Redfish On Fire

Michael Purser, Tim Ralston and Andy Hall were visiting Amelia Island with their spouses for a pre-holiday break and had scheduled a back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark well in advance.  The weather was probably ordered up by the Chamber of Commerce because there wasn't a cloud in the sky, no wind to speak of, and the temperature rose to the low 70's.  We met at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp on Talbot Island and headed up the Nassau River to fish Bubblegum Reef on the very first of an incoming tide.  We found some Trout,  fishing live shrimp under a slip float and the anglers also caught some on a jig.  As the tide came up we made the run to Broward Island and began to fish just as the tide started in at that location further up the river.  BAM! FISH ON!  BAM! FISH ON!  BAM! FISH ON! The guys started hooking up on almost every cast.  I was huffing and puffing to get the hungry Redfish de-hooked, photographed, and released!  I guestimate that they caught at least 15 Reds if not more and Michael also caught a keeper sized Sheepshead.  Tim landed one Redfish with NO spots while Andy was working a slip float rig and catching fish.  When the bite slowed we ran up to Christopher Creek where the anglers again caught some hungry Redfish, about 6-7 in all.  With that, we called it a day, another great on to be out on Amelia Island waters!

High Tide Trout Fishing

We had an unusual high tide yesterday when we launched The Anglers Mark - the water was way up in the grass and even covering the grass.  Zack Peyton and his friends Carl and Mark met me at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 10:30 at the peak of the tide and we headed up river to fish with live shrimp under float rigs.    I found it difficult to find my "spots" because the water was so high I couldnt' see my landmarks!  But these anglers were ready to work and after some of the water had left the marsh they began to pick up some hungry Seatrout.   Mark started it out then Carl and Zack got in on the action at Millie's spot up Lanceford Creek.  Later we hit a dock on Lanceford with no real bites then ran around to the Jolley River to fish the "Mother of All" spots.  However the tide was so high and the current running so stiff the MOA didn't pan out.  But on around the corner Zack found a ripple where the Trout were hanging and moved over to let Carl join in on the catching.  Jolley Bank had no fish but as the tide hit bottom we made our last stop at the logs of Tiger Island where Zack picked up a keeper sized trout with a jig on the bottom and also found the only Redfish of the day.  With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be on the water!

Two Leather Projects Completed

I know, they don't have anything to do with fishing! I have some of these on consignment at Amelia Island Liqours and they owners requested that I do an Elk and Bulldawg. You can tell by the picture that the Dawg is "antiqued".   See more at my Fish Craft page.

Amelia Island Surf Fishing Hot for Drum

Albert and Nancy Hudson sent in this report from the Thanksgiving weekend:
The redfish and black drum bite is hot in the surf. We went Friday about 2 hours before high tide and fished for about 2 hours and caught 7 nice keeper puppy drum, 2 slot redfish and 2 huge bull whiting. They were still biting when we left. Went out again Sunday but went a little too early. Nancy caught two small rat reds and 1 huge puppy drum along with a couple of whiting.

Trout'n After Thanksgiving

It was such a pretty day the day after Thanksgiving so  my wife and I and our good friend Ameera launched the boat at Atlantic Seafood shortly after noon and headed up to the Tiger Island area to do some fishing with the tide coming in.  We hadn't been stopped long when we all started getting bites.  The Trout were real hungry for our live shrimp floated near some submerged oyster beds.  We caught about 8 or 10 in less than an hour and three of them were of keeper size.  We made a short detour by Cumberland Island to check out some wild horses, then headed up to the Jolley River where I thought we'd have  a shot at some larger Trout and maybe a Redfish.  But they weren't biting.  We made one last stop south of the Rayonier mill and even though  we had to work for them, both Ameera and I landed 3-4 more Trout apiece and one keeper sized Puppy Drum.  Ameera was making excellent casts and patiently worked her fish in to the waiting net.  With the sun going down, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Trout Tournament

I fished Friday and Saturday with Tim Parker and Brian Knicely during the Nassau Sportsfishing Association Backwater Tournament.  We caught a bunch of Trout both days.  A mess of Trout.  Both days the weather was fantastic, cool in the morning, but clear and sunny with very little wind.  It made for some great fishing.  I calculated we hit 12 spots on Friday and 9 spots on Saturday!  We picked up plenty of trout on live shrimp and mudminnows and Tim's Temptation baits.  However, most were undersized.  We also had a couple of rat Reds on both days, a drum and a couple of Sheepshead.  On the day of the Tournament we ended up with two keeper sized Trout with one over 17" and a nice keeper sized Sheepshead.  We entered the Trout, knowing that it wouldn't place us in the top 3, but we were "on the board"!  It was two great days to be out on the Amelia Island waters!

Dawg Gone Windy

Tom Johnston was in town with his family for the annual Georgia Florida Football game and postponed their departure time long enough to get in an Amelia Island back country fishing trip on The Anglers Mark this morning.   Due to the nearby passing of Hurricane Sandy, we postponed the fishing trip from Friday when the winds were up to 27mph, but were able to meet today with sunny skies, although the wind was still blowing at 16mph.  We went fishing anyway!  Tom had brought along his wife, Leann, there two young adults Ashley and Tommy, and Tom's dad.....Tom.  For once I had no trouble remembering names!  I thought the NW wind may be blocked  on the outside of Tiger Island so we headed that way.  But when we got to the mouth of Manatee Creek we found that it was blowing and the water was really churned up.  We still tossed out some float rigs with live shrimp and Tom and Tommy both picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout and a feisty Bluefish.  Tommy had a good hookup but after he worked it in we found a heavy tackle rod and reel on the end of his line - you never know what you're going to pull up in the saltwater!  We made run around to Lanceford Creek and soon found that the land mass was blocking the wind and the fishing atmosphere was outstanding.  Fishing a grass patch surrounded by flooded oysters, both Leann and Ashley reeled in some Seatrout.  Tom saw his float bumping around like another one of the pesky baitstealers was after his shrimp and Tom patiently waited until the float disappeared to lift his rod tip firmly and BIG FISH ON!  His rod bent and the drag ripped as the fish made a strong run away from the boat, but Tom kept the pressure on and slowly worked the fish to the boat.  It made couple of more runs, headed under the boat and then from bow to stern and back to bow, but we soon were able to net the big fish, a 26" Amelia Island slot Red!  After pictures, Tom gently released the fish to swim away and possibly to be caught another day.  After the bite slowed we moved on down and fished some of the dock pilings and although we were getting robbed repeatedly by the baitstealers, both Leann and Tom Sr. surprising caught a couple of juvenile Grouper!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Bunch of Trout and a Big Red

Claudiu Videlescu treated his dad Stefan to an Amelia Island back country fishing trip yesterday afternoon and brought along friends Daron Pair and Pat Joe.  We met at 2pm at the Atlantic Seafood dock and eased our way out of the marina on The Anglers Mark to make our way up to the Jolley River with about two hours into an incoming tide.  The oysters will still showing so the anglers tossed jigs with shrimp to the edge and it wasn't long before they were hooking up.  Pat and Daron had the hot rods early and were bringing in Trout, Snapper and Croaker regularly.  But Stefan and Claudiu were patient and they too began to make catches of Trout, with Stefan being the first to land a keeper sized Trout.  There were a number of times when the anglers had double hookups.  We fished Snook Creek and had a couple of Trout then hit Manatee Creek outside of Tiger Island where the Trout bite was almost non stop.  We were having so many bites that we ran out of shrimp so we made quick run to the bait shop on Eagans Creek then headed out for one more try at Temptation Cove.  The tide was almost high now and although we may have been a little late getting there, we picked up a few Trout.  Stefan had something take his bait so hard that after a short fight it broke off.  Later, Claudiu's rod bent and this fish was big!  It didn't fight like a Trout and hunkered down and we knew it was either a Red or Black Drum.  He played the fish perfectly, with the fish making runs from bow to stern and even under the boat a couple of times, but Claudiu was patient and with Pat manning the net, they soon landed a nice 22" Slot Redfish!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Fishin and Football

William and Dara Blalock along with their friend Jason were visiting Amelia Island for the annual Georgia/Florida football game and decided to take in an Amelia Island back water fishing trip on The Anglers Mark yesterday.  We met at the Fernandina Harbor Marina downtown at 7am and headed up to the Tiger Islands with a livewell full of shrimp to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  I used my trolling motor to "anchor" at the mouth of two outgoing creeks and the anglers tossed their baits up near the marsh grass.  Fish On!  Fish On! Fish On!  The Trout bite was on fire and they caught one after another - I entered in my journal that they caught "a ton" of fish - too many to count.  William had seen a tail up near the grass and shortly after Dara's rod bent and this fish had a little more UMPH to his fight!  She played the fish perfectly and we soon netted a nice Redfish.   They all caught some hungry Blues to 14" and Jason had a big Bull Whiting.   We could have stayed there and caught fish longer, but we decided to move in hopes that we could increase our odds at more Redfish,  so we made a move to the Jolley River and sure enough,  the bite was hot.  They boated 8-10 Redfish, having double hookups a couple of times and a good handful of Trout.  Once, Jason had something hit his bait hard, but it broke off almost immediately, taking the float rig with it.  Later, when William  retrieved the float before we left the spot, he found that a Redfish was still attached!  We made a couple of more stops in Jolley picking up a few fish, then finished up at the Tiger Island logs where Jason rounded out a personal Amelia Island Back Country Slam by catching a hungry Flounder.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island Waters!

First Cast First Fish

Nathan and Ted Miller made the drive over from Jacksonville this morning  to fish the Amelia Island back waters on The Anglers Mark.  We met early at the Atlantic Seafood boat ramp and headed up the river to fish outside of Tiger Island on a high and outgoing tide.  After rigging up some float rigs  we tossed them to the marsh grass at some large creek run outs and after gave it a jig, the float disappeared and FISH ON!  He played the fish expertly and we soon netted a nice 18" Seatrout!  He was the only one we caught there so we speculated that he was the alpha trout and had scared all the others away!  We ran up to the Jolley River and fished another large creek run out.  Ted picked up a nice Redfish then Nathan got in on the action and caught a couple of Trout.  Then they both picked up a couple of more Reds and Trout.  We moved on around to the "Mother Of All" spots but it wasn't as hot as it was yesterday.  They did catch a couple of more Trout and a couple of hungry Sheepshead, and a Puppy Drum, rounding out an Amelia Island Backcountry Slam, of sorts.  We fished Jolley Bank and picked up two more Reds, one in the Slot, and then finished up at the logs behind Tiger where they added another couple of Reds to the catch list, along with a whole "mess" of pesky Snapper!  We were treated with a visit from a raccoon chasing our discarded bait, too.  With that, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water.