Pre-Back To School

 I had fishing with me today a trio of students, trying to get in one more vacation before they start hitting the books! I met Cooper Sims and his friends Nathan and Adam down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we made the short run up the Nassau River with plans to work the run outs and oyster beds with live shrimp. We started with float rigs and first cast picked up a Ladyfish but after that we had a lull. Then Cooper hooked up and reeled in a feisty Redfish and that got things going. 

Adam put a couple of Flounder in the boat, one of which was of keeper size. Nathan added a couple of feisty Redfish to the catch then Nathan hauled in hungry Seatrout. Then it was Shark Time! Cooper had a strong bite and when the fish took off like a freight train, we knew it was a shark. Cooper was patient and worked it patiently, letting it run when it wanted to, then working it back in. I missed the first grab of the dorsal but Cooper kept that pressure on and gave me another chance! Eventually I was able to haul it in for pictures and release.  We also boated three Stingray's along that stretch.

Our next stop was up at Seymore's and here all three anglers tangled with some Mangrove Snapper, with each adding to the box for a seafood dinner tonight! We were tossing float rigs and shrimp there and ended up putting 8 in the box.  We moved down the way and switched back to jigs, tossed up to the bank, and caught another handful of smaller Snapper and a small Seatrout. 

The last stop was down at Broward Island, fishing the jigs. We picked up a

couple of Croaker, a small Sheepshead, a couple of small Reds, then Nathan had a big bite and, Fish On! Nathan played it expertly and brought to the net a 19.5" Slot Redfish, and boy what a golden, copper colored fish it was! We had put a bunch of fish in the boat, it was a beautiful day and as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be out on the water fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

A Day In The Life of A Fishing Tournament

You may have noticed I haven't been fishing weekends this summer - it's a way for me to cut back, not have to deal with the boat ramp crowds, and keep me enjoying my job! But yesterday was an exception - John Raker wanted to fish the Fernandina Kingfish and Rodeo Tournament with his mother Betty and his sister's boyfriend Kenny so we planned to fish it, and fish it we did!  I met John and his "team" out at Goffinsville Park early - 6:15am and with a Tournament start time at 6:30am, we motored down to the mouth of the Nassau River to fish the last three hours of an outgoing tide.

The day before I had checked with Amelia Island Bait and Tackle and Leaders and Sinkers for mud minnows. I knew it was going to be a long day and with the hot river water, keeping dozens and dozens of shrimp alive would be really tough. And to top that off, the "baitstealers" have been really prevalent and we'd blow thru all our bait. But the bait shops indicated that their bait supplier was having difficult getting minnows and they were both out. OUCH. So much for a plan!  But I had a couple of hours of time between washing my boat and the Friday Tournament Captain's meeting so I ran down to Sawpit Creek with a couple of dead mullet, baited a minnow trap, tossed it out, and waited in my truck with the AC blowing wide open. When I walked up to the trap I could see minnows in it so I was thinking, "well, we'll have a few". But there were about 2-3 dozen minnows in the trap!  So I kept dropping it back in, sitting in my truck, checking it, emptying it, and when I left I had about 80 minnows for the next day Tournament. I took them home, put an aerator on them, and dropped a frozen water bottle in to keep them cool. 

Carol and I met John up at the Tournament meeting and we sat in to listen to a review of the rules. We had wanted clarification on how many fish we could bring in and sure enough, we found at that we could "enter" a Redfish, a Trout, a Flounder, a Sheepshead, and multi-spot Redfish in the Rodeo category of the Tournament.  I had the boat and truck gassed, had emptied out my dry box for extra cooler space, frozen some water bottles, stocked drinking water, and gave the boat some extra cleaning time.

Saturday morning I was up early, 4:45am and made me large cup of coffee and had my "Overnight Oats"concoction that Carol has been making. She's been putting 1/3 cup of  Oatmeal in a Tupperware, covering that with 1/3 cup of  Almond milk, adding a dab of honey, a sprinkle of cinnamon, then chopping up pecans and fruit (that morning it was peaches). When I get up in the morning I stir it all up and eat it while driving to the bait shop. Carol had also made a couple of  Turkey sandwiches and made up a couple of Tupperware's full of fruit, raw vegis and a big one of fresh cut pineapple. I had a customer once who had some fresh cut pineapple on the boat and it is really good on a hot day. 

After loading the minnows and a couple of big frozen bottles of water for the food cooler,  I picked up a bag of ice at the Jiffy store, then eased around to the Amelia Island Bait and Tackle shop and was first in line when they opened early at 5:30am(thank you!). I ordered 5 dozen live shrimp, a pint of fiddler crabs and shoveled out a big bucket of ice for the drink cooler, then was heading out to Goffinsville Park to meet John and his crew. I had just launched when they pulled up and after getting them settled, we pulled away from the dock just as the sun was coming up. 

Fishing south of Spanish Drop, but heading back into the outgoing current, the three anglers began pitching jigs and minnows - they were fresh and lively (the minnows, not the anglers, they were still sleepy eyed). We picked up a couple of feisty Redfish, a couple of Trout, and a couple of Jack Crevalle. We did have one or two keeper sized Seatrout that when in the live well.  We worked a good number of marsh runouts and shell beds along that whole stretch, more than I normally do, but we had a long day ahead of us and I wanted to fish it thoroughly. All three anglers we making excellent casts and it paid off with fish catching. Betty held her own with the younger anglers - she put some Redfish in the boat and battled a hard fighting Jack to the net. I could tell Kenny was an accomplished angler -he was making pinpoint casts and hooking up at a steady rate.  I think the high point of the trip was seeing a family of Salt Marsh minks - at least 4 of them- scampering along the shell bank. What a treat!

When the tide changed we moved up to the Nassauville area. A dock I was wanting to fish was occupied by a boat (that weekend fishing issue) but I hadn't fished Bubblegum Reef in  quite a while, and being in a Tournament, I thought, "what the heck". I eased over to it, motoring idle speed and "Bump" we found it! After backing off we dropped lines and began to try and fish it - we couldn't see it, but  we found it on occasion with a hung jig.  But Betty was drifting a float up along the shell bed and picked up the first Flounder of the day. It wasn't big enough to keep but it gave us an Amelia Island Back Country Slam. Then Kenny had a "tap", set the hook, and Fish On! He played it patiently to the boat and landed a keeper sized Sheepshead. John and I had noticed that the 2019 Tournament results were still up on the board at the Captain's meeting and that year no one had checked in a Sheepshead, so we agreed that we might as well take this one in at check in. 

The tide had been coming in for a while at Nassauville so we ran down to Broward Island and fished the south end. We worked it pretty good but had no takers. We then moved back to the north end and got some good action on Jigs and minnows and Shrimp.. Kenny was catching small Redfish, the trio picked up a few Croakers, then we landed a Sheepshead or two using the fiddler crabs. But we didn't get that big Redfish I was hoping for.  We then moved up to the mouth of Pumpkin Hill and switched to Float rigs. Kenny caught a keeper sized Seatrout as we worked along the bank, then John hooked up with a fish that was pulling drag. I thought it would be a slot Redfish but no, it turned out to be a big 20.5" Seatrout. That's a fish we can take to the weigh in!

We worked down the bank as it approached 2pm and boy was it getting hot. We had a nice breeze blowing all day but with the sun up, even the breeze wasn't cooling us off. But we soldiered on! As we approached a grassy island both Kenny and John had some bites, but no takers.  The area was looking right so we decided to troll back against the current and fish out of there. John had made an excellent cast and as his float disappeared he slowly lifted his rog and let the circle hook set and, he had a hookup. He said later he didn't think it was very big but then it dug deep and started ripping drag and BIG FISH ON!  It wasn't running like a Shark but I was a bit worried that it was big Jack Crevalle but when I saw it boil I knew it was a big Redfish. I think all of us got a little nervous knowing that we may have a Tournament sized fish on the line. But John played it like a pro, was very patient, and let it run when it wanted to but worked it slowly in. I think we counted 5 runs before he came to the surface and then we were already speculating, "Too Big?".  John brought it to the net and we hauled in a huge bull of a Redfish. A quick measure and sure enough, it was too big, measuring right at 28"!  Oh man, balancing the joy of catching such a big fish on light tackle against the disappointment of knowing it was too big to take to Weigh In was a tough pill to swallow!

The day was getting long but we still had a couple of hours of fishing before we had to make the run to Weigh In. We fished the rocks at Nassauville hoping for a wayward Redfish, then ran thru Horsehead and over to the mouth of Jackstaff and fished a good stretch of marsh grass with the now flooding tide, to no avail. After fishing another marsh line around on the intercoastal side,  it was 4pm so we pulled up the trolling motor, battened down everything, then made the 20 minute run up the intercoastal to the Check In boat. John showed them our boat number (383) and we then eased up to the outer dock at the marina. John and Kenny walked the fish up to get them checked in and weighed.  When I picked them up back at the dock they reported that there was already a Seatrout on the board bigger than ours, and also a Sheepshead on the Board bigger than ours. But, we had brought fish in and we knew that we had a big Red photographed for some good memories!

The ride back to Goffinsville was a nice one. I took the shortcut thru Alligator Creek and we were back to Goffinsville in no time and as we eased up to the dock I think all of us were feeling the long day of heat wearing on us but it was a good "hard fought" day of fishing so I counted it as a great one to be out on the water fishing here at Amelia Island!

All Tied Up

 Fishing out of Dee Dee Bartels Park today, I met John Arnold and his son Asher early and we headed overto Tyger in the fog!  We eased thru the shallow inlet and around to the logs and set up fishing jigs and live shrimp and mud minnows. Asher got hot early and picked up a couple of feisty Redfish then his dad tried to keep pace with a couple of fish catches of his own.  Then a mud  minnow up by the bank produced a good strike and, Fish On!  Asher played it perfectly and brought to the net a nice 20.5" Slot Redfish. We didn't know it at the time, but Asher was keeping count!

We then ran around to the Jolley River and set up fishing the "bank" on the first of an incoming tide. The duo picked up a couple of Seatrout, Asher got a small Flounder to get his Amelia Island Back Country Slam, and we had a small Redfish or two. They also put a couple of Croaker in the boat, one of which was

big enough to keep. After running further up the Jolley to Snook Creek, we again worked the bank with jigs. John snagged a hungry Seatrout and just a minute later Asher hooked up with another, this one measuring in at 18" and big enough for the box. According to Asher's count they were all tied up with six fish apiece. But we fished out that stretch, moved back to the Bank and fished it briefly with floats, then headed in with a tied score so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Hitting the Spots With the Tide

 

The weather forecasters predicted hotter temperatures but  this morning we were blessed with somewhat overcast skies and a slight breeze so the heat didn't get on us until late in the trip. I met Bruce Newkirk, his sons Tyson and Garrett and Garretts girl friend Kerri out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early. The tide was still going out for an hour so we made our first stop down at the Spanish Drop area and began fishing with jigs and mud minnows. There was a lot of bait action and fish busting the  bait up near the shore so it wasn't long before these anglers began to catch fish. Tyson "knocked the skunk off" with a feisty Redfish catch, then everyone was catching them. Unfortunately they were no bigger than 14"!  Kerri battled a 3' Bonnethead Shark to the boat and Garrett followed that up with a big Redfish fight, one that Redfish won as it broke off right a the boat.

We moved up he way just a bit and fished a marsh run out and again, they were catching those feisty Reds, picked up a trout,

then Tyson hooked up and smartly landed a nice 19.5" Flounder, boy what a fish! We then ran up and fished some docks at Seymore's Pointe as the tide started back in. Here Bruce had the hot rod and put a handful of keeper sized Mangrove Snapper in the box. We fished around the corner with float rigs and boxed another couple of Mangroves, then followed the tide down to Broward Island. 

Garrett got a couple of Flounder, Tyson added a keeper Sheepshead, and Bruce added a few more Mangroves to the catch. We made one last move, down to the other end of the island and here it was Tyson's turn to tangle with a sizable Red, and again we had a break off! Ouch! But we had a good box full of fish so as we headed in, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

The Stars Aligned

 When I talked to Cole Nalor a few months ago, setting up today's trip, we talked about what kind ofoptions we had to take his wife Aly and their very young daughters Wyn(4yo) and Neely(2yo) out on a fishing trip. I usually recommend that they need to be around 7 years old to really "get into" fishing but we thought we could try a bit of fishing, then maybe do some sight seeing and hope the kids could make a half day trip. And to top that off, when we looked at the weather last night, it was forecasting a good chance of rain! But when I got up this morning and looked at the forecast, the rain wasn't expected at all!

I met the Nalor's up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. The tide had only been coming in for about 45 minutes so we headed over to Tyger Island where Cole  began pitching a jig and live shrimp to the bank while Aly herded the kids. I think we went thru two dozen shrimp feeding "baitstealers" until finally Cole snagged a couple of small Mangrove Snapper. I wasn't feeling a bit down about the spot's production until Cole made an excellent cast to the back side of a log, had a strong bite, and BAM! Big Fish on!  Cole played it perfectly and when it boiled I knew it was a Red. Cole worked it to the boat and we netted a nice 22" Slot Redfish! That woke things up!

We made the run around to the Jolley River, turned in and fished the "bank", now tossing float rigs with shrimp. We hit one stretch where Cole picked up a few hungry Seatrout, and a couple of feisty Redfish. We then buzzed up the river to Snook Creek, again turned into the current and began fishing the marsh line with the oysters almost covered on that incoming tide. Cole picked up a Seatrout out deep and just shortly after he got up real close to the grass. When his float disappeared he called for one of the girls to come help reel but that was before the fish made strong run! That drag started ripping and it was BIG FISH ON!  It wall Cole could do to slow this fish down but he did and turned it then kept the pressure on  until it tired and came to the net - an Oversized 33" Redfish, boy what a fish! This fish moved Cole squarely in to first place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings).

We tried our hand at Shark fishing but found a big Catfish, then we got in that tour of Cumberland, Ft. Clinch and Pippi's house before we called it a day, another great one here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Quite a Mess of Fish

 

Fishing south again today, meeting William Vickers, his son Jeff and son-in-law Jacob down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. After a short run up the Nassau we stopped at Spanish Drop and fished the edges of an shell bank at the very bottom of a dead low. The trio of anglers were pitching 1/8oz jigs and mud minnows to the bank and both Jeff and Jacob had hookups of feisty Redfish. We then moved up the river to a marsh run out and threaded the needle between the bank and a crab trap. Again, they picked up a couple of feisty Reds. Then Jeff had a stronger bite and when his drag ripped, we new he had a bigger fish. After a good battle Jeff landed a nice 19" Slot Redfish. Then it was Jacob's turn to fight a tough fish. After his hookup the fish went deep, dug down, and put up a good fight. Jacob worked it patiently to the boat and and landed a Jack Crevalle.

The tide had already turned so we made the run down to Broward Island, switching to 1/4oz jigs to get down a bit deeper, quicker. The strategy paid off. All three anglers began to catch fish. They each put a couple of keeper sized Mangrove Snapper in the boat, Jeff landed three Sheepshead, one of which was of keeper size. Then Jacob had a strong bite and when the fish hugged the bottom we thought, maybe a Flounder. Sure enough, when he brought it to the surface, there was a nice 18" Flounder. William got on a roll and landed fish after fish, teaching lessons as he went. Both  Jeff and Jacob had Big fish on for a while, but the fish found there way back into a sunken tree and broke off. Ouch.

We moved down a bit and fished a large runout. Jeff found a couple of feisty Reds and Jacob picked up another keeper sized Flounder. We finished up the trip fishing a large runout around at Seymore's. They added another couple of Mangroves and then William battled a big Jack Crevalle to the net. After pictures and release, we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

First, Biggest and Most

Boy did the weather folks get today wrong! I looked at the forecast last night AND this morning and therewas only a slight chance of rain forecasted. NOT! I met Tim Carson, his daughter Monica and his grandson Mathew out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp this morning and there were some serious clowds around us and we could see rain storms off in the distance. But this trio of anglers were here to fish so we jumped down the Broward Island to take advantage of a first of an incoming tide.

We were pitching jigs and live shrimp to the bank and in only minutes Mathew had a good bite. He set the hook expertly and reeled in the first fish of the day, a hungry Seatrout. Then Grandpa Tim got in the action. He boated two, hard fighting, keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. We then moved down the way, fished under a Bald Eagle, and here Monica got on the board with a feisty Redfish catch. Mathew went to the same spot and he too caught a feisty Redfish. Tim landed a Stingray that we hoped would be a Flounder and also put an ugly Toad fish in the boat. 

Our next stop was back at some docks at Seymore's Pointe. Although we didn't get any big fish, Tim and Mathew both put a Croaker in the boat.  We moved down to Spanish Drop and fished a higher tide with float rigs and shrimp. Monica had managed her float to the mouth of a small creek and when it disappeared she was ready to strike and lifted her rod to set the circle hook and Big Fish On! Monica played it perfectly and after a long battle landed a big 4' Bonnethead Shark.

After running back to Pumpkin Hill we set up again to fish the floats. I think

it was Mathew's first drift when his float disappeared and he set the hook. Mathew expertly worked it to the boat and landed a nice 18.5" Seatrout, giving him the Most Seatrout caught for the day, and the Biggest Seatrout caught for the day. We had a few more bites. picked up one more feisty Red, then called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Long Lost Hat

 If you've ever boated more than few times then you've probably lost a hat along the way. I had met Frank and Joanne Wytiaz down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning and we headed up the intercoastal then up the Nassau to our first spot...but along the way Joanne noticed that her brand spanking new hat had blown out. We turned around and cruised back along our wake with all three of us keeping an eye out, but to no avail. Hat Lost.

We then continued on our trip to the first stop at Spanish Drop, turned into an incoming tide that still had a couple of hours of coming in. We eased along pitching float rigs and live shrimp. Frank picked up a small Catfish then a fat but still hungry Seatrout. Then Joanne had a strong bite and fought a pitched battle with a Jack Crevalle.  We moved down the way and fished Twin Creeks for a bit then moved on.

Our next stop was down at Pumpkin Hill, drifting the floats. Frank caught a couple of small but feisty Redfish then it was

Joanne, again, who fought the big fish. This time it was a 4' Bonnethead Shark. She played it perfectly and landed it for pictures and release. We moved  around and fished a small grassy island. Joanne had made an excellent cast to the grass and when her float disappeared she set the hook and Fish On!  This fish was ripping drag but not making the long run like the shark so we felt comfortable it was a big Redfish. Sure enough, Joanne worked it to the boat and landed a nice 22 1/2" Slot Redfish.

The final stop was down at Seymore's Pointe and here I felt comfortable we'd find some keeper sized Mangrove Snapper. But Frank had other plans. He drifted a 3/4 piece of shrimp along the rocks and, BOOM! Float gone!  He worked it patiently to the boat, and after a few drag ripping runs, brought to the net another 22 1/4" Slot Redfish.  Then he and Joanne played cat and mouse with the Mangroves. Joanne figure out she could let them take the bait for a second or two then set the hook and she contributed to the majority of the "keeper" fish in the box. Then Frank found another big fish, this time it was a 21" Slot Redfish!

We headed back feeling good about the fishing trip, with fish in the box and a seafood feast planned but as we got to the mouth of the Nassau River Frank yelled and pointed - Joanne's hat! It was almost unbelievable, but the hat must have drifted for 2 hours coming in with the tide, then drifted back for two hours and was almost in the exact location that it became missing! What a way to wrap up a good day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Bait Management-Net Princess-Future Biologist

She can take her pick, but young angler Lenora has a bright future ahead of her when it come to fishing! Her mother Marnie Bird and her Uncle Dave met me down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning and we made the run thru Middle River and around to Pumpkin Hill to set up along side some flooding marsh grass. Marnie and Dave began tossing float rigs with live shrimp to the bank and letting it drift with the current.  Lenora was already managing the bait buckets of live shrimp and mud minnows. Marnie "knocked the skunk off" when she hooked up and battled a hard fighting Bonnethead Shark to the boat.  Only minutes later, Dave, who had made an excellent cast to the point of some grass, had a hookup and, Fish On!  He played it perfectly and brought to the net a 21" Slot Redfish (with 8 spots). He followed that up with a big Bonnethead Shark catch of his own. 

We came back to Seymore's Pointe, fished a large outflow and here Marnie put a hungry Seatrout in the boat, and then a small Mangrove Snapper.  After moving around the corner we got into the bigger Mangroves and the duo began to catch one after the other. Lenora reeled in the biggest one of the day, but she spent most of her time netting her Mom's and Uncles fish! She handled most of them and released the smaller ones back into the river.

After running thru Horsehead we fished the mouth of Jackstaff. Dave was fishing a jig and picked up a couple of feisty Redfish. We then headed back to the dock where I cleaned the Slot Red and Mangroves. Lenora was keen on seeing what was in their stomachs so we dissected those that had their belly's full. Most had our shrimp! Bud one had a minnow! We had a good day of fishing so we counted it as another great day to be out on the water here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Taking A Bow

 Another beautiful morning greeted us today when I met the Latino family - Pete and Robin and their kids Marin and Jake - down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp.  I haven't fished down there in over a week and was looking forward to seeing how the "bite" was. We made a run up the intercoastal just as the tide was starting out and pulled into Jackstaff to begin fishing a large outflow with float rigs and live shrimp.

First cast -boom! We weren't ready for it - it was the "demo" cast. I think it was a shark and it came rushing right to the boat, turned and BAP! Fish Off. Second cast-BAM! Big fish on, again, another shark. This one Marin fought valiantly and had it up to the boat before again, it made a sharp turn and BAP! Fish off!  We were "0" for two!

But these anglers were up for the game and as we eased along the banks of Jackstaff tossing floats it was Jake who "knocked the skunk off" with nice hookup. He expertly worked it to the boat and landed a nice Redfish that came in just under the 18"

mark.  We fished on and Robin got on the board with a hungry Seatrout catch. Jake was the "Redfish Guy" today and landed another feisty one before we move on. 

The tide was still somewhat high so we made what I thought would be a brief stop at Seymore's Pointe to fish the rocks. I wasn't sure if the Mangroves would be there but it only took a couple of casts to find out! Those floats started disappearing and it was a whole lot of catching going on. Robin was encouraging the family and all three of the others were putting fish on the boat. Marin had taken up the stern and found her own little "honey hole" and put most of the "keepers" in the box, the biggest being right at 12". At the end of the trip she took a bow, knowing she would be feeding the family later!  Both Pete and Jake added some keepers of their own, too. 

Our last stop was down at Spanish Drop, now fishing exposed oysters with jigs and shrimp and minnows. Jake stayed the busiest, catching a feisty Jack, a couple of Reds, and a Stingray. The breeze had kept blowing all morning, we had some clouds to block the sun, and we had some good eating Mangrove Snapper in the box so as we headed in, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida