Where Did The Drum Come From?

 I fished with Hugh and Jan Hunter today. who were visiting the island and celebrating their much deserved retirement. Although the weather forecast called for about a 60% chance of rain, we planned to go anyway! I met them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and we headed north and west, over to the Jolley River and set up alongside some exposed oyster beds on the first of an incoming tide. We eased along the bank, pitching jigs and live shrimp with Jan on the bow and Hugh taking up the stern. At first I thought we were in "Croakerville" because that's all we caught the first few fish that came to the boat. Then Jan had a strong hookup and after playing the fish patiently, she brought to the net a nice keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. Then her and Hugh traded catches and landing a handful of Black Drum. Then the both put a couple of feisty Redfish in the boat then Jan added a keeper sized Seatrout to the catch.

We ran further up the Jolley, switched to float rigs and now we were in "Baitstealerville" - perch and more perch and small Mangrove Snapper.  With no big fish biting, we ran back, around the Tyger Island and up in behind them to fish the logs. Jan pulled out another Black Drum and we had numerous bites. As we drifted along, pitching to the bank, and now around at the marsh grass, Jan had a strong bite and her drag ripped, Fish On! But within secondsd, Fish Off! Ouch. But only a cast or two later she had a another big hookup and this one she worked to the net to land a nice 17" Seatrout.  After running thru and over to the Bell River we set up alongside some flooded shell beds. Hugh found a hot spot off the stern and put a couple hungry Seatrout in the boat, then Jan, who had put a nice cast up behind a grassy island, had her float "bob", then sit there. After a while she reeled it in and seemed like she might have an oyster shell. But the "shell" started pulling back and she realized she had a fish on. Jan worked it slowly to the boat and we netted a Flounder to give the couple an Amelia Island Grande Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, Black Drum and Flounder. 

We wrapped up fishing over at Lanceford Creek, fishing the last of the incoming tide and finished things off with a couple of small Jack Crevalle bites then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

It Was A First For Me

I've heard of anglers fighting fish and having a Shark attack the fish. I've had an angler hookup with anice Redfish on my boat, reel it in, and only half the fish be there. I've seen Dolphin "busting" bait up near the shore and even coming out of the water. But today was the first time I saw a Shark attacking Redfish up along the shoreline. I always thought it was the Dolphin that were the main predators.

I was fishing with Darryl and Tanya Gainsford, having met them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. We had made short run up the Nassau River and stopped at Spanish Drop, turned into the tide that had just started in, and began tossing jigs and live shrimp to the bank. Darryl go things started off by hooking up and landing a hungry Flounder, then Tanya followed that up with a feisty Redfish catch. Both anglers then put a handful of those

smaller Reds in the boat before Darryl had the strong bite, a hookup, and his drag began to rip. Darryl fought the fish patiently and soon landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. (All fish caught today were released). Tanya also tangled with a couple of  Ladfish. We had done so well on the first pass we decided to do it again. This time we didn't have near the bites but we were seeing a lot of Sharks cruising the shore line. Then, behind us there was a commotion and we turned to look  you could see a 4-5' shark "bust" a Slot sized Redfish and it came out of the water and landed up on the bank of oysters! It then flopped back in, there was a commotion and then...the water was still.  We continued to fish and then Darryl commented, "here comes that Shark", and you could see it rapidly cruising the bank, then BAM! Another huge commotion, a Shark with a Redfish in its mouth, then a bobbing Redfish tail, then the Shark circled back and the tail slowly disappeared! It was really neat to see the wild in action! I'm going to assume that the Shark was not a Bonnethead-I've never seen them do that. 

We ran further up the river, fished a marsh runout, then continued on up to a dock to fish some pilings. Here the duo caught a couple of Mangrove Snapper and a Pinfish. We then headed down to Broward Island and set up out deep, pitching to the shore with a stump as our target. Darryl got hot and put a couple of Sheepshead in the boat, a Mangrove Snapper and a Redfish or two.

The wind had picked up but not so bad that we couldn't try Pumpkin Hill and boy am I glad!  We had switched to float rigs and were tossing them up to the bank with live shrimp and getting some decent drifts. We had a few bites then Darryl's float slowly went under and started heading south. Darryl caught up the slack, lifted his rod and set the circle hook and, Big Fish On!  We knew it

was big. It didn't act like it thought it was caught and just bulled down. Darryl kept the pressure on, walked it around the boat to deep water, then back again, then up to the bow, then back to the stern, around the engine, and wore it out.  After a long and patient battle, Darryl brought to the net a big Oversized 30.5" Redfish for pictures and release. Boy what a fish! They picked up a couple of more smaller Reds, a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, and a Catfish. Tanya put a 9-spot Redfish in the boat and then followed that up with the only Seatrout catch of the day, one that measured right at 17".  Although the skies were dreary and  overcast, as we headed in  we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

FWC Redfish Summit News You Should Know About

Carol and I attended the first annual Redfish Summit hosted by the Florida Wildlife and Fish Commission (FWC) down in Ocala yesterday. It was a very informative event  and well organized Summit. The FWC, along with their sponsors (Coastal Conservation Association, American Sport Fish Association, Sea & Shoreline Aquatic Restoration and the Fish & Wildlife Foundation) did an outstanding job in welcoming attendees, their presentations, and facilitations of information and discussions. It was truly an eye opening event in more ways than one! I was surprised to receive a nice "bucket" of material - goodies to take home and handouts to read later. The entire Summit was well organized, well run and the agenda ran smoothly. Even a slight hiccup from trying to share a room with another breakout group was quickly remedied with a 3-minute move to a quieter area of our group-NE Florida.

There had to have been well over 100 people attending from all over the state of Florida. Of that large group, there were only 10-12 people representing the NE Florida Region. Of those 10-12 people, I think Carol and I were the only ones from the Jacksonville, Amelia Island area(I could be wrong on this-I didn't pole the others, but from their comments, they seemed south of us). If you are an angler in Fernandina Beach or the Jacksonville area, you really need to be aware of the following comments. If you are a Guide or Charter boat captain, You REALLY need to be aware of  them. 

There were a number of presenters who went over data that they have accumulated over the years, discussing Redfish biology, sustainability, stock assessments and Redfish management, past, present and the future. . (Click on image at right to enlarge) Amazing, eye opening stuff. For me, I have already begun to sense the dire issues down in south west Florida with issues with Red Tide, evidently a natural occurring event but compounded by human/manufacturing waste run off, and all over  south Florida with algae blooms and fish die-offs and fishing pressure. Before the trip I had had a conversation with my Ft. Myers cousin where he described miles and miles of dead lobsters during his last visit to the Florida Keys

But here in NE Florida, specifically at Amelia Island, we've had a relatively great fishery. But are the issues heading our way? According to the sentiment of the other 8 NE Florida attendees who reside just south of us in St. Johns County and Flagler County, yes, our fishery is declining. I was somewhat surprised that they were struggling to find Redfish. I know I track each trip that I do and most of them I rate as "average". Once in a rare while we will have a bad trip, and a few times in the month we will have an outstanding trip, but I haven't noticed a downward trend in our catch rates.

After the main presentations and after lunch we broke out into smaller groups and of course, we were in the NE Region. I have no idea what the much larger, south Florida and west Florida regions talked about. BUT, I was actively engaged in our NE Florida break out session. After all discussion we 11 attendees were asked take some Red Dots and rate what of the issues, comments, suggestions were most important to us. We could put one dot on each item, or 3 dots or all 10 dots on each item if that was really important to us. I took some pictures of the comment/issue boards and you can see for yourself what issues garnered the most "dots".  The top issues NE Florida attendees "voted" on were Declining Numbers, Increasing Fishing Pressure, and Water Quality. Again, most of these NE Florida attendees were south of us. I spoke personally to a few of them and they attested to the difficulty of finding Redfish to catch. I haven't experienced that here at Amelia Island, BUT I can surely see the increased pressure. I told Carol one day recently that "if I fish 6 trips a week, 4 of them have either just moved here or they're looking to buy". The boat ramps have gotten so crazy on weekends that I quit booking trips on Saturday and Sunday (I probably will pick up weekends this Fall and Winter). Sooner or later the fishing pressure will surely begin to affect our fish stock. I really hope we never see the poor water quality and fish die offs that our south neighbors are experiencing.  Again, you can "click" on the image to enlarge it.

Now for the really good stuff! As you see on the image the left (click on to enlarge), the overwhelming sentiment of the 11-12 people representing the NE Florida group "voted" to change the limits on Redfish to (1) per angler. Don't like that? You should have been there. FYI, I actually voted for that, too. If I have 4 people on my boat, I really don't like killing 8 Slot Redfish, but that's just my opinion. I take a fish home once in a while and don't begrudge others, but taking home fish to feed the neighborhood with a fish fry is a time gone by. Maybe I'm just getting old. But there were some suggestions proposed that I thought  were "off the wall", fringe, restrictive regulations, see the below, right image. This is where those of you that have interested in our fishery need to step up and participate. As you can see most did not garner any real support: Closed Season, Reduce Vessel Limit to 1 (can you imagine the march on Tallahassee?) Artificial Lures Only, Catch and Release Only(a 2nd march on Tallahassee?). But I don't laugh as much about that when I know there is a Catch and Release order right now for Redfish down in the South West area of Florida. Still, I've had a long sinking suspicion that there is a growing demographic of folks that are "anti-angler" who would rather we don't fish at all. I've seen internet videos of altercations between anglers and anti fishers and I've experienced first hand 

conversations with those that I sense would rather we not be taking fish from the sea. You need to be aware of this. Read that again. You need to be aware of it. 

And then there were comments related to Guides and Charter Boat Captains. Readers need to know that there are over 60 guides and Charter boat captains working out of Amelia Island. A third of those are strictly "off shore". Many do the jetties and rivers only. Many like myself, stay inshore/backwater. Some try to stay on the flats and a good number do tours and sightseeing trips. There's a good number that are "full time" with fishing as their main income, then there are others that have other jobs and use charter fishing as a way to fill in.  There are Guides that have retired from previous careers and now use fishing as supplement income- and because they love to fish! Each year there's a few new Guides added to the list, and then there are a handful that don't make it businesswise, or retire, or move. That  said, with over 60 it's a competitive small business we are running and with  over 60 of us, that's a substantial economic impact. As I commented at the Summit, the market will determine whether these Guides make it as a business here at Amelia Island. The State doesn't need to limit it. If the Guide can't run a small business, doesn't brand or market his service correctly, or doesn't produce a good product, he/she will eventually be out of business. BUT, as with the growing "anti-angler" sentiment, there is (and probably always have been) an anti-Guide sentiment. This was very evident at the Summit.

As a side, it's amazing to me sometimes how the every day angler will blame we Guides for their issues. I see it at the boat ramp daily. I'll be tied up at the dock, with plenty of space for another boat to come in, and they will get angry because I'm in THEIR spot. I've figured out that THEIR spot is the only place that they feel comfortable bringing their boat to. If they need to dock in any other location, they're not experienced enough to maneuver their boat to that location so they get angry at we Guides rather than learning to operate their boat. 

I see on my boat every day that experienced anglers tend to catch more fish. Even with that, there's always a chance of having a bad day. And there's always a chance that an inexperienced angler will have a good day and catch the fish of a lifetime. Either way I try to do the best job I can to ensure that all guests have a good time. THAT SAID,  just because some anglers aren't catching Redfish doesn't mean they aren't there! Don't blame it on the Guides if you're not caching fish, especially here in our area.  The way I understood one of the presenters data, the stocks in NE Florida are looking really good. My last few trips we have had handfuls of small "rat reds" caught, once in a while a Slot or two, and each week a few oversized Redfish. All in all, a good average bit of fishing.  I guestimate that half of my customers release all their fish. Many of my guests will keep  few to take home and throw others back that they could have legally kept. And then I will have a few that want to catch and keep and take as many as they can. Like I told the scientist at the Summit, "I rely on you folks to set the rules as to what is sustainable and healthy for the fish population", so if the rule is 2 Reds per person, 18-27", then that's what I'm going to go by and allow on my boat.

In the above image you can see some of the suggestions that were brought up. I was the first to speak and gave my opinion on the first three. I didn't have an issue with 1) Reducing Bag Limit for Anglers On For Hire Trips. As I already mentioned, keeping and killing 8 Redfish on 4 person trip is an overkill in my opinion. It's rare that happens on my boat, but it has happened. Our Florida fishery is under severe pressure and sustaining our Redfish stock and keeping our fishery healthy is important. We Guides have to balance providing a good product to our customers, keeping in mind that we can't place the stock in dire straits. The days of "filling the cooler" are slipping by (there were days when the old timers put EVERY fish in the cooler, and kept all the huge Bull Redfish they could keep). Truth be told, most of the Guides I know would rather throw most fish back. 

2) Limited-Entry License. This is where I opined that the market would limit the number of  Guides and Captains. There will always be Captains that get in on a shoe-string, and some will make it-it's their dream, but many will fall by the way side. That particular item evolved into Item#4 - Increase requirements for Captains/Guide license. I mentioned to the group that our Amelia Island Guides Association requires all of its Guide Members to provide proof of Liability Insurance, their US Coast Guard License, and their FWC License. I joked with Carol on the way home that it might be kinda nice for the State to take over the responsibility of gathering that information-as the Secretary/Treasurer of the AIGA it's like pulling teeth to get all the paperwork in! My biggest concern, spoken at the breakout session, was that established Guides and Captains would use the State to limit their competition with more and expensive regulations. I've seen it done, here at Amelia Island (see the $1500 fee that the City of Fernandina charges Guides to launch at the Marina). I understand the need for Liability Insurance and can't imagine a Guide business not having it. Again, if they don't, and something happens, they'll be out of business soon. In my opinion this idea came from some Guide(s) that  wanted to limit competition. Are they wanting to limit licenses? I can still remember here in Fernandina growing up there was one man that held all the Liquor Licenses and thus owned all the bars. What a limit on competition that was! Can you imagine the back room dealings as to who get's a Captain's License?

3) No Bag Limit For Captain and Crew. As I mentioned at the Summit, I already do this. I don't count in the "take" on my boat. It's only been the last few years but I quit counting my self so I wouldn't have a problem with this becoming an established law. 

Solving Issues was another topic. This image is hard to see as it was stuck on window. But as you can see down at the bottom, #6 is Improved Access to Law Enforcement and was a popular, and voted on suggestion. That was basically a suggestion of a better "hot line" or Text Line to alert FWC officers of illegal harvesting.  This was not necessarily to be used to bust an uneducated (that was a topic) angler who happens to have a 17.5" Redfish, but those that have 13 undersized, Slot and Oversized fish in their bucket. You can read the other suggestions that came up but didn't garner much support. 

Items that did have a lot of support (I suggested #9) was to have an FWC "Ambassador" program where anglers could get certified by the FWC on some of these conservation, management, stock assessment issues - basically talking points, then be available to speak at fishing clubs, association, etc. in order to educate the public on where we are with the stocks, go over the rules and regulations, etc.

Note that item #10 had some support. This idea would create some Public Service Assistants, kina like a Public Service Officer in a police department. These PSA's wouldn't have arrest or citing capability, but they would be the eyes and ears (and possibility as Ambassador's?) for the FWC at boat ramps, etc. 

That's a long read! Thank you for hanging in there. IF you got down to this paragraph note that there will be Public Workshops thru-out the State of Florida on these very topics in October. Our area is scheduled for  6pm Tuesday October 12th, at the Southeast Regional Library 10599 Deerwood Park Blvd, Jacksonville. 

As we get closer and they put links up I will post them.

If you think you would like to have some input or don't like what you've just read, then it behooves you to attend and let you opinion known. It was my observation that these FWC staff members are trying to take in as much observations, information and opinions as they can from the public, and then take into account all the scientific data that they have collected then make recommendations to the Commission and ultimately the law makers who set the rules. I mean, that's all they can do, right?  You might have an entirely different outlook or opinion than I do and that's fine. But don't be bitch'n if you haven't at least spoken up and let the FWC know how you feel!  You can also make public comments to the FWC HERE.

Shark Fights and Nice Redfish

 We kicked the week off fishing down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp today when I met Doug Mackle and new residents Scott and Sandy Winstead for a half day of fishing. It was slightly overcast and we had a breeze of 8mph blowing which made for a good day of fishing. We headed up the intercoastal and dipped in to Jackstaff, turned into the current and began tossing float rigs with live shrimp on a mid-tide and incoming. I was a slight bit worried when I saw the "fullish" moon early this morning but the worry was all for naught - within minutes the trio of anglers were getting bites. Sandy kicked it off with a nice Mangrove Snapper catch then Scott and Doug joined in on the action catching a Ladyfish, feisty Redfish, Catfish, Jack Crevalle and Mangrove Snapper. 

Doug had made an excellent cast, up into a drainage, right beside a grassy point and when his float disappeared and the drag began to rip we speculated Shark or Big Redfish. This fish hung close, dug deep and when it boiled up we knew the answer - Big Redfish!  Doug played it patiently, worked it to the boat and brought to the net a nice 27.75" oversized Redfish, boy what a fish! Shortly after that he tangled with a big 4' Bonnethead Shark, won the battle, and we netted, photographed and released it.

We then ran thru Horsehead and down to Pumpkin Hill and set up at a marsh point. Sandy and Doug were drifting long down one side and Scott was drifting down the other. Sure enough, after passing a jut out of grass, BAM, Scott had a hookup. He expertly worked it to the boat and landed  a keeper sized Seatrout (photographed and released). He went back to the same spot, getting a good drift and BAM! Big Fish On!  I thought for sure it was going to be a Redfish but as it ripped drag off we both concluded, Shark. But it was a fun catch and after a good battle, Scott brought him to the net. 

The tide was at its peak so we ran over to Christopher Creek and fished the bend with jigs. We had been talking about some Snook catches we had in the past and there is a particular spot where we've caught 3-4 of them. Sandy had a shot it, then Doug had a shot at it, then Scott went in and BAM! A strong hookup.  This fish was pulling drag and as Scott applied the pressure I was thinking, "could it be a Snook?" Nope. Scott worked it to the boat and landed a beautiful copper colored 21" Slot Redfish.

Our last stop was down at Sawpit Creek. The wind had picked up, the sun had come out and the heat was coming on. Scott tangled with another Shark but this one wound itself around a crab pot and eventually broke off. But we had had a great day out on the water so we counted it as another good one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Bar Set Kinda High

 

We wrapped the week up with a beautiful August morning-sunshine and just a slight breeze.  The tide was still coming in when Bob and Kathy Miller and I had made the run from Sawpit Creek up to Pumpkin Hill. After the GPS caught and I set the anchor the two anglers began drifting live shrimp under floats, going long down the flooded grass bank. Each of them had a "nibble" or two, with floats disappearing but no hookup. But on about the third or fourth drift Kathy's float went down and stayed down. She "caught up to it" by cranking in the slack, lifted her rod and set the circle hook and, Fish On! The fish made a couple of short runs so I knew it was a nice fish but I didn't know how nice! Then it took off down the bank, ripping drag and running out the line. We started backing down as Kathy reeled in the line to build up some insurance, then the fish would dig deep and the drag would begin to rip. It was a great battle and Kathy played it perfectly, despite the unwarranted "coaching" Bob and I were giving, and she finally brought to the net a big Oversized 29.5" Redfish, boy what a fish! After pictures we released it to swim off, back to the deep.

We fished another bank and here we had a "double hookup". Bob had drifted his float down the grass line and when it went under he set the hook and patiently played to the boat a nice 18"  keeper sized Seatrout. While he was reeling that in, Kathy got on to another big fish, this one a Shark. I knew right off what it was as it took off, heading to Georgia. But Kathy knew what to do now and kept the pressure on, working it slowly to the boat and landed a nice 3' Bonnethead Shark.

Our next stop was around at Seymore's Pointe where the Bob put a nice keeper sized Mangrove Snapper in the boat. We had nibblers aplenty but no takers so we came back around towards Goffinsville and fished between docks, switching to jigs and shrimp. Here the duo teamed up to put a good handful of Mangrove's in the box. After moving down the way we switched back to floats and here they finished out their limit (10) on the Mangrove Snapper.

The final stop was down at Twin Creeks, fishing jigs. It was getting hot and the bite had slowed but Bob had one more fish left in him. He hooked up with something nice - a fish big enough to make his drag rip. Bob worked it in slowly, let it run when it wanted to, then brought it to the boat - a 2' long Black Tip Shark. Where we were at the breeze was blocked and we had the weekend calling so we headed in and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Recipe of the Month: Crab Imperial

 By Julie Rothman with the Baltimore Sun: "A classic Maryland-style crab imperial should have very few ingredients and requires minimum seasoning. It is the crab meat that is the focus of the dish.  When working with crab meat, take care not to pull apart the lumps of meat and always use a fork when combining your ingredients. Never break apart or mash the crabmeat." 

Robert Shoffner writes:  "the accepted wisdom of the region(Maryland) : Crab cakes were to crab imperial what meatloaf was to prime rib. Considering crab imperial a superior dish to crab cakes reflects an understanding that the sweetness of jumbo lump crab is best appreciated in the simplest preparations. "

When my mother-in-law, Jean Hanna passed away, my wife found in her cupboards a set of milk white Glass Bake crab dishes, made by McKee Glass Company. They came in the white, clear, and red. Here's an article about the crab dishes and there is also a Deviled Crab recipe! Maybe we'll make that another month!  We stored them away for years but decided to break them out to re-create the classic Crab Imperial!  I "googled" Imperial Crab and picked the Phillips Company recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb Jumbo Lump Crab Meat

1 tsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 egg

1 tsp Seafood Seasoning

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3 oz Hellmann's mayonnaise (I read somewhere that Hellmann's is good for baking)

1 tsp melted butter

Combine all Crab Imperial ingredients (EXCEPT THE CRAB MEAT) in a medium mixing bowl and whip until smooth.

In a seperate mixing bowl, add the crab meat and pour Imperial mixture over crab meat.

Blend all ingredients together by tossing very gently in order to avoid breaking delicate crab lump meat.

This recipe filled eight (8) of the Glass Bake crab dishes perfectly! Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.

Imperial Topping:

3 oz Hellman's mayonnaise

1 oz half and half

1/2 tsp seafood seasoning

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Pinch of paparika

1/4 cup shredded cheddar or parmesan cheese

Combine all the topping ingredients (EXCEPT THE PAPRIKA AND SHREDDED CHEESE) in a medium mixing bowl and whip until smooth.

After the Imperials are finished baking, remove from oven and switch oven to broil.

Top each dish of crab with the imperial topping. Sprinkly some paprika on each, then add some of the shredded cheese. 

Place in broiler to finish off until cheese has melted and Imperials start to brown. DON'T  WALK AWAY FROM IT! KEEP AN EYE ON IT!

Serve with toasted baguettes or crackers.

 

Flounder Queen

 

Luckily today we had just a bit of breeze so it wasn't quite as hot as it was yesterday. When we came in from fishing around 11am today there were a couple of anglers launching to start there day and with it being so hot I  thought "crazy", but I guess if that's when you can go, more power to them!

I had met Frank Wytiaz and his wife Joanne down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we headed up the intercoastal and got just north of Jackstaff and fished some marsh runouts that looked really good. It was a high and outgoing tide, but it It was very shallow, over some shell banks, and I thought for sure we'd catch some fish, but no, only a small Ladyfish. We then came back around and into Jackstaff and fished a stretch of bank and here we had some good, steady action. Both Joanne and Frank hooked up and landed  a handful of feisty, fun to catch Redfish. They also had a couple of small Jacks, then Frank put a fairly big (12" Mangrove Snapper in the boat. We switched from float rigs to jigs and it wasn't long before Joanne had a "bump", set the hook, and expertly landed a keeper sized Flounder. We worked that bank pretty good and picked up a few more fish, one being a small Flounder that Joanna caught.

After running thru Horsehead and over into the Nassau we set up between two docks and stuck with the jigs and shrimp. Sure enough, we were in to the Mangrove Snapper. We'd lose 5-6 shrimp, then catch a fish. Lose 5-6 shrimp, and catch a fish.  A few of them were very nice size and went in the box! We did have a good thump on one bite and with Joanne on the reel, she worked in another keeper sized Flounder!

Our final stop was down at Spanish Drop, fishing jigs as the oysters were exposed on a falling tide. There was a ton of bait moving and I thought for sure we'd have some action but we theorized that it was just too hot. As  Frank said, "the bait is there, the fish are there, but it's just too hot and they're not eating!".  I packed a towel with ice on my neck and we headed back to the ramp, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island,  Florida. 

I Called It A Shark

 Boy was it a hot one today! By the time we got back to the dock I was drenched with sweat, but for mostof the day it was fairly nice and a great one for fishing. I had met Mark Dennis and his friend Greg and Greg's teenagers Jacob and Carter out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early. The tide was high but almost at a standstill so we ran over to Pumkpin Hill and began working a grassy bank with float rigs and live shrimp. They were getting a bite or two but it was Carter who "knocked the skunk off" with a feisty Redfish catch. We fished that stretch, then down one more bank before we moved on.

Our next stop was over at Nassauville where we switched to jigs and shrimp and this got the action going. We began to get Mangrove Snapper bites and everyone joined in on the catching. They also caught a couple of small Sea Bass. A number of the Snapper were small but we did get a good handful of legal ones to throw in the box. We broke one of the basic rules of fishing, "don't leave fish to find fish" but we wanted some bigger fish, so we moved on. 

After a short run down to Spanish Drop we set up off a large marsh run out and man was there a lot of bait moving. We picked up a couple of Stingray's then Jacob had a good "bump". He set the hook and worked it expertly to the boat and landed a nice 17" Flounder. Greg battled a Bonnethead Shark for a

few minutes then Jacob picked up another feisty Redfish. When Greg had another strong hookup the big fish dug deep and I mistakenly called it "another Shark". But Greg didn't care and battled it from bow to stern, keeping the pressure on as it went deep behind the boat. I still thought it was a shark until it boiled up between the boat and the bank and we saw that beautiful copper color- Big Redfish On! Greg worked it patiently and soon brought it to the net - a bulky 25.5" Slot Redfish. Boy what a fish.

We had burned through a lot of bait at the Mangrove spot and we eventually ran out, but the bait fish were still at the run out so we dropped back and

tossed a net and got a couple dozen nice finger mullet, then we move up to another drainage and fished it to wrap things up. I had commented that we hadn't seen a Trout earlier so it was nice to see Mark hookup off the stern in deeper water. He played it patiently and brought to the boat a nice keeper sized Seatrout to round out the team's Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Flounder and Seatrout and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

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.