I kicked off the new year yesterday fishing with Allen and Lavern Webb, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early on a clear sunny morning - and just a small bit of breeze-a great day for fishing! We bumped around to the Sawpit bridge and set up just as the tide started out, drifting slip floats in about 12' of water, back to the pilings and picked up a good handful of Seatrout, most in the 14" range.
We then made the run up the Nassau River to a large outflow at Seymore's Pointe, now drifting fixed 4 Horseman floats and here we again caught Trout. Lavern "went long" and picked up a keeper sized one. We bounced around a dock, drifted the floats, then came back to the other side and pitched jigs and live shrimp, but had no takers.
Our next stop was over at the mouth of Jackstaff, throwing the fixed floats at a a drainage and then along some marsh grass. We didn't get a nibble so we ran back thru Horsehead and around to the Nassauville docks where we went back to the jigs and this paid off with some Seatrout catches, deep, 18' of water.
The final stop was back fishing some dock pilings with the tide down a bit. Both anglers were getting "nibbles" but no takers until we had a strong bite and Fish On! Lavern was on the rod and patiently worked the big fish to the boat. After a good battle she landed a nice 21" Slot sized Redfish. We had a beautiful sunny day and had some action here and there so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
I wrapped up my week, and my year, fishing with the Averbuch's -Mark, his son Jared, and his 8yo grandson Max, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. And, coincidently, last year my last trip was with the Averbuch's! I even counseled them that last years' trip was going to be hard to top - we had a good trip!
We made a short run around to the bridge at Sawpit and set up to drift slip floats and live shrimp back to the pilings and it was Max who had the first hookup, yelling "Fish On". He played it perfectly to the boat but it was not to be -the Seatrout threw the hook right at the boat! But Max wasn't to be deterred, and began to get good drifts back and it paid off. - he hooked up another one and this time landed the Trout, a keeper! From then on he and his Grandad Mark were catching Seatrout off the stern while Jared was left on the bow to try his hand at tossing a DOA plastic shrimp - white with chartreuse tail. He did hook up an land one - another keeper. Mark had drifted long, past the pilings and into the rising sun but he saw his float go under, lifted, and let the circle hook set and Big Fish On! He worked it slowly to the net as it dug deep a few times but eventually he brought to the net a big 21.25" Gator Trout! Boy what a fish!
Our next stop as up the Nassau where we fished some exposed shell beds on the very last of the outgoing tide with jigs and shrimp. Jared kept the skunk off by hooking up and landing a lone Trout. We continued on up the river, fished a drainage, then continued on to Bubblegum Reef where we tried our hand at losing some jigs to the structure!
After bumping over to Seymore's docks we fished deep for a bit, dropped way back and fished some abandoned pilings, then moved back up a dock after it was vacated by another anglers. Here, Jared had a strong hookup, some drag ripped, then, Fish Off! Ouch. But Jared went back with another excellent cast and again hooked up. This fish was fighting different than the Trout and sure enough, when he brought i to the surface, we saw that it was a nice 17" Sheepshead - another nice catch.
We finished the day down at some docks at Nassauville. I had thought that we had a pretty good day going already, but this was just icing on the cake. From the first cast, Jared was catching Seatrout with the jig an shrimp. Mark got in on the action and caught a few. Max, who was doing an admirable job casting (better than most teen-agers- soon found his niche and picked up some Seatrout then he was the one that had the strange hookup. This fish was pulling hard but Max was up to the task and battled the fish to the net to land a feisty Redfish - the first one on the boat for a day. Then he teamed up with his Grandfather to battle in another Redfish, this one was digging deep- they tag teamed it and soon landed a fat 24" Slot Red - another great fish. The sun was up, the weather had warmed so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Finally, a warming trend! It was just a tad bit warmer this morning and I noticed the backwater water temperatures were in the low 50's. I had picked up John Raker out at Oyster Bay marina and we eased around the corner to fish some dock pilings on the first of an incoming tide. John picked up a couple of small Sheepshead - I had a nice one on but it "threw the hook", then John landed a good handful of feisty Redfish.
We made our way down the intercoastal and turned in behind Piney Island and set up off a dock and here it was John's turn to have a big one toss the hook! But boy did that drag ripping sound good! He then caught another few of the feisty Reds, then had a keeper size Seatrout chase down his jig and shrimp - he hooked it up and landed it. Then shortly afterwards he had another strong bite, hooked it up and landed an even bigger Seatrout.
We tried our hand at some other docks, but deeper, then ran further down the intercoastal to dip into a creek where I thought for sure we'd get some fish, but that's what I get for thinking. We then headed back to Oyster Bay and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
I fished a "double" today and went out this afternoon. After having a super fine-Christmas-left-overs-ham-sandwich at the Old Town Bait and Tackle picnic tables I met Tim Parker and his son Wes with plans to try and duplicate this morning's trip. I knew it would be a struggle early with that high tide we were facing - we're just not getting any fish on the high with these cold waters (water temp was 46 this morning). But we had a plan! We made a cold run all the way up to the Jolley River where we eased into Snook Creek and broke out some jigs and live shrimp to fish a deep hole. Although we had a nibble or two we had not takers. We worked some grass with floats then moved up into a small creek as the tide started out and tossed the jigs again. No bites!
But the tide was beginning to move so we made a run around to Bell River and set up above a dock and here Wes "knocked the skunk off" by landing a keeper sized 17" Sheepshead. He then hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout. I was feeling a bit better and sure enough we began to get more bites and more fish. This duo landed a couple of more Trout, one of which was keeper size, then they put a few feisty Redfish in the boat.
The tide was really getting down so we made the run back to Eagans Creek and to the "hot dock". The minute we were set up we began to get bites - one Redfish after the other. Most of them were 16"-17.75" but we had a few that were in the Slot, the biggest being just over 20". We fished and caught until the sun was about to go down had to "leave them biting", but as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
I had a couple of days earlier this week where we struggled to get some fish so I really needed this morning! I had met Brad G. and his son Jake up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle this morning - it was fairly cool, but not as cold as the past few days. But the sun was out and we had almost no wind. We made our way over to Eagans Creek and set up to fish some dock pilings on the first of an incoming tide and from almost the first cast it was, Fish On! Both of these anglers stayed busy catching Redfish ranging from 16" up to just over the Slot of 18". They guestimated they caught at least 30 fish! We stayed there for about 2 hours, then finally made a move. Our next stop was over at Soap Creek where we drifted float rigs shallow on a higher incoming tide but we didn't get a nibble. We wrapped up the day fishing over behind Tyger Island, fishing deep, and again, to no avail. We had a good morning but as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
I fished yesterday afternoon, and this morning, and both trips were a bit "frosty", but the weather was beautiful otherwise! Yesterday afternoon I met Eric Feith and his son Jonah out at Goffinsville Park on a tide that had just hit high. We fished a large drainage with float rigs, then backed off and fished deep with jigs and live shrimp; we fished the Nassauville Rocks deep, then fished Broward Island deep - Jonah did get a keeper sized Flounder. We ran down to Sawpit Creek and fished the bridge, deep with jigs and live shrimp, then fished just south of Sawpit ramp and here Jonah reeled in a hungry Seatrout. It was kinda slow but it was a beautiful day, and we had sightings of porpoise, shore birds, and a Bald Eagle.
This morning I met Henrietta Reason and her two sons Eric and Evan down at Sawpit Creek. We made the run up the Nassau to fish some docks on the first of an incoming tide. Although the bite was slow, Evan, after making a perfect cast up to the pilings and had a good strong hookup, and Fish On! Evan patiently played it to the boat and landed a Slot sized Redfish. After moving around the corner and fishing deep with jigs, it was Henrietta's turn to have the big bite. She hooked up and expertly brought to the boat a 17" Seatrout. We fished Broward Island, both north and south, then Pumpkin Hill, deep with the jigs and shallow with the floats, then finished up over at Nassauville, fishing deep with the jigs. Again, we had a beautiful day with porpoise rolling around us and a Bald Eagle keeping a watchful eye so we counted it as two good days of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
We've had some seriously
nasty weather the last week, mostly wind and rain, and with some cooler
temperatures. I had to cancel(reschedule) Tuesday's trip and today's trip, but
was able to move John Raker from Wednesday to yesterday because there appeared
to be a "window" where the winds died for just a bit and no real rain
was predicted.
So I met John out at the
Goffinsville Park and although the forecast was correct, it still was a gloomy
day. BUT, we were fishing AND it really wasn't that bad. I did add a layer 30
minutes into the trip! We first ran over to Pumpkin Hill and drifted float rigs
up a against a severely flooded marsh grass. We worked a couple of areas and I
don't think we had even a bite.
But the tide was at it's peak,
so we ran back around to to Seymore's Point to fish a large drainage and sure
enough the tide was coming out. John was making excellent casts up current and
letting his float with live shrimp drift around a corner - then he'd open his
bail and let it naturally drift naturally across a submerged oyster bed and
BAM! Float Gone! It took a couple of times for John to get "ready"
but when he did he started hooking up Seatrout. Most were just a little over
14" but a couple were of keeper size.
*NOTE- somewhere between the
house-the bait shop and the boat ramp I lost my catch net! The first fish John
brought to the boat I circled the boat hunting the net but it was no where to
be found! So we had to lift the Trout into the boat by the line.
We moved down the bank and
fished the float again and here John picked up one more Trout drifting.We moved
back up to the first spot and stayed out deep and switched to jigs and shrimp
and this did the trick. We started getting bites again - a few were after we
tossed the jigs up to the submerged oyster bed- you could feel the jig catch,
come off, and BAM! Fish On! Again, many of the fish were just undersized but a
couple were of keeper size. And those were the ones that threw the hook right
at the boat as I tried to lift them in! Ouch!
We fished thru the marsh at
Horsehead, around to Jackstaff, throwing the float rig, then came back to some
docks at Seymore's and fished the pilings with jigs, then around to Nassauville
where we wrapped up tossing the jigs in some serious current - and then we
headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here
at Amelia Island, Florida.
We had a fairly cool morning today, 46 degrees when I launched up at Dee Dee Bartels Park - but it was sunny and clear with just a breeze. James Bush and his High School buddies, Andrew and Mason, had all met here at Amelia Island for a few days of rest, relaxation, and....a fishing trip in the back waters of Amelia Island. We made a run north and west and over to the Jolley River and began fishing the "bank" with float rigs and live shrimp on a tide that had been going out of a couple of hours. Throwing it right into the sun made it difficult to see the float. These guys were getting good casts and good drifts but we only had a couple of bites that didn't "take".
After running further up the river to Snook Creek James was able to "knock the skunk off" with a hungry Seatrout catch. We fished the outside with the floats then moved inside and tossed jigs for a bit, to no avail. We stopped at the MOA and tossed the jigs briefly but the oysters still weren't showing so we were casting blind.
Our next stop was around at the docks of Bell River and we stuck with the jigs. Mason was fishing off the stern and went up to the pilings with a good cast and it paid off, Fish On! He worked it to the boat and landed a keeper sized Sheepshead (all fish caught today were released). James picked up another Trout off the bow before we moved down a few docks to the "honey hole".
And the move paid off! All three anglers began to catch Seatrout off the bottom with the jigs. Andrew was fishing off the stern and got in on the action, catching a few of the Trout. About the time I'd think we needed to move on, they'd catch another Trout. A couple of these were of keeper size.
Our final stop was back at Egans Creek, fishing some dock pilings on the last of the outgoing tide. It took a few casts but eventually we were able to get some feisty Redfish to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Seatrout, Sheepshead, and Redfish. Again, all three anglers put Redfish in the boat and James topped it off with another Sheepshead catch. And we that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
We had a cold front come thru Thursday which left us with a clear and cool Friday morning when I met Suzanna Braun, her son Mike and her friend Garland down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. But we were all dressed warm with layers and after a short run up the Nassau we made our first stop at some exposed shell on a tide that still had about an hour to finish hitting bottom. All three anglers were making excellent casts with jigs and live shrimp to the bank but we had no real bites.
We ran over to some docks at Nassauville and set up again to toss the jigs and here we had some luck. Garland was at the stern and letting his jig fall down the river bottom and he picked up a few hungry Seatrout while the other anglers had "nibbles" from the bait stealers. After moving around to another dock it was Suzanna's turn to land the fish - she hauled in a nice keeper sized sheepshead, then a undersized Sea Bass. All three tangled with feisty Bluefish.
Our next stop was down at Broward Island where we fished one area as we waited for the tide to turn and start back in. When it did, we moved down the island and began working back. I thru out the "GPK" for some incentive and Suzanna stepped up to the challenge - almost immediately - and after a perfect cast to the bank, BAM! Fish On! Suzanna worked it to the boat and landed a golden-coppered-colored Slot 23" Redfish. And shortly after that she reeled in a smaller but feisty Redfish.
After working that bank we moved up to Pumpkin Hill and drifted floats long with the live shrimp and here Garland heated up with a couple of Seatrout catches. The temperature had warmed and we'd had some good catches so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
You know it's a good day of fishing here at Amelia Island when you make your limit on Slot Redfish and are real close to getting the limit in Trout. The wind was really howling yesterday but when I saw the forecast for this morning it called for just a breeze and when I met Fred Wommack up at Dee Dee Bartels Park that's just what we had. We made a quick run over to Egans Creek and found some dock pilings to fish on the first of an incoming tide. (as we were running there was so much moisture in the air it felt like it was raining).
Fred began to pitch to the pilings and I thought for sure it would be only seconds before he got a bite. But those seconds became minutes and then multiple minutes until finally he hooked up and landed a small Seatrout. I was about to leave but thought while we were there we should try the other side and this did the trick! Fred began to hookup and land one Redfish after the other - most all of them small - some right under the slot at 17.5", and then one that just made it into the Slot at 18.25" He stayed busy catching and releasing fish until we moved back to the other side.
This time Fred stayed deep, fishing the end of the dock and the strategy paid off. BAM! Big Fish ON! Fred played it expertly to the boat and landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. And shorty after that he had another strong hookup. This fish dug deep and stayed deep for a good while and I was beginning to wonder if it wasn't oversized. But after Fred brought it to the net it measured just a little over 26", boy what a fish!
Fred kept his limit of (1) Redfish but he wasn't done! He began to catch Seatrout out deep and in short order had 4 in the box and I thought for sure he'd get his Trout limit. After catching a few smaller ones we made the run up to Soap Creek and fished a stretch of grass where we caught one small Trout.
Our last stop was over a "Millie's Spot" in Lanceford, fishing a grass patch and again, it was non-stop action, catching one Seatrout after another. We just needed ONE big one! Fred put a couple of 14.75" fish in the boat but we just couldn't get that 5th fish. But as we headed back to the ramp we knew we'd had a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
