Big Flounder Big Trout

Dennis Brizzi and his fish'n buddy Hal were back at Amelia Island today and I met them up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp early with plans to fish the very first of an incoming tide. Today, we ran straight to the Jolley River, turned into the slow incoming current, and began tossing jigs and mud minnows to some exposed oysters. I love it when a plan comes together!

These two anglers put one fish after the other in the boat, so much so that within an hour I was beginning to wonder if our bait would

hold out!  They caught small but feisty Redfish, Seatrout, and one high flying Ladyfish. The catching was fast and furious with a couple of "double" hookups. Finally, one of the Trout that Dennis caught turned out to be a nice 16" keeper size.

The bite was so good we turned around and did it again! This time we didn't catch so much but Hal did put two very nice 19" Flounder in the boat. We ran up the Jolley and switched to float rigs as the oysters were now covered. Not much was happening until we got a grass point where the incoming current split and after Dennis's first cast, BOOM! Big fish on! He worked it patiently to the boat, the drag ripping, and after a good battle landed a big 20" Seatrout. The duo picked up a couple of more Trout there before we moved on.

Our final stop was around on the outside of Tiger and we wrapped the day up with a couple of Seatrout, a Jack Crevalle and one more Flounder that "self released" at the boat. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Everything But the Ktichen Sink

Thank goodness we have great weather these summer days so that we can get all the booked trips in! I met Ivan and Peggy Jaskinia up at the Eagans Creek boat ramp early this morning (after spotting a manatee AND an alligator near my slip) and we headed over to the logs of Tiger to try our luck with mud minnows and jigs on a low and incoming tide. Ivan and  Peggy worked the bank expertly but we had very few bites, one was a large Ladyfish (caught) until Ivan picked up a couple of small but feisty Redfish and a keeper sized Mangrove Snapper.  We fished it thoroughly then headed on, taking

it easy thru the cut to be on the lookout for the ever present Manatee.

We ran up to the Jolley River, turned into the incoming tide and went with float rigs and the minnows. I think we may have picked up one or two Trout along the way and a small Flounder. After running further up the Jolley and fishing  a now flooded marsh line the two anglers began to pick up fish. They had a "double" hookup of hungry Seatrout, one of which was right at 18", a keeper size, and then they had a couple of more Trout. Peggy hooked up, battled, and landed  a rare keeper sized Spanish Mackerel, then she added a hard fighting Bluefish to the catch.

Ivan wad fishing the bank closely and letting his float drift the marsh line with his bail open when it slowly disappeared. He lifted the rod tip slowly, set the hook, and FISH ON! This fish was big and it was so far back I thought surely Ivan would get spooled so we gave chase with the trolling motor and Ivan quickly took in line. Once we got close, Ivan kept the pressure on. The big fish rolled a few times up near the oysters but it was to no avail. After a good battle, Ivan landed a big, oversized 28.75" Redfish, with six spots! Boy what a fish!

We made one last stop out side of Tiger. Peggy caught another keeper sized Seatrout and a Flounder. Ivan added another Flounder, then wrapped things up with a good fight with a Jack Crevalle. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

New Kid On The Boat

Well, the fishing catching seems to be getting a bit better! Today I fished with Tim Carson, Brandon Craig, and his daughter Aubree, meeting them at Eagans Creek with a tide that had been coming in for just a few hours. We ran around to Tiger Island to fish the logs with mud minnows and jigs. It took a while but finally Brandon heated things up when he put a couple of keeper sized Flounder in the boat. No Red and no Trout today.

We ran around, but puttered slowly thru the mouth of Tiger to keep a look out for manatee's, then up to the Jolly River with plans to fish float rigs against the incoming tide. In short order Tim put a hungry Seatrout in the boat, then Brandon added another keeper Flounder, this one about 18". We didn't get many bites until we were about to leave then both Tim and Aubree caught a Mangrove Snapper each and Tim added a couple of feisty Redfish.

We made a pit stop around the corner at a large marsh run out, on  hunch, and this did the trick. All three anglers were getting bites and all three put Flounder in the boat. Aubree and Tim added a couple of Trout then after Aubree had made an excellent cast and had began to ease her bait back to the boat, WHUMP! She had a good bite and FISH ON! She was battling her fish while Grandpa Tim was working in another Trout.  We got both of them in the boat, and Aubree's fish turned out to be the biggest Flounder of the day!

Our last stop was around at Bell River on some flooding oysters. Not much was happening until finally, one of our baits drifted up into a pocket of marsh grass and BOOM! Slot Redfish On! Tim worked him patiently to the boat and landed a nice 21" fish.  Shortly after that he had made a cast to another pocket and, BOOM! Another big fish. Time slowly worked him to the boat while Net Girl Aubree netted the fish, this one measuring at 22".  Now that's a great way to wrap up a day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

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.