Tarpon vs Mudminnow

Beautiful day today! It's a good thing those thunderstorms are holding off until the afternoons! I met Steve Frost and his son Blair up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp and we made a short hop over to Tiger Island to catch the last few hours of an incoming tide. You know the best way to "knock the skunk off" is to catch a nice Slot Redifsh? Well that's what Blair did, just a few short minutes into the trip. Tossing mud minnows on jig, Blair hooked up and played him patiently and after a good battle landed a nice 21" Slot fish. He put a few more fish in the boat and I don't think Steve had

quite woken up when BOOM!

I saw Steve's line tighten up and when he set the hook, the big fish headed to deeper water, ripping the drag.  I was thinking "huge Redfish" when out of the water came a high flying 100lb Tarpon! And, fish off - he threw the jig. It happened that quickly - both Steve and I were watching and I'm sure it woke the both of us up!  Steve began to catch fish!

We added a nice 18" Flounder to the box then ran around to Bell River to fish some flooding oysters with float rigs. Steve was on fire. He added a keeper sized Seatrout and another Flounder to the catch. We came back to the outside of Tiger and found that there was a ton of large mullet hanging around. We got a few bites, no taker for a while, then Blair hooked up and landed another keeper sized Flounder.

Our last stop was up at the Jolley River. The tide had started out and we drifted slowly with it, pitching float rigs to the grass, and the two anglers burned through bait, catching one Seatrtout after the other. Although most were in the 14" range, they added one more of keeper size. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Father Daughter Fishing Machine

I had the pleasure today of fishing again with Steve Foss and his daughter Katie, meeting them at the Eagans Creek boat ramp early this morning. We went to Bell River first, to catch the last of an incoming tide. Steve was on the stern, tossing mud minnows under a float and in short order he picked up a keeper sized Seatrout. He followed that up with a Flounder and another couple of Trout.

We ran through Tiger and made a stop at the logs and here Katie
got on the board with a Redfish and small Flounder. We then moved around to  "manatee creek" and sure enough, we fished with the manatee hanging all around us. Katie picked up the pace and began to get one Trout after the other. Steve joined in and we had a good flurry of Seatrout catching action. There were a couple of times where a manatee swam alongside the boat!

After running up to the Jolley River we made our next stop at the "bank". I've been going past it all this week, waiting for the tide to get down. It was a good move! After catching a keeper sized Mangrove Snapper the two anglers landed a good handful of Trout and feisty Redfish.

Our last stop was up the Jolley and a deep bend and Steve wrapped things up with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle. The sun had gotten up and the heat was on, so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Lot's of Fish

Folks ask me if the we're catching fish and I can honestly say, "yes, bunches...bet they're small". Today was the more of the same when I met Greg Adams, his son Chris and their friend Kent up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp. We headed over to Tiger Island, specifically "manatee cove", and set up fishing with float rigs and mud minnows on the first of an outgoing tide. It wasn't long before all three anglers were putting Seatrout in the boat. One after the other. Trout, Trout, Trout.

We were fishing out one size of the boat and watching manatee

lolling and rolling around behind us. The entire time we fished we had manatee coming up and blowing and rolling. How cool! But we had no keeper sized Trout so we ran up to the Jolley River, all the way to Snook Creek and began to fish some oysters that were beginning to show. We picked up a couple of small Redfish then, shortly after Greg switched to a jig, he hooked up and landed a nice keeper sized Flounder.

We ran further up the river and set up outside a large marsh outflow and really got into the small, but feisty Redfish. One after the other. Then Kent landed another keeper sized Flounder and Chris wrapped things up with a surprise, keeper sized Trout. We caught a bunch of fish and even though they weren't real big, we counted it as another great day to be fishing out on the Amelia Island waters.

Two of Four Hot Spots

We're having beautiful mornings for fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. Today I met Mike McClane and  his granddaughter Gabby up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp and we headed out of the creek with a live well full of mud minnows (no live shrimp at any bait shop). We ran over to the outside of Tiger Island, fished some flooded marsh grass just as the tide had started out, and had good nibbles, but no takers.

We bounced over to fish a large creek mouth and BOOM! Abby had a hookup. She played the fish perfectly and soon landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. From then on it was Trout bite after Trout bite. Both Mike and Gabby took turns reeling in fish and although there wasn't a whole lot of size to them, they were fun to catch. While we were fishing we were treated to some manatee sightings, lolling around just 20 feet away.

We ran out and around and up to the Jolley River and all the way to Snook Creek, fished it thoroughly, but had no real bites.

Our final stop was back at the mouth of Jolley. Working a now exposed oyster bed, the anglers were tossing there float rigs and minnows up near the shore and they began to get Redfish. One after the other. Some minnows caught three fish. They didn't have a whole lot of size to them either, but they were fun to catch, too. Switchign to jigs, finally, Mike had a strange bite and he reeled in a keeper sized Flounder. Gabby added a Croaker and they wrapped up the day catching feisty Redfish. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Flurry of Feisty Redfish

Happy July 4th! A day late! Back fishing, today with Chris Giella and his son Hunter, meeting them down at City marina early. We headed north and made our first stop outside of Tiger Island and began fishing the high and outgoing tide with float rigs and mud minnows. The two anglers were making excellent casts and we had a few bites, but none big enough to take the hook.

We ran up and around into the Jolley River and all the way up to Snook Creek and set up again with the float rigs. Again, no real

bites.  Our next stop was back at the mouth of the Jolley and finally, things heated up. Both Hunter and Chris began to get some feisty Redfish, one after the other, and the fish count climbed quickly. Hunter added a Croaker, Chris added a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, and Hunter followed that up with a keeper sized Flounder. We actually left the fish biting to see if we could find something bigger!

We ran around to the MOA and first cast produced a large Catfish! I think we picked up one or two more feisty Reds, then we made one last stop back at Tiger Island where Hunter wrapped things up with another, even bigger, keeper sized Flounder. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Shark Fights at Amelia Island

The Jensen boys didn't get enough Saturday so they went again today! I met Dean Jensen and his two sons Elijah and Tyler at the Fernandina Beach City marina and we headed north to make our first stop outside of Tiger Island with plans to fish float rigs and live shrimp on a fairly high tide, going out. The three anglers got bites right off, but they were nibblers. After being treated to a manatee sighting, we moved on and up the coast.

We found a really nice marsh drainage and fished it with jigs and shrimp but I don't think we had a single bite. We then ran around  and into the Jolley River and went back to the float rigs. We finally picked up a couple of feisty Redfish.

Our next stop was back at the mouth of Jolley, fishing "Jensen Bank" and this did the trick. Elijah and his dad picked up a couple of the Redfish, Elijah put a hard fighting Jack Crevalle in the boat, then he added to that with a 24" Bonnethead Shark catch - a nice fight. Tyler was feeling a bit left out so when his older brother hooked up big, he handed it off to Tyler and the battle began!

It was a big shark- ripping the drag as it headed to deeper waters, but Tyler was up to the challenge and stayed with him. He worked the big fish to the surface a couple of times - it looked five foot long to me - but then it would run and take line with it. Finally, after a long fight, we got the big shark to the boat and broke him off - boy what a battle!

This must have woken Tyler up because from then on he was catching fish! Elijah matched him fish for fish and they both caught a bunch. We hit a couple of more spots, the bite dwindled to nothing, then we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Keeper Slam at Amelia Island

I fished north today, the first time in a good while, meeting my guests Allen and Lavern Webb at the  Atlantic Seafood dock. The tide had been going out for a few hours so we headed around to the outside of Tiger Island to make our first stop at a large marsh runout. We went with float rigs and some nice lively shrimp, but to no avail. Not even a bite!

We bounced around to the Jolley River and fished a bank of oysters that were beginning to show. The first few casts had our shrimp

nibbled off and I was thinking, "oh no, a baitstealer infestation!"  But nope, Allen had a strong bite, his float got sucked under, and FISH ON! This fish boiled up at the shore line a few times then got back in the current and headed north. But Allen kept the pressure on even though the drag was ripping. He got the big fish slowed down, worked him in slowly, and we soon netted a good 22" Slot sized Redfish!

We continued to fish the bank, got into some small but feisty

Redfish, then Allen put a keeper sized Flounder in the boat. Lavern followed that up with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle then she put a small Red in the boat, too. After we tangled with a Bonnethead Shark we moved on.

We ran up the river, fished snook creek, caught another couple of small Reds, then moved on around to the MOA. Switching to jigs, Allen got hot catching the small Redfish and just as we were about to leave, Lavern hooked up and expertly reeled in a fat keeper sized Seatrout. After one more stop back at Tiger Island, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Young Anglers Net Amelia Island Slam

After a day off I was back to "work", meeting Dean Jensen and his two sons Elijah and Tyler down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp this morning. We had excellent weather - the slight breeze made it really comfortable to fish - and we made a quick run up the Amelia River and then ducked in at Jackstaff. We fished the bank with float rigs  with live shrimp and mud minnows on an outgoing tide.

Elijah got things started when he hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish then Tyler got on the board with a small Flounder. Dean added a hard fighting Jack Crevalle then Tyler went back to the well to get another Flounder, this one pretty big and keeper size!

We bounced across the creek and fished a flooded sandbar and within minutes began to get hookups. All three caught Seatrout, with Elijah putting a keeper sized one in the boat.  Our next stop was around at Twin Creeks and again, Elijah found a Redfish. We dropped down the river to fish an exposed shell bank and although it looked really good, we had no bites.

After a run down to Broward Island the anglers began to toss jigs and shrimp and minnows to the bank with the tide still going out. They picked up a couple of Mangrove Snapper, a small Redfish, and a hungry Seatrout.   We fished one more spot before heading in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida

Saving The Best For Last

We both agreed that it was an ideal day for fishing the backwaters of Amelia Island. I had met Jim Metternich down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning and as we headed out we had overcast skies, just a slight breeze, a baitwell full of live shrimp and mud minnows, and a good tide to fish.

We headed up the Nassau River and made our first stop at Twin Creeks, starting with a float rig and live shrimp. And although we had a few nibbles, we had no real takers, and with the oysters

already showing, we switched to jigs for the rest of the day. Jim was making excellent casts, working the marsh run outs methodically and eventually he hooked up with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle. As we bounced down the river, fishing run outs, he later put a feisty Redfish in the boat.

We hit a couple of spots along the Nassau then ran down to Broward Island. Perfect conditions. And although Jim put a good handful of fun-to-catch Mangrove Snapper in the boat, the Redfish

that he caught didn't have a whole lot of size to them.

We decided to make a run and pulled up to an exposed shell bed. The boat was sitting in 5' of water as we worked along the bank and with just minutes to go in the trip, BOOM! Jim had a nice fish on. He played it perfectly and after a good battle landed a 22" Slot sized Redfish. Alright!  After pictures and release (all fish were released today), Jim made another toss or two to the bank and BOOM! Another big fish on! He worked this fish patiently to the boat and landed another 22" Slot sized Red, this one with 9 spots!  It would have placed second in the Amelia Island Guides Association Redfish Spot Tournament. Now that's the way to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Started Off Good

We fished this morning under overcast skies, but it was a bit cooler and with the slight breeze, it was some good fishing conditions. I met Darrell Evans and two of his sons Clark and Will down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and we made our first run up the Nassau River, stopping at some exposed oysters to fish the last hour of an outgoing tide.

The bait shop was out of all live bait! Ouch! But I had cast net for
about two dozen finger mullet after launching so the trio of anglers began to toss them on a jig up to the bank. Clark knocked the skunk off when he hooked and landed a keeper sized Flounder. Bumping up the river to a large twin runout, young Will hooked up with a  nice fish. He played it perfectly and after a good battle, landed an "almost legal" feisty Redfish.  And shortly after that, Darrell put another Flounder in the boat.

But we had gone thru our minnows, so we ran down to Broward Island and fished the first of an incoming tide with artificial grubs and minnows. We came pretty close to tossing every color in the box at them to no avail.  We were getting "bumps" but no takers as we worked the bank, up close and out deep but he fish just weren't having it.

We fished Pumkin Hill for a good while and finished up over in Jackstaff as the tide covered the oysters and although the fish catching had fallen off, we still counted it as another great day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.