Monday, July 21, 2008

Andrew and Jessica



Andrew and Jessica were visiting from the Orlando area and staying at the Addison on Amelia Bed and Breakfast and wanted to take in a boat ride/sightseeing tour. We cruised Old Town Fernandina, Fort Clinch and then crossed over to the Cumberland Island seashore. We cruised up Beach Creek on Cumberland and saw some porpoises crashing bait on the bank. We crossed the channel and quickly found manatee at Tiger Island inlet. I shut the engine, dropped the trolling motor and we eased up into shallow water and dropped anchor. The manatee rolled and played for 30 minutes around and under the boat; they appeared to be courting as one seemed to be pursuing the other and a "teenager" tagged along. They poked their snouts out numerous times and inspected us. We eventually eased out of there and went in behind Tiger Island to see a flock of Roseatte Spoonbills roosting and an Osprey cruising the tree line. We crossed back over the channel and spotted a herd of wild horses on Cumberland. This was a great trip!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Daron Carter trip #2


We had such a good time the other day, Daron, Lindsey and Mike decided to go fishing again with me. This time we launched from the south end of Amelia Island at 7:30am. Although I had a livewell full of live shrimp, we stopped and picked up about a dozen finger mullet with the cast net. We first tried the docks at Longpointe and had a few nibbles from "bait stealers" then we headed up to Jackstaff and immediately started getting good bites on the shrimp. The tide was still going out (low at 10:45am) and we fished the oyster beds, catching trout, reds, jacks, and sharks. We caught a "mess" of fish and ended up with an inshore Slam - Redfish, Trout and a Flounder. Lindsey boated a 3' shark that really gave her a battle -and - chewed my net up! We had a great time and I look forwarded to seeing them next year.

Dodson Family

Scott and Ileene Dodson, along with their two sons Mitchell and Phillip, fished with me July 10th. We left Atlantic Seafood dock at 3pm. The tide peaked at 3:45 so we were able to fish the outgoing tide most of the afternoon. We did some sightseeing first -cruising Old Town Fernandina, Fort Clinch and the Cumberland Island seashore. There was a small group of wild horses in the marsh and I dug out the binoculars. We ran to the mouth of Jolley River and began to get bites almost immediately -most at a small runout that we named "Dodson Creek". We caught Ladyfish, small trout and a couple of small croakers -all on live shrimp. Later in the day I was able to pickup some finger mullet with the cast net and as the sunset Phillip wrestled in a 22" trout (probably the biggest I've had on The Anglers Mark). A little later he pulled in another large trout - a 19"er. I netted this one with a pair of pliers tangled in the net - and my hat got knocked off during the battle! Unfortunately, I somehow deleted all my pictures of this trip - and they were some good ones! Ouch.

Daron Carter, his fiance Lindsey, and her father Mike


These folks were visiting from the Tifton, Georgia area and were out to experience fishing on Amelia Island. In addition to fishing with me on July 9th, they had also done some surf fishing at Ft. Clinch and gone off-shore with another Captain. The tide had started back in so we ran up Bell River to fish and picked up a small trout. We then ran around to Jolley River to the "Mother of All" spots where they began to pickup some good bites, landing a few larger trout, a couple of croaker, and a few sharks. Further in to Jolley Mike landed a nice 20" trout and we also had some more sharks - one 3'+.

Joe Warwick and son, Tanner


Joe Warwick and his son, Tanner (6yrs), fished with me the first week of July. Joe and his wife, Diane, own the Florida House Inn, a Bed and Breakfast located in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida. The tide was low at 2:30pm -we launched at 3 - so it was just coming in. We tried a spot on Lanceford Creek but had no real bites so I ran up to Jolley River and anchored at the mouth of a small creek. We immediately began to catch Bonnethead Shark, landing two and losing a few others. We also caught Ladyfish. Tanner proclaimed that his dad was "the best fisherman in the world!" We also fished behind Tiger Island and came across a small manatee munching on some grass. The was a great treat for the 6 year old to see. We also spotted a Sheepshead tailing up in the grass.