Saturday, September 25, 2021
Quick Start With The Trout
some nibbles. Although we had had some good action early, the fish must have decided to go in and watch some football! But it was a beautiful day and as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Feeling the Chill
high flying Ladyfish and then Robyn hooked up and expertly reeled in a feisty Redfish.
We then moved back up the creek, dipped in to Soap Creek and fished a stretch of grass, to no avail. After a brief run back to Bell River we laid parallel to some more marsh and again, we found some Trout. The tide was almost at it's peak so we buzzed thru Tyger and around to the outside and just as we settled in we we felt the tide change. Bait was streaming by and was getting busted so we drifted out baits right along with it. Greg and Robyn caught Seatrout, a handful of Blues, Ladyfish, and a feisty Black "puppy" Drum.
The sun had come out, the skies had cleared and I was able to take the fleece off! As we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Big Fish Battles
We worked that drainage for a bit, caught and landed a couple of high flying Ladyfish, then picked up and moved down to Spanish Drop and fished that edge. We thought we had had a big fish on until Mike's float disappeared and his drag began to rip and the big fish headed south - Fish On! Mike battled it past the trolling motor, down the starboard side and then back and forth around the engine. When he finally brought it to the surface we saw that it was a big 4' Bonnethead Shark, too big for the net. Mike had the fish alongside the boat and I grabbed it by the dorsal. They usually go limp but this fish was still "green" and I had to let 'em go and, BAP! fish off! But Mike wasn't deterred - shortly after that he had another strong bite, a big battle, and this time the fish was ready to come in for a photograph!
Our next stop was down at Pumpkin Hill, drifting a stretch of grass. The duo of anglers had a good many bites then it was Paul's turn for the "big fish battle". He had a made a long drift, up near the grass and when his float disappeared Paul quickly took up the slack, lifted his rod and set the hook and, another Big Fish On! We were speculating what it was - it didn't run deep like a Shark, but it was ripping drag and running out from the bank then back towards it. Paul was patient and slowly worked it in and eventually landed a huge Jack Crevalle, boy what a battle!We had one more big fish in that area. I lost a $1.00 (I'm actually in debt a $1.00) - I felt certain the way the fish was hanging at the grass line it was going to be a nice slot Red. Even when I saw it flash I knew it wasn't a Shark or Jack and thought I had that $1.00 in hand, but as Paul brought it closer we saw it was a...........big 'ole Gar Fish! Ouch.
Our final stop was back at Nassauville where we tried our handat catching some Mangrove Snapper, first with float rigs (we got a couple of small ones), then with the jig and shrimp on the bottom where we caught a handful and at least two of them were very nice, just over 12", but again, released. We had had some good action and battled some big fish so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
The Big Trifecta
I had met William and Dara Blalock out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early - the cloudy skies covered up the sunrise, but as we left the dock there was a pretty neat Moon Set. We headed over to Athens Drop and began easing along the marsh grass tossing float rigs and live shrimp on a high and incoming tide. We had good action, just not the action we wanted. Dara forgot to "take the trash out" to the can because that's what we caught for the first hour or so -trash: hard fighting Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, and even a Catfish. We fished a couple of marsh run outs and did pick up one nice Seatrout.
After a short run down to Pumpkin Hill and setting up bow into the current, the duo of anglers began drifting their floats along the marsh grass and it wasn't long before both were into some fish. They caught a good handful of small but hungry Seatrout, maybe one or two that they could have kept, but didn't, then Dara's float disappeared with a vengeance and, Big Fish On! This fish was heading to Jacksonville and...William had a hookup, and another Big Fish On! The two did the tango, ducking under each other, passing their rods around each other, dipping around the engine, and both stayed hooked up. William brought his to the net first and landed a big Jack Crevalle, then Dara subdued hers and landed a big Oversized 30.5" Redfish, boy what a fish!
We fished that stretch for a while and caught a few more Trout and Ladyfish and a small but feisty Redfish. William had gone up just past a point of grass and BOOM! Float Gone. William kept the pressure on and had his drag singing. He and I both were thinking "Slot Redfish" but then we saw the big fish roll at the surface and realized it was a huge Seatrout! William patiently worked it to the net and landed a big 23.5" Seatrout, a fish big enough to land him in 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout Category. (scroll down the right side of this report for a link to standings).After moving around the point and fishing a grassy
island and short stretch where we picked up a few more Seatrout, we were down to just a dozen live shrimp and decided to make the short run back to Nassauville where we set up between two docks and pitched jigs and shrimp. Just like we thought, there were some Mangrove Snapper there and the couple boated a few of keeper size for "Fish Tacos" later. Then Dara made an excellent cast up to the base of the rocks, felt the "bump", set the hook and, Fish On! She was real patient easing that big fish up from the bottom, brought it to the net slowly, and landed huge 22.5" Flounder, a fish big enough to land her in 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report for a link to standings). And with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.Monday, September 20, 2021
Fall Back Plan
All three anglers were getting good casts and good drifts and had some bites - George picked up a couple of high flying Ladyfish and then outsmarted some sneaky baitstealing Perch. Matt did have something take his bait, take his hook, and keep going - probably a Shark. We tried to come back to the outside of Tyger but there were some serious rain storms inching in from the coast so we came back thru Tyger, down the Bell, passed a couple of river Shrimpers in Lanceford, and then cut in to Soap Creek, thinking the tide would have started out by now.
Nope, it was still coming in and it was high! Strike Two.
We fished Soap to no avail, other than bait stealers, then moved on up into Lanceford and fished a grassy island and a bulkhead, with no luck, then we made the decision to make a long run down to Nassauville, with Rally Caps turned, and try our hand with the Mangrove Snappers. The Rally Caps worked! As always, it's a challenge to catch those critters but it does hone your "set" skills! But Matt started it off with a 12" Grouper catch! Then we went thru the 2lbs of shrimp, playing Cat-and-Mouse with the Snapper, landed a bunch, and ended up keeping a good handful to 12 1/2". Although we had to work for them, the rain had held off, we had a father/son/granddad fishing, so we counted it as another great day to be out on the water at here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Thursday, September 16, 2021
It Just Got Better
We head a really nice day this morning- there was just a slight breeze and we had a cloud cover for the whole day. The rain showers stayed off to the north of us and it made for a very pleasant day of fishing. I had met Paul Genn and his fishing buddy Jim out at the Goffinsville Park as the sun was coming up and we made the short trip over to the mouth of Pumpkin Hill to fish the first of an outgoing tide with float rigs and live shrimp. We eased along the bank, tossing forward and picked up a couple of small but hungry Seatrout and a nice feisty Redfish. We also did battle with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle. Our next stop was back at the Spanish Drop area, fishing the mouth of Twin Creeks. It only took a cast or two and BAM! Jim had a hookup. This fish was digging deep, came under the boat, and headed down the river and I felt sure it was a Shark. Wrong. Luckily, Jim played it patiently, worked it up to the surface and to the boat and landed a big Oversized 30" Redfish! Boy what a fish. We did then catch a
couple of Bonnethead Sharks.
After easing down the river and fishing another marsh runout, to no avail, we moved further down and fished another. This did the trick. The tide was down a bit and we were able to fish jigs and shrimp and mud minnows. The Duo picked up a handful of small but feisty Redfish then Jim put a nice 23" Slot Red in the boat. We also had a couple of Catfish and a small Jack.
Our last stop was over at some docks at Nassauville with plans to finish the day out catching Mangrove Snapper. Although we did pick up a handful of keeper sized Mangroves, the highlight was Jim's 17" Black "puippy" Drum and then the third big Flounder of the week, one that measured right at 23.25". What a way to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida!
Monday, September 13, 2021
A Good Day For Flounder...and snapper
Michael had gotten in to the groove and was making excellent casts and when he felt a strange "bump" he set the hook and brought to the boat and big 18" Flounder. We worked along that edge, picked up a small Redfish or two, tangled with some Ladyfish, Jack Crevalle, and a Stingray, then moved on up the
river.Here, Tony went to the edge of a mud flat with a cast and BAM, another keeper sized Flounder in the boat. Michael was sticking right there with him, went to a drainage and he too brought another keeper Flounder to the box. The tide hit bottom and turned back in so we made the run over to Seymore's Pointe where we switched to jigs and shrimp, tossed up to some rocks. All three anglers put some Mangrove Snapper in the boat, with a couple of them being of keeper size. We then ran down to Broward Island and fished a nice drainage under the watchful eye of a couple of Bald Eagles. I think that was the only spot we didn't catch a fish!
After moving up the way and setting up parallel to the bank we stayed with the jigs and it paid off. Tony hooked up and landed a few nice 12" Mangrove Snapper. We also had a small Sheepshead and a couple of smaller Snapper. We then made the run back to Nassauville and fished between some docks. Here, the catching was fast and furious. Although it was a challenge to get those Mangrove's on a hook, they did it and added another good handful to the box, with Daniel, persevering, landing the last keeper. Tony had made a good cast up near rocks and BAM! He had a bump the minute it hit bottom. Tony set the hook and played to the boat a big 22.25" Flounder - a fish big enough to move him into third place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). I think we added one more keeper Flounder to make the total of six, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing with friends here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
In Search Of Flounder
Yesterday we were just trying to catch a fish and ended up catching two nice Flounder. Today we had a special request to catch a Flounder and it was nip and tuck there for a while! I had met the Mitchell family - Ryan and Christina and their two children Lucy and Ryan IV out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp with a tide that still had about an hour or so of going out. We headed down to the Spanish Drop area and set up at a large outflow and began tossing jigs and shrimp. It wasn't long before these anglers were catching fish. (Most of the time the adults did the casting and catching but then handed them off to the First and Second Mate to do the reeling in). We had a string of "junk" fish, but fun to catch - Ladyfish and Jack Crevalle.When the tide changed we moved down the bank a bit and began fishing
some exposed oyster shell and sure enough, we had some good bites. Both Ryan and Christina reeled in a couple of feisty Redfish. Ryan picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout then they landed a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum to tally an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Drum.
We followed the tide in and ran around to Broward Island, fishing deeper with the jigs, and picked up some rather large Mangrove Snapper then a couple of more small Red's. Then Ryan had a "bump", hooked it up, and worked to the boat. Sheepshead to notch the "Grande Slam". After moving down the island we fished a small bend and here, after a long wait, Christina got her Flounder - a Super Grand Slam!
We finished the day back at Nassauville catching Mangrove Snapper and got enough for the family to take home and make some Snapper Taco's, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.Saturday, September 11, 2021
Welcome Mat
Our next stop was down at Broward Island on the first of an incoming tide. Both Carron and Steve caught and landed a feisty Red, then Steve had a strong hookup and the battle was joined! This fish was ripping drag and making those deep digs and we felt sure it was an ice Redfish, but then it wrapped itself on a submerged log and the line went tight. But Steve was up to
We moved down the way, easing underneath a Bald Eagle, then set up fishing. Steve put a couple of small Reds then he pitched up into a cove. He had a hit but not a taker. Then he went back to the same spot and BAM! :He had a hookup. This fish was fighting differently and sure enough, when he brought it to the net, it was very nice 16" Flounder.
After crossing the river se switched to float rigs and tangled with a big Jack Crevalle and an even bigger Bonnethead Shark.We were getting low on bait and low on time but had one more stop left in is. After getting set we these anglers switched back to jigs and shrimp and in no time they were tangling with some Mangrove Snapper. We'd lose 4-5 shrimp then catch a fish and ended up with a good handful of keeper fish. Carron had made an excellent cast off to one side and she said she had a strange bite, and a hookup. She worked it slowly to the boat and Steve was the one that saw a huge maw of a mouth. Carron brought it to the net and landed a huge 23.25" Door Mat of a Flounder! Boy what a fish! And big enough to move her squarely in to 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report to see standings). And what a fish to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.
Friday, September 10, 2021
Recipe Of The Month: Mangrove Snapper Quesadillas
Mangrove
Snapper Quesadilla
(5) Mangrove Snapper = 10 fillets
Bag of vegi-slaw
Remoulade sauce
Jar of Salsa
Sour Cream
Quesadilla rounds
Cajun Seasoning
Shredded Mexican cheese
Butter or olive oil for frying
Clean and check for bones in Snapper filets. Season lightly with Cajun seasoning.
Heat butter or olive oil in cast iron skillet. When hot, fry Snapper filets for a few minutes on each side until done.
Ladle Remoulade sauce down middle of Quesadilla round. Lay
2-3 Snapper filets over Remoulade sauce. Spread sour cream. Layer vegi-slaw. Ladle
Salso. Sprinkle Mexican cheese. Roll up and eat. Have napkin handy.