A Triple, Five Slots, and One Oversized

 

I felt pretty confident this morning that we'd catch fish today, but I was thinking, "maybe a nice Redfish" and "surely a good handful of small Seatrout". As it's been all week, it was a beautiful day - sunny, no wind and just a cool nip in the morning that warmed to shirtsleeves temperature as the day went along. I met Henry Ross, Dick Conley and David Gray down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we made a short run up the intracoastal, then up the Nassau to make our first stop at the Spanish Drop area. The tide was already fairly high - the oysters were pretty much covered- so we went with the float rigs and live shrimp. All three anglers were getting excellent casts and good drifts as we worked along a bank - we had a good number of "nibbles" but no takers until they picked up a small Seatrout. I let the boat drift back with the current to fish some flooded shell and this did the trick - Dick hooked up and expertly battled to the net a nice Slot Sized Redfish - and an 11 Spotter at that! Shortly after that he put the first keeper sized Seatrout in the boat.

We moved up the river to one large drainage and had no luck, then we moved on up to Twin Creeks and drifted across it's mouth. Henry had switched to a jig and the shrimp and picked up a couple of Seatrout, then as we drifted back with the current David found a "honey hole" and caught a couple of Slot sized Redfish. 

We then made a run up river to the Super Secret Spot and drifted the floats as the tide got to its highest.We got busy catching those small Seatrout that I expected, a small Bonnethead Shark, then we had a bonanza of big Redfish caught!  The trio added 3 more Slot Reds - we had to cull a couple - then David had a strong bite that was really ripping drag. He played it patiently, worked it to the boat, and landed an Oversized 27.5" Redfish - boy what a fish! They also caught a good handful of small Reds that were quickly released.

Over at Seymore's Point the tide was going out. We pitched to a grassy point and it paid off almost immediately - they caught some more of those feisty Reds and Trout. Henry got hot with the keeper sized Seatrout and put a few more in the box. At one time all three anglers had a fish on! Our final stop was over at Poteat Pointe and although we didn't get anymore Reds, we did get another hungry Trout or two. We had a good mess in the box, the weather had been fantastic, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Three Doubles

 The beautiful days just keep coming! And good fishing, too!  Today I ran over to Oyster Bay to pick up David Vice and his neighbor and friend David Williamson as the sun was coming up. The tide was high and coming in - we eased out of their marina and ran back down Lanceford and up the Bell to set up on a point of grass with plans to toss float rigs and live shrimp. There wasn't much current! We did get some drifts but they were slow, but we did get a few bites and caught a couple of small Seatrout. That was the story for the next couple of hours - small Trout

After running thru Tyger and around to the outside of Tyger we again tossed the float rigs and picked up another Trout or two, then a feisty Redfish. We made our way over to the Jolley River and worked the "bank" with the floats and caught a slimy Needlefish and a Bluefish. Further up the Jolley, as the tide started out, things picked up a bit. If we could have kept all the 14" Trout we caught we might have needed a bigger live well! But finally David W. hooked and landed a couple of keeper fish. 

Continuing on around thru the Jolley and into the Bell we eased up between two docks and switched to jigs and shrimp. David W. was on the stern, David V. was on the bow, tossing up close to the bank and letting it bounce down the bottom with the current and this paid off - there were at least three times when we had  "double" hookup - both anglers had fish on. David W. was going up to close to the bank and hooked and landed a few feisty Redfish, then he and David V. teamed up on the Seatrout, and they seemed to get bigger - we had a few that measured to 17". They slowly put a good box of fish together for dinner tonight.

After fishing a couple of places back near Oyster Bay we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Trout Guy and Redfish Guy

 Another beautiful day this morning, albeit a bit foggy -I had to run slow up the Back River to get to our first stop at Pumpkin Hill after meeting Walter Mann and his fishing buddy David down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp. But when we arrived at Pumpkin it was clear enough to fish so we began drifting float rigs with live shrimp on a tide that still had a couple of hours of coming in. David knocked the skunk off AND the rust off when he hooked up and landed the first fish of the day - a hungry Seatrout. And for the next hour the duo caught Trout - we lost count - with the biggest being right at 14.75".  We moved around to three or four places, catching Trout. They were fun to catch but we had none in the box, so we moved on.

Our next stop was back at Seymore's Pointe and this paid off. David was fishing off the stern and getting a good drift and he found a good Seatrout "honey hole" and boated a good handful of them with two of them being of keeper size. Walter was fishing off the bow and when he drifted by a grassy point he could almost count on Fish On!  His fish were feisty Redfish, the biggest being around 17" - fun to catch - one bent the stem of the float - but no keepers. 

We fished Littlefield for a bit, with no takers, then we then moved down the Nassau, stopped at Twin
Creeks and picked up one Trout on the float, then moved down to a large drainage and went back to jigs. The clock was ticking when Walter went up to some still covered oysters and when the fish hit we knew it was big - that drag was ripping!  It brought Walter from the bow back to the stern then dug deep and Walter had to be patient as he slowly worked it in, finally landing a bulky 25.5" Slot Redfish, boy what fish. David went to the same area with an excellent cast, had a strong take that ripped drag, but threw the  hook!  He went back and after a couple of casts had another good bite and Fish On!  David worked it in experlty and landed his first Redfish of the day and wrap things up. 

The day had turned out beautiful - it went from foggy to sunny, cool to comfortable, and we had a few good fish in the boat so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Redemption at Amelia Island

 

The last time I fished with this guy I got the uneasy feeling that he wouldn't be back. But he was back today, with a vengeance. I had met David Vice, Lee Warren and their buddy Gary out at Goffinsville Park early this morning on a tide that still had about 45 minutes of coming in. We headed over to Pumpkin Hill and set up to drift floats (bobbers) long with that incoming current. It didn't take long before we were getting Trout bites, then Lee hooked up and it was Big Fish On! He was up by the grass and it paid off - this fish was ripping drag and Lee was in for a long battle. I fished with Lee last month and unfortunately he only managed to catch one fish, a 6" baitstealer. He was doing everything right, it just wasn't his day. But this morning, he had a big fish on and he was playing it patiently as it dug deep, running from shallow to deep, then David yelled, "Fish ON!" and we had a double! I was going from stern to bow with the net trying to determine who was getting closest first and eventually I was able to net Lee's big Slot Redfish - I dumped him on the deck then moved forward to net David's Slot Red -two fish in the box!

We fished that stretch for a good while and Gary proved adept at getting those hungry Seatrout to the
net. We tallied up at the end of the trip and it was unanimous that Gary had caught the most. After moving up to a point and fishing down the other side and landing another good handful of  Trout, and one more Slot Redfish, and then a hard fighting Bonnethead Shark, we moved on. Our next stop was over at Seymore's Pointe and here we caught a good handful of Seatrout, then we ran thru Horsehead and over to Poteat Point where we caught more Trout, and more Trout and more Trout - most between 13" and 14.75", but we did manage two keeper Trout. 

Our final stop was back at Seymore's Point fishing some dock pilings. Lee added another feisty Redfish to his catch total and David put a nice sized Black "puppy" Drum in the box. It had been a beautiful day, we had caught a ton of fish, we had a few in the box, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. Check out this "double Redfish" battle...

Puppy Drum On Fire

 

For the second day in a row, we "slayed" the Black "puppy" Drum!  I wrapped my week up today when I met Todd and Debbie Johnson up at Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp. We eased up the creek and got between two docks and pitched to the pilings on a tide that had been going out for a few hours. Baiting our jigs with live shrimp and tossing them up between the pilings paid off big. From almost the first cast, Todd and Debbie were catching fish - Puppy Drum, and Redfish, and even a keeper sized Sheepshead (we tossed it to grow). We were getting a fish on almost every cast and the duo soon got to their limit on the Black Drum AND the Red Drum, boy what a morning!

From there we made our way over to the Bell River and ran up it and again set up between two docks and
stayed with the jigs and shrimp as the tide ran out to bottom. Debbie was taking a break, but Todd caught enough Seatrout for the two of them - in addition to all those we tossed back, he worked up to 6 keepers and was almost to the "trifecta" of his limit on those, too! The tide hit bottom, so we motored around to the Jolley River and pulled up at JC's spot to fish the first of an incoming tide. Debbie got back in action and prevented the "skunk" at that spot when she hooked and landed another Seatrout. 

Our last stop was further down the Jolley where we switched to float rigs, for the heck of it, and they paid off. Both Debbie and Todd had good hookups with small but feisty Seatrout. They added a Bluefish to their catch variety then Todd topped it off with a hard fighting Sand Shark. Boy what a beautiful day we had, and with a big "mess o fish" in the boat, we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fish'n The Cul De Sacs

 It was a first for me, fishing Cul De Sacs today! I had met Laura (birthday girl) and Alex Winter out at Goffinsville Park early this morning. As I was waiting for them David Nease walked down and gave me a report from his fishing trip with his son yesterday - they had "wore out" the Seatrout! I assume David was fishing deep with "slip floats' and live shrimp.

We had a tide that was going out, still, for a couple of hours, so I thought that creek way up the Nassau would  be the trick. When we got up there it was severely low tide, contradicting my Garmin's forecast, btu we fished it anyway and it was Laura who "knocked the skunk off" when she hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish. Later, Alex followed that up with another small but feisty Redfish catch. We bumped bottom getting out of there! I thought we may have to get out and push and the water temperature was 61 degrees!

After running back down the Nassau we found a large drainage to fish with the jigs and live shrimp but we had not takes. We moved down to Spanish Drop and worked along the exposed shell bank and when Alex saw a "head wake", he tossed it forward and....Fish On! He played it patiently to the net and landed a ncie 21" Slot Redfish! The tide came to a standstill so we made a move, and boy was it a move! We ran up to Seymore's Pointe and fished some dock pilings on the first of an incoming tide with those jigs and shrimp. It didn't take long before this couple were putting fish in the boat. Lauren found a honey hole up in the Cul De Sacs and began to put Black "puppy" Drum in the boat, one after the other. Alex had a "nibble", set the hook, and Fish On! He worked it to the boat and landed a nice 17" Sheepshead - big enough to land him in 2nd Place in the Anglers Mark 2025 Bragging Rights Tournament-Sheepshead Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings).

We stayed at that spot for another hour and caught those Drum. I had to keep count because they eventually hit their limit of 5 apiece. We tossed back another good handful of "keeper" sized Drum, but the neat thing was that as the tide got up they began to get Seatrout! The duo caught a good couple of handfuls of the Trout, with three of them being in the keeper size. Boy what a fishing trip! We had started slow but we "slayed' them late and it made for another great day to be fishing here at Amela Island, Florida. 

Cool Spell Brings Good Fishing

 Cool weather this week had us rescheduling trips for later in the month, but today we just waited to mid morning to meet up at Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp. After we got Mickey and Brandi Kelliher settled on the boat we eased down the creek to make our first stop at some dock pilings on a tide that had been coming in for a couple of hours. The move paid off - almost immediately Mickey was getting bites. He hooked up and expertly pulled a nice keeper sized Seatrout out from under a dock, then he had a subtle nibble, a hookup, and battled a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum to the net. We fished that spot for a bit and caught a few more Trout,  two of which were of keeper size, then we moved around to the other side and caught a couple of Redfish, one of which was just in the Slot.

Our next stop was over in Lanceford, then in to Soap Creek where we switched to float rigs. Mickey found that he could "drift long" and as his float got to the tail end of a grassy island, BAM! He'd get a hookup. After getting a few Trout there, we made a run back around to Tyger Island and fished the logs. First cast with a jig and BOOM! We had a hookup. This one ripped a bit of drag but as Mickey got it to the net we saw it was just "feisty" for a Redfish. After working the island for just a few minutes, we made the run back out of Tyger, headed northwest and eased up to the outside of Tyger and stayed with the jigs. We had no real bites, but we did blow out a nice sized Redfish laying on a point of grass. 

On up into the Jolley River we found a point to fish that had a submerged oyster bar out from it and here Mickey got hot catching small but hungry Seatrout. He even tricked Brandi into catching one, after making an excellent cast he asked her to hold the rod while he cleaned his glasses and  she had a hookup, and patiently brought another Trout to the boat. We fished further up into the Jolley, just past Snook Creek, then we headed back to the ramp. It had been clear, cool, but sunny and  we had some nice fish in the box so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Recipe of the Month: Seafood Dressing

 This recipe comes from Chef Kolby Kash...just in time for the holidays! See his website 

Ingredients:

A pan of day-old cornbread (if you need to use fresh cornbread, crumble it up on a cookie sheet and bake it for a few minutes until it is dry and crispy.)

2 large celery stalks, chopped                                                                                                                            1  small onion, chopped                                                                                                                                  1  red bell pepper, chopped                                                                                                                             4 Tablespoons butter                                                                                                                                            1  can Cream of Chicken soup                                                                                                                       2  cups shrimp/seafood stock (or chicken stock)                                                                                           Seafood seasoning                                                                                                                                           1 teaspoon garlic powder or paste                                                                                                                     1  egg                                                                                                                                                                1  lb peeled and deveined shrimp, chunked                                                                                                        1  lb of lump crab meat (or 12 oz crawfish tails

Get the butter melted and saute the vegi's. Add the garlic and seafood seasoning (or salt and pepper).  Add the can of Cream of Chicken soup and one can of seafood stock( I made my own with the shrimp shells). Bring that up to a boil then simmer. 

Crumble the cornbread in a large bowl. Whisk the egg and add it to the cornbread. Pour in the vegi/soup/stock mixture.  Season the shrimp and add those and the crab (I used crawfish tails) to the mixture of cornbread. Add more seafood stock as needed to get it good and moist. Taste and add seasoning as needed.

Pour mixture into a greased 9 x13 casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until golden brown.                                                                                                                                           

What a Week! And a Great Day to Wrap It Up!

 Eight trips in six days will wear an old angler out! I finished up a long week of fishing and boating when I
met Jason Ash and his young son Anthony down at Sawpit Creek early this morning. It was Anthony's first trip with me, but not his first "saltwater" trip - he'd evidently fished in the Keys earlier. But he was out with his dad here at Amelia Island so we hoped to make the best of it, and boy did we! After running up the intracoastal and turning up the Nassau we made our first stop at a large drainage and began throwing jigs and live shrimp up current -the tide had been coming in a few hours. We didn't get much action so we moved down the Nassau and here the duo hooked up and brought to the boat a couple of hungry Seatrout and then a feisty Redfish. Skunk off the boat! We switched to floats and drifted those and got a few more Trout. Anthony caught on real quick to keeping is bail open, his hand a ready, and "slapping it shut" and reeling like crazy when the float went under!

Our next stop was down at Pumpkin Hill, again drifting floats on the last of the incoming tide, and this paid off big. We caught a couple of more Trout, one of keeper size, then, after Jason had switched to a mud minnow as bait, BAM! Big Fish ON!  He fought it off the bank as the drag was ripping and we knew right off that it was a big Red. Hoping for some "blackened fillets", Jason kept that pressure on and worked it slowly in, only to find when he landed it that it was a Big oversized 28.5" Redfish. After that fish it seemed to turn off from all of the commotion, so we moved around the corner and fished that stretch. Again, we got a couple of Trout then, after had gone loooonnnng with a drift, BAM! Another big fish on. Those Redfish fillets were on the back of our mind as he battled this one and once again, we were (somewhat) disappointed when we saw that it was another massive Redfish. This one was a brute that measured right at 30" and weighing over 9 lbs. Boy what a fish. Again, the bite turned off.

We moved BACK around the corner and fished that stretch again and here Anthony was getting a good
drift, saw his float disappear, and he slapped that bail shut and set the hook and, Fish ON! He fought the fish expertly and brought in a nice 18" Seatrout to add to the box and take home for a fish sandwich!  We had caught some good fish today, had a beautiful morning fishing as a father/son fishing team, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

High Tides Make It Tough

 ..but the Trout did come thru for us this morning. I had met Sam Brown, his father Dennis, and Sam's girlfriend Tanley up at Old Town Bait and Tackle early this morning with a tide that was high and still coming in. It was a beautiful morning as we eased out of Eagans Creek then made our way up and around to the Jolley River where we eased into the "bank" to toss float rigs and live shrimp. 

Each stop we made today we tended to get a Trout, but only one, or maybe two at each location. Dennis had the hot hand early and picked up a few to jump out into a lead but then Tanley began to press him when she caught one deep on a jig over in the Bell River. Back towards Fernandina we were back fishing floats and when Tanley put the biggest Trout of the day in the boat to tie up the standings, Dennis got back in the action and caught a couple to re-assume the lead!

Over in Lanceford Creek the tide had finally started out and after much perseverance, Sam got oni the board with a nice Seatrout catch. That high tide had made it difficult, but we had a beautiful day and we'd put a few fish in the boat so as we headed back to the ramp, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.