Rebound Day

We had a super slow day yesterday fishing south so when I talked to Bob Blalock last evening we voted to try north today! I met Bob up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park and with a loaded baitwell of live shrimp, mud  minnows, and a newly bought bag of Gulp baits, we headed north and west and eased in to the outside of Tyger to fish a drainage in hoped of catching some flounder. As usual, Bob was making excellent casts and when we didn't get any bites at the drainage, we drifted with the current, pitching to the bank on an outgoing tide. Again, not a nibble.

So we picked up and ran, up the Jolley, and around to the MOA where we set up deep, pitching forward into the current, and this did the trick. In short order Bob caught a hungry  Seatrout, then another, then another. one of which was of keeper size. Then he "hung" on the bottom, pulled it off, and BAM! He had a fish. This one ripped a little bit of drag and put a bend in the rod and when Bob boated it we measured it to be a 19" Slot Redfish (all fish caught today were released).

Our next stop was around at Bell River, fishing to the bank and letting our jigs bounce down the river
bottom.  Again, right off, Bob hooked up and landed a whiting, then we caught a good handful of fish - Seatrout, Black "puppy" Drum and Redfish. A couple of the Trout were of keeper size. 

The tide was just about to hit bottom so we made the long run back around to Tyger. We now fishing the first of an incoming tide. We had noted that a mud minnow had not caught a fish all day, but when we dragged one deep and a fish took it, boy was it a fish! This fish was digging deep and ripping drag - Bob saw it boil up and declared it a Redfish, but it was a few minutes before we could confirm it - a huge 27" (maybe a Slot, Maybe not), boy what a fish. We had done a good rebound from the previous day so as we headed back to the dock we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

North to South

 

We pretty much fished north to south today, starting up at Tyger Island. I had met Robert Smith and his fishing buddies Rex and Henry up at the Old Town Bait boat ramp and after easing out of Eagans Creek we hopped over to Tyger to take advantage of the first of an incoming tide. We worked along the bank tossing jigs and live shrimp and once we got to some logs, BAM! We had some fish hookups. Both Rex and Henry put some feisty Redfish in the boat, and at one time they had a 'double" on. 

Our next stop was down towards  the Shave bridge, fishing some docks and here, again, they had Redfish hookups. Most were in the 16-17" range but then Henry had a big bite and when his drag began to rip we knew it was a bigger fish. Henry did an excellent jog of keeping the fish away from the pilings (we lost a big one here a day or so ago to the pilings( and after a good battle, brought to the net a nice 24" Slot Redfish. 

Even further south we fished some rocks and again had a flurry of action. All three anglers put Redfish in the boat and Henry snagged a hungry Seatrout. After running down and thru Horsehead to some docks at Seymore's Pointe. Although the tide was still down and coming in, we had no real bites. We fished some rocks at Nassauville and finished up over near Jackstaff, tossing float rigs with the live shrimp where we gave some Bluefish sore jaws. We had had some good action early and it was a beautiful day so as we made the long run back to Eagans Creek we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Morning Full of Variety

 We had a foggy morning for most of the trip today. I had met Kimberly Manek and her friend Jeremy up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and we headed down the river to fish some dock pilings on a tide that had been coming in for an hour. Jeremy got busy quick and put a handful of hungry Seatrout in the boat then both he and Kimberly reeled in some feisty Redfish.  We made our way over to Soap Creek and fished some oyster beds with the jigs but we had no takers. 

After a run up the Bell River we anchored and cast up current and this did the trick . Jeremy picked up a a couple of Trout out deep, one of which was of keeper size, then he hooked up and landed a hard fighting Sheepshead. Kimberly reeled in a couple of more Redfish then she hooked up and landed a Bull Whiting. We added another one of those shortly after that. 

We fished Snook Creek with floats then moved on down to Jolley Bank where Kimberly battled a huge Gar Fish to the boat, which we netted and photographed and release. Somewhere along here Jeremy boated a Skate, then as we worked along a grass bank Kimberly finished up the "variety show" with a keeper sized Flounder catch. And wouldn't you know it, as we headed back to the dock the fog began to lift and the sun came out, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

15 Minutes of Fame

 Kicking off the weekend early, I met Todd Johnson and his fishing buddy Patrick Davis up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. We made a run down the intercoastal and found some structure to fish with jig and mud minnows on a tide that had been coming in for an hour or so. I think it was Patrick's first cast and as he let the jig bounce down the river bottom, it looked like he may be snagged but, BAM! Big Fish ON!  We were in for a battle but Patrick was up for the task. The big fish dug deep and Patrick kept the pressure on, working it up off the bottom - a Big Redfish - then it would dive deep. That happened a few times before we were able to get a net under it and land an oversized 28.5" Redfish! This fish pushed Patrick into First Place in the Anglers Mark 2022 Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category. Boy what a fish!  We continued to fish that spot and shortly after it was 
Todd's turn to fight the big fish, which he expertly did, and landed a "Tourney" sized Red, 26.75" and boy was it a bull! Then  Patrick put a 24" Slot Red in the boat! Crazy huh?

We eventually moved down the way a bit - Patrick added a small Slot Red to the catch, then Todd hooked up and Big Fish On! Hah!  He battled it patiently, keeping the pressure on, and eventually landed a oversized 29" Redfish, to take the lead in the Anglers Mark 2022 Bragging Rights Tournament.....Redfish Category! Patrick's 15 minutes of fame, was over! Hah!  Scroll down the right side of this report for Bragging Rights standings. 

After making a run down the river we eased up in behind a dock and fished the pilings. Again, Patrick's first cast produced a big bite. This fish was big and pulling hard, but it was already around some pilings and eventually the line went tight and, BAP, fish off!  Todd caught and landed a feisty Redfish, then Patrick hooked up and landed another Slot Red. We picked up another couple of fish, then moved on. 

Switching to floats, we fished Soap Creek(no bites), Lanceford Creek(no bites), Bell River(no bites) then the outside of Tyger where Todd finally knocked the skunk off the floats with a feisty Redfish catch. After touring Cumberland Island to see some wild horses, we headed for the dock and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

The Bite Was Hot Early

 Well, the fish bite was OK early, but the Sand Gnat bite was really hot! But boy what a pretty day! I had met Mitch Vollmers, his dad Dale, and their friend Marvin Leininger down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and as the sun came over the trees, we were heading up the intercoastal to turn north into the Nassau. We made the long run up to Broward Island with the intent of catching a tide that had been coming in for about an hour and half. Dale and Mitch were tossing live shrimp on a jig while Marvin tested some plastic grubs off the stern. Dale had the hot hand early and boated a hungry Seatrout to "knock the skunk off".  Mitch hauled in a feisty Redfish but when Dale had a strong hookup and that drag made the ripping noise we felt sure we had a "big one". And sure enough it boiled up - a tale-tale sign that this fish had some size to it. Dale played it patiently and after a good battle landed a nice Slot sized 23" Redfish. 

We worked that bank pretty good, picked up another Trout or two, one of which was right at 18", a respectable "keeper size", then we made another good run up the Nassau to dip into a shallow creek. If I had to have made a bet on where we would have caught fish today, it would have been along this bank, but although all three anglers were making excellent casts, we barely had a decent nibble. 

After moving back to Pumpkin Hill, we switched to fixed floats and fished a flooding shell bed. Here, we picked up another Seatrout.  On the way back to the ramp we stopped at Spanish Drop and worked a bank with the fixed floats and got another keeper sized Trout. Marvin was fishing the stern with a slip float, going a bit deeper and this did the trick when he hooked and landed a couple of nice Trout. And with that, we called it a day, another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

By The Numbers

 We had another nice morning today, albeit a bit windy as the day wore on. I had met Joe and Karen (Miller)(bannana girl)  Szkaradnik and Joe's brother John down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made a run uip the intercoastal, over thru Back River and around to Pumpkin Hill with plans to drift fixed floats down a flooding marsh line. It might of been Joe's first drift, or maybe the second when he hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout. We had a another nibble or two but more takers, so we moved on. 

The next stop was a way up a creek off of the Nassau River where we turned into the current of an incoming tide and fished the bank with jigs and shrimp. We hadn't been fishing but for a few minutes when John, after making an excellent cast, hooked up and, Fish On!  John played it perfectly and battled it to the net to land a nice 20" Slot sized Redfish. We worked that bank pretty good - about 75 yards - and they were getting good casts, but didn't have much else until John hooked up with another feisty Redfish. 

After running back to the Christopher Creek area we fished jigs around some dock pilings and here it was Joe's turn to battle the big fish. When I heard him hookup and the drag rip we knew it was a big fish. Joe worked it to the boat patiently and soon landed a big 23" Slot Red, boy what a fish!

Our last stop was around at Seymore's Pointe, fishing float rig and Joe wrapped things up with a hungry Seatrout catch. We had caught just a few fish but had a couple of quality ones in the boat so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida 

Teacher's Aid

I fished the Boehm party this morning - Frank Boehm and his friend Pat, Pat's son Matt and granddaughter Hailey, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. The tide still had a couple of hours of coming in but it was high enough to run over to the outside of Tyger and fish fixed float rigs along the marsh grass. They had  a few nibbles and it was Pat who "knocked the skunk off" with a nice Seatrout catch. 

We ran thru Tyger, around to the Bell and set up fishing a point of grass with that incoming tide. These anglers were all getting good drifts but we had not a nibble. After running down the Bell, up into Lanceford, and in to Soap Creek, we again set up with the floats, drifting them long with the current. I think it was Pat again who picked up another Trout. 

Our next stop was around the corner and here we switched to jigs and shrimp. They were all getting nibbles deep but we found that we could go back to the float rig, tossed up near the shore, over some submerged oysters and get fish. Young Hailey hooked up and landed an "almost legal" Seatrout, then she had a good bite, set the hook and, Fish On! She worked it to the boat patiently and landed a keeper sized 18" Seatrout. Shortly after that she battled a feisty Redfish to the boat. 

We fished a grassy island down the way, then made a good run down the intercoastal to fish some structure on first of the outgoing tide. Hailey added another feisty Redfish to her catch total, then her Granddad Pat had a big hookup - I heard the drag rip and knew it was a big fish. Pat played it perfectly an after a hard fought battle, landed a nice 24" Slot Redfish.

After fishing one more spot up in Piney we headed back and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.  

Winds of Weekend Gone

 Boy what a pretty day today! Almost no wind, clear skies and sunshine!  I had met Gene Burk and his fishing buddy Greg down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp right at the top of a huge flood tide - the water was up over the ramp. We made a easy run up the intercoastal, all the way up to to Jackstaff and turned in to a smaller creek to fish fixed float rigs with live shrimp. 

Although both anglers were getting good casts and hitting the points and pockets, I don't think we had nary a nibble. We ran thru the marsh and over to Seymore's Point and fished a large drainage with the floats, this time drifting them long across a sunken oyster bar and again, no real bites.

But after we moved down the way to fish a marsh line Gene found out that they were out deeper than I expected - he picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout in 10' of water, with a 3' leader! So we backed off, fished it deep with jigs and got a few, then switched to slip floats deep and caught a few more of the Seatrout.

We fished down at Nassauville with the jigs and shrimp deep, then crossed over to the BackRiver and fished a stretch of shell on the outgoing tide and even with excellent drifts, not a look. 

After a 10 minute run down the Nassau we eased up into a creek, knowing that we would be squarely in the back country and remote about as much as you can get and....there was another boat up ahead of us! Ouch!  But we still had a good stretch to fish and worked the 5' deep bank with the jigs and the duo began to get Redfish. They weren't schooled up but were hit and miss but they got a good handful, missed a couple, and the final one found a way to wrap up in a downed log!  Gene also landed a Flounder to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam.  So we had some action, had caught a few fish and as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Don't Try This at Home

Crazy weather today...from yesterday's forecast it looked like we would be able to squeeze a trip in today but when I got up it showed a 9mph wind early, increasing to 17 increasing to 20 increasing to 23! And that it did!  But I "had a plan" when Dara and William Blalock walked up at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp and so, we went for it!

After a 10 minute run around Seymore's, thru Alligator and up the intercoastal a bit we set up fishing some structure with jigs and live shrimp and sheltered by a land mass, we were oblivious to any impending wind. Both Dara and William began to get fish and caught 6-8 small but feisty Redfish and one small Flounder.  We also had a Salt Marsh Mink sighting. When that bite slowed we eased on up the intercoastal and turned into a creek with a stretch of docks that I though would surely be out of the wind ....and the plan crumbled - there was already another boat fishing the spot. Dang it. 

We then ran south, back to Nassauville, and set up fishing between a couple of docks and William hooked up and landed Redfish and a Seatrout. We also had an Osprey and a Bald Eagle sighting.  After moving around to Seymore's we fished a couple of docks, out of the wind, but to no avail.   I thought that Broward Island may be blocking the SW wind which had increased to the 20's and when we got down there it was somewhat blocked for a while. Dara too advantage of that and put another Redfish in the boat. But then the wind shifted and was blowing right "down the pipe" which made for some difficult fishing. 

I had been thinking about hitting a small creek that I hadn't fished in a while but knew that the tide was already down a good bit and I rarely go anywhere shallow in my boat on a low outgoing tide, but you know, what would Kirby do? Go for it! So we made a 10 minute run and eased up into the creek and sure enough in some places I was getting a reading of less than two feet, and the tide still had to go our another 2 hours. But we made it to our destination and began pitching the bank with the jigs (the bank was only about 4' deep, and when we got to one downed log, William went in with his initial cast but got snagged and while he re-baiting Dara went in with a perfect cast and BAM! Fish On!  She played it perfectly and brought to the net a nice Redfish. For the next 20 minutes the duo caught fish, one after the other with three of them being of Slot size (all fish caught today were released). 

When the bite slowed we made a u-turn and puttered out of there - a few times I had to raise the engine and I could feel the hull skimming over mud - but we made it out and as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

From Nursery to Primary School

 I fished with John Raker this morning, picking him up out at the Oyster Bay Marina early, then we headed down the Amelia River to fish some structure on a tide that had been going out for a few hours. John was tossing jigs and shrimp to some rocks and letting it slowly fall down the river bottom and the technique paid off when he started catching some small but feisty Redfish. Most were in the 16-17" range, or as John called them, "nursery fish". But he did get a couple that were just slightly in the Slot. 

We also had a big fish on, this one digging deep, ripping drag and staying close to the bottom - a fish that I thought surely was a Black Drum, but a couple of minutes in to the fight it just threw the hook, Ouch! Before we left that spot John also landed a Flounder on a slip float rig. 

We made our way back up the Amelia and eased in to behind Piney Island and fished some dock pilings on the last of the outgoing tide and here things really heated up. beginning with an excellent cast John had made under a gangway, Fish On!  After landing another Slot sized Red it was one fish after another - we counted at least 15, most smaller but another in the Slot range. 

When the tide turned we ran over to Tyger Island and fished the incoming there and although the tide was right, the wind was blowing right up the river and the shoreline was murckey with mud. John did manage to score an Amelia Island Back Country Slam when he hooked up and landed a feisty Black "puppy" Drum. The sun had been out all day, we hadn't had to deal with any wind to speak of, so as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.