Fish For Thanksgiving?

The Pete Nolan family was back in town for the Thanksgiving holiday - Pete and his wife Joanne, their daughters Taylor, Sidney and Tatum and her boyfriend Victor. We did a "split" trip, taking four anglers the first couple of hours then stopped back by the boat ramp and exchanged a crew. Pete got to fish both sessions! Smart man!

Our early excursion was with Pete, Joanne, Tatum and Victor. We left the Dee Dee Bartels park and made a quick run over to the take

advantage of the last of an incoming tide at Tiger Island, All four anglers were tossing jigs and live shrimp to the pockets. It only took a few casts and Tatum had a hookup!  She played the fish perfectly to the boat and landed nice feisty Redfish. From then on it seemed we were catching fish. Victor got hot and put couple of keeper sized Seatrout in the boat. He also had a Redfish and a keeper sized Flounder to garner an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Joanne was keeping the stern of the boat busy - she too had a Slam which included one fat keeper sized Seatrout. Pete landed a nice Redfish

and a Flounder, too.

We hit one more spot over in the Bell River, now fishing the very last of an incoming tide. Both Pete and Joanne found some Seatrout out the stern while Tatum added one more Trout to her catch.
After a brief pit stop back at the boat ramp, we were back at it again, this time with Pete and his daughters Taylor and Sidney.

We made a quick run to the outside of Tiger Island. Sidney had made a good cast up to some sparse marsh grass as I was getting the other two anglers set to fish and...FISH ON! This was a big fish! Any time the drag rips and the fish doesn't want to budge on this light tackle, you know it's a big fish. Sidney worked it slowly to the boat, even as the fish made some surging runs - and after a good battle, landed a "Tournament Sized Redfish" 26.5", boy what a fish!  But the wind had begun to really kick up and we had no

further bites so we ran around and fished the same Bell River spot as the earlier crew. The tide had started out and we had no real bites.

Our next and final stop was around in Lanceford Creek, fishing a small grass island and a tide that was now going out. Things started off slow but Pete found some fish on the others ide of the island and all three anglers began to get some Seatrout. Taylor found her
groove and landed three of the hungry fish.  Pete wrapped things up with one more keeper sized fish. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida

Fun Day Fishing With Friends

About four months ago four friends who played football together in high school made a plan to get together for a day of back water fishing here at Amelia Island. My buddies Tony French, Daniel Rhodes and Raymond Keen met me at the Dee Dee Bartels Park this morning. Although we have been keeping up with each other on Facebook over the years, I haven't seen Tony since a reunion a couple of years ago, I haven't seen Daniel in years and years, and Raymond and I just cross paths in Fernandina once in a while.
Luckily schedules lined up and the plan came together, and the fish cooperated!

We made a short run over to the outside of Tiger Island and set up with float rigs and live shrimp, tossing them to the flooded marsh grass on the last of an incoming tide.  It only took a few minutes before we began to get fish. Tony seemed to get the hang of it early and put a couple of nice Trout in the boat. Daniel followed suite
and began to get hookups. Then Raymond joined in. Many of the Trout were undersized, but it was nice to see many that went 15-18" and keeper size.

When the bite slowed we crossed the creek and fished another line of marsh grass and caught a few more Seatrout. We then ran up to the Jolley River, fished  the "bank", but only had a Gar fish for action.  After running further up the Jolley and now that the tide
had started out, things began to get right. Daniel had put his cast right up into the edge of the grass and in a short second, BOOM! Fish on!  He played it perfectly and soon landed a nice Slot Redfish.

We eased along the grass and found a small marsh runout and then things got crazy. All three anglers, if they managed to get their cast up near the grass, were almost guaranteed a fish. A couple of times we had a "double" hookup. Raymond put a couple of Slot fish in the boat, Tony put a couple of Slot fish in the boat, and Daniel did the same. We began to "cull" Redfish. The highlite was when Daniel hooked up and while he was talking his fish in, Tony hooked up and it was a big fish. The drag was ripping, Tony was playing the fish, Daniel was playing his fish, and Raymond hooked up! We got a Triple! We caught fish until we ran out of bait and called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Trout On Fire

I was off a few days but today was an outstandingly beautiful day and luckily I got to fish! I met Ron and Stacy "Trout Slayer" Cromer down at the Big Talbot Island park boat ramp early this morning and we headed up the Nassau River, making the run all the way around to Pumpkin Hill Creek with plans to fish the very last of an incoming tide with float rigs and live shrimp. Both anglers started off making excellent casts to a flooded island of grass and within minutes - fish on!  Both Stacy and Ron put Trout in the boat. We worked the bank thoroughly and got a good handful of Trout.

We eased around the corner and back into the Nassau River and here things picked  up even more. Both Tracy and Ron were getting good drifts along some marsh grass, and caught Trout. A few of them were "keeper sized" fish. When the bite slowed we ran back to Seymore's Pointe and set up where the water was draining, now on an outgoing tide.

Tracy got hot on the bow sticking with the float rig and landed one Trout after another. Ron was fishing some dock pilings with a jig and shrimp, working it slowly, but had no real bites. When he switched back to the float rig and fished it over some shallow oysters, boom! Fish on! They also picked up a few small but feisty Redfish and a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum. Again, a few of the fish were of keeper size.

We worked our way back to the boat ramp along the Nassau River, fishing some runouts, and caught Trout wherever we fished. Most were in the 14" range but we did get another handful of keeper sized fish. The sun was up, it was a beautiful day, and we caught a bunch of fish, making it another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida

Thank Goodness For The Hot Spot

No one could have blamed us for cancelling today's trip due to the winds, forecasted to be blowing 10-14mph. When we launched I checked and it was already blowing 14!  I had met Scooter Digsby and his two sons Jake and Braden up at the Dee Dee Bartels park and my plan was to head over to Lanceford Creek to fish the last of an outgoing tide. Little did I know, the NE wind was keeping the tide from draining the mud flats and the conditions never got right for some decent fish catches. The three anglers were making
excellent casts to some dock pilings but we had nothing but bait stealers.

I thought running around to and up the Bell River might get us away from the dirty water but it wasn't much better up there. We worked a few docks with jigs and slip floats but had no real bites.

Our next stop was around in the Jolley River but here that NE wind had things kicking. We fished some oysters that were  now exposed
with jigs and a Cajun Float rig and again, no luck.

Our final stop was at old faithful, Tiger Island and this did the trick! We hadn't been fishing long before all three anglers were hooking up. Scooter got hot and put a handful of Redfish in the boat, then gave up his bow spot to his sons and they too began to get fish. Brayden hooked up with something that wanted to rip his drag - it fought hard and stayed down, but Brayden kept the pressure on and landed a nice 18" Black "puppy" Drum. Jake found his rhythm and landed his share of feisty Redfish.

We were using live shrimp but I had lost half my well when the drain plug came out so when we ran out of bait we headed back to the bait house and picked up some mud minnows. When we returned to Tiger the conditions hadn't changed much and the trio picked up right where they had left off. Scooter and Jake were catching Reds but Brayden diversified and tallied his personal "Super Grande Slam" of Black Drum, Red Drum, Seatrout, Flounder, and a wayward Snook! Now that 's the way to finish out another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Drum Bonanza

I often offer to "local" anglers the option to pick another day if the conditions aren't expected to be so

great and that's what I did with the Newkirk's, Bruce and son Tyson. Today was forecast to begin with 8mph winds but creeping up to 14 which makes for some challenging conditions. But both Bruce and Tyson had the day off and had caught good fish in the past so we elected to go and boy were we glad we did!

We met at the Dee Dee Bartels Park and boat ramp and headed straight for Tiger Island knowing that we had the first of an incoming tide. We had a bait well full  of live shrimp and some jig

rods ready. Tyson set up on the bow and Bruce set up on the stern and they began pitching the pockets with their jig/shrimp combo. It took a few minutes, then the "baitstealers" began to peck, then the anglers began to put good fish in the boat. Bruce got things started by landing a couple of feisty Redfish then Tyson got in on the action and landed a couple, too. Bruce put a Slot Red in the boat then Tyson did, too.

We bounced down the way - Bruce found a nice keeper sized Seatrout, added a 14-spot undersized Red, then wrapped things up with a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum.  We had blown thru about four dozen shrimp so we made a quick run back to a bait house and picked up some more before heading back out.

Our next stop was over in Eagans Creek, now trying to seek shelter from the wind, and we set up down current from a crusty old dock and began to pitch the jigs. Tyson took the point and got hot, catching Redfish after Redfish. Then he put a couple of more keeper sized puppy Drum in the boat. Bruce stepped up and caught a couple then they had a "double" hookup. Bruce worked  his in quickly, an undersized Drum, but Tyson's was ripping drag. He played it patiently around the bow of the boat, kept the pressure on, and landed a 6lb Black Drum, the biggest fish of the day.

Somewhere in there the two anglers added two keeper sized Whiting.

We hit a couple of more spots, fishing float rigs over submerged oysters, but I believe the wind was kicking the mud up so much the Trout were no where to be found. So with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Flood Tide Fly Fishing A Challenge

I wrapped up a flood tide week of fly fishing today with Rick Klann, fishing out of the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. The tide was low and coming in so we ran straight to Broward Island to fish the downed logs. Rick was making excellent casts to the bank, to the logs, and to the creek mouths, but he had no takers even though the conditions were absolutely perfect to be fishing this spot.

We move back down the Nassau River and fished some shell banks, tossing an intermediate line with a shrimpy fly and this did the trick. As Rick let his fly bounce down the bottom he picked up a small but hungry Seatrout.  We moved around the corner, switched to a small gurgler pattern and fished the edges of some grass islands and exposed oysters, to no avail.

Our next stop was back toward the bridge, still in Nassau and again, Rick picked up another, larger Seatrout letting his line sweep down through the water column.

The tide was up and the grass was flooding so we switched to some floating line and began to poke around in the spartina grass. I think we had hit one or two spots and maybe the third as we eased up into the grass, Rick spotted a tailing Red! Whoooeee! He's was just out of range so I gave Rick three options: 1) Try to hit 'em with a long cast 2) Get out and wade to him or 3) Wait and see if he comes towards us.   We didn't have to decide because within seconds we could tell the fish was moving closer to us!  Rick made some excellent casts with a Dupree Spoon fly but the fly was having trouble getting down through the grass and the fished moved on and soon disappeared, darn it!

We bounced around again, hit a few spots and again, as we eased up to nice flat: Tailing Redfish. I had switched the fly to sinking black Troy James Fly  and this definitely got down thru the grass. But again the fish moved on and disappeared.

We moved up and down the Nassau, then ran thru Horsehead and around to the mouth of Jackstaff and poked the bow into a couple of the flats. The tide was up pretty high now but we had one final shot at a tailing fish, this one a Sheepshead. I thought Rick made one of his best casts of the day, putting the fly right on the fish's nose, but it snubbed it, moved on, and disappeared.

At some point Rick had commented, "this is a little more challenging than I expected" and that nailed it. When flood tide fishing for Reds all the stars have to align. The tide has to be right, the water and wind conditions need to be right, the fly has to be right, the cast has to be right, the fish has to see the fly and eat it....it's a challenge, but well worth it when you get that hook up! At any rate, we had a great time fishing the flats here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Back at The Fly

Peter Brookes and I did a second day of fly fishing today, but this time we met down at the Big Talbot Island park boat ramp at sunrise and made the short run up the Nassau River to set up at Twin Creeks on an incoming tide. The shell banks were still showing when Peter started out with a top water Gurgler to see if a Trout would hit, which they did not. He switched to a root beer colored Troy James Fly and worked it deep on an intermediate line and had no success with that either.

We moved back east, down the Nassau and fished a long stretch of shell bed that tapered off

into 13' of water. Pete stayed with the sinking line and figured out that he could make his cast  up current (the same as when we fish live shrimp on  a jig) and let the current take his fly down along the bottom and when he felt a thump, set the hook!  Sometimes it was just the bottom but a couple of times, BOOM! Seatrout on! It turned out to be the method to catch fish.

We ran down to Pumpkin Hill and fished some more shell beds, now flooded, and used the same technique. This time when Pete hooked up we knew it was a bigger fish by the way it caused such a commotion! He worked the fish in with

his line hand, keeper pressure at all times on the fish, and soon landed a fat 19.5" Seatrout. Now that's a nice fly caught fish!

The tide was up so we went back to floating lines and ran over to Horsehead to check out some flooding grass flats. It took a couple but as I eased up to a nice looking flat Pete saw it first - a tailing Red! We were debating on getting out and wading to it then we noticed that it was coming our way!  It fed nose down into range and Pete made his cast and put the fly perfectly out in front. The fish did see the fly and kept moving and again, Pete picked up and laid it down. The fish turned to the fly, seemed to take it and Pete set the hook....BOOM! The Slot Red boiled out of there. It appeared Pete had him on for a split second but the hook just didn't take. But it was a cool experience. We moved on, checking out a handful of grass flats but saw  no more fish.  The sun was up, Pete had a plane to catch, so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Flood Tide Fly Fishing

Pete Brookes was in town and we had a scheduled fly fishing trip this morning for flood tide tailing Redfish. The high tide was expected around 10am so we met at 8am at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and headed over to the mouth of the Bell River where a certain spot floods the quickest. The water was just about high enough but there was no sign of fish. We cruised up and around to behind Tiger, checked a couple of flats out, then came back to Bell and blind cast to some flooded marsh grass. No luck here.

We cruised back to Tiger, checked out 3-4 flats and even though the water was high and the conditions were absolutely perfect, there was no movement in the grass, not a fish. So we decided to run further west and up into the Jolley and again checked out some flats. After 3-4 looksee's we went back to blind casting.  I thought Pete was going to wear his arm slap off!

We made one more stop back at the outside of Tiger where two creeks merged and now that the tide was going out, we had some success. Pete was tossing a "Troy James Fly", but in root beer color, fished with an intermediate sinking line and this did the trick. He had a good solid "bump" and he strip set the hook, and FISH ON! Pete patiently worked the fish in with his line hand and landed a nice hungry Seatrout. Only minutes later he duplicated the same cast and go the same results.

It was a great day to be flood tide fishing, but even though the Reds didn't cooperate, it was a beautiful day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Beat the Wind

The fishing's been pretty good the last couple of days but the forecast for today called for winds up to 14mph, and I think they were accurate. But father and son team Lester and Jason Johnson were up to the task so we met up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and headed over to Bell River to fish a flooded oyster bar with float rigs and live shrimp. The fish didn't cooperate! We had no real bites. But the tide had started out so we ran through Tiger and around to the outside of Tiger Island and set up where tow creeks poured out. This did the trick!

Jason got hot quick, catching a
handful of Seatrout and a feisty Redfish or two. Lester hooked up and everyone was on the board! We ran back through Tiger, over to Bell and down the Bell River out to fish some docks. The anglers switched to jigs and shrimp and fished them on the bottom on the outgoing tide. We picked up some hungry Trout on the bottom then Jason tangled with a big Stingray!

When the bite slowed we worked around to the Jolley River and set up along some marsh grass as the tide went out. Things got hot! Both anglers were catching feisty Redfish, with a handful of them right at 17 3/4", just under sized, then Lester hooked up and when his drag began to rip we knew that this was a keeper fish! He played it perfectly and soon landed a nice 21" Slot sized Redfish.  The wind was kicking our butts but the fish were biting so we made do!

Our final stop was back around at Tiger Island, fishing the logs with jigs. I think Jason's first cast produced a Redfish. We had a couple of more Reds, a small Black "puppy" Drum, then Lester had a strange bite. The fish stayed down at the bottom, and I was guessing big Flounder but then all of a sudden it took off...we thought shark...but no, out of the water came a high flying Tarpon! It threw the hook but boy that was cool. Later Jason had another strange bite and his turned out to be a nice 19" Flounder. We added one more keeper sized Flounder then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

High Tide Slot Redfish

We fished north today! I met Daniel Tillotson up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park early this morning and with the tide already high and still coming in, we decided to make our first stop on the outside of Tiger Island. It took a few minutes of casting live shrimp under a float but when the fish began to bite, boy did they!  We had a handful of Seatrout then a couple of small but feisty Redfish then after Daniel had a made a pin point cast to some flooded marsh grass, BOOM! Big fish on! You can always tell when a Slot Red
bites on light tackle - they don't want to come to the boat! This one rolled  and wallowed up along the edge of the grass and after Daniel patiently worked 'em out he made a couple of deep dives under the boat. But Daniel kept the pressure on and soon landed a nice 25" Slot Red.

We caught a good handful of Trout and Reds then took a peek at some flooded grass flats to see if we could find some tailing Reds. None in sight. So we ran through Tiger Basin over to Bell River and set up along a grassy point and went back to the float rigs and shrimp. The Trout didn't take long and soon we had put another handful of Trout in the boat.

We came back to the outside of Tiger when the tide started back out, fished another marsh line, and found  more Trout. After we crossed over and fished a point of grass where two creeks merged, Daniel got in some real action, catching Trout, feisty Reds, and then another Slot Redfish. Most of the Trout today were undersized but we did have a couple of keeper sized fish. It was a beautiful day - in addition to a beautiful sunrise, we saw many forms of bird life, river shrimpers, an osprey, and a Salt Marsh Mink cruising through the flooded marsh grass. What a great day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida!