Bait Me Up

 

I wrapped up my week today fishing with Garland Clark and Suzanna Braun, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We actually had few clouds as we left the dock which bode well for a forecasted hot day! After a short run up the Nassau River we eased up to a large run out and boy was it loaded with bait. And boy was it getting "popped" by game fish! The two anglers began tossing jigs and live shrimp and minnows into the fray and it wasn't long before they were catching fish. A lot of fish! We could see big Redfish backs as they busted the bait and Suzanna, exclaimed, "Bait me up!"  They caught a handful of feisty Redfish, some Seatrout, Jack Crevalle, Catfish and Ladyfish. 

There were a couple of highlights - Suzanna battled a hard fighting Jack Crevalle to the net, Garland wore out a four foot Bonnethead, then they teamed up, almost at the same time, hooking up with some big  Redfish. They even had to "do the dance", passing each other as they traded stern and port on the boat, but they both kept the pressure on. Suzanna put her fish in the boat, a Slot Redfish then shortly after Garland put another Slot in the boat. That was crazy!

We fished that stretch for almost two hours! There was no need to leave because we were catching fish, but when it slowed, we move on up to try some docks at Seymore's Pointe. The first stop didn't produce anything, but the second one produced a good handful of Mangrove Snapper, a number of which were of keeper size. Suzanna also had a hard fighting fish on which we thought might be a huge Snapper, but it turned out to be a 14" Grouper!

Our final stop was down at Pumpkin Hill and we down to a handful of finger mullet that I had caught earlier. They were both getting nice drifts but we had no takers so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Camp'n Out

 

It was a hot one today - the temperatures and the fishing! I had met Bob Hagerman and his sons Bob and Brandon down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. All morning long, from sunrise to the bait shop to the boat ramp I was debating on whether to run up the intercoastal and fish Jackstaff or give the Nassau River and Spanish Drop one more try (yesterday we caught squat there). But I like that stretch of deep water coming up to shell beds so we picked Spanish Drop and made the short run, pulling up as the outgoing tide began to hit bottom.  The trio of anglers began to pitch jigs and live shrimp to the exposed oysters and it wasn't long before all were catching fish.

I don't normally stay at a spot more than 30 minutes, and most of the time it's less than that. When we were all done we had been there for an hour and a half!  Brandon knocked the skunk off with a nice Seatrout catch, then Bob put a Flounder in the boat.  Brandon followed that up with a nice Jack Cravelle. Bob Jr was laying back.  Then Bob Sr hooked up and when his drag began to rip we knew it was a nice fish. He played it to the boat and brought to the net a nice Slot sized 18.5" Redfish and as we were netting it Bob Jr hooked up and battled to the net another Slot Red, this one measuring in at 21".

The trio caught about everything you could think of - Reds, Trout, Flounder, Brandon added a tough-to-catch Sheepshead, Stingray, bait stealers, Catfish - we  camped out and worked up and down the bank a couple of times catching fish. When it finally slowed we made a short run up the river and worked another bank. This one only produced a Catfish.

The tide was up and beginning to flood the oysters so we ran down to fish Pumpkin Hill. We switched to float rigs and drifted long. The tide wasn't up as high as it was yesterday when we were at this spot, but it still payed off.  Brandon had a good drift going and when his float disappeared he slapped the bail shut, "caught up to it" and hooked up with a keeper sized Seatrout. Bob Jr. came in right behind him, drifting long, and had another good hookup. He reeled in another nice keeper sized Seatrout. We fished down another grass line, had a bite or two, picked up one Trout, then came back to the original side.

With only minutes to go and the "GPK" on the line, Brandon hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish and was minutes away from the win when......Bob Jr's float.....drifting thru a small bay....disappeared....and after Bob cranked it tight.....BAM! Big Fish On!  Boy what a battle. You could feel the tension in the air! But Bob was up to the task, played it patiently, worked it to the boat, let it run, worked it back, let it run, then brought to the net a big Oversized 28.25" Redfish! Boy what a fish! And with that, we called it a day, another great one fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Perseverance or Was it the Red Hooks?

 We're having some really nice August mornings although it does get heated up as we get closer to noon, and today was no exception. I had met Bob Miller down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made the long run up and around to Broward Island to fish the first of an incoming tide. However, when we got there, the tide was still going out so we eased down to the other end and fished a large outflow with jigs and live shrimp. Bob did pick up one nice feisty Redfish before we moved on.  We made a stop up on the north end and fished it with jigs as the tide came in - the perfect time to be there, but to no avail.

We came back to the Spanish Drop area, fished a flooding oyster bed with float rigs and mud minnows then switched to jigs and worked a large runout, but again, to no avail. After hitting one more spot we moved up to Seymore's Pointe and fished some dock pilings and here we did pick up a Croaker and small Mangrove Snapper.

The tide was up pretty high now so we followed it back down

to Pumpkin Hill and set up to drift floats down a long grass line. I had just got in an order of Eagle Claw 3/0 circle hooks in Red color - hooks I used to use but haven't been able to find in a long while.  Bob drifted long and picked up a couple of small but feisty Redfish then he had s strong bite and fish on!  The way it was fighting and ripping drag I guessed, "Slot Redfish"!  Bob played it patiently and slowly worked it to the boat and when it came to the net we saw that it was a huge Seatrout!  We netted it and it measured right at 23" - big enough to move Bob into 3rd place in the Angler's Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout category (scroll down the right side of this report for a link to standings). Boy what a fish!

We continued to "do the drift" and BAM, another fish on. Bob expertly brought it to the net and landed a 20" Trout. With the new rules, this one had to go back! We fished that edge for a while and caught another couple of feisty Reds and a small Trout. After easing around the corner and drifting by a pointe, BAM! Fish On!  Bob brought it in and it just came in under the 19" mark so in the box it went. The sun was up and the heat was on and time was out so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida 

Gator Country

 

Another perfect day for fishing this morning greeted us when I met Derek Poon and his sons Zach and Tyler down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We had clear skies and only a slight breeze as we left the dock and headed up the Nassau River to make our first stop at Spanish Drop with plans to fish float rigs and live shrimp on a tide that had been coming in a couple of hours. As we got the baits out in the water and I started easing along the bank, Tyler had his float in a nice drift and as it slowly went under he raised the rod to set the hook and First Fish On! Tyler cranked it in and landed a nice hungry Flounder to "knock the skunk off".

Only minutes later Derek's float disappeared and the drag started screaming then there was a big boil up near the bank. the fish ran east for a bit then came back and wrapped up all the lines and boy did we have a mess! But Derek kept his cool while I got the other two and cut and cleared away then the battle was on. Derek kept the pressure on, let the big fish run, but slowly worked it in and finally we lifted in a big 4' long Bonnethead Shark, boy what a fight! After that commotion, the fish were scarce, so we moved on. 

We made a run down to Broward and on the way saw a big Gator slither off a shell bank. We fished some jigs for a bit but the fish were having none of it so we eased back to Pumpkin Hill and went back to the float rigs and this did the trick. I think it was Zach's first drift when his float disappeared and after he caught up the slack by reeling extra fast the fight ensued! This fish was big!  Zach's drag was ripping and the fish took him from the stern of the boat around to port and up to the bow then back to the stern. The big fish dove under the boat, headed for the engine, headed for the trolling motor, but all the while Zach was working it!  I was helping for a bit but turned it completely over to him and he did outstanding and finally brought the big fish to the net - a 30" Oversized Redfish!

Derek picked up a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, then Zach added another feisty Redfish then Derek added a Catfish to the fish count. We moved around the corner and the trio added a couple of keeper sized Seatrout. Derek battled a couple of smaller Shark to the net and then a bigger Jack Crevalle. 

Our last stop was back at Seymore's Pointe at the "Mangrove Snapper Hole" and here all thee anglers put Snapper in the boat. Tyler was taking up the stern and making excellent casts and he landed a couple of the Snapper. Zach was on the bow and he put a keeper sized fish in the boat. The sun had gotten up, we had some fish in the boat, we had some good memories, so as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia  Island, Florida. 

Twins

I was back to "work" today, fishing with Tim Ayers and his son Andrew, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park early. It was a beautiful day, and for August, that's saying a lot. Running to our first stop up at the Jolley River, we all felt a coolness to the air and as we turned into the "bank", the sun was coming up over the marsh and ocean. We worked along that stretch of bank, tossing float rigs and live shrimp and getting excellent casts but we mostly got "nibbles" from bait stealers. Andrew did "knock the skunk off" when he hooked up and caught a copper-colored feisty Redfish.

We ran further up the river and fished around Snook Creek and again found the bait stealers, in addition to some small Ladyfish and Mangrove Snapper. Andrew added another feisty Redfish to his catch total. After fishing one more spot in the Jolly we came back around to Tyger, ran through and over to the Bell River and set up alongside a flooded oyster bar. Here, things did pick up a bit.  Andrew hit a hot streak catching some small Seatrout then Tim went in with a good cast. got a good drift and BAM! A strong hookup. Tim played it patiently to the boat and landed a beautiful golden 17" Seatrout. 

We worked the other side, battled with the baitstealers, then it was Andrews turn to get the nice fish. We had seen something bust bait up by an island and when Andrew made the cast it wasn't long before he had a good fish on. He worked it expertly to the boat and landed another beautiful 17" Seatrout, almost a Twin of Tim's fish. 

Our last stop was back around on the outside of Tyger as the tide started back out. There was a lot of movement going on but all we could seem to snag were the bait stealers. Andrew was fishing one of the last shrimp, a popcorn sized one, and had a Shark take it and run, heading to Georgia -it kept going, ran out of line and, BAP! Fish off. But it provided a short bit of excitement and a great way to wrap up a good day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

The Last 20 MInutes

 We gambled to day, fishing early in hopes that we wouldn't stay wet the whole day! The forecast wascalling for chances of rain in the 70% range all morning and when I left the bait shop it was already raining. But after I launched it had quit and all we had were sullen skies. I met Derek Kessler and his son Eli up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. We had a high tide right at launch so we bounced over to the outside of Tiger and eased up to the grass and began tossing float rigs with live shrimp. The current wasn't hardly moving yet but we had some good action early, caching a couple of feisty Redfish, a small Trout and then Eli put the first keeper in the boat, a fat Mangrove Snapper. 

After buzzing thru Horsehead, over to the Bell, and up Lanceford we ran to a small grass patch an dfished it with the float rigs. Not a bite. We eased over to Dave's dock, fished it for a bit and again, not a bite. We then motored out and back around to Soap Creek and set up fishing a large marsh run out. Derek put a hungry Trout in the boat right off. As we eased along the shore line to an oyster/grassy island things began to pick up The duo of anglers caught one feisty Redfish after the other, and a couple of fat Seatrout.

Our next stop was around at some docks, fishing the pilings after switching to jigs and shrimp. After Derek had made an excellent cast to the pilings, he had a strong bite and, BAM! Big fish on. Derek played it patiently, worked it out from the pilings, then applied the pressure and brought to the net a nice 4-spot Slot 21" Redfish. 

We were running out of time so we made one more stop back towards town, fishing some expose oysters with the jigs. We had a couple of Catfish caught then Derek, who had switched back to a float, saw his float go slowly under and he lifted, set the circle hook, and Fish On! Derek reeled in a nice 16" keeper sized Flounder. We eased on along the bank, tossing jigs to a nice run out and BOOM! Another big fish on. Derek played it to the boat and expertly landed a big 23" Seatrout, big enough to put him in the 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout Category. Boy what a fish. Those last two fish were caught within 20 minutes of wrapping up so as we headed in, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida 

Relationship Building

 

After fishing today, my guests and I came up with a new "service" that I could add, "Relationship Building"!  I had met Russ and Denise Kesel early this morning up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and they had along with them their son Noah and his girlfriend Alysa. The tide had been going out for about an hour so we skipped across the river to the outside of Tyger Island and began fishing  an edge of grass as the current flowed around it. It was the new girl, Alysa, who "knocked the skunk off" with a nice Redfish catch. Then Denise, who was casting out of the stern, caught and landed a hungry Flounder. We were getting bites and I would have liked to have fished it more, but the tide was already down enough that the engine was bumping bottom so we moved on. 

Our next stop was around at the Jolley River where the two couples began tossing their float rigs up current, baited with live shrimp. We had good action along that stretch, catching a good handful of feisty Redfish. Russ expertly battled a big Bonnethead Shark and Noah and Alysa had a "double hookup" where each landed a nice Redfish. Noah had something big on for a bit but it got tangled in Alysa's line - eventually it made a strong move and broke off. 

I've seen on multiple trips where friends and couples are fishing and "things" happen - folks get in the way of each other, they get their lines crossed, they get tangled, they hook each other and when out on the boat, you just gotta work through it and have a good time. Noah handled it well and kept on fishing!

We moved up the Jolley to Snook Creek and again drifted the float rigs. and again we had good action. All four anglers were catching fish - feisty Redfish, hungry Seatrout, and the ever present baitstealer. We eased along, crossed the creek, worked the cut and had good action along the way. Then, while Noah and Alysa were baiting up, Russ went long and up near the bank, up ahead of the boat and, BAM! He had a hookup. The fish didn't pull hard at first, heading south ahead of the bow, but then it turned and headed north towards the stern and this time it was ripping drag. Russ played it patiently, going from starboard over to port then worked it in slowly to the net. We measured this nice golden Slot Redfish right at 23", boy what a fish. All fish caught today were released.

I had planned to fish the MOA but the oysters were still covered so we kept going around to Bell River and fished some docks. Again, we caught a couple of Reds, a Trout or two, and a couple of Mangrove Snapper.  We finished up fishing Jolley Bank again, this time with jigs and here the two ladies battled for the GPK. Denise had set the standard with an earlier Redfish catch, Alysa boated a 9" Redfish, then Denise followed that up with a 15.5" keeper sized Flounder. We were right down to the wire when Alysa hooked up again but her fish came in just under the 10" mark so Denise took home the coveted award. As we headed in the sun had peaked thru the clouds and knowing that we had some good action fishing, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Recipe of The Month: Etta's Classic Dungeness Crab Cakes

 My wife got me this book, I Love Crab Cakes by Tom Douglas, with Shelley Lance and it has dozens of Crab Cake recipe's in it, along with some sauce recipe's. We decided that we would try to make a few of them and so I picked the very first one in the book!, Etta's Classic Dungeness Crab Cakes, a top seller at his restaurant for more than seventeen years.

1 large egg yolk                                                                       1/2 teaspoon Paprika

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice                                                 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dried Thyme

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce                                            1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons Tabasco                                                           1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard                         5 Tablespoons olive oil

In a food processor or a blender, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, mustard, Paprika, Thyme, celery seeds and black pepper. Pulse to combine. With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise. Set aside.

3/4 cup chopped Parsley                                                         1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup chopped onion                                                            1 pound Dungeness crabmeat, drained,                                                                                                            lightly squeezed

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper                                         5 Tablespoons unsalted butter

5 Cups fresh bread crumbs      Garnish with lemon wedges, bed of spinach, tomatoes

Put the bread crumbs in a shallow container and mix 1/2 cup of the chopped parsley(reserving  the remaining 1/4 cup for the crab cake mixture, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the onion and bell peppers with the remaining 1/4 cup parsley.  Add the reserved mayonnaise and the crabmeat and mix lightly to combine. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 cup of the bread crumb-parsley mixture. Do not overwork the mixture or the crab cakes may get gummy. Gently form 8 patties and dredge the patties lightly n the remaining bread crumb-parsley mixture. If you have time, cover the crab cakes with plastic wrap and chill for an hour or longer.

Place two large nonstick skillets over medium heat and add about 2 1/2 tablespoons butter to each pan. As soon as the butter is melted, add 4 cakes to each pan. Gently fry the crab cakes until they ar hot through and golden brown on both sides, turning once with a spatula, about 4 minutes per side. The internal temperature of crab cake should be 155 degrees  on an instant read thermometer. Transfer the cakes to a bed of spinach and garnish with a wedge of lemon or fresh cut tomato's. Serve with remoulade sauce.

Pre-Back To School

 I had fishing with me today a trio of students, trying to get in one more vacation before they start hitting the books! I met Cooper Sims and his friends Nathan and Adam down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we made the short run up the Nassau River with plans to work the run outs and oyster beds with live shrimp. We started with float rigs and first cast picked up a Ladyfish but after that we had a lull. Then Cooper hooked up and reeled in a feisty Redfish and that got things going. 

Adam put a couple of Flounder in the boat, one of which was of keeper size. Nathan added a couple of feisty Redfish to the catch then Nathan hauled in hungry Seatrout. Then it was Shark Time! Cooper had a strong bite and when the fish took off like a freight train, we knew it was a shark. Cooper was patient and worked it patiently, letting it run when it wanted to, then working it back in. I missed the first grab of the dorsal but Cooper kept that pressure on and gave me another chance! Eventually I was able to haul it in for pictures and release.  We also boated three Stingray's along that stretch.

Our next stop was up at Seymore's and here all three anglers tangled with some Mangrove Snapper, with each adding to the box for a seafood dinner tonight! We were tossing float rigs and shrimp there and ended up putting 8 in the box.  We moved down the way and switched back to jigs, tossed up to the bank, and caught another handful of smaller Snapper and a small Seatrout. 

The last stop was down at Broward Island, fishing the jigs. We picked up a

couple of Croaker, a small Sheepshead, a couple of small Reds, then Nathan had a big bite and, Fish On! Nathan played it expertly and brought to the net a 19.5" Slot Redfish, and boy what a golden, copper colored fish it was! We had put a bunch of fish in the boat, it was a beautiful day and as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be out on the water fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

A Day In The Life of A Fishing Tournament

You may have noticed I haven't been fishing weekends this summer - it's a way for me to cut back, not have to deal with the boat ramp crowds, and keep me enjoying my job! But yesterday was an exception - John Raker wanted to fish the Fernandina Kingfish and Rodeo Tournament with his mother Betty and his sister's boyfriend Kenny so we planned to fish it, and fish it we did!  I met John and his "team" out at Goffinsville Park early - 6:15am and with a Tournament start time at 6:30am, we motored down to the mouth of the Nassau River to fish the last three hours of an outgoing tide.

The day before I had checked with Amelia Island Bait and Tackle and Leaders and Sinkers for mud minnows. I knew it was going to be a long day and with the hot river water, keeping dozens and dozens of shrimp alive would be really tough. And to top that off, the "baitstealers" have been really prevalent and we'd blow thru all our bait. But the bait shops indicated that their bait supplier was having difficult getting minnows and they were both out. OUCH. So much for a plan!  But I had a couple of hours of time between washing my boat and the Friday Tournament Captain's meeting so I ran down to Sawpit Creek with a couple of dead mullet, baited a minnow trap, tossed it out, and waited in my truck with the AC blowing wide open. When I walked up to the trap I could see minnows in it so I was thinking, "well, we'll have a few". But there were about 2-3 dozen minnows in the trap!  So I kept dropping it back in, sitting in my truck, checking it, emptying it, and when I left I had about 80 minnows for the next day Tournament. I took them home, put an aerator on them, and dropped a frozen water bottle in to keep them cool. 

Carol and I met John up at the Tournament meeting and we sat in to listen to a review of the rules. We had wanted clarification on how many fish we could bring in and sure enough, we found at that we could "enter" a Redfish, a Trout, a Flounder, a Sheepshead, and multi-spot Redfish in the Rodeo category of the Tournament.  I had the boat and truck gassed, had emptied out my dry box for extra cooler space, frozen some water bottles, stocked drinking water, and gave the boat some extra cleaning time.

Saturday morning I was up early, 4:45am and made me large cup of coffee and had my "Overnight Oats"concoction that Carol has been making. She's been putting 1/3 cup of  Oatmeal in a Tupperware, covering that with 1/3 cup of  Almond milk, adding a dab of honey, a sprinkle of cinnamon, then chopping up pecans and fruit (that morning it was peaches). When I get up in the morning I stir it all up and eat it while driving to the bait shop. Carol had also made a couple of  Turkey sandwiches and made up a couple of Tupperware's full of fruit, raw vegis and a big one of fresh cut pineapple. I had a customer once who had some fresh cut pineapple on the boat and it is really good on a hot day. 

After loading the minnows and a couple of big frozen bottles of water for the food cooler,  I picked up a bag of ice at the Jiffy store, then eased around to the Amelia Island Bait and Tackle shop and was first in line when they opened early at 5:30am(thank you!). I ordered 5 dozen live shrimp, a pint of fiddler crabs and shoveled out a big bucket of ice for the drink cooler, then was heading out to Goffinsville Park to meet John and his crew. I had just launched when they pulled up and after getting them settled, we pulled away from the dock just as the sun was coming up. 

Fishing south of Spanish Drop, but heading back into the outgoing current, the three anglers began pitching jigs and minnows - they were fresh and lively (the minnows, not the anglers, they were still sleepy eyed). We picked up a couple of feisty Redfish, a couple of Trout, and a couple of Jack Crevalle. We did have one or two keeper sized Seatrout that when in the live well.  We worked a good number of marsh runouts and shell beds along that whole stretch, more than I normally do, but we had a long day ahead of us and I wanted to fish it thoroughly. All three anglers we making excellent casts and it paid off with fish catching. Betty held her own with the younger anglers - she put some Redfish in the boat and battled a hard fighting Jack to the net. I could tell Kenny was an accomplished angler -he was making pinpoint casts and hooking up at a steady rate.  I think the high point of the trip was seeing a family of Salt Marsh minks - at least 4 of them- scampering along the shell bank. What a treat!

When the tide changed we moved up to the Nassauville area. A dock I was wanting to fish was occupied by a boat (that weekend fishing issue) but I hadn't fished Bubblegum Reef in  quite a while, and being in a Tournament, I thought, "what the heck". I eased over to it, motoring idle speed and "Bump" we found it! After backing off we dropped lines and began to try and fish it - we couldn't see it, but  we found it on occasion with a hung jig.  But Betty was drifting a float up along the shell bed and picked up the first Flounder of the day. It wasn't big enough to keep but it gave us an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Then Kenny had a "tap", set the hook, and Fish On! He played it patiently to the boat and landed a keeper sized Sheepshead. John and I had noticed that the 2019 Tournament results were still up on the board at the Captain's meeting and that year no one had checked in a Sheepshead, so we agreed that we might as well take this one in at check in. 

The tide had been coming in for a while at Nassauville so we ran down to Broward Island and fished the south end. We worked it pretty good but had no takers. We then moved back to the north end and got some good action on Jigs and minnows and Shrimp.. Kenny was catching small Redfish, the trio picked up a few Croakers, then we landed a Sheepshead or two using the fiddler crabs. But we didn't get that big Redfish I was hoping for.  We then moved up to the mouth of Pumpkin Hill and switched to Float rigs. Kenny caught a keeper sized Seatrout as we worked along the bank, then John hooked up with a fish that was pulling drag. I thought it would be a slot Redfish but no, it turned out to be a big 20.5" Seatrout. That's a fish we can take to the weigh in!

We worked down the bank as it approached 2pm and boy was it getting hot. We had a nice breeze blowing all day but with the sun up, even the breeze wasn't cooling us off. But we soldiered on! As we approached a grassy island both Kenny and John had some bites, but no takers.  The area was looking right so we decided to troll back against the current and fish out of there. John had made an excellent cast and as his float disappeared he slowly lifted his rog and let the circle hook set and, he had a hookup. He said later he didn't think it was very big but then it dug deep and started ripping drag and BIG FISH ON!  It wasn't running like a Shark but I was a bit worried that it was big Jack Crevalle but when I saw it boil I knew it was a big Redfish. I think all of us got a little nervous knowing that we may have a Tournament sized fish on the line. But John played it like a pro, was very patient, and let it run when it wanted to but worked it slowly in. I think we counted 5 runs before he came to the surface and then we were already speculating, "Too Big?".  John brought it to the net and we hauled in a huge bull of a Redfish. A quick measure and sure enough, it was too big, measuring right at 28"!  Oh man, balancing the joy of catching such a big fish on light tackle against the disappointment of knowing it was too big to take to Weigh In was a tough pill to swallow!

The day was getting long but we still had a couple of hours of fishing before we had to make the run to Weigh In. We fished the rocks at Nassauville hoping for a wayward Redfish, then ran thru Horsehead and over to the mouth of Jackstaff and fished a good stretch of marsh grass with the now flooding tide, to no avail. After fishing another marsh line around on the intercoastal side,  it was 4pm so we pulled up the trolling motor, battened down everything, then made the 20 minute run up the intercoastal to the Check In boat. John showed them our boat number (383) and we then eased up to the outer dock at the marina. John and Kenny walked the fish up to get them checked in and weighed.  When I picked them up back at the dock they reported that there was already a Seatrout on the board bigger than ours, and also a Sheepshead on the Board bigger than ours. But, we had brought fish in and we knew that we had a big Red photographed for some good memories!

The ride back to Goffinsville was a nice one. I took the shortcut thru Alligator Creek and we were back to Goffinsville in no time and as we eased up to the dock I think all of us were feeling the long day of heat wearing on us but it was a good "hard fought" day of fishing so I counted it as a great one to be out on the water fishing here at Amelia Island!