One of Each

We survived Shrimp Festival and was back at it today, fishing an afternoon trip with Josh Denham and his friend David. I met them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made the short run up the Intercoastal to dip into Jackstaff with plans to fish float rigs and live shrimp up to the flooding grass on a still-incoming tide.  We had a couple of bites but no takers but then Josh's float disappeared with a vengeance and, Fish on! He worked it patiently to the boat and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout. Shortly after that he had a furious bite and this was a big fish! It ripped the drag as it raced around the boat,
taking Josh from bow to stern and around the engine. But it was no match for Josh and after a good battle he landed a hard fighting Jack Crevalle.

Our next stop was over at Christopher Creek, now fishing with jigs and shrimp on the last of that incoming tide, and we did pick up one feisty Redfish. We came out of there and back to Seymore's Pointe and David got on the board with a nice Black "puppy" Drum catch.

Our next stop was down along the Nassau, pitching jigs on an outgoing tide now. I think David had been holding back because his rod got hot - he hooked up and landed a high flying Ladyfish, then fought a big Catfish to the net. It seemed like we were getting "one of each" species!  But then Josh finished it off with another big Ladyfish catch. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water and another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Right Time Right Place

The beautiful weather continued - what an awesome day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island! I met Dennis Brizzi and his buddy Hal out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early this morning and the tide had been coming in for about an hour so we made the quick run to Broward Island and set up off the bank in about 28' of water. Both anglers were tossing jigs and shrimp to the bank and....BOOM! Big fish on! I think it was Dennis's 2nd or third cast and he had a big one. And Hal hooked up too! Hal's came in first and it was a big fat keeper sized Seatrout. Dennis's was ripping drag, back in the current and it was going
to be a while! He played it perfectly and eventually landed a 26.75" "Tournament Sized" Redfish. I bet we hadn't been fishing 5 minutes! 

For another 30-45 minutes we caught fish. The duo landed another couple of Redfish, a keeper sized Flounder, another smaller Flounder, and then another Slot Redfish. Finally! We were seeing some mullet and this was the first day I've noted the water temperature being over 70 in the backwater.

We move down a bit and fished the island with jigs. Dennis put a keeper Trout in the boat, then both angler's rods ripped, WE GOT A DOUBLE!  Hal was fighting his fish up at the bow and Dennis was at the stern while I was ready with the net to see who's came to the surface first. Dennis worked his in and landed another Slot Redfish but Hal's was digging deep, not knowing it was to no avail! Hal kept the pressure on, played it perfectly and soon landed a big 25.5" Slot Redfish - they had their limit!
After fishing a short stretch with no more bites (the fish had met their match), we ran back north.

Fishing some rocks at Seymore's Pointe, Dennis battled and subdued a big Ladyfish....and I believe that was the last fish with had for the day!  The fishing was unbelievably crazy good for the first 45 minutes of the trip, then it fell off to nothing...but that first stretch made for some good memories of a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Workday Fishing

I also fished this afternoon, meeting Jovanna Morgan and her work associates Jeff and Roger up at the north end boat ramp. The tide had been going out for an hour or so we ran north and west, half way to the Jolley, and made our first stop at a large runout with plans to fish jigs and live shrimp. Jeff got on the board quickly when he boated a hungry Whiting. But we had no more real bites so we moved on around to the Jolly River.

All three anglers were tossing the jigs and within minutes Jovanna landed a nice Seatrout then all three anglers had put a Trout in the boat! That was a nice flurry of catching. We worked the bank up to the first creek then ran further up the river and fished some more exposed oysters. Although we had a shark sighting, we had not takers so we ran back and fished the logs of Tiger. The fish catching wasn't "on fire" but we did pick up a couple of feisty Redfish, a keeper sized Sheepshead, and  hard fighting Black
"puppy" Drum, and maybe another Trout.

Our last stop was around at Lanceford Creek, fishing some dock pilings and again, we caught a handful of fish. Jeff had a strong hookup and caught a big Bluefish then Roger followed that up with a nice Redfish catch. We fished right up to the last shrimp then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Last Minute Big Trout

It was an outstandingly beautiful morning today - sunshine, slightly cool, and very little wind - and an awesome day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. I had met Trace Hayes and his son Wyatt up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and we ran west and up to the outside of Tiger with plans to fish the incoming tide. We worked the flooded marsh grass with float rigs and live shrimp and picked up a couple of feisty Redfish. We had one big fish on but there's a reason he's big..he nosed down in the oysters and cut the line, OUCH!

We ran thru Tiger and around to Bell River and

fished some flooding oysters but had only a couple of bites, no takers. Our next stop was down at Piney Island where we fished some docks with jigs and shrimp and again, no takers. We then slipped thru some oysters and fished a shallow area and here both anglers had some action. Wyatt hooked up with a strong fish, had a brief fight, and BAP, fish off - another one that cut off on the oysters. Trace picked up a small Trout then as we worked around the edge he had a good bite and this was a big fish. He patiently fought it to the boat and landed a nice 19" fat Seatrout. Now that's the way to wrap up a beautiful day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida

Big Reds Quick

Wow! What a way to start a fishing trip! I had just met Patrick Verner and his sons Bryan and Patrick up at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp and after we had crossed the river we began to fish with live shrimp under a float rig with a short leader and BOOM! Young Patrick had a hookup! Big fish on! He worked it in patiently and we had the first fish of the day, a 25" Slot Red with some big shoulders!

All three anglers went back to the same spot and BOOM! Another big Redfish on - almost identical is size. BOOM! Another big Redfish
on. BOOM! Another big Redfish on!  BOOM!  This one was a big Black Drum - big for our light tackle - it was 24"+ in size, but it was no match for Patrick.

I was thinking, man this is going to be an awesome day of fishing, and it was, but the fishing fell off after that. We had a bite here and there, caught a couple of Rays, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Customer Cook Off: Flounder Ceviche and Green Egg Smoked Flounder

These Maryland boys know how to do it! Kevin Pride, Mike Linynsky and Ryan Aikens fished with me the other day and took home a "Maryland Cooler" full of fish, a few of which were Flounder. They took the small pieces, chopped them up, covered them with lime juice,  and made Ceviche. Here's the ingredients they used:

2 avocado, peeled and cubed  

2 tomato, cubed 

1 half onion, chopped

Splash olive oil

1 lime squeezed 

Salt/ pepper 

1/2 lb of Amelia Island fresh caught Flounder!

Combine, cover and chill 30 min



They took the rest of their catch and grilled it on Mike's Green Egg. Man that looks good!

 

Double Jack Finale

Thankfully the wind had died this week and with sunny skies we're having some outstanding Amelia Island fishing weather. Today I met brothers Mike and Tim Dillon down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we headed up the Nassau River and over to Pumpkin Hill Creek to set up outside some flooding marsh grass with plans to toss float rigs and live shrimp. I think it was the first cast when Tim hooked up, landed a hard fighting Bluefish and "knocked the skunk off" real quick!

But although these anglers were making excellent casts and getting good drifts, we had no more bites there, and around the corner. So we picked  up and ran over to Christopher Creek and fished some jigs on the bottom, between dock pilings. Although not much was happening there, we did have one good bite and a hookup. Mike worked it patiently to the boat and landed a nice Slot sized Redfish.

Our next stop was around at some docks at Seymore's Pointe, back to float rigs drifting live shrimp over some oysters on the first of an outgoing tide, to no avail.

We then ran east in the Nassau and began to fish some marsh runouts and this did the trick. Mike felt a good bump, set the hook and caught another Slot Redfish then Tim felt the subtle bump-bump and  picked up a keeper sized Seatrout.  We had another strong bite and Tim reeled in a keeper Black "puppy" Drum (which was released) then as we were about to wrap up, BOOM! BOOM! We had a double hookup, and they were some hard fighting fish. Tim was battling his on the bow while Mike was battling his at the stern. Both fish were digging deep but these two anglers kept the pressure on, stayed patient and in the end won out, landing two almost identical Jack Crevalle. Now that's the way to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!

Warm Start Hot Finish

I fished again with Kevin Pride and his friends Mike and Ryan, but this time we met up at the north end. We made our first stop over on the outside of Tiger with plans to toss float rigs and live shrimp over flooded oyster beds. The anglers were tossing up current up near some grass and it was only a few minutes when Kevin had a strong bite. When it boiled up we knew it was a Redfish. Kevin worked it patiently in and soon landed a nice 8 spot Redfish. Shortly after that Mike too had a hookup. He played the fish perfectly and landed another Redfish, this one Slot siazed. We may have picked up one more Red before we crossed over the river,  fished a marsh line, and Kevin put another Redfish in the boat.

After that, It was slim pick’ns! We fished a run out further up Tiger with jigs, went back to floats along Jolly Bank, fished the mouth of Snook Creek, bounced around to the MOA (Mother of All) but had no real bites for a good timespan. OUCH! But these guys were game and their perseverance paid off!

After coming back to Tiger we fished deep with jigs. Ryan’s rod had been quite all day but he warmed up quickly. He caught a nice Red, then a keeper sized Flounder. Then all three anglers got hot, landing a couple of more keeper Flounder, another Red, a keeper sized Seatrout, then Ryan hooked and battled a big 24” Black “puppy” Drum. This was a big fish on light tackle but Ryan was up to the task and soon put ‘em in the boat. It was a great way to wrap up another fine day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Floeida.e caught

Flounder Are Here

I met Kevin Pride and his fishing buddies Mike and Ryan down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning, and boy was it a pretty morning! We ran up the intercoastal and dipped into Jackstaff with plans to fish a large outflow with float rigs and live shrimp. Although we had a nibble or two, we had not takers, so we crossed over and fished a flooded oyster bank with jigs and the shrimp, but again, no luck.

After running thru Horsehead we stopped at some docks at Semore's Pointe, fished 'em thoroughly, then continued on down the Nassau, heading east, to some more oyster banks. Ryan finally kicked things off when he landed a nice keeper sized Flounder, then he picked up a keeper sized Seatrout. Kevin joined in and picked up a couple of nice Trout.

We made the run down to Broward and although the water was
muddied up from the west wind, Kevin did hookup and land another fat keeper sized Flounder. We worked the bank for a good 45 minutes, then headed back to the ramp. But we decided to fish the now exposed oysters along the bank south of the boat ramp and first cast, BOOM! Mike hooked up and landed our third keeper Flounder. Then we had a an explosion of fish catching - Ladyfish! - the first we've caught this year - and they were fairly large, in the 2 lb range, caught on jigs, deep. It was a great way to wrap up a beautiful day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Young Eagles Checking Us Out

I had the pleasure of fishing again with Russ and Adrienne Futrell today, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp early on a clear and sunny day. After some bad weather days it was good to get back on the water!  We made our first run around to Eagans Creek and fished some marsh grass with float rigs and live shrimp but we didn't get a bite.

Our next stop was at some dock pilings and after a few casts Russ had a hard bite and a good fish on. He applied some pressure and
got the fish out from the pilings then worked him in patiently, to land a nice 22" Slot Redfish. Skunk off the boat!  The couple added a few more fish, with Adrienne putting a hungry Seatrout in the boat, Russ added a feisty Red, then Adrienne did the same. The fish catching wasn't "on fire" but we did get some good catches before we left.

We made the long run to Bell River and fished a few more docks with not much luck.  We then continued on around to the Jolley

River where Adrienne caught a small Flounder-which gave her an Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  Our final stop was at Tiger Island and here Russ added a nice keeper sized Flounder and the duo picked up another couple of feisty Reds. We were under the watchful eye of a couple of young Bald Eagles. It was a beautiful morning, we had a few fish in the box, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida