Fishing With The Eagles

We went south today, where I met Roger Pickett and his fishing partner David. We launched from the Sawpit Creek boat ramp at 1pm and headed over to the docks of Longpointe at the very first of an outgoing tide. Roger tossed out a slip float with live shrimp and David pitched a jig with shrimp and BOOM! David hooked up with a Trout on the first cast. Although Roger had a bite on the float, the Trout must have liked the shrimp right on the bottom because David picked up another one as we worked the docks. We then ran
up the Nassau River to fish some docks as the tide move out of the marsh. Both anglers were making pin point casts but the first dock produced no fish. After moving down to the second one, Roger put a Seatrout in the boat then we hooked up with a Redfish that was right at Slot size, and David put him in the boat. We fished down the dock line and back up and picked up a fish here and there - Roger got his Redfish that he was looking for and both anglers landed a good handful of Trout. Although all fish were released today, a few of the Trout were of keeper size. We made a final run
down to Broward Island and although the bite could have been better, Roger landed a couple of Trout with one of them being the biggest of the day, and David wrapped things up when he caught, fought and landed a nice Slot Sized Red. As the sun was going down we were treated to a Bald Eagle sighting - he was watching us the whole time, and with that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Low Tide Memories

You would have thought it was spring time for the first day in February, as pretty as a day it was. We elected to leave the jackets in the truck! I met Patti and Michael Cherniawki up at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp at 1pm and we headed over to Lanceford Creek to fish some flooded grass with live shrimp and float rigs. Although we worked the area pretty good, we had no real bites. We made a stop at one of the docks on Lanceford and it wasn't long before we were getting bites. The first one was a big fish that didn't want to be caught, and he was smart enough to run through the pilings and
break the leader, OUCH!  But we stuck with it and soon Patti was fighting a nice fish. She worked the fish in patiently and as she was landing it, Michael had  a hookup - we had a "double"!  He played his fish perfectly and they both landed nice feisty Redfish. Patti's had  8 spots and was right at the legal limit. It would be a great fish to catch in next year's Redfish Spot Tournament. We  had a few more bites, then moved on, running up the Bell River to make a stop at some more docks. Here, the two anglers picked up a handful of Seatrout, with one of them being of keeper size. Our next stop was around on the Jolly River, fishing the MOA, but the current was still running a little swift and we had no real bites. We continued on around and into Tiger Basin with plans to fish the island. The tide had gotten low and as we went in we bumped bottom a couple of time but got through and fished. Pattie put a very nice 18" Sheepshead in the boat, they added another Redfish and Trout, and finished it off with a small but feisty Black "puppy" Drum, giving them an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, Sheepshead, and Drum. The sun was going down and we headed back, but the day wasn't over yet! The low tide was extremely low and we had to work our way across the sand bar with the trolling motor. Although we'd stick once in a while,  the now incoming tide we'd eventually give us enough water and we'd move on, and eventually we made it over the bar and headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Recipe of the Month: Cebiche Peruvian

We were visiting Mt. Dora, Florida and had dinner at Mr. Cebiche in downtown Mt. Dora. The chef stopped by the table to answer any questions about the menu and when we told him we liked ceviche, he recommended their Cebiche and offered to give us his recipe! Here it is..

1 lb fresh fish/shrimp/seafood chopped
7-8 limes, halved and squeezed
1/4 tsp salt
1 handful of cilantro leaves, chopped finely
 Mix this with the fish. Lime juice should cover the fish. Put in refrigerator and stir occasionally.

1  celery stalk, chopped finely
1/4  orange or red bell pepper, remove all seeds, veins, chopped finely
1/4 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp ginger
1 Tbsp milk

Blend this together. When fish has turned from opaque to white, drain about half of the lime juice off. Mix this topping with fish. Garnish with some finely sliced purple onion slivers, cilantro leaves, and avocado. 

See more recipes HERE!

Fun Fishing Friday

 
 
I was able to get out and do some "fun" fishing Friday with my wife, launching at the south end boat ramp on a grey and windy afternoon. We headed up the Nassau River and got in behind a land mass with plans to fish some dock pilings, and with the wind blocked, it was quite pleasant. We had a bait well full of lively live shrimp and we began to toss a jig/shrimp combo up to the pilings. It took a few casts but we were able to hookup with a Slot sized Redfish, which Carol expertly reeled in. We worked the docks thoroughly and caught another Redfish and a handful of
baitstealers. Carol eased in an persistent Blue Crab and also picked up a hungry Seatrout. It was good to get out on the water. As we headed in the skies had an awesome cloud cover.

Casting a Spinning Rod

Here's my two cents worth..

January Grande Slam

...and Ham Samiches! We're being blessed with May weather in January this year and today was no different. I met longtime clients Dale and Kay Bullard down at the south end boat ramp and as always, they brought along a third helping of their famous Ham Samiches! Boy are they good. There made with the motto, "keep it simple" - plain white bread, premium Honey Baked Ham slices, mayonnaise, and Velveeta Cheese slices. But before snacking, we made the run up the Nassau River and with the tide hitting bottom,
we made our first stop at Bubblegum Reef. I haven't been having any luck here in the last few months but the tide was right and I just had to try it out. No real bites, other than a "baitstealer" that Kay expertly caught. We moved up the river to fish some dock pilings and sure enough, there were fish. Kay "knocked the skunk off" when she landed a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum then both anglers put a few Redfish in the boat. We had one big fish hooked up but it was smart enough to wrap itself around a piling and, Fish Off.  We bounced up and down the docks and landed a few more feisty Redfish then ran down to Broward Island to fish the first of the incoming tide. The two anglers had a good flurry of fish catching, landing a few Redfish then Dale began to pickup some hungry Seatrout out deep to give them a Slam. He landed a nice keeper sized Black Drum and while he was working it to the boat Kay had a strange bite and hookup. She brought hers in just a minute after Dale's and we netted a keeper sized Flounder, giving the couple an Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam of Redfish, Black Drum Seatrout and Flounder. We worked up and down the bank and wrapped it up with Dale landing a good handful of Seatrout, caught out deep. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Quick Start

Wow what a pretty day today! It was dead calm and the water was like glass when I met Ed Boner and  his two sons Nolan and Landon. We made a short run over to Tiger Island and fished the first of an incoming tide with jigs and live shrimp. It was a good move - Nolan's first cast to the bank was hookup and, FISH ON! We could tell that this was a big fish by the way the drag was ripping, but he took his time and played the fish patiently, letting it run when it wanted to run - and slowly worked it to the boat to land a nice 22"+ Slot Redfish! First cast! That woke us up fast! We got
the other two anglers fishing and in just a short while Nolan put another feisty Redfish in the boat. I was thinking, "here we go", but it was not to be. The anglers had a ton of "nibblers" (Landon was the only one with enough skill to hook one) and Ed was able to put a hungry Seatrout in the boat that was right at the size limit. We fished the area thoroughly but had no more fish. The tide was getting up we ran around to Bell River and fished a point of flooding oysters with float rigs, and again, just nibblers. Back to the outside of Tiger and same thing. We made one final run over to Lanceford Creek, fished some dock pilings with no luck, and wrapped up back over the oysters fishing floats and live shrimp. Again, no luck. But it was an absolutely beautiful day and a great one to be out on the water fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Dock Pilings Are The Trick

I wrapped the week up fishing an afternoon trip today, taking advantage of the last of an outgoing tide. After meeting John Tonetti and  his friend Wayne down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp we ran up the Nassau River with plans to fish the same docks that I fished yesterday - where we had an outstanding Redfish catch. After "anchoring" the trolling motor the two anglers began to pitch to some pilings in 10' of water. I think it was the first cast and, FISH ON! Now that's the way to start a fishing trip. Wayne patiently worked the fish in and landed a nice feisty Redfish. John followed that up with one of his on, then they combined for a couple of more. We bumped down a dock or two and again, found fish. They were up under the dock and we lost one or two but we won a few. They landed two Slot Sized Reds and one keeper sized Seatrout, along with a smaller one. The bite slowed so we ran down to Broward Island and fished the very last of the outgoing tide, and had no luck. We made one last stop over in Jackstaff with the sun going down and the breeze easing off - a absolutely great time to be out on the water - but again, no real bites.  All this week the Redfish have been under the docks. It was a great way to wrap up another week of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Beautiful Day. Redfish on Fire.

Wow what a beautiful day! We postponed yesterday’s trip to 10am to take advantage of the first of an outgoing tide. I met the young Isaacson group down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp – Alison and Zander and Nathan and Abigail. We ran up the interoastal waterway and into Jackstaff with plans to fish a large marsh runout with live shrimp under float rigs. The water was like glass as the anglers began to toss their baits…but we had very little action until Alison hooked up and landed a feisty Bluefish. We crossed over the creek and trolled the marsh grass fishing with both float rigs and jigs on the bottom, but had no real bites. After a run through Horsehead we set upstream from a dock at Seymore’s Pointe and this did the trick. Alison put nice Seatrout in the boat then Zander had a bite and, FISH ON! This was a big fish. It ripped drag and took line and I saw it roll up waaaay out in the marsh. But Zander was up to the challenge and applied the pressure and slowly worked it in. This fish was wiley. It ran towards the boat and for few seconds we thought it was off but Zander reeled in the slack and FISH BACK ON! After a good battle Zander landed a nice 26” “Tournament sized” Redfish. Boy what a fish! We continued to fish the area and picked up a good handful of feisty Redfish and another Trout or two, then Zander put another big Redfish in the boat. After a while we bumped down to another dock and the fish catching continued. All four anglers got in on the action. Abigail put a couple of Slot sized fish on the boat, Nathan had a couple, and Alison caught some, too. When the bite slowed we moved down a few docks to “Margaret’s Secret Spot” and BOOM! Fish on. Alison picked up the biggest Trout of the day, a nice 17” one (ALL fish were released today) and then all of the anglers were catching fish.  A good handful of Reds were caught and a couple more Trout with Abigail landing one of those. Again, the bite slowed, and with just minutes to go we moved back to a previous dock and sure enough, caught a few more Reds, a couple which were “slots” and Nathan’s being the biggest! Boy what a day!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

High Tides Low Tides

Boy what a pretty day we had today! We couldn't have asked for anything better when I met Chip and Cori Slaughter up at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp at 8am -sunshine and just a slight breeze. We made a run up to the Jolley River over water that was like glass and eased into Snook Creek to fish a very high and just outgoing tide. Chip was at the stern drifting a float and live shrimp back over  some hidden oysters while Cori was on the bow tossing a jig and shrimp up current and then bouncing it on the bottom. We only had
a few nibbles there so we dropped back and trolled a grass line with the float rigs and this did the trick when Chip had a good bite and landed a hungry Seatrout. I was thinking, "here we go", but that may have jinxed us because we had no more bites. We moved down to the mouth of the Jolley, fished the "Bank" both with floats and jigs, but had no real bites. So I'm thinking, "go to Tiger and fish the downed logs", which we did, but had no fish. We'd fished flooded oysters, marsh grass, downed longs and not much to show for it so we made a run around to Lanceford Creek and found some dock
pilings to fish...and that did the trick. Both Chip and Cori caught a handful of Seatrout with jigs down the bottom. On our way out of Soap Creek it was so shallow we had to push the boat over a sandbar, but we made it! And at the mouth we were treated to a pod of 5-6 dolphin cruising by, which made for another great day to be out on the waters here at Amelia Island, Florida.