We Weren't Fishing, We Were Catching!

 It looks like I wrapped my week up fishing this morning with the Sparrow crew - Will, his kids Abigailand William, and his mother Nancy -meeting them up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp. We had a bait will full of live shrimp and frisky mud minnows as we eased out of Eagans Creek and made a run down the river to fish an exposed shell bank with jigs rods on a tide that still had about two hours to hit bottom. 

It didn't take long for Abigail to "knock the skunk off" with a nice Redfish catch, and from then on I stayed busy netting fish and bating hooks. All four anglers caught fish - Redfish and Flounder - we had at least one Slot Red along that stretch, and two keeper sized Flounder and we tossed back a good handful of smaller fish. 

As the bite slowed we ran further down the river and on around to the MOA (mother of all) spot and boy were we in for a surprise!  Abigail hooked and expertly battled to the boat another Slot Red. William landed a couple of keeper sized Seatrout. His dad Will hooked up with a monster and after a long battle landed an Oversized 29.75" Redfish (4th biggest of the year on the Anglers Mark). Nancy fought a nice Slot Redfish to the boat. Both Will and William brought Bonnethead Shark to the net for photograph and release. William tangled with

another Oversized Red that was having none of coming to the boat. It rolled and boiled and dug deep and eventually broke off. And to top things off, Will, after bumping his bait over a shell bed, and thinking he might have a shell until it began to pull back, yelled, "it's a fish", and boy was it!  Will patiently played it and worked it to the net to land a Doormat of a Flounder that measured at 21.5" - big enought to move Will in to 2nd Place in the Anglers Mark 2024 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Boy what a fish!

We finished up around the corner tossing float rigs on an incoming tide and tangling with a handful ofBonnethead Shark and then we headed back to the ramp, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Snapper Boys and a nice Red

 I fished with the Palmore boys this morning, Justin and his sons Will and Bentley, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early. We headed up the intercoastal then in to the Nassau and after a brief run, pulled up at Spanish Drop and began fishing with jigs and live shrimp and mudminnows on a tide that still had about an hour and a half of going out. We worked along a shell bank and picked up a Jack and a tangled with a couple of high flying Ladyfish. 

After moving up the way to fish a large drainage, young Bentley had a good bite, a hookup, and after a good battle he landed a keeper sized Flounder - first in the box! After fishing Bubblegum Reef briefly, and to no avail, we ran across the river and tried a new spot, but alas, we caught no fish. We then fished between a couple of docks at Nassauville and picked up a couple of small Mangroves, then we moved up to Seymore's Pointe and really got into some Mangroves. All three anglers caught fish with one of Will's Mangroves being the biggest. Will also had a strong bite off the stern, up near the rocks, and this fish was ripping drag - it wasn't a Mangrove! Will played it expertly but this fish was having nothing of it, it dug deep and broke the leader. Ouch!

But Justin went back with a cast to the rocks, opened his bail and let it drift with the current and when it reached an outcrop, BAM! Big Fish On!  Again, it was digging deep and ripping drag but Justin kept the pressure on and soon brought to the net a nice 24.25" Slot Redish.

Our final stop was over at the mouth of Jackstaff, working a bank with float rigs and the trio caught a handful of small but feisty Redfish. It had been a beautiful day and we had fish 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. 

Shell Banks and Grass Lines

 I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend and took time to honor our fallen service men and women. It's amazing the sacrifice some made for us, and their families, too.

We were back at it today, fishing out of Goffinsville Park after I had met Steve Locke and his son Justin early. We made a short run down the Nassau River and pulled up at Spanish Drop, turned into the outgoing current and fished until the tide hit bottom. We had some pretty good action fishing jigs and live shrimp - Steve picked up a Jack Crevallle and a Ladyfish off the stern, then as we reached a submerged bar both he and Justin began to get Redfish - a good handful of them. Then Steve had a stronger bite - he played it patiently, and after a good battle landed a nice Slot sized 21" Redfish. 

We move up a bit to a large drainage and I think their first casts produced small but feisty Redfish. Steve battled a 3- Bonnethead Shark to the boat before we moved on. The tide had started back in so we fished a dock at Seymore's and managed a couple of small but legal Mangrove Snappers.  After fishing down at Broward - we only got a small Mangrove, we came back to Nassauville and fished some docks, to no avail. 

We just haven't been getting any good fish around the docks or downed logs. We came back down teh river, ran thru Horsehead and pulled up at the mouth of Jackstaff and worked the bank with float rigs. This duo caught another Jack then as we reached a small cove, BAM! Big Bite. Justin was on the rod and battled the big fish. It was digging deep and making runs. Justin Stayed with it and eventually worked it to the net - an upper Slot 26.25" Red. Boy what a fish. But birthday boy Justin wasn't finished! In just a short time he had another strong hookup Again, a big battle ensued. Justin played it perfectly and after a while landed an Oversized 30.25" Red - big enough to move Justin into 3rd Place in the Anglers Mark 2024 Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category. (scroll down the right side of this report for standings).

They picked up another couple of smaller Reds, another nice Shark, and a handful of hungry Seatrout before we called it a day and as we ran back thru Horsehead, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Something Learned

 I wrapped up my week yesterday fishing with Kenny King and his friends John Raker and John's mother Betty, meeting them again out at Goffinsville Park boat ramp. 

Note: You never know when you'll be surprised at the boat ramp - a guy had backed his truck (no trailer/boat) down the ramp, got out, and was fishing from the ramp. When I pulled up I thought he was launching so I sat and waited for a while. When he didn't pull out I got out and checked -  sure enough he was just blocking the ramp and fishing. Crazy. 

We had a tide that was coming in for a couple of more hours so we ran across the river and went with float rigs up to the grass on that flooding tide. I was hoping we'd get  some reds up in those pockets but I don't think we had even a bite until Betty, fishing off the stern, had her float drifting over some submerged oysters. When the float went under she at first thought she might be hung up but that hang up started pulling back!  Betty played the fish expertly and brought to the net a nice 19.5" Flounder, big enough to secure 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2024 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings).

After fishing a good stretch along there we made a run down the Nassau and pulled up at Twin Creeks and drifted the floats again. Crazy how we were getting no bites, not even a baitstealer until John had a good take, and Fish On!  He fought it patiently, let it run, worked it up and soon landed a Slot 21" Redfish. Later he battled a 4' Bonnethead to the boat and then commented, "we've had three bites and three fish caught!"

We went over to Seymore's and tinkered with some Small Mangroves, then around the corner to do the
same and here Kenny put a fat Mangrove in the boat. There was also a Jack or two caught sometime in there.  After running thru Horsehead we fished Pompano Point and here Betty got busy catching fish off the stern. She was drifting here float/shrimp past a grassy corner and then down alongside it and BAM! She'd have a hookup. She added to the catch total with two more feisty Redfish. 

Our final stop, after running back thru Horsehead, was over at Back River, working an outgoing tide. The trio of angles were drifting on the outside of some shell beds that you could barely make out in the water. We had an epiphany - try tossing the float over the submerged shell bed and hope it's deep enough for the float to drift along he backside - they did!  Kenny had a good drift going - it snagged, then came off, and BAM!   Fish On!  Kenny played it to the boat and landed a nice 17.5" Flounder.  John tried it and he too got a good drift and BAM! He had a hookup. When he got his to the boat we found it was a small Black Tip Shark. Summer is here!  It was getting hot. But as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida

Oversized Reds in the Backwater

 I've probably mentioned it before....my dad, when we would be passing thru a rural area that had cows, he said his grandfather(my great grandfather) would say, "the cows are laying down, the fish aren't biting".  We don't have any cows here at Amelia Island, but I've found that as I trailer my boat down to Sawpit Creek, there are rabbits out on the grass just past the Omni and I like to count them as I head south. I've always wondered if there was a correlation to how the fish bite would be. Today was a 5 "Wabbit" Day. 

I met longtime friend Michael Stalvey, his son Byrd, and son-in-law Tylor Deas early at the ramp and we headed up the intercoastal and then up the Nassau to make our first stop at Spanish Drop, turned into the incoming current, and began to toss float rigs to a flooding grass bank. We worked that bank thoroughly and I think we may have picked up a small Jack Crevalle and a tangled with a high flying Ladyfish. 

The weather conditions couldn't have been any better- sunshine, just a slight breeze, and almost pond-like water. We moved down the way and fished Twin creeks with the floats - didn't get a bite, but I let off the trolling motor lock and we drifted with the current. Tylor had a good bite that didn't take and Mike followed right in behind him and BAM, Fish On!  Mike played it perfectly and soon landed a Slot 20" Redfish. 

Our next stop was up at Seymore's Pointe where we drifted float rigs up by the rocks. The trio of anglers
caught a handful of Mangrove Snapper, a couple of which were keepers. But when we switched to jigs on the bottom things really picked up and they put another handful in the boat. We ended up keeping seven with the biggest measuring to 12".  I know that's not "big", but these Mangroves make for some good eating!

We then ran thru Horsehead and over to Pompano Point and worked the first 30 yards with the float rigs. After getting a small Jack and a small Trout, we eased up the bank and all "heck" broke loose! Mike had let a soggy shrimp soke up near the bank - something took it and, BIG FISH ON!  This fish was ripping drag and digging deep. Mike stayed with it, kept the pressure on, let it run, worked it around the bow, worked it around the stern, and eventually landed a big Oversized 31.5" Redfish, big enough to move him in to 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2024 Bragging Rights Tournament-Redfish Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). Boy what fish. 

But we weren't finished, by a long shot!  Tylor went up to a grassy point and BAM! Big Fish On! He played it perfectly and landed an Oversized 29" Redfish to move in to 3rd place in the Bragging Rights Tournament.  Byrd went up to the same area and BAM! Big Fish On! He expertly battled this fish to the net and landed ANOTHER oversized 28" Redfish. They continued to fish this same spot, added two more Slot Reds, then Byrd, wanting to get on the Bragging Rights board, went back and caught a 29" Oversized Red. Boy what a finish!  We headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Uptick In Redfish Bite

 

We waited to go until the top of the tide today, meeting at 9am out at Goffinsville Park.  John Raker and Kenny King met me at the dock and where we were the tide was still coming in. So we made a quick run over to Pumpkin Hill and drifted float rigs and live shrimp down a flooding marsh bank. We had not a single bite for that stretch but after we dropped back and fished a pocket and here John found a Slot Red on the back side of the pocket which he handily brought to the net. 

We then made a run back to Seymore's Point and fished a large drainage. The duo picked up a handful of Mangrove Snapper, four of which were of keeper size. Kenny battled a bigger fish for a bit but it thru the hook half way to the boat. Ouch.  After running thru Horsehead and over to Pompano Pointe we continued to fish the floats and it paid off. Kenny picked up a Jack Crevalle then as we eased along the grass we saw some movement up in a pocket. John made an excellent cast to the grass and the float slowly went under, and Fish On!  John played it perfectly and brought another Slot Red to the boat. He and Kenny both had good hookups later and added another Redish to the fish count. 

We moved around to Jackstaff and fished a creek and here Kenny got hot, adding a Redfish and Bluefish the catch count. John battled a FBPPB (Fat Bellied Probably Pregnant Bonnethead) worthy of some sort of Bragging Rights to the boat for photograph and release.

After running back thru Horsehead we headed down to Twin Creeks and fished it a bit with jigs and shrimp, then we moved down to a drainage and here Kenny expertly played a Slot Red to the boat while at the same town John landed a hungry Seatrout. We finished up over at Back River, fishing floats. Kenny caught a 11 Spot Redfish to wrap things up which made for another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

High Tides and Rising Winds

 

Back to fishing!  After being out of town for a week I was back fishing today with newlyweds Jeff and Elizabeth Parr. After meeting them early up at Old Town Bait and Tackle early we made our way out of Eagans Creek and over to the outside of Tyger to fish the first of an outgoing tide. It was High tide right when we started and boy was that water up in the grass. The duo were tossing float rigs with live shrimp and had a few bites before Jeff hooked up and landed a hungry Seatrout. 

We made our way over to Lanceford Creek and fished some flooded marsh grass (here the tide hadn't started out yet). We fished a couple of areas and Elizabeth did manage to catch and land a feisty Black "puppy" Drum. She had gotten a bite - it stole her bait, but she went back to the same spot with an excellent cast and BAM! She hooked it up!

After fishing Soap Creek where they caught another Trout, and with the wind picking up,  we ran down the river and fished some structure, this time fishing jigs and the shrimp, deep. Jeff had made a good cast and let his jig fall down the river bottom and when I saw him hookup and his rod bend I knew he had a nice fish. And it got nicer as the battle went on!  Jeff played it perfectly as the big fish dug deep and under the boat. He kept the pressure on and wore it out and landed a nice 21" Slot Redfish. They each picked up another Seatrout and Elizabeth brought to the net a Flounder to round out their Amelia Island Back Country Slam.

After fishing some dock pilings back up the river, to no avail, we headed back to the ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Temperature Drop Helps

 I fished today after we had a slight temperature drop over the weekend, one that caused the water temps to fall too. We didn't "tear them up" today, but we had a little better action than we had last week in the backwaters.  When I pulled away from the boat ramp this afternoon my thoughts were to, "fish the oyster beds".

I met Frank Wytiaz and his brother-in-law Dennis down at Sawpit Creek early this morning and with calm seas and hardly no wind, we ran up the Nassau and made our first stop at Spanish Drop. The tide still had an hour or so of going out to do so we went with jigs and live shrimp and mud minnows, tossed to the exposed shell bank. That first stretch produced no fish but when we moved up to a drainage and continued with the jigs both anglers hooked up and caught feisty Redfish. They also tangled with some high flying Ladyfish. 

We then ran up to some docks at Seymore's and fished the jigs and this paid off. Dennis had a strong hookup and fought a keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum to the boat, Then Frank had a strong bite and he too expertly played the fish to the net - a big Mangrove Snapper (for the backwater) which measured right at 14".  They caught a couple of more Mangroves, a Bluefish, and a Jack Crevalle. We moved around to Nassauville and fished some rocks and picked up a handful more of keeper sized Mangroves.

After running down to Broward Island where the conditions were absolutely perfect - the tide had just started in, the increasing wind was blocked, there were no gnats and other than one more Mangrove, we caught nothing. Ouch.

We finished the day back at Seymore's, fishing the bottom with jigs and shrimp and again, dueled with the Mangroves, adding one more keeper to the box. We had caught a good variety of fish giving us a bit of action so as we headed back to the ramp we countedit as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Mangroves and Manatee

 We must be in a "faze" right now, not seeing Seatrout or Redfish or Flounder in the backwater. Water
temps are hovering right around 80 degrees and even though we're getting some fish, we just aren't seeing "bragging rights" fish, unless you wanted to count the 13" Mangrove Snapper we caught today!

I had met Chris Pyle and his fishing buddy Byron down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp on a tide that had been coming in for about two hours. We made a run up the Nassau and fished some dock pilings at Seymore's Point and had just a bit of luck catching a few small Mangrove Snapper, with maybe a keeper or two.  We had a visit from a curious Manatee and were supervised by a Bald Eagle roosting overhead. We then motored back down the Nassau and fished Spanish Drop and Twin Creeks with float rigs and may have had a bite or two but no takers.

We fished some rocks at Nassauville and had good action catching Mangroves on float rigs up by the rocks with Chris putting the biggest of the year in the boat, a 13"er, and then we swtiched to jigs and caught them on the bottom, bringing the "keeper" total to eight. 

The SW wind was picking up so we made a long run up the Nassau, ran thru Edwards and around to Shady Rest and tossed the jigs. I think it was Chris's 2nd or 3rd cast when he had a strong hookup.  He patiently played it to the boat and landed a feisty Redfish.  We were off to a good start here but that was the only fish we got working those docks. 

We came back out of Edwards, back to Seymore's and fished an outgoing tide with float rigs and picked up a couple of more small Mangroves, then after running thru Horsehead and over to Pompano Point the duo finished up caching a large Ladyfish and Catfish. Overcast skies in the morning a brisk breeze in the afternoon, a box of Mangroves, and a visit from a Manatee made for another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Slow But Beautiful Day of Fishing

 

We had a "three" boat party today, set up by Tom Klien, fishing with friends after they caravaned in boats up from Central Florida. We all met at Old Town Bait and Tackle and divvied up anglers to the Captains - Jeremiah Joost-Miller, George Smith, and myself. I had Tom and his wife Gail and their friend Dave and we followed Jeremiah and George out of Eagans Creek.

Jeremiah was heading around to the jetties with his crew and he reported catching a big oversized Bull Redfish, tangling with a high flying Tarpon, and boxing a handful of fine eating whiting. 

George fished the back waters and reported putting a couple of undersized Redish in the boat, having a
huge "almost" Seatrout to the boat and then his crew settled in catching Mangrove Snapper, the biggest being around 15".

My crew and I also stayed in the back water. We had excellent conditions, other than a high and incoming tide. We hit a number of spots, drifting float rigs along the flooding marsh grass and it finally paid off when Tom hooked up and landed a keeper sized Seatrout. We moved into a creek, switched to jigs and live shrimp and here Gail put a fat old Sail Cat in the boat. It was here that David had his shot at a fish - I was the rod bend and the drag rip a bit and, Fish Off! Dang it. 

We fished a few more areas and managed one high flying Ladyfish before we headed back to the ramp. It was a beautiful day, we had a "trout sandwich" in the boat so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.