The Final Fish

 When I talked to Glenn Langford last evening he indicated he'd like to target Sheepshead on our trip this morning. So when I met him and his wife Patti down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp we had a "plan".  Our first stop was around at Sawpit where I (eventually) was able to latch on to one  of the pilings and the two anglers began to drop a jig and shrimp (no fiddlers available) to their base. I don't think we had much of a bite but while they were jigging I tossed a slip float out into the current and picked up a hungry Seatrout, a Blue fish, and a bait stealer.  We then made our way over to the mouth of Sawpit and fished some rocks, inching our way along them and dropping our bait to their base.  Glenn had pointed out a likely spot and sure enough, both he and  Pattie picked up a feisty Redfish each. Patti did have one big fish on but it bulled under the boat and then found something to swim under and, fish off!

Our next stop was up at Seymore's Pointe where we fished a likely dock with the jigs. Pattie reeled in another hungry Trout then we brought to the boat a nice keeper sized Flounder. We got up-current from the dock, dropped anchors off the bow and stern, and let the current and wind push us right up to the pilings where we could stay off the dock but fish the pilings. We did get a few "bumps" but no takers and no hookups.

The final stop was over at Nassauville, fishing some rocks and there things picked up. Glenn caught a small Seatrout, then had a strong hookup and after a good battle brought to the net a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. He followed that up with a keeper sized Seatrout then wrapped things up with a........Sheepshead!  And a keeper too! Wouldn't you know that the last fish caught for the day was the target fish and as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Re-Connecting Fishing Buddies

 

Yesterday I fished with Carmen Santamaria who had his old time fishing buddy Tony with him when we met up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. There was just a slight breeze and clear skies as we headed over to the outside of Tyger Island on the very first of an outgoing tide. I had live shrimp in the well for these two anglers to bait up their float rigs and soon they were fishing a grass line as that current started out. We got some bites right off but no takers until Tony hooked up with a Seatrout to "knock the skunk off".  Then we saw a "ripple" up in a pocket of grass and Tony made a perfect cast up past it, let it drift and BAM! Fish On! Tony played it perfectly and a after a good battle brought to the net a nice Slot Redfish (all fish caught today were released).

We crossed the way after that and fished another grass line briefly, then made our way over to Lanceford
Creek where we fished a grassy island, then a bulkhead, to no avail.. Our next stop was back around at Soap Creek and again, no fish. 

The tide had gotten down a bit so we found some dock pilings to fish with jigs and this paid off. Carmen got on the board with a nice Redfish catch, then both anglers were catching fish - Redfish - most of them small but a couple of keeper size. Just when I would think that the bite had quit, they'd hookup! We had beautiful weather and the fish cooperated so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Cool and Clear For Trout and Redfish

 We fished out of Dee Dee Bartels Park today when I met Mark Averbuch and his son Cutler and grandson Harvey early this morning. It was still in the 30's but there were clear skies and the river was alike a lake. The tide still had a couple of hours of going to out to hit bottom so we made a long run up the Bell River to fish a deep bank with jigs and live shrimp. It didn't take long before Mark "knocked the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a keeper sized Seatrout - and he was out deep. Then Cutler was fishing the outside of a dock and he too had a hard bite and a hookup - he landed another nice Seatrout. But it was Harvey who had the Redfish catch - after making a good cast to the pilings he felt the "bump", set the hook and Fish On! As you can see in the video, the fish was no match for Harvey who expertly brought it to the net. 

We another dock along there, to no avail, then made a run over into the Jolley where we fished the MOA on the last of the ougoing tide, then we continued on around to behind Tyger Island and fished deep with the jigs. Again, no real bites.

Our final stop was over at Eagans Creek where we set up current from a dock and here the action turned on. All three anglers caught Redfish - about 7-10 in all. We had a couple of breakoffs but these anglers went right back in there and picked up another one. The sun was up, the temperature was now up into the 50's and as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Recipe of the Month: Oyster Stew

Finally! We stopped by Houston's Meat Market on the way home and picked up a bushel of oysters - they were from Virginia - the York River. Coincidently, we had oysters at a party a couple of weeks before that and they had both Virginia oysters AND "local" oysters (they were actually from south Georgia). Those local oysters were clusters - 4-5-6 oysters in one lump, and were the best I've had in a while. BUT, you had to work for them. They're small and difficult to shuck. The Virginia oysters are singles and larger, easier to shuck, and you get more "bang for you buck", but not quite as tasty as the local oysters.  This bushel that we picked up from Houston's we roasted and shucked and ate them with hot sauce, butter, butter and horseradish. Note that I've got a habit of roughly counting the oysters as I wash and load them on the grill and the bushel ended up having approximately 12 dozen oysters. We shucked and ate all but 3 dozen, then shucked the rest to make oyster stew.

This recipe comes from www.shewearsmanyhats.com

Ingredients:

- 4 tablespoons butter

- 1 Large onion, finely diced

-  2 garlic cloves

- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper

- 1/4 teaspoon paprika

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

-  1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

- 6 cups whole milk or half and half

 - 1 teaspoon dried parsley

- 16 ounces fresh raw oysters, undrained

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Heat butter over medium heat in heavy bottom 3-quart saucepan. Add  diced onion and saute until tinder, about 5 minutes. Grate in garlic(or mince), continue to saute for another 1-2 minues, being watchful to not burn garlic. Add red pepper, paprika, salt, black pepper, stir to toast about 1 minute.

2. Drain oysters and reserve liquid (oyster liqueur)(we didn't have any of this as ours came right off the grill. BUT, we opened a can of crab meat and dumped it in, crab and liquid to add some thickness)

3) Reduce heat to low, add milk, parsley and oyster liqueur.

4) Cook over low heat until mixture is hot and beginning to steam, and bubbles just start to appear around the edge. Do NOT allow to come to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste.

5) Add oysters and continue to  cook over low heat until oysters begin to curl on edges. 

Beautiful Day for a Birthday

 We had a beautiful morning greet us when I met Bob Kossman down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp with plans to make a morning of fishing on his birth day! We eased around to the old bridge and set up fishing with slip floats and live shrimp, fishing 14' deep,  on a tide that had been coming in for a couple of hours. Although we had one or two bites, we had no takers so we re-positioned to the other side of the bridge and stayed with the slip floats. This paid off with a few Bluefish catches - all almost the exact same size.

Then we made a run up the Nassau River to some docks and fished the pilings with jigs and live shrimp. There was almost zero current and I think that affected the bite (there was none). We eventually set up out deep (17') and pitched up to shallower water and this did the trick. We began to pick up Seatrout - a couple of them slammed the jig/shrimp pretty hard. Of the handful we caught, one of them was of keeper size.

Our next stop was down at Nassauville, fishing the jigs, and again we picked up a Trout or two. Continuing on, we made our way down to Broward Island and fished under the watchful eye of a Bald Eagle. Bob's first cast produced another hungry Seatrout. The next stop was up at Pumpkin Hill, drifting fixed floats.  The first few drifts produced no bites but I had seen some "nervous" water up in a pocket and as a drifted back Bob made a perfect cast and in just a minute his float slowly went under. Bob was patient, let the fish have it, then lifted his rod and set the hook. He could tell this fish was a bit bigger than the Seatrout we had been catching and sure enough, he brought to the net a fine Redfish. 

After hitting one more spot on the first of an outgoing tide we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great birth day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

New Year - Great Fishing

 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. 

Book Ended By Trout

 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. 

Mixed Bag as Temperatures Rise

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. 

Redfish On Fire #2

 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. 

Redfish On Fire

 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.