A Fun Day of Fishing

I came across these vintage reels the other day and it reminded me what the "Anglers Mark" is all about. These reels are not of any real value, other than the coolness of their design that takes you back to the 60's and 70's - times when we were growing up and getting out on a jon boat and doing some fishing.


This vintage automatic fly reel was manufactured by the Shakespeare Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A. The Shakespeare NO. 1822, Model ED, OK AUTOMATIC fly rod reel offers silent winding, a chromed line protector, and will hold 80 yards "G" and 34 yards "D" line. According to Lures And Reels.com, This model was made in 1967.  What the heck is "G" and "D" line? Evidently fly lines were given an Alpha rating way back. Here's an article that explains the switch from the Alpha to numerical rating.

The Shakespeare Model 1810DK was designed to be used on spinning rods which hade either sliding reel seats, sliding rings, or fixed reel seats which were mounted behind the hand, and under the rod, in a similar position to that of a fly reel. The DK stamp indicates that it was produced in 1970.

Shakespeare's Model 1837 GB Tru-Art Automatic Fly Reel could hold 80 yards of "G" line and 35 yards of "D" line. The
Silent Tru-Art was made from the middle thirties till 1977. This reel was made in 1949.












 

The Shakespeare WonderCast Model 1795 DK

We Gambled On The Bait

With a beautiful  morning expected today, we
gambled that we could find some bait on the water rather than waiting on the bait shop to open so I met Bob and William Blalock out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp earlier than usual.  As Bob and William were walking up I was able to get a dozen or so nice finger mullet in my cast net so we made a short run down the Nassau River and used a couple of cut up mullet in a minnow trap that we set out - then we went fishing!

The tide was still going out for another two hours but the oysters were well exposed and both anglers were making excellent casts to the bank ( as usual).  Bob "knocked the skunk off" with a feisty Redfish catch, then added another, then added a nice Flounder.  We worked a couple of banks and the duo caught one nice Slot Redfish and some small Seatrout.

We checked our minnow trap and had a couple of dozen mud minnows and also netted some more mullet so we had a stocked live well that would get us thru the day. We fished a small grassy island than ran parallel to the bank and I thought for sure we might get a Flounder  on the shallow side and William proved that true when he caught a small one. But the bigger fish were on the deeper side and when Bob had a strong hookup we were speculating what it was. Before it came to the surface Bob proclaimed it was a Trout and sure enough - he landed a nice 19" Seatrout.

We fished Broward Island and added one more keeper sized Flounder (all fish caught today were released) and one more Slot sized Redfish. Starting early was a treat and helped beat the heat for a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

One Day to the Next

Yesterday we caught Slot Redfish and today we caught keeper sized Seatrout! After meeting Brett Johnston and  his sons Lyle and Jake down at the south end ramp, we made the run up thru Middle River and around to Pumpkin Hill to fish some flooding marsh on a high and still incoming tide. We did have some live shrimp today, something I haven't fished with in a while, plus some left over mud minnows.

It didn't take long before we were getting bites and we had a good flurry of catching. There were a couple of undersized Seatrout but we had a good handful of keeper sized Trout, the biggest being around 19".  Both Brett and Lyle hooked up with those Trout while Jake tangled with a hard fighting Shark.

We fished a number of spots as the tide hit the top, then fished the outgoing tide and logged in catches of Mangrove Snapper, Ladyfish and Bluefish.  Brett also put a keeper sized Flounder in the boat, fishing a jig and live shrimp. We had pretty good action early in the morning but things fell off as the heat got up. All in all, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Nothing But Slots

Now that the temperatures have dropped just a bit we've had some excellent days to be out fishing here at Amelia Island. That said, the fish catching has been a bit slow but if we "endeavor to persevere" we do catch some nice fish. Today, I had met Jeff Parks down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We had clear skies and just a slight breeze as we ran up the Nassau River. We made our first stop at a large outflow near Seymore's Point and began fishing float rigs and live shrimp up near the grass. We had no real bites.  We then tried fishing some docks and rocks at Seymore's and again, no real bites.

We ran down to Pumpkin Hill and fished a grassy island and again, no real bites. Ouch. How could it be such a beautiful day and not have any bites? But Jeff persevered as we eased around a point of grass and began fishing some pockets and points over a shelly bottom and sure enough, BOOM! Nice fish on. Jeff worked it patiently to the boat and landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish. We continued on down that bank, fishing shallow on a high and outgoing tide. I didn't see it but I heard it - Jeff's drag ripping and, Big Fish On!  This one went out deep, ran back shallow then back out deep again. Jeff kept the pressure on and soon landed a bulky 26" Slot Red.

While we were in the area we ran down to Broward Island and fished some outflows with jigs and minnows. Although we did have a small Flounder latch on, we didn't get any to the boat. We made one more stop back at Spanish Drop and noted that the tide had dropped significantly -shell bank was showing- and as I eased along the bank Jeff had a good drift going and down his float went - another Slot Redfish!  Although the bite wasn't on fire, we had three nice fish which made for another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Get'n Rained on and Fishing

We launched with overcast skies this morning, gambling on the forecast of 50% chance of rain would mean we'd be in the 50% that would not get rain. We lost.  I had met Hayden Page and his dad Gary down at the south end ramp and we made the run up to Seymore's Pointe to fish the marsh on an outgoing tide. Although we had a bump or two on our float rigs and our mud minnows, we had no takers.

We then eased around the corner and fished some rocks and here Gary hooked up and expertly landed a Slot sized Redfish (all fish caught today were released). We tangled with some ladyfish before moving on.

After dropping back to Spanish Drop we fished a couple of large marsh runouts, then a marsh line and we got a bit of action. Both Hayden and Gary landed some feisty Redfish and a hungry, bent up Seatrout. Gary had just landed another Slot Redfish, then another that almost made it when the bottom fell out. We didn't mind getting wet but when the lighting flashed and the thunder boomed, we pulled up and headed in. Although we had to cut the trip short, we still counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

We Had to Work for 'em, but we got 'em.

I fished with Frank Wytiaz and  his wife Joanne today, meeting them early down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp for a quick run up the Nassau River. Our first stop we were fishing float rigs with mud minnows and had some good bites but no takers. The second stop we switched to jigs and minnows and Frank almost immediately hooked up with a hungry Seatrout.  Later he put hard fighting Jack Crevalle in the boat then Flounder.

We fished some docks at Seymore's Pointe but had no luck then we bounced around and fished some rocks and here the action picked up just a tad. Joanne hooked up and landed another Flounder then Frank tangles with high flying "something" - we couldn't tell if it was Ladyfish, a Bluefish, or a small Tarpon. Then he caught a nice keeper sized Flounder. Joanne added a Mangrove Snapper to the catch total.

Our final stop was down at Broward Island and here Frank landed a feisty Redfish then just before we wrapped things up, he had a strong hookup, a good battle, and landed a nice Slot Redfish to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam which made for a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

A Lot Of Action For Action Jackson

We had a beautiful morning that greeted us when I met Robert Newton, his wife Michele, and their son Jackson down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp today.  We have been having some good success in the Spanish Drop area in the Nassau River so we headed back there today and set up at a large marsh runout.  It took a few casts with a jig and shrimp combo but soon the action was hot!  Robert "knocked the skunk off" when he boated a hard fighting catfish then "Action Jackson" took over - catching one feisty Redfish after another.

As we worked up and down the bank the trio of anglers caught Redfish, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, and a big Bluefish. Finally, is the exact same spot as yesterday we had a strong hookup and the drag was ripping! But Jackson was up to the task and soon landed a nice Slot Redfish.

Our final stop was around in Jackstaff, tossing float rigs and minnows and here Jackson landed another feisty Red and then wrapped things up with a keeper sized Flounder catch which made for another great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Itsy Bitsy Baits

I fished south again today with another Mathews crew -Will and  his wife Kara and his sister Becky. I was short on bait so I set a minnow trap out then began to troll along the shore casting for finger mullet.  We got a dozen or so of nice mullet then when we checked the trap we had a 100 mud minnows, but they were mostly all not more than an inch long. We went fishing!

Our first stop was up the Nassau River and all three anglers were tossing jigs and minnows to a large marsh run out and almost immediately began hooking up with small but feisty Redfish. Becky was on the bow catching fish while Will took up the stern catching fish. Then, Will had a strange bite- thought he may be hung on an oyster - but it pulled back and, fish on!  Will worked it to the boat and landed a keeper size Flounder.

After moving down the river a bit we fished an oyster lined bank but we could see some fish busting bait up in a "twin" run out. As we reached that area both Will and Kara had strong hookups, noting that the fish hit their bait immediately when it hit the water. We had a double! Both lines were ripping and running and before long, each had landed a nice Slot Redfish.

We tried fishing Broward Island on the first of an incoming tide - the perfect time to be there - but we had no real takers, other than one feisty Redfish. With just minutes to spare, we came back to Spanish Drop, fished float rigs, and just before pulling up and heading in, Will hooked up and put one more Slot Red in the boat. And with that, we counted it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Right off the bat

After a day off I was fishing again today with Jay Mathews, his son Jim and his fiancé Natalie, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. We ran up the Nassau River and made our first stop at marsh runout on the very last of an outgoing tide. Within a few casts all three anglers were catching fish. One feisty Redfish after another, with Natalie boating her first Redfish, ever.  Then Jim got hot catching Flounder, two of which were of keeper size.  Jay had a hookup and when I heard his drag begin to sing, I knew we had a bigger fish. This one took him from the stern of the boat, up to the bow, back to the stern and then from port, around the engine and over to the starboard side. Finally, after a good battle, we landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish.  Only minutes later Jay hooked up with another big fish. This one went deep, never rolled, and I had just commented that it could  be a Jack and sure enough, Jay landed a big Jack Crevalle.  We left 'em biting and headed down to Broward Island.

There was all kinds of bait getting "busted" at a marsh runout but it was at the "honey hole" where Jim hooked up. This was a nice fish too but instead of it coming out deep it ran parallel to the bank and found its way under a tree limb and the line locked down. We gave it some slack and both of us felt it try and run a couple of times but finally the Wiley fish broke the line.

Our final stop was back at Spanish Drop and here Jay tangled with a couple more Jacks of the smaller variety. The sun was up and the bite slowed so we headed in and counted it as another great day to fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

(Video to come - I forgot my cord!)

We Caught Fish

I was back up north today to wrap a week of fishing up, meeting the Todd Stuart family - he and his wife Iana, son Henry and niece Sydney up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. We made the short run up to the Jolley River and fished the "bank" on a tide that had been coming in for a couple of hours.  It was Sydney who "knocked the skunk off" when she boated a feisty Redfish then Henry followed that up with a catch of his own.  We got to one spot and had a good flurry of catches - Henry put the first Mangrove Snapper of the year in the boat then Iana bested that with an atypical Spanish Mackerel catch. We had Ladyfish, Grunts, Spots, Pinfish, and more feisty Reds.

After running up the river Todd switched to a jig and shrimp combo and he said he had just made his cast when BOOM! Big fish on! He played it perfectly and soon landed a nice 24" Slot sized Redfish. After that he hooked up and landed a fat keeper sized Seatrout. Iana added to the keeper catch with a nice Whiting.  We fished one more spot in the Jolly then came back to the outside of Tiger. Henry got hot catching one hungry Seatrout after another.  Then, after buzzing thru Tiger Basin around to the Bell, Todd hooked up and landed an "almost" keeper Trout and Sidney wrapped it up with a Trout catch of her own. We had good action all day long catching most of our fish on float rigs and live shrimp but when we ran out of shrimp, the mud minnows caught fish, too, making for a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.