Finally a Decent Fish Bite

After about three days of very slow fishing, we had some really good catches to start off the morning. I met Matt McCollough and his two sons Conner and Jake down at the Atlantic Seafood dock early and we headed over to Egans Creek to fish some dock pilings with a couple of hours left in an outgoing tide. A couple of the anglers were tossing jigs and shrimp while Conner tried a Trout slip float rig, fishing deep outside of the docks. This did the trick as he had two good hookups with hungry Seatrout. He switched back and forth fishing jigs and had bites then back to the float rig. We moved

up and down a set of 4 docks and at one Conner had a strong hookup on the jig and we could tell this was a big fish as the drag ripped. Conner played it patiently and soon landed a nice 20.5" Seatrout (placing him in 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2016 Bragging Rights Tournament-Trout Category. Scroll down right side of this report for standings). We continued to fish the docks, picked up some smaller Trout then Jake had a hookup on the slip float rig. Again, we new it was big when we saw it running up current, ripping drag and putting nice bend in the rod. Jake worked it to the boat and we netted another 20" Trout!  Skipping from dock to dock pitching jigs, Conner found another big fish. He was out a little deeper and I thought sure it would be another big Trout but when he got it to the boat and landed it we saw it was a Slot sized Redfish. After that we ran around to the Jolley River and fished the Bank, had no real bites, then made a stop at Tiger Island to fish the logs, and again, nor real bites. After a short stop at the jetties of Fort Clinch we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Fishing Through It

We fished out of the south end today where I met Matt McCullough and his two sons Conner and Jake. We made a long run around to Broward Island to catch the incoming tide and conditions were perfect for fishing. Conner and Jake were doing most of the fishing while their dad "coached them up" and both were getting a bite here and there but we had few takers until Jake tossed is live shrimp and jig up near some logs and a nice fish hit it immediately and, FISH ON! He played the fish perfectly and after a good battle landed a
nice 19" Slot sized Redfish - his first! We continued to fish the area, had a Trout on, then off, then we made a run back to Seymore's Pointe. The anglers switched to float rigs briefly, fished some rocks, then we moved around and fished some docks, going back to jigs and shrimp. Although we continued to have nibbles almost everywhere we fished, the good bite was very slow. But these anglers fished through it and we continued on. Our next stop was back at Christopher Creek, fishing some rocks and docks, but again, no real bites. With time running out we made a dash through Horsehead to fish a marsh run out on the very first of an outgoing tide. This did the trick!  I think Conner's first cast produced a nice hungry Seatrout which he landed easily. Then we had a good flurry of Trout catching with a nice feisty Bluefish to wrap things up. As we headed out we were treated to a Bald Eagle sighting - a great way to end a fishing trip here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Young Angler Lands Big Trout

I fished this afternoon, meeting Andrew Wakeford and his son Christian down at the City docks with plans to fish the first of an outgoing tide. We had a baitwell full of live shrimp so we headed up to the outside of Tiger Island and began tossing float rigs to some flooded oyster bars. The two anglers almost immediately began to get hookups. They landed a few feisty Bluefish and put a hungry Seatrout in the boat. We then ran up to the Jolley River and fished a marshline with the float rigs. Although the bite was somewhat slow the duo did hookup with our first Bonnethead Shark
of the year. Christian fought the fish for a good while - it made some good runs after it figured out it was hooked!  But after a good battle we landed a nice 2"+ Shark. We dropped back and fished the mouth of Jolley and here Christian put two Whiting in the boat, one a nice Bull Whiting. Our final stop was around at Tiger Island. We had just started fishing with jigs and shrimp when Christian had a strong hookup and, FISH ON! He kept the pressure on and when I saw the silhouette and thought for sure it was a nice Red Drum but when Christian brought it to the net we found it was a big 21.5" Seatrout! This put Christian in 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2016 Bragging Rights Tournament -Seatrout Category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). We continued to fish the area for while and after they landed a keeper sized Sheepshead, we called it day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Big Red Wraps Up A Monday Morning

Back to work after a rainy Easter Weekend! This morning I fished with Karl Shively and his fiancé Amanda who were visiting Amelia Island and staying at the Amelia Addison House. They walked down to the marina and we left with a brisk west wind blowing, so we ran over to Bell River to fish some docks. Although we weren't tearing up the fish the two anglers had some good action to get them started. Amanda put a hungry Seatrout in the boat then followed that up with a feisty Redfish. Then Karl got in on the
action and boated a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum, then Amanda landed one, too. When the bites got down to "baitstealers" we ran around to Tiger Island to fish the last of an outgoing tide. The two anglers caught a couple of more Trout and Drum, then Karl had a big bite, had it on for a while, then it threw the hook, OUCH! But he was not to be deterred and in  short while he had another, even bigger bite and, FISH ON!  Karl played the big fish patiently and after some deep runs he worked it to the surface and landed a nice 26" Slot Sized Redfish! Boy what a fish! we worked the island real good then made a brief stop on the outside of Tiger before heading in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Tournament Red Big Trout Keeper Flounder

We squeezed in a fishing trip this morning trying to beat the bad weather that is supposed to roll in this weekend. I met Todd Johnson, his son Oliver and his brother-in-law Jeff down at the City marina and we headed up Bell River to fish some oyster beds as the tide came in. There was  no live shrimp on the island today so we tried our hand at live mud minnows. Although we had a few bites, there were no takers so we ran around to Lanceford Creek and set up at "Millies Spot" and here things heated up somewhat. Jeff got the ball rolling when he landed a hungry Seatrout. Todd and Oliver
were getting bites then Todd had a strange bite up near some grass and when it boiled I thought for sure "Redfish". Todd played it patiently and when he got it to the boat we netted a nice keeper sized Flounder! That's the second one in two days so they must be moving in. I think we had another Trout or two then we moved on, running over to the outside of Tiger Island to fish some now flooded oysters. Oliver landed a Bluefish and Jeff did too, then when we moved Oliver made a good cast up to some grass and FISH ON! This was a nice fish and Oliver played it perfectly. After
a good battle he landed a big 18" Seatrout. We hit a couple of points then ran over to the tower, fished some flooded oysters, and Jeff went to the grass and pulled out a feisty Redfish. After working the area for a while we saw a nice calm area with sparse grass growing. Oliver tossed his minnow up near the grass and when his float disappeared it wasn't long before his drag was singing! BIG FISH ON! This fish was ripping drag but Oliver kept the pressure on. It took him from the bow back to the stern and half way back. The big fish boiled a few times and we knew it was a large Redfish. Oliver worked it to the boat and his uncle Jeff netted it - a "Tournament sized" 26 3/4" 14 spot Redfish! Boy what a fish!  After fishing one more spot where Jeff added another Seatrout, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing Amelia Island waters.

Three Errors On My Part

I had the pleasure of fishing with Paul Haber again today. This time he brought along his daughter Ann and grandson Sam, meeting me out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp at noon with plans to fish the outgoing tide. We ran over to Horsehead and fished a couple of marsh run outs and we quickly found that Sam had the "hot rod" early. He boated a couple of small Trout then landed a nice fat one. Later, while fishing the corner of a run out, his float suddenly went under and his rod bent. He had a nice fish on. I thought for sure it
was going to be a keeper Trout but when he brought it to the net we saw that it was a nice keeper sized Flounder! (My first error).  We crossed a creek, fished that bank with jigs and shrimp, had very few bites, then ran around to the Nassau River and fished some still flooded old oyster banks. Sam again found a good Trout down deep. We began to think that if their buddy Chamberlin were here there would be some lessons being taught! We tried to fish some docks at Seymore's Pointe but the wind was really buffeting us. Ann had a float rig out the back, drifting with the wind and current
and when it went under I just knew she had a nice Trout (my second error) She worked the fish in and after a good battle, landed a hard fighting Jack Crevalle.  Shortly after that Paul, who had been persistently fishing the dock pilings with a jig and shrimp, had a hookup. This was a nice fish! He played it patiently and landed a keeper sized 19" Seatrout! This puts Paul in second place in the Anglers Mark 2016 Bragging Rights Tournament - Trout category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings) We finally had enough of the wind and ran down to Broward Island and when we got there it was like an oasis, a port out of the storm! The trio began tossing jigs and shrimp to the bank. Ann put a nice Trout in the boat and Sam added a keeper sized Sheepshead. Then Paul's line went tight, and stayed tight, and I pronounced he had a "log". My third error. Every once in a while it acted like a fish and pulled a little, but I felt sure it was just the "log" drifting in the current. Paul worked it up from the deep as we drifted a 100 yards down the river and eventually we saw that it was huge Stingray!  It was a day of surprises but a great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Slamming a Variety

We waited for a lower tide to fish today, when I met Gardner Knight,  his son-in-law Ronnie, and their friend Dan down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We thought it was a good idea to fish the lower tide to improve our chances at catching a Redfish but the wind wasn't cooperating, being low early in the morning and picking up as the day progressed. But we had sunny skies and mild temperatures so we headed up the Nassau River, eased into Horsehead, and fished some docks on the north end of Seymore's Pointe. The anglers had a few bites here and there, picked up a
small Sea Bass and a small Flounder, then we decided to run down to Broward Island and sure enough, out of the wind! We worked the bank of exposed logs with jigs and shrimp and mud minnows and soon Dan found a nice keeper sized 17" Seatrout and hooked 'em up!  We continued to fish and after Gardner had made a precision cast to the shoreline he had a strong hookup and landed a nice feisty Redfish. Working the logs, Dan saw a nice pocket and pitched to it and BOOM! Fish On!  He played the fish patiently and soon landed a nice Slot Sized 21" Redfish.  Then Gardner caught a hungry
Sheepshead (making it a Grande Slam of Flounder, Seatrout, Redfish and Sheepshead) and Ronnie got in on the action when he picked up a Trout. We ran back to Seymore's Pointe, fished some exposed oysters beds, and the anglers picked up a couple of more Trout with one of them being a keeper size. Ronnie added a Whiting and then to wrap things up with a "Super" Grande Slam, Gardner put a rare Weakfish in the boat!

Surprise Fish

Although the temperature dropped and was in the mid-40's when we launched, the sun was shining and there was almost no wind, so another beautiful day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. I met Steele and Nicole Clayton and their son Cade down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp mid morning and we ran north to Horsehead to fish the first of an outgoing tide. It was only minutes after these anglers began tossing float rigs and live shrimp when they started hooking up and landing hungry Seatrout.  We were able
to stay in one spot and catch fish for a while, then I began to work along the flooded marsh grass. When we got to a nice marsh runout, they began putting fish in the boat again. Then Cade had a weird bite, one that slowly took his bait and float under, then he had a good fight. When we netted the fish we found that it was a hard fighting Tripletail, only the second caught on The Anglers Mark. I checked my archives and saw that the last one was caught in 2011 down at Broward Island. We moved over to the banks of Jackstaff and began easing up current and again we found fish. Nicole and
Steele were still using the float rigs and Cade had switched to a jig rod and all three put fish in the boat. Our next stop was over at some docks at Seymore's Pointe and here the bite was slow but we did pick up another Trout or two. We made the run down to Broward Island and although we found no Redfish, Nicole put a couple of Trout in the boat. Although all fish were released today, the trio tallied about 6-7 fish that were of "keeper" size, another great day to be fishing Amelia Island, Florida.

Trout Galore

I had the pleasure of fishing again with Dennis Collins and his buddies Rich and Ed, this time launching from the south end boat ramp. There was absolutely no wind as we cruised up the Amelia River to dip into Jackstaff and fish a small creek on the very first of an outgoing tide.  Two of the anglers - Rich and Ed - were tossing Cajun Thunder float rigs while Dennis set up on the bow to toss a 8w fly rod with a shrimp pattern on a floating line, fishing about 5' of water.  The shrimp guys started catching Seatrout immediately, trading catches as they floated their bait from up near the grass out
and over a flooded oyster hump. They caught one after the other for a good while. We eased up closer to a marsh run out and they still were catching fish. Dennis continued to throw the fly and had a couple of "bumps" but no takers. We ran over to the mouth of Jackstaff and began working the bank and every once in a while the bait fishermen picked up a trout. We had switched Dennis to an 8w Intermediate line but stuck with a shrimp pattern and soon Dennis was getting in on the action. He picked up a handful of Trout and even landed a "baitstealer" or two, proving that perseverance pays
off! We ran around to the Nassau River, fished some points in the marsh, picked up a Trout now and then then finished up fishing some docks and again, finding a Trout or two. It was a great two days of fishing with these guys, and always a great day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fish Catch'n Day

We came back north today, fishing out of the Atlantic Seafood dock. I met Denis Collins and his two friends Ed and Rich this afternoon with plans to fish the first of an incoming tide, we ran around to Tiger Island and began tossing jigs and live shrimp to the shoreline. our two areas produced nothing but "baitstealers" so we bounced down and hit a third and boy what a move! BAM! Dennis had a strong bite. BAM! Rich had a strong bite. We had a double and they were big! There were drags ripping and fish running and it
was ....pandemonium! But these two anglers were up to the challenge with both playing their respective fish patiently and they soon began to tire the fish out. Rich's came to the surface first and we netted a 23" Redfish and shortly after Dennis brought his to the net, a 25" Red. We continued to fish the area and Rich landed a hungry Seatrout then Dennis had another big bite. This was the biggest fish so far and it put up a huge battle. Dennis worked it to the surface slowly and we eventually netted a nice 26" slot Redfish. Later, we ran around and fished Jolley Bank, caught a nice whiting
and a Seatrout, then moved further up Jolley to fish Snook Creek where we found no takers, We continued on around to Bells River and within minutes of arriving the trio began to catch fish. We stood out a ways and they tossed their jig/shrimp combo up to the docks and as the current swept their bait back they'd get a bump and a bite and a hookup on Trout. Many were of keeper size (all fish caught today were released) and all three were catching fish. I believe Ed put the biggest trout in the boat, and Rich had the biggest variety catching, in addition to his Trout and Redfish, a small Sea Bass, A Stingray, and a Blue Crab! Dennis added a small Black "puppy" Drum to round out an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, and Black Drum. And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.