Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Out of the Fog...Redfish!


Libby Wilkes was hosting her daughter Kap and her grandson Peter who were visiting Amelia Island from Minnesota.  Kap and Peter enjoy fishing for Walleye in the lakes of Minnesota, but wanted to take in some of the backcountry fishing that we have to offer.  We left the Big Talbot/Sawpit boat ramp at 1pm today with fog hovering all over the marsh and river.    Our first stop in The Anglers Mark was up in the Horsehead area where we dropped anchor to fish the last of an outgoing tide.  Both Kap and Peter were using bottom rigs with dead shrimp (there seems to be a shortage of live ones at the Amelia Island bait shops - call for availability) and it wasn't long before Kap had a hookup and a fish fight on her hands!  She expertly worked the Redfish to the boat and a waiting net for pictures and release.  We had a short visit from an FWC officer who checked our life vests and sound device, then we were catching fish again.  Peter pulled in a fairly large Stingray then he added a few Redfish to the count.  When the tide started back in, we moved to the dock at Seymor's Pointe, anchored, and again threw out bottom rigs.  The Redfish were biting and the anglers picked up another 7-8 fish.  The fog had move on, leaving us with a pleasant day with  mild tempertures so we counted it as another great day to be out on the water!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Kids have fun on the boat!


I participated in the Peck Head Start's annual Transportation Day Friday and had a great time.  The Staff at Head Start had arranged for fire trucks, ambulance's, police cars and a utility lift truck to be there, along with my boat, The Anglers Mark.  I take one spinning rod with a topwater lure, minus the hooks, along with a couple of youth life jackets and when the kids chaperone brings them around we put 2-3 up on the boat at a time.  Most want to try on the life jackets then we cast the lure out into the grass and let each one of them reel it in.  You would think that they had a 24" Redfish on by the way they crank it in!  This year we let the kids waiting there turn to run the net and that kept them busy, too.  I asked a few of the kids and they said it was the first time they had ever been on a boat.  Even though it wasn't in the water, we had a great time, another great day to be....in the boat!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Valentine's Day Special

Be the first to schedule a Valentine's fishing trip at my low winter rate and I'll include a nice ball cap with The Anglers Mark logo!  You're special Valentine will absolutley KNOW that you love them when they get a personalized gift certificate for a 1/2 day fishing trip in the backwaters of Amelia Island, Florida.  Give me a call and we'll make it happen!

Seatrout season closes

Per FWC regulations, the Seatrout season for North East Florida will be closed from February 1, 1011 through February 28, 2011, but will re-open March 1st.  Note that the Redfish are still biting along with some nice, keeper sized Black Drum.  Give me a call and will launch The Anglers Mark for a great day out on the water!

3 face charges for snook, red drum violations

FWC officers recently made a bust for illegal harvesting of Redfish and Snook in Brevard County, see:
3 face charges

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Pink Gloves are the trick!

On the second day of their fishing weekend, Felecia Gant, her brother Ron, and their friend Pandra met me at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp, again at 1pm, to take in another Amelia Island backcountry fishing trip.  After getting an excellent report of a good fish bite from my friends Charlie Jones and Leon Freeman, we pointed The Anglers Mark straight for Bubblegum Reef and anchored just off the drop.
 The wind was really kicking up and the boat couldn't decide where to lie, but the anglers "endeavored to persevere" and we soon were catching fish.  Pandra had her pink gloves on and they must have brought her luck because she seemed to have the hot rod for the day, catching fish after fish.  Although the Redfish were just under slot size, they hit ferociously and put up some great fights.  The anglers also found some Black Drum, catching 4 in the keeper size with Ron pulling in the largest on a jig/shrimp combo.  Felecia caught her share of Reds on the jig and shrimp, while Pandra switched from shrimp, Trigger X shrimp, and the new Parker baits. 
While we were fishing we had a neat wildlife sighting, a mink scavenging the shoreline, who stopped to check us out!  We eventually tried a couple of other spots, but the wind had picked up to what seemed a gale, so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Big Reds

I was launching my boat, The Anglers Mark, this afternoon at Goffinsville Park when my longtime buddies Charlie Jones and Leon Freeman cruised by after a morning of fishing the Backcountry of Amelia Island.  They reported that they had fished the incoming tide since 7am at Bubblegum Reef, just beyond the drop off and had caught a mess of about 15 rat Reds, along with a number of slot and overside Big Reds.  They're shown here with their limit of slot Reds and a nice Black Drum which were biting, too.  Charlie and Leon reported that the bite has been on fire for the last 3 weeks.  Hey!  I know it's cold, but dress warm and plan to get out there...the fish are biting!

Overcast, Misty and Redfish Catch'n!

Felecia Gant and her friend Pandra were visiting Amelia Island from South Carolina along with Felecia's brother Ron Gant, in from Rhode Island.   They had scheduled a couple of days of fishing on The Anglers Mark so we met Friday at 1pm at the Atlantic Seafood dock.  It was somewhat cool, the skies were overcast and every once in a while we had a light rain, but this anglers were not to be deterred!  We eased out of the harbor with a falling tide and water temperatures around 49 degrees to hit our first spot, some exposed oyster beds near the mouth of Tiger Island.  Felecia was tossing a jig and live shrimp combo, Pandra had a jig and Ghost Grey Trigger X artificial shrimp, and Ron was fishing with a new Parker bait curly tail grub.  The anglers unlimbered their casting at the first few stops then we headed to Tiger Island to troll the log strewn bank.  We hadn't gone too far when Pandra had a hit, the drag ripped, and the fish was off, so we held the boat in place and all anglers cast to the barnacle encrusted branches of a downed tree.
Pandra again had a hookup and this time she set the hook and the fight was on!  She fought fish expertly and soon the feisty Redfish was brought to a waiting net.  From then on, the anglers soon found that by casting their baits right up to the branches would produce a strike, some almost as soon as they reached the bottom.  Felecia caught her share of Redfish and Ron joined in, too.  We estimated that their take was around 17 Redfish, all from the one spot!  The tide was about to start in so we cranked the big engine and headed over to the docks at Lanceford Creek.  After anchoring the anglers made their pitches to the base of the dock pilings and soon were rewarded with more hookups, aggressive Redfish fighting all the way to the boat.  They added 7-8 more fish to their total, but with the sun heading down and the temperature dropping we decided to head back in, counting it as another great day to be out on the water!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Redfish School'in

I had a report called in from two buddies, Leon and Charlie, who fished the Horsehead area today.  They got out late morning and began fishing the first of an incoming tide.  We had a very sunny day today, but the water temperature was still holding at 49 degrees.  They ended up anchoring at Bubblegum Reef and fished deep to  catch their limit of slot Redfish.  Charlie said they started off catching Rat reds but they soon began to pick up fish in the slot (18"-27") and even had a few over the slot.  Leon guessed that they caught around 30 fish and could have had 70 if they'd have stayed longer.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Cold December adds to 2010 manatee death toll




For immediate release: January 5, 2011


Contact: Carli Segelson, 727-896-8626
Cold December adds to 2010 manatee death toll

Two periods of unusually cold weather in 2010 contributed to the number of manatee deaths for the year being more than double the yearly average of the past five years. Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) documented 767 manatee carcasses in state waters in 2010.
The cold weather in Florida caused many of these deaths, with the “cold-stress” category accounting for 279 documented cases. Of these cold-related deaths, 244 occurred in the early part of the year and 35 occurred in December. Cold stress also contributed to the deaths of 21 of the 96 manatees in the “perinatal” or “newborn” category. In addition, it is likely the cold temperatures contributed to many of the 214 deaths in the “undetermined” category and the 68 deaths in the “unrecovered” category.

“The unusually high number of manatee deaths in 2010, including those caused by the two periods of cold weather, are of concern to the FWC,” said FWRI Director Gil McRae. “Over the next few years, the FWC will be relying heavily on monitoring programs to better understand any long-term implications for the manatee population. In the meantime, we will continue to work with our partners to enhance the availability of natural warm-water sites and to rescue manatees in distress.”
FWC researchers, managers and law enforcement staff work closely together to evaluate mortality data and identify necessary actions. Managers focus on actions that can reduce risks to manatees and protect foraging and warm-water habitats. The FWC’s Division of Law Enforcement, in cooperation with partner agencies, uses knowledge of local boating habits, well-posted speed zones and up-to-date manatee information as part of its on-the-water enforcement operations. Informing boaters about manatee conservation and enforcing manatee-protection zones is a priority for the FWC.

To learn more about manatee conservation, go to MyFWC.com/Manatee. To view the 2010 preliminary mortality numbers as well as a Web article detailing the cold-related manatee die-off in early 2010, visit http://research.MyFWC.com/manatee and click on “Manatee Mortality Statistics.”

Florida residents can help manatees by purchasing the manatee specialty license plate, available at county tax collectors’ offices. The funds collected for these plates go directly to manatee research and conservation.

To report a dead or distressed manatee, call the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).