Shawn's Bank the Hot Ticket

I had a trip set  up today by Capt. Scott Stewart, fishing out of Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina, with a group here during a conference/business meeting.  We left the marina with Scott and Keli Backes and their friend Shawn and headed straight up to the Jolley River to fish the first of an outgoing tide.  The anglers were tossing live shrimp under floats and after a short while Keli had a strong hookup, FISH ON!  And boy what a fight the fish put up.  It ran strong and hard, away from shore, out from the bank, then dove deep. But Keli kept the pressure on and eventually subdued the beast - a 34" Bonnethead Shark!  Boy, that will wake you up!  We continued to fish and Scott's rod got hot. He landed a fat Seatrout and a feisty Redfish. We fished on up into a creek, then moved around to the MOA but had not luck at either.  Our next stop was back at Jolley Bank, now renamed Shawn's Bank because we hadn't fished long before Shawn started putting fish into the boat.  He started with a high jumping Ladyfish - the "poor man's Tarpon", then had a Jack Crevalle.  He made another cast to the bank and the minute his jig and shrimp hit the bottom, BOOM!  FISH ON!  He worked the fish patiently and eventually we landed a nice 18.5"  Slot Redfish!  Then all the anglers heated up, catching more Jack's, a Bluefish, a Whiting, another Redfish or two, and a handful of Seatrout.  We worked the bank, catching fish, hit one more spot, then called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Patience and Perseverance

That could have been our nicknames today.  And a beautiful day it was!  I had met Chet Johnston down at the City marina this morning with plans to fish the back waters of Amelia Island.  We headed up to the Jolley River to fish an outgoing tide with the oysters already fully exposed.  Chet started off with a float rig and live shrimp and after fishing 40 feet or so, had his float disappear and FISH ON!  He fought and landed a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  But for another 30-40 minutes we had no fish, even though we had a few good bites.
We ran to Jolley Bank and fished it with jigs and shrimp and after fishing for  awhile, Chet landed a feisty Redfish.  So we were getting a fish here and there but it wasn't like we were overheating our reel drags! Our next stop was at Tiger logs and here the drags heated up!  Chet found his own Sheepshead hole, pulling out a couple of small ones then landed a couple of keeper sized ones.  We eased up the bank and got into some Flounder, again landing a couple of small ones and then a couple of keeper sized ones -one being 16.5" which put Chet at the top of the leaderboard in the Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder category. Scroll down the right side of this report for standings.   With a Trout, Redfish, Sheepshead and Flounder, Chet already had his Amelia Island Back Country Grande Slam - but then he landed a hungry Puppy Drum to make it a "Super Grande Slam"!  We put two Jack Crevalle in the boat and a nice whiting, too.  Then Chet hooked up, the rod bent, and his drag ripped - another nice FISH ON!  He played the fish patiently and when it headed to some downed limbs, pulled it out and away.  After a good battle we netted a nice 25" Slot Redfish!  We found another keeper sized Seatrout then headed over to Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings.  Here, Chet added another keeper sized Seatrout and caught, landed and released a handful of feisty Redfish.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Swamp Life

I fished again today with Cathy Case and her cousin Julie, but this time we went off island to launch at Nassau Landing and run way back up in the swamps of Boggy Creek.  This was an all fly fishing day and we couldn't have asked for a better one.  There was clear skies, balmy temperatures, and just a slight enough breeze to keep any bugs away.  We got far enough up the creek to get into fresh water and cypress trees and Cathy began tossing an 8w with a popping bug.  She had a couple of rolls at it, switched then switched to a 5w with a popping bug and picked up a beautiful Red Belly.  We tried a number of flies and had a couple of hookups on a leach type fly.  Another Red Breast was caught on a popping bug then Cathy had a strong hookup on a 7w with the leach pattern.  This 22" fish put up a good fight and at first we thought it was a Catfish but when we got it in the boat we saw that it wasn't.  I had to do some research but it looks like a Mudfish/Bowfin - not the Bass we were looking for but still a good fight on a fly rod. We continued to fish but the sun had gotten up so we called it a day, another great one to be "off island" of Amelia!

Tournament Win(able) Redfish

Another "Chamber of Commerce" day hear at Amelia Island.  You've got to appreciate these outstanding days to get out on Amelia Island's waters to do some back country fishing.  I had met Mike and Christina McGinley down at the Atlantic Seafood dock this morning and we headed up Lanceford Creek to fish some dock pilings on an incoming tide.  I started both anglers off with jigs and Shrimp but when we switched Christina to a float rig and shrimp we were able to find some fish.  She'd let the float drift with the current right up to the pilings and sure enough, Black "puppy" Drum found the offering!  Then Christina hauled in a Slot sized Redfish and when it came out of the water we saw that it was loaded with spots!  The Redfish had 9 spots on one side and 7 on the other for a 16 spot legal Redfish that would have placed in the recent Safe Harbor Boys Home Redfish Spot Tournament!  We then made a run around to Tiger Island where Christina found a Seatrout to round out her own Back Country Slam and Mike tangled with an aggressive Jack Crevalle.  Our next stop was up at Jolley River bank and as the water began to cover the oysters the anglers picked up some nice fish - one time getting a double with Christina  catching another Trout and Mike landing a feisty Redfish.  After adding a couple of more Trout, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

20" Trout on a Fly

We started the week with a beautiful morning -sunshine, no wind and temperatures in the high 60's.  The plan was for Cathy Case and her cousin Julie to meet me at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp and do some back water Amelia Island fishing with an emphasis on fly fishing.  We headed up the Amelia River and ducked into Jackstaff to fish the very first of an incoming tide.  Cathy was at the stern of the boat tossing a shrimp-like fly on an 8w outfit. We worked the whole bank one and half times and even though Cathy had a couple of hits, there were  no takers.  We made a run all the way to Broward Island to catch the incoming tide there but her Cathy switched to an intermediate line with a chartreuse/white Clouser and this paid off.  She had just made an excellent cast to some downed tree limbs, let the fly sink naturally and when she made her first strip, BOOM!  FISH ON! We could tell this was a nice fish but Cathy kept the pressure on, pulling the fish out of the tree limbs.  The fish ran deep, putting a big bow in the 8w Sage but it was no match for Cathy and we soon netted a fat 20" Seatrout!  After measuring and getting pictures we sent this beautiful fish back to the water to be caught another day.  We fished the area for a while, had some "bumps", then switched to bait and jigs for a break.  The moment we switched we began to get bites - Cathy caught a nice feisty Redfish and then hungry Seatrout for her Amelia Island Back Country Slam. She added another Sheepshead and then a fat keeper sized Seatrout before switching back to the fly to fish a nice run out with all kinds of bait action going on.  Sure enough, BOOM!  A fish hit her Gummy Minnow and streaked back up to the mouth of the creek and....FISH OFF!  It was not to be.  But it was all fun, another great time to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Working For Fish

We wrapped the week up today fishing the south end of the island and as predicted, we caught fish but had to work for them.  That's  how it's been all week.  I met Eric and Joanna Oestmann down at the Big Talbot Island Park ramp and headed up the Nassau River to fish the first of an incoming tide at Broward Island.  We were tossing jigs and live shrimp up near the downed logs and soon Eric had a strong hookup.  This fish put up a mighty fight and we we landed it found that it was a nice 19" fat Seatrout!  We worked the bank for an hour or so and picked up another fat Seatrout and a feisty Sheepshead.   We had a couple of ducks taking a bath and preening themselves as we fished.  Our next stop was at Christopher Creek and although the conditions were right the fish weren't biting.  We made a run around into Horsehead, fished a flooded oyster banks and here the action heated back up.  Eric landed another keeper Trout, picked up a few more smaller Trout, a hard fighting Jack Crevalle,  and both anglers had more good bites.  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Moving The Goalposts

We had a early morning fishing trip set  up here at Amelia Island, set up by Mike Raiz who brought along his friends Steve, Bob and Jim.  We left the City marina and headed up to fish the logs of Tiger Island as the tide came in.  I had the anglers tossing jigs and shrimp and it didn't take long for Mike to knock the "skunk off" when he caught a nice keeper sized Seatrout.  A little while later Steve was fishing some downed logs but as his jig got out deep it was picked up and, FISH ON!  This fish was big and I thought surely it was a Redfish as it ripped the drag,

bending rod and heading deep.  But Steve kept the pressure on and when he finally brought it to the surface I confirmed it was Big!  A Redfish?  NO!  It was a the largest Seatrout to date caught on The Anglers Mark this year - a 23.75" sow!  This fish moved the goalposts, putting Steve squarely in the lead of The Anglers Mark 2014 Bragging Rights Tournament -Seatrout Category. (Scroll down right side of this report for standings).  We fished the island a while longer then headed up to Jolley River, this time fishing with live shrimp under floats.  Bob had made an excellent cast to the flooded marsh grass and as it drifted along a fat Trout took the bait.  Bob patiently worked the fish to the boat and the awaiting net.  We continued to fish Jolley, hitting a few spots, then headed over to the Bell River to wrap the day up, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!

Big Fish On

Another beautiful day greeted us this morning down at the City marina when I met Rachel Longcrier, Marcus, Patrick and Ashley for a day of Amelia Island back country fishing.  We headed up to the Jolley River to fish the very first of an outgoing tide using live shrimp and minnows under a float rig.  We had only been fishing short while when Rachel had a hookup and landed a nice hungry Seatrout.  But just after that Patrick too had a hookup and his was a nice 18" Trout of legal size.  We continued to fish Jolley Bank, had a few nibbles, but no takers so we headed further up the river.  The water was draining out of the marsh and at the outflows were where the anglers were getting bites.  Ashley got in on the action and landed a nice Seatrout.  All the anglers were making good casts to the marsh line but Patrick's happened to be at the right spot at the right time.  When his float disappeared and the rod bent double we knew he had a big fish, FISH ON!  He played the big fish patiently as it made deep run after deep run but Patrick kept the pressure on and after a good battle landed a 26.75"  "Tournament Redfish" - it'd have been a great one to enter into a Redfish Tournament!  Boy what a fish!  We continued to fish the area and later Patrick put another keeper sized Trout in the boat, caught on a jig and minnow fished deep.  We made a last run to Tiger Island logs where both Patrick and Marcus had good hookups then Ashley hooked up and landed a hungry Flounder to round out the anglers Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Flounder. With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters.

Nice Slot Red Makes the Day

Repeat customer Charles Butler was home from Afghanistan and treated his two sons -Trey and Trenton -  to a morning of Amelia Island back country fishing today and he couldn't have picked a better day.  We went a little later due to an early high tide and headed up to Jolley River to fish an flooded oyster bank.  Although the conditions were perfect, the anglers had no real bites.  We ran further up the river and this did the trick.  We hadn't been fishing long when Charles tossed his live shrimp under a float up to a marsh run out and the float disappeared!  He played the feisty fish perfectly and landed a nice Redfish.  Shortly after that he put a hungry Seatrout in the boat.  Then he had a bite and had his shrimp robbed but then Trey had a good bite.  This fish bent his rod over and made the drag on the reel sing, FISH ON!  He worked the fish patiently to the boat and eventually landed a nice Slot 25.5" Redfish!  The same scenario happened shortly after that with Charles getting a nibble, then Trey hooking up with a nice fish!  He landed another Slot Red, this one 18.25" and we let the FWC officer measure this one as he had just pulled up as we were landing the fish!  He was legal!  Trenton got in on the action and caught another feisty Redfish.  The anglers picked up a couple of more fish then we made a run to Bell River where Charles put a handsized Sheepshead in the boat and Trenton landed a Croaker.  Then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be out on Amelia Island waters!

First Shark of the Year

I fished this morning with Keith McFadden and his friend Tammy, meeting them down at the Big Talbot Island Park boat ramp early this  morning.  There was a little bit more breeze than I expected but it did keep the gnats (no-see-ums) off of us when we made our first stop up Jackstaff.  The duo were tossing live shrimp  under floats and had a few nibbles then Keith landed a keeper sized Whiting.  But when Tammy's float began to bob we thought it'd be another Whiting or maybe a Trout.  But it finally went under and when she tightened down on her line we realized it was a BIG fish!  FISH ON!  She fought the fish around the boat, from starboard to port and back again.  I was thinking Redfish but it never boiled up and stayed deep.  Tammy worked the fish patiently and after a good battle we saw that it was 3 1/2' Bonnethead Shark.  After landing the beast and getting pictures we tossed it back to be caught another day.  We fished Jackstaff Bank where Keith landed not one, but two keeper sized Flounder and a Seatrout.  We made a run around to Nassau River to fish the Twin Creeks but had no real bites then we ran up to Broward Island.  Boy, the wind had picked up out of the South and with the current running even harder it made the fishing tough.  But these anglers were game and managed to pull two Redfish and a Sheepshead out of the logs, rounding out their Amelia Island Back Country Grand Slam of Flounder, Seatrout, Redfish and Sheepshead. But they weren't done!  We made one last stop at some docks at Seymore's Pointe and Keith added to the pot by hooking up and landing a feisty Black Drum.  I guess that made it a "Super Grand Slam"!  With that, we called it a day, another great one to be out on Amelia Island waters!