landed a nice feisty Redfish. Mike was getting good, long casts and it paid off as he
landed his first Trout of the day. After George and Mitzi put another Seatrout in the boat things slowed so we made one more stop over at Oyster Bay dock. In just a short while Mike and Mitzi had landed another Trout, Mitzi had a Stingray and Sharon saved her catches for last, catching the only Blue Fish of the day, but also a large Stingray. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

The Girls Go Fishing

I fished yesterday morning with Debbie Corbett and her granddaughter Sidney. I picked them up early up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp and it was our first real cool day and my first for wearing jeans after a long spring and summer in shorts! We had a little bit of wind so we decided to fish some docks in Eagans and that turned out to be the right move.  I had a bait well full of live shrimp and mud minnows and for the first time in a while, the shrimp seemed to be the better bait. The two anglers were making
excellent casts with their jig rods and within minutes they were catching fish.  Sidney "knocked the skunk off" with the first catch, a nice feisty Redfish which she patiently worked to the boat. From then on and for about 2 hours were catching fishing. Debbie was fishing out of the stern port side while Sidney fished from the stern starboard side. We had one or two fish take the hook and run up into the dock pilings and break themselves out but finally Sidney had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! She applied some pressure away from the pilings and got the fish out to deeper water. This fish was digging deep and pulling hard but Sidney was up to the challenge and eventually landed a nice keeper sized 18" Black "puppy" Drum. And just a short time later Debbie did the same, fighting and landing another 17" Puppy Drum. We fished and caught until they quit biting, winning some and losing some then we ran further up the creek to try some float rigs around some flooding oysters. We had no real bites there so we ran out and over to Bell River and stuck with the float rigs. Sidney put one more Redfish in the boat here. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Birthday Fishing Trip

Chip Cosper treated his son Christian to a 14th birthday fishing trip and he brought along his brother Henry and his friend Austin to help celebrate. We met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp, had a brief safety session, then headed up the Nassau River to fish a marsh run out on the last of an outgoing tide. The anglers were making excellent casts within minutes, tossing jigs with live shrimp and some mud minnows to the exposed oysters, but the fish weren't cooperating. I predicted that when the tide changed we'd begin to get some bites and sure enough, we did. Austin "knocked
the skunk off" when he landed a hungry Seatrout and Christian followed that up with one of his own. We jumped up to some docks at Seymore's Pointe and the fish catching really picked up.Young Henry hooked up and landed a nice feisty Redfish, Austin put a Black "puppy" Drum. Christian put another Redfish in the boat and there were a handful of Mangrove Snapper landed. Then Chip had a strong bite and FISH ON! This was a big fish as it ripped the drag on Chip's reel. But he kept the pressure on, took his time and after a good battle, landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. And shortly after that
he put keeper sized Black Drum in the boat (all fish were released today). Our next stop was down at Broward Island. Things started slow but picked up as we worked the bank. Christian and Austin added a couple of Seatrout to the catch, Henry landed another Redfish, and Chip caught a Sheepshead. Austin was good at catching the Trout, landing another, then Christian topped it off to get the sole Flounder of the day. This earned these anglers an Amelia Island Back Country "Super Grande Slam"- they caught Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum, Sheepshead and Flounder! We made one final stop where the birthday boy put three Trout in the boat, BOOM, BOOM and BOOM and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Birthday Fishing Trip

Chip Cosper treated his son Christian to a 14th birthday fishing trip and he brought along his brother Henry and his friend Austin to help celebrate. We met down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp, had a brief safety session, then headed up the Nassau River to fish a marsh run out on the last of an outgoing tide. The anglers were making excellent casts within minutes, tossing jigs with live shrimp and some mud minnows to the exposed oysters, but the fish weren't cooperating. I predicted that when the tide changed we'd begin to get some bites and sure enough, we did. Austin "knocked
the skunk off" when he landed a hungry Seatrout and Christian followed that up with one of his own. We jumped up to some docks at Seymore's Pointe and the fish catching really picked up.Young Henry hooked up and landed a nice feisty Redfish, Austin put a Black "puppy" Drum. Christian put another Redfish in the boat and there were a handful of Mangrove Snapper landed. Then Chip had a strong bite and FISH ON! This was a big fish as it ripped the drag on Chip's reel. But he kept the pressure on, took his time and after a good battle, landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. And shortly after that
he put keeper sized Black Drum in the boat (all fish were released today). Our next stop was down at Broward Island. Things started slow but picked up as we worked the bank. Christian and Austin added a couple of Seatrout to the catch, Henry landed another Redfish, and Chip caught a Sheepshead. Austin was good at catching the Trout, landing another, then Christian topped it off to get the sole Flounder of the day. This earned these anglers an Amelia Island Back Country "Super Grande Slam"- they caught Seatrout, Redfish, Black Drum, Sheepshead and Flounder! We made one final stop where the birthday boy put three Trout in the boat, BOOM, BOOM and BOOM and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.