Canada Drift Boat Fishing

Carol and I traveled to Canada last week to have our wedding ceremony and were able to get in some fishing the day after. We had set up a trip down the Bow River with guide Richard "Rocket" Miller who picked us up at the hotel Fairmont at Banff Springs at 2pm. Rocket works with Tightline Adventures located in Banff and had all the gear -flyrods, reels, flys, waders and boots ready to go and had in tow a Clackacraft drift boat. We had a short drive to the launching site where Rocket set out lounge chairs for us to put on our waders and boots. After a brief orienatation we began our drift down the river. Rocket instructed us to cast our Dry fly's up near the bank and coached me on "mending" the line before the current began to make the fly move in an unatural way. We also cast some weighted tips with Clouser Minnow flys where we were instructed to make our cast as close to the bank as possible then strip the line back, cast and strip, cast and strip. I had the most trouble with the heavier sinking flys with their weight giving me casting issues. With the Dry fly's I was able to work in some good casts on occasion with an occasional pile up or line Snafu. Rocket was patient and taught us a number of flyfishing tips, along with pointing out wildlife and interesting features on the shore. We fished until dusk with a planned ending at a couple of "flats" where we expected to see the Trout rising to feed on the many bugs fluttering over the water. Although we did see some rises, they didn't seem to be consistent and wouldn't take when we tossed our fly to the rise. For the day we ended up catching a few "elusive" Brown Trout and missing a few bites but had a great time and saw some beautiful scenery; we were treated to sightings of Bald Eagle, Beaver, Loon and other shore birds and had a coyote cross our path on the way back to the hotel. Another great day of fishing!

Picture of the Month: The Boat Goes First!

Girls Day Out

There's nothing like getting out on the water with a group of friends so John Norris hosted his two daughters Ashlan and Aubrey and their two friends Allison and Evelyn for a day of fishing the backcountry waters of Amelia Island. We left the dock promptly at 7:30am with just a light breeze and sunny skies to run up to Jolley River for a day of fishing. As a I mentioned to John, there's nothing special about the Jolley other than you see very little boat traffic - and I don't think we had a boat pass us all day, although one may have slipped by while we were fighting a fish! We anchored up at a small run out and it wasn't long before the girls were hooking up with fish. They started off with a "double" with one of the lady's fighting in a Ladyfish while another hooked up and brought a Flounder to the boat. All of the girls caught fish, with Croaker providing non-stop "bait stealing" action; some weren't so lucky as the girls got used to their ways and hooked up with a few. Excitement built when a Bonnethead shark swirled at the rear of the boat and sure enough found one of our live shrimp on a jig...and the fight was on! The lady's eventually boated a few of the shark, lost a few to break-offs, caught a couple of neat Stingray and then John wrapped it up with a nice Redfish. We made it back to the dock in time to beat the looming rainclouds and counted as another good "girls day out" on the water!

Fishin' till you run outa worms!

I met Frank Wright, his friend Mary Beth, and her grandson Jared at the south end boat ramp yesterday morning at 7:30 to take in some fishing on a beautiful day. Jared was visiting from Minneapolis on his summer break and had done some lobstering down in the Keys but hadn't gotten in much fishing. We ran up Middle River a ways, anchored at a runout and got our spinning rods unlimbered with some live shrimp under corks. With no bites on the last of an incoming tide, we pulled up and headed to Bubblegum Reef, anchored and switched to the jig and shrimp combo. Jared was first to boat a fish with a large Croaker. We ran up into Jackstaff, anchored and that's when the fishing began to heat up. The whole party hooked up with what turned out to be elusive and somewhat wiley Bonnethead Shark. With the tide beginning to go out we trolled the marsh grass and as the oysters began to show, we started getting bites and catching fish non-stop. Everyone joined in, catching 6-7 Redfish with Jared pulling in the largest; they also caught 5-6 Trout, a large Vemillion Snapper, Black Drum, Flounder and some hard fighting, poop slinging "poor mans Tarpon" - Lady Fish. After a few more line ripping runs from the Bonnetheads, a determined Jared hooked up and fought a 4' shark to the boat and into a waiting net. We snapped pictures and tossed the rascal back. As we continued to fish, Mary Beth volunteered to sew my catch net up where the shark had eatin a hole through it! We fished until we ran out of shrimp and left them biting, counting it another good day of fishing!

Non-Stop Fishin' Action

I fished with Ray and Jeff Goetze Tuesday morning and the fish bit from start to finish. Jeff will be starting back to Clemson University in a few weeks to begin his Senior year and the guys wanted to get in some fishing before heading back to their home in Greenville, S.C. We left the dock at 7:30 sharp and headed up to my favorite get-away spot, the Jolley River. Fishing the east side marsh grass on the last of an incoming tide we began to pick up Seatrout on our live shrimp under a cork. We anchored up at a runout and caught 6-7 trout, then pulled up and ran up to a larger creek mouth. Both Ray and Jeff hooked up with Bonnethead sharks; we had a few break off but the guys expertly played a few in and eventually boated a couple for pictures. Both Ray and Jeff were excellent casters and as the tide started out began to catch Trout (another 7-8), Redfish (4), Vermillion Snapper, Jacks, and a Stingray. Writing in my journal that evening I tried to count up the number of fish that we caught and arrived at about 30 - and we left them biting. A great day of father and son fishing!

Recipe of the Month: Bourbon Bacon Scallops

Carol and I had these as appetizers at Sliders Seaside Grill at Fermandina Beach on Amelia Island. We liked them so I hunted up a recipe on recipezaar.com. I added some jumbo shrimp to the skewers:

(6) slices of bacon

(3) T minced green onions

(2) T Bourbon

(2) T Maple syrup

(1) T Soy Sauce

(1) T Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

24 large sea scallops

1lb jumbo shrimp

Heat a skillet and fry the bacon for 4-5 minutes, until limp and partially browned; remove from skillet, drain and set aside to cool. In a bowl, combine the green onions, bourbon, maple syrup, soy sauce, mustard, and pepper and stir well; remove about 2 Tablespoons of marinade and set aside. Add the sea scallops (and shrimp) to the marinade in the bowl and toss to coat. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Soak 6-8 bamboo skewers in a dish of water. After the scallops and shrimp have marinaded, wrap a piece of bacon around the scallop and then skewer. I alternated the shrimp and bacon wrapped scallops. Grill until the the bacon is crisp and the scallops are opaque; turn about half way through. Baste with the set aside marinade and serve.

Tail'in Reds

I have clients ask about when to fish for tailing Reds. The thing is the tide has to be high enough AND it needs to fall during the daylight hours. I try to target them if the tide gets to around a 6.7 height. With that in mind, September 18, 19, 20 and 21st have a high tide in the morning hours. We want to be on the marsh at least two hours before the high tide. If you like to throw a fly at tail'in Red's, it doesn't get much funner than this. If you don't flycast, we'll use spinning tackle with a weedless jig or spoon. Give me a call....we'll set it up. Don't forget your wading shoes!

Big Flounder and Manatee

Rick Larkin and his two sons, Andrew and Mathew, were in town from Virginia and wanted to get out on the water so I met them at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp at 7:30 with 6 dozen live shrimp. We ran up to the Jolley on the last of an outgoing tide and fished the mouth's eastern shore and immediately began to get "nibbles" - it wasn't long before Rick boated a Seatrout. We move on up into the river, catching Croaker, Seatrout and a small Redfish; shark were cruising the mudbanks and sure enough, Andrew hooked up with a hard running Bonnethead and fought it perfectly for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, the shark decided to quit playing and with a jerk, broke off and went on his way! We tried the MOA briefly, then ran around to behind Tiger Island, fished just a short while and were treated to a Manatee cruising the shoreline; it swam by us underwater, then turned around and came back and passed us again. We all enjoyed watching it swim peacefully by. Shortly after it passed, Rick hooked up and yelled, "this one has some muscle" and the fight was on. He eventually fought a nice 23" fat flounder to the net so that we could snap some pictures and then release it. Our last stop was on the other side of Tiger; the sun was getting warm and although we only had a few more bites, we were able to watch a couple of more Manatee rolling in the shallows.

New Goffinsville Park and Boat Ramp Opens

The County held a ribbon cutting ceremony today with dignitaries opening the new Park to the public. The Goffinsville - Nassau River Park features a building that houses restrooms and a potential bait and tackle shop, a fishing pier, boat ramp with floating dock, covered picnic tables, a playground, bike/walk paths, boat trailer parking, plenty of trees, and long railed bulkhead for river veiwing. This is byfar the nicest County park to date. The area, known locally as Goffinsville, was originally a small community that grew up

around an oyster packing plant owned by Mr. Saul Goffin. His daughters made the property available to the County who along with help from the Trust for Public Lands, Florida Community Trust and the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, put together funding to have the park built. Grandaughter of Mr. Goffin, Ms. Doris Mellion was on hand to help with the ribbon cutting, along with Mr and Mrs. Charles Albert and Mr. and Mrs. Mallory Wilder, longtime residents of the area. Mr Daniel Salmon, County Parks and Recreation Director, who oversaw the construction and saw the project to completion, was also in the crowd along with his grandkids.

Directions to the Park: If you're visiting, you will need to leave Amelia Island on S.R. 200, crossing the bridge over the intercoastal. From the bridge, travel west 1.7 miles to the first traffic light. Turn left here on C.R. 107 and travel south 3.6 miles. Turn left into the Goffinsville - Nassau River Park.

Everybody catches fish!

Redfish, Black Drum, Bonnethead Shark, Black Tip Shark, Vermillion Snapper, Jack Crevalle, Stingray, Croaker, and Ladyfish! Today's fishing started out kinda slow although we had about the nicest weather that you could want: blue skies and only a light breeze, slick water and a day of fishing! The Koszut family, Greg and Kelli along with their daughter Shelby and son Grant, were in town from Indiana and wanted to get out on the water and experience Amelia Island fishing so we left the dock early and headed up to the Horsehead area. The first stop only produced a few nibbles but Greg did have something roll on a top water lure. We headed into Jackstaff Creek, anchored up in a bend and it wasn't long before Kelli hooked up and caught a nice Bonnethead and shortly after Greg pulled in a Stingray. We moved down the creek where Grant caught his first Jack then we crossed the creek, trolled the bank and Greg hooked up, played masterfully and boated a keeper sized Redfish. We anchored up and the whole family joined in with Shelby catching a Black Tip shark and a nice Redfish. Greg caught Snapper, Black Drum and some really big Bonnethead's. In fact everyone got to experience the ripping runs of the shark bites. Grant wrapped up the day with an entertaining catch of a hard fighting Lady Fish. What a great day out on the water!