The weatherman said today was going to be a perfect 10 and he nailed it! I met tom Teasdale and his friend Justin Crandall at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 1pm to take advantage of a falling afternoon tide and we headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the back country on a beautiful Amelia Island afternoonI had planned to fish some docks but I guess some of the local anglers had taken the day off because they were out in full force! We made a detour to fish some flooded oyster beds but had no real bites so we headed north to fish the Tiger Islands. This turned out to be the trick because Tom and Justin began to pick up some fish. We found the Trout down deep and by fishing a shrimp or mud minnow slowly we could entice them to bite. Justin knocked the skunk off the boat by landing a couple of Seatrout then Tom got in on th action. Justin countered with a feisty Redfish but when Tom had a strong hookup I thought, "Big Red", and the fight was on. He played the big fish patiently but when it finally came to the surface we saw stripes, and landed a nice Sheepshead! The anglers continued to fish the area, picked up more Trout and then Justin landed a sizable Sheepshead, too. More Reds were caught, more Trout were caught, and a couple of feisty Sheepshead, then Tom had another strong hookup and I thought, "Big Red". But no, this time it was a sizable Puppy Drum! The anglers caught fish until they ran out of bait then switched to artificial Temptation Baits and landed a few more fish. The water was slick as a pond, the skies were clear, and the sun was going down when we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
There was a small window between the winds earlier in the week and the rain that was to come Saturday evening so when I met Anne and Bob Owensby down at the Marina ramp under cloudy skies we realized that we had a perfect day to get out fishing on Amelia Island's back waters. We headed north to fish the outgoing tide with float rigs and live shrimp and when Anne hooked up with a fish early I thought that surely we'd be in the fish for a Trout catch'n good time. But it must have been a lone fish because for the next two hours both Bob and Anne fished and fished but had no real bites. OUCH! But the great thing about these two
anglers was that they were out to have a good time and were enjoying the outing. We made our 5th stop of the morning behind Tiger Island as the tide had dropped enough to see the logs. We'd switched to jigs and shrimp which Bob was expertly casting to the base of the logs and tree branches and BOOM! FISH ON! I knew that this fish was big because the rod was bent over, the drag was ripping and all Bob could do was hang on! He played the fish patiently and after a while it rolled to the surface and wave a big 'ole red tail at us - a BIG Redfish! Bob
worked the fish closer and closer to the boat and we eventually netted an oversized 30 1/2" Red! Boy what a fish! Bob and Anne's perseverance had paid off. We continued to fish the area and the bite picked up. The anglers landed 4-5 feisty Redfish, 7-8 hungry Seatrout with three of them being of keeper sized and then they wrapped up the trip with an Amelia Island Backcountry Slam by landing a very nice keeper sized Sheepshead. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
Boy what a beautiful day we had today! I had met Kay and Dale Bullard at the southend boat ramp at Big Talbot Island Park this morning, a little later due to the high tide - and we even waited a little longer because the parking lot was flooded. But once it receded we launched and headed north up to the Horsehead area to fish the first of the outgoing tide with float rigs and live shrimp. The water was very still and it was almost like bream fishing with bobbers on a lake - except they weren't biting! But these anglers were persistent and it paid off. They picked up a feisty Bluefish then a little later we switched to a jig and shrimp and as Kay perfected her cast she picked up a nice Seatrout along the banks of Jackstaff. We made a second swipe and when Kay thought she had hung on an oyster she applied some pressure but the drag began to rip! FISH ON! And what a fish it was! She played the fish perfectly and when this wiley fish found a crab trap rope to wrapt itself around we deftly repositioned and the fight was back on! When the big fish came to the surface Dale commented that "it looked like a manhole cover"! I had thought that it may be a big Redfish but when I saw the stripes I knew that it was a huge Sheepshead. Kay worked the big fish to the net and landed the big 23 3/4" fish. All of our hearts were pumping after this fish fight! This fish put Kay into first place in the 2013 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament and set a new record for The Anglers Mark! (Scroll down right side of this report for standings) We it a couple of spots in the Nassau River then headed over to Broward Island where both Dale and Kay had good hookkups with feisty Redfish and we also picked up another Trout. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
Hooray! Today was the first day in over a week that we didn't have double digit winds! I had met the Wasserman family - Michael and Ali along with their two kids Annie and Corie, down at the City marina for an early morning Amelia Island back country fishing trip. We headed north with only a slight breeze, but overcast skies and made our first stop outside Tiger Island at "Manatee Creek" to fish with live shrimp under floats. We had no bites there and across the creek so we moved on up into the creek as the high tide finally started to come out of the marsh grass. After not getting any real bites we moved back around to the front side of Tiger and even though we only had one "bait stealer", I could see that some fish were beginning to get active. We made our last stop as the tide began to really move out and the fishing heated up! Young Annie hooked up and boated a feisty Redfish, then landed another shortly after. Corey had a hookup and the two young anglers began to "double team" the fish with one holding the rod and the other reeling! They worked out a great system and landed fish after fish from their secret spot. Then dad Michael got in on the action and picked up a few hungry Seatrout then began to pickup Redfish, too. Ali was snapping pictures of the fishing team as the action continued. Corey reeled in a nice Flounder to round out the family's Amelia Island Back Country Slam and they all stayed busy fishing up until the last minute. I had told the kids that they should always tell the truth but it was sometimes OK to fudge the truth in fishing so when Corey announced that they had caught 1000 fish we all had a good laugh! With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
After getting in a great Friday morning fishing trip I also had the opportunity to get out that afternoon, too. I met Doug and Joan Paul along with their college age son Lawder at the Atltantic Seafood dock down at the City marina just after lunch and with the wind whipping whitecaps we eased out of the marina. These Connecticut anglers were game as we crossed the river to the safety of the marsh and eased in behind a land mass to get in some jig and shrimp fishing on the first of an imcoming tide. It was still a little windier than the morning trip but we made the best of it and the anglers began to hookup. Lawder "got the skunk off the boat" first by landing a very nice Flounder then they all joined in catching feisty Redfish. We hit a couple of other spots but they were all buffeted by the wind so we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
Fat from yesterday's Thanksgiving meal(s), we decided to get in some Amelia Island back country fishing Friday morning. I had met Matt Block and his sons Dempsey, Copeland and Hunter down at the Atlantic Seafood dock and with a pretty good breeze blowing we headed north to fish the Tiger Islands. I had thought we'd get in some float fishing but as we entered Tiger Basin I saw that the oysters were well exposed on the outoing tide so we went with the jig and shrimp combo. And boy was the fishing on fire! These young anglers didn't waste any time putting fish in the boat, almost one after the other. They landed umpteen Redfish with at least three going 23", 24" and 25" and probably had a few others in the slot. Copeland had the biggest Red while Dempsey put the most in the boat. Hunter added a very large Flounder and caught a nice fat Trout, too. The Block brothers had what I'd call an "Amelia Island Grand Slam" by landing Redfish, Seatrout, Sheepshead and Flounder. We had a great time catching fish and headed then headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
That's what Patrick Verner's dad used to say when he needed to get out of the house and go fishing. That was our plan yesterday when I met Patrick and his wife Michele down at the marina to get out into Amelia Island's back waters for an afternoon of light tackle fishing. Patrick and Michelle were visiting Amelia Island from the Orlando area and staying at the Elizabeth Pointe Lodge to celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary and knew of no better way to top the weekend off than to get out on the water and "wet a line". We had somewhat of a breeze out of the north east so I headed up to Tiger Island to have the land mass block the wind but when we rounded the island there were at least 3 boats fishing the area, maybe even 4. I knew that there was a Trout Tournament going on and knew that there would be more boats than the usual weekend traffic. Nevertheless, we found a spot to squeeze in and set out to toss some live shrimp on a jig to the shoreline. Our first cast was up near some logs and as Michele worked it back slowly, BOOM! FISH ON! And a big fish it was! She played the fish patiently and after a long battle, landed a nice 24" Slot Red! From then and about 2 1/2 hours it was FISH ON! FISH ON! The couple caught and landed at least 9 Slot sized Redfish, more than we could count undersized Redfish, a good handful of Seatrout of which at least one was keeper sized, and then Michele rounded out her personal Amelia Island Backcountry Slam by boating a 14" Flounder. (IF we had been in the Tournament, Michele could have entered her catch in the Slam category). Crazy. That's what we were all saying about the fishing trip. Just Crazy. With only about 45 minutes to go before sundown, we headed around to the outside of Tiger and set up behind an oyster bed and immediately began to catch fish on float rigs and live shrimp. Here, Patrick had the hot rod as he boated Seatrout after Seatrout with three being keeper sized to 17". He also had a feisty Redfish which we hoped was going to be a Big Seatrout then he hooked up with something even bigger, FISH ON! He played this fish perfectly and patiently and eventually landed another big Slot Red, measuring in at 24". Crazy. Just Crazy. We headed in as the sun was going down, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
Jacksonville Florida resident Mike Kaiser had set up an Amelia Island back country fishing trip for yesterday morning with his daughter Kathryn so I met them at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 8am to fish the first of an outgoing tide. We headed north to fish the flooded oyster beds outside of Tiger Island with live shrimp under float rigs. Good for me that Mike and Kathryn were patient anglers because the water was still way up in the grass and we had no real bites at the first areas we fished. But we were treated to the procession of a submarine leaving Kings Bay and heading out to the ocean. We eventually made run up to the Jolley River and found a nice marsh runout to fish. Mike hooked up with a nice hungry Seatrout then Kathryn followed it up with one of her own. We fished Snook Creek with no luck then headed back to fish Jolley Bank. I switched the two to jigs/shrimp even though the oysters were still covered but these two worked the rig perfectly and both landed some feisty Redfish. Our last stop was at Tiger Island and here the anglers patience paid off. Kathryn had the hot rod, landing a number of Redfish, Seatrout and a Sheepshead to round out her very own Amelia Island Backcountry Slam, and Mike got his too, by picking up a Flounder along with Reds and Trout. It was a beautiful morning and a great day to be fishing out on Amelia Island waters! Can you find the raccoon in one of the pictures?
Jay Bogdan was in town for work and we squeezed in a super early Amelia Island back country fishing trip this morning. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and launched the boat with a high tide pushing water up into the parking lot. After running north up the Amelia River we eased off into Jackstaff and tossed a topwater lure with no luck. We moved on up into the marsh, switched to live shrimp under a float and began to fish the flooded marsh grass. We found a nice run out to fish and Jay began to hookup with hungry, hard fighting Seatrout. He landed 5-6 in a nice flurry then as the bite slowed we moved on to fish a bank with the oysters beginning to show. Jay commented it was his 3rd cast with a jig/shrimp combo and something bumped his bait then bit it hard, FISH ON! This fish bulled down deep then rolled at the top, nd I knew it was a big Redfish! Then the line went slack. OUCH! Fish Off? Nope, he was running right at us! Jay quickly reeled up the slack and he was back in action, keeping the pressure on the big fish. We battled the fish down the creek with Jay going from bow to stern to midship to stern and back to midship before we landed the big 32 1/4" Redfish! Boy what a fish fight! This fish placed Jay in 3rd place in The Anglers Mark 2013 Bragging Rights Tournament(scroll down right side of this report for standings). We continued to fish the bank and it's runouts, had a few nibbles, then called it a day, another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!
We had a very nice day forecastd today, except for the wind. I'd set up a morning trip with Kent Hendershot and his friends Nick and Mark and we met at the Atlantic Seafood dock. They were staying at the Addison on Amelia, just a short walk to the marina. It was already blowing but there were clear skies so we decided to give it a shot. And a shot it was, almost like one of those Red Bull's! We headed up Bell River to fish some dock pilings and after turning The Anglers Mark into the current and wind, the anglers began to cast a jig/shrimp combo up to the pilings and an adjacent oyster bed on an incoming tide. It wasn't long before the fun started! All three anglers began to get hookup after hookup. I had pruchased 6-7 dozen live hrimp this morning and we were going through them like wildfire. Redfish, Seatrout, Black "puppy" Drum, and Sheepshead were caight, one after another. In an hour and half time iI guestimate these anglers landed 30-40 fish! They weren't real big -only about 4 were "keeper" sized (and all were thrown back), but they were real aggressive and fun to catch. However, the wind changed directions and picked up and the party was over. WE tried one more spot but it was just too difficlult to fish so we all agreed it was time to head in and count it as another great morning to be fishing Amelia Island!
The weatherman said today was going to be a perfect 10 and he nailed it! I met tom Teasdale and his friend Justin Crandall at the Atlantic Seafood dock at 1pm to take advantage of a falling afternoon tide and we headed up Lanceford Creek to fish the back country on a beautiful Amelia Island afternoonI had planned to fish some docks but I guess some of the local anglers had taken the day off because they were out in full force! We made a detour to fish some flooded oyster beds but had no real bites so we headed north to fish the Tiger Islands. This turned out to be the trick because Tom and Justin began to pick up some fish. We found the Trout down deep and by fishing a shrimp or mud minnow slowly we could entice them to bite. Justin knocked the skunk off the boat by landing a couple of Seatrout then Tom got in on th action. Justin countered with a feisty Redfish but when Tom had a strong hookup I thought, "Big Red", and the fight was on. He played the big fish patiently but when it finally came to the surface we saw stripes, and landed a nice Sheepshead! The anglers continued to fish the area, picked up more Trout and then Justin landed a sizable Sheepshead, too. More Reds were caught, more Trout were caught, and a couple of feisty Sheepshead, then Tom had another strong hookup and I thought, "Big Red". But no, this time it was a sizable Puppy Drum! The anglers caught fish until they ran out of bait then switched to artificial Temptation Baits and landed a few more fish. The water was slick as a pond, the skies were clear, and the sun was going down when we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!
