We Made The Top 50!

Note that the blog Amelia Island Fishing Reports was selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 50 Florida Fishing Blogs on the web. We're #18 and moving up!

If you scroll down the right side of this report you will see that ALL TIME visits to the page is well over 2 million! (It's right under the Waxhead banner) 

Last month alone there were 43,061 visits to the blog. 

And yet, only ONE local advertiser!  

Let me customize your promotion here to those 40,000 visitors.   CLICK HERE for advertising rates.

Old Dog Teaching Tricks

 I wrapped my week up fishing with the Verner boys, Patrick and his sons Bryan and Patrick and grandson
James. We met early down at Sawpit Creek boat ramp and then made a long run up the intracoastal, all the way up to Poteat Point where we set up to fish float rigs on a tide that had only been going out for about an hour. Using live shrimp as bait, the anglers drifted the marsh grass with the current and right off, the younger Patrick had a hook up off the stern - he played it perfectly and soon landed a nice hungry Seatrout. Bryan was on the bow and found a hard fighting Jack Crevalle that he worked to the boat, then he battled an even bigger one - we thought it might be a Redfish, but boy what a fight! Patrick SR fought a high flying Ladyfish to the boat then they teamed up to land a couple of Bluefish. Young James was "coaching them up" up well thought out suggestions.

After fishing across the river for a bit, to no avail, we ran thru Horsehead and then up the Nassau River to a point at Back River and sticking with the floats, we had good drifts, but no takers. Back down the river we came to Twin Creeks and they all switched to jigs. We fished that drainage then eased down to another drainage and here Patrick SR hooked up and landed a keeper sized Flounder. He put another Flounder in the boat, then a Jack Crevalle. After fishing Spanish Drop for a bit, we made the run up to Seymore's Pointe and fished some dock pilings with the jigs. Again, it was Patrick Sr, teaching lessons, who hooked up and landed a nice 17" keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. We fished along those docks and added a Pinfish, a Croaker and a Toad fish to the catch variety. James helped his dad work a couple of those fish in.  Our final stop was around at Nassauville fishing some rocks - we fished floats and jigs, had plenty of bites but no takers, then we headed back to the ramp, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Had To Work For 'Em Today

 We went out of Old Town Bait and Tackle this morning, after meeting Joey Shiver, his son Casey, and son-in-law Brett early for a half day of fishing. We eased out of Eagans Creek then made a run up and around the outside to Tyger. I had all three anglers tossing jigs and live shrimp to a nice drainage in hopes for a Flounder, but all we had were nibbles. (for most of the day I was noting muddy water-it didn't bode well). We eased around to the mouth of the Jolley and worked the "bank" - here the trio of anglers, who were making excellent casts, caught a undersized Flounder then just about everything we didn't want - Pinfish, Croaker, Bluefish, and Catfish.

After running further up the Jolley. we fished another large drainage. Joey couldn't have had a better drift on his first cast, letting his line out and letting it drift closely down the shoreline. Casey and Brett followed him and all had good drifts, but no real bites. We moved up to Snook Creek, worked it with floats for a bit, then switched back to jigs and worked along the now exposed oysters. Casey picked up another nice Bluefish then Joey, fishing deep off the stern had a strong "thump" and after setting the hook, he patiently brough to the net a big 18"+ Seatrout. Finally! A nice fish!

Further up the Jolley we fished a bend in the river and worked along some exposed shell. Again, Pinfish, and Croaker and even a small Sea Bass, then Brett, after tossing to a cut in the oysters had a strong bite and a hookup. He fought it expertly to the boat, let it run, worked it in, and landed a nice 21" 7-spot Redfish. After fishing the MOA for a while, we ran around to Bell River and fished some docks for a bit, then ran back, all the way around to the Tyger logs and worked them. Joey was making that stern work, he hauled in a Flounder, then Casey followed that up with another Flounder. I think that was the last fish of the day. These anglers had to work for the fish they caught today, but we had a few in the box, so as we headed back to the ramp, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Big Redfish In The Rain

 I uncovered the boat this morning in the rain, and it rained from the bait shop down to Sawpit, and it
rained when John Foreman, his son Chase and grandson Nate and I ran up the intracoastal to make our first stop at Poteat Point. It rained for about two hours into the trip, but the fish were biting! I think John's first or second cast produced a nice 17" keeper sized Seatrout (the only one caught today), then Chase had a strong hookup on his float rig with live shrimp, and the battle was on!  And Chase was up to the battle - he played it perfectly, let it run ripping drag, worked it in, let it run and after a good fight landed an Oversized 28" Redfish, boy what a fish. 

We worked that bank good - John hooked up and expertly landed a Slot sized Redfish and the trio caught a handful of smaller Reds. Then Chase was again in for the big battle, and this fish was a BIG! Chase fought it from one side of the boat to the other as it dug deep and headed down river but he turned, it worked it in, and wore it out and eventually landed an even bigger Oversized Redfish, this one measuring 29.25". We crossed the creek and fished that for a bit, then made our way around to Jackstaff "bank" and worked it with jigs and live shrimp. We may have picked up a Catfish or two. 

After running thru Horsehead and down the Nassau to Twin Creeks we stayed with the jigs and fished
there and a few other drainages. Chase picked up another Slot Redfish, Nate landed a feisty Sheepshead, then he and John tag teamed a big 4' Bonnethead Shark.  John had a strange "thump", hooked it up and brought to the net a keeper sized Flounder, then further down the river it was Nate's turn to battle a big Slot Red. He played it perfectly, stuck with it, fought it in, and landed the biggest Slot Redfish of the day. We finished up fishing over at some docks where they caught a couple of Catfish before Chase hauled in the last keeper fish, a nice Flounder. 

We had gotten wet, but caught big fish, and had a good mess in the box so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Flounder Bragging

 We had movement on the Bragging Rights board today - Flounder category. I had met Clint Davidson, his wife Kat, and her father Brian up at the Old Town Bait and Tackle boat ramp early this morning, and after easing out of Eagans Creek and running up to the intracoastal, we pulled in to a small drainage on the outside of Tyger to try our hand at catching some Flounder, and it paid off - after a few casts Brian had a good hookup and landed a nice Flounder.

After moving around to the Jolley River and working along the "bank", Kat had another good "bump", out deep - she set the hook and Fish On! Kat played it perfectly and soon landed a keeper sized Flounder. We worked along there for a bit, then ran further up the Jolley and fished a deep bend with the jigs. Here both Clint and Brian tangled with some hard fighting, deep diving Bonnethead Shark. 

We puttered a short distance away to the MOA and began pitching the jigs. In just a short few minutes Clint was hooked up. This fish was ripping some drag and took Clint from the bow, back to the stern, around from starboard to port, then back up to the bow. He played it expertly and after a good battle landed a nice 19" Slot Redfish. There was plenty of bait movement and a bunch of feeding fish but that was all we caught there. We fished back at Tyger logs, worked it good, then made a long run around to Lanceford Creek.

BM1 produced no fish - the wind and current was not working in our favor. We moved further up the
creek, with minutes to go in the trip and Brian, fishing long with a float had decided to reel in and BAM! Big Fish On!  Brian worked it in slowly, eased it up off the bottom and glided it into the net - a nice 19" Flounder, big enough to move in to first place in the Anglers Mark 2025 Bragging Rights Tournament - Flounder category (scroll down the right side of this report for standings). We had a few fish in the box, had had some decent action throughout the day, so as we headed back to the ramp we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Seatrout Symposium Scheduled

2025 FWC Seatrout Symposium

 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is excited to announce the 2025 Seatrout Symposium, which will take place on August 27th at the Daytona Beach Hilton Oceanfront Resort in Daytona Beach, Florida.

This one-day event will bring together stakeholders, scientists, and fisheries managers for an in-depth look at the spotted seatrout fishery in Florida. Attendees will hear highlights from the newly completed FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute stock assessment for spotted seatrout, explore the critical role of habitat and water quality for this fishery, and share regional insights and perspectives on this popular recreational and commercial species in Florida.

This symposium also marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the management of spotted seatrout. Building on the success of FWC’s holistic management strategies for redfish and snook, the FWC is now exploring a similar approach for spotted seatrout: use multiple metrics to manage on a smaller regional scale.

We invite all interested stakeholders to join the conversation shaping the future of this fishery.

 

Mark Your Calendar – Full Details Coming Soon

Registration instructions, hotel booking information, and full event details will be available soon. In the meantime, please visit MyFWC.com/SeatroutSymposium for the latest updates.

Fishing The NSFA Tournament with High School Buddies

 We've been getting together for about the last 5 years - my High School football teammates and yesterday
we fished the NSFA Rodeo Tournament. Tony French played linebacker our Senior year, Daniel "bubba" Rhodes anchored one side of the line at offensive tackle while I anchored the other side at tackle. A few years ago we lost teammate Raymond Keen who had fished with a couple of those years prior and we always miss him. 

We launched early out at Goffinsville Park and made a quick run over to Spanish Drop on the Nassau River and began pitching jigs and live shrimp and mud minnows. We hit a bunch of spots that day - we fished from 6:30am to about 4pm and at least two of us were complaining about sore knees and ankles as the day wore on. Tony "knocked the skunk off" when he caught a keeper sized Flounder, and I followed that up later with another keeper Flounder. Neither were big enough to warrant running them to check in, but they did go in the box!

We fished a few spots up and down Nassau River and picked up a good amount of small Redfish and a couple of Slot sized Reds. One of those that Dan caught was of legal size and had 4 Spots, again, probably not enough  to run to check in. We ran thru Horsehead and fished Jackstaff "bank" and caught another handful of Reds, and Jacks. Throughout the day we battled a couple of Sharks to the boat and released. Fishing back in the Nassau we landed more Redfish  on float rigs now, over the oyster beds. We ended up catching 4 Slot Reds for the day - Dan had the biggest at 25". We had to release two due to bag limits.

Also caught  were TWO oversized Redfish! The first ended up measuring at 27.5", just a half inch over the size limit. You can imagine the excitement when you know you've got a BIG Redfish on in a Tournament. That happened twice - the 2nd was FAT and measured well about he Slot at 29.5". Oh well - we had a great time catching up and reminiscing about growing up and going to school at FBHS so as we headed back to the ramp we counted as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Scuttlebutt: Boat Ramp and Parking Under Fire From City

Charter Captain Jesse Stubbs has been leading the way lately to bring light to the absurdity of the City's management (and lack thereof) of our ONLY City boat ramp. He's uncovered some conflicts that may leave the City legally vulnerable as they attempt to develop our once working waterfront into Disney 2.0..

 

Signs, Signs Everywhere a Sign!

Conflict Between 24-Hour Ramp Access and Parking Restrictions

The City’s Comprehensive Plan designates this site as a .01 Boat Ramp Facility, a classification that requires adequate parking to support public water access. Moreover, the ramp itself is open 24 hours a day a policy that implies continuous, unrestricted access for boaters at all hours.

Yet under Ordinance 78-77, the City imposes restrictive parking hours (5am–7pm) and bans overnight parking of trailers without a permit a permit process which is neither visible nor accessible to the public. This creates a legal and functional contradiction:

How can 24 hour ramp use be offered if trailer parking disappears after 7pm?

This inconsistency:

• Undermines safe and reasonable boat launching and retrieval well before sunset, night or early morning

• Potentially violates the Florida Boating Improvement Program or FIND access requirements (if funding was involved) the .01 boat ramp facility list “adequate parking”

• Creates the appearance of policy manipulation to favor certain users such as commercial tour buses over local residents and recreational boaters.

This is a critical red flag: you can’t claim 24-hour public access and simultaneously restrict the very infrastructure needed to use it.

recommend appending this paragraph to the earlier drafted request for action, under a new section:

The City’s own policy contradiction must be resolved:

• The .01 Boat Ramp Facility designation mandates adequate and compatible parking infrastructure

• The ramp is open 24/7, yet boat trailer parking is prohibited overnight;

• No clear overnight permit process exists despite Ordinance 78-77(d) allowing it.

This incompatibility results in de facto denial of late night access for boaters especially for offshore fishermen, nighttime gigging and emergency users despite the ramp being technically “open.” If parking isn’t available when the ramp is, the access is functionally denied.

This may constitute a violation of both local planning code and the public trust doctrine.

Capt. Jesse Clyde Stubbs

We Found Some Trout

 I fished Friday with Bill Foran and his daughter Casey, meeting them up at Old Town Bait and Tackle
boat ramp. We made a quick run up and over to the Jolley River, turned into the  "bank" and worked back. Our first cast produced a bite and Fish On! That's the way you like to start a trip!  Casey expertly worked in a nice Flounder to kick the day off. 

The wind was kicking a little bit out of the west and pushing us up against the bank so we ran further up the Jolley and tossed our floats and live shrimp on the outside of Snook Creek. The wind was blocked and the anglers were getting good casts, but we had no luck. After coming back to Tyger Cut we drifted the point and this did the trick. The duo hooked up and caught some keeper sized Seatrout then they battled Bonnethead Shark to the boat from photograph and release. They also caught and released a few hard fighting Jack Crevalle.

We finished up the morning fishing over at Bell River then headed back to the ramp with a box of Seatrout ready to be fileted, and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Big Ol Redfish

 After meeting Cary Bennett and his granddaughters Chloe and Zoe down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp this morning, we made a quick run up the intracoastal to dip into Jackstaff, turn into the current that had just started in, and began to pitch jigs and live shrimp.  We worked a good stretch, the trio of anglers were making good casts, and finally Cary had a strong bite, a hookup, and after a patient fight, he landed a nice Slot sized Redfish. And then Chloe followed that up within minutes, expertly landing a 7-spot Redfish.

We then ran thru Horsehead and down to Broward Island to fish the first of an incoming tide down there. Great tide to be there right? We fished three different areas and didn't have a real bite. Ouch. I was beginning to worry a bit. Running back towards Nassauville we passed one spot between two docks that I wanted to fish but a boat was sitting there, so we made our way on down to Seymore's Pointe where Cary and Chloe fished jigs out off the bow and Zoe took up a float rig to try her luck. Cary hooked up right off and landed a nice 17.5" Flounder and minutes later, after Zoe had had a couple of "taps" that took her float under and stole her bait, but then she hooked up! And boy what a fish! That drag was ripping as the big fish dug deep but Zoe was  up to the task. She lifted it up, reeled it in, let it run, lifted it up and reeled it in. After a long battle Zoe landed an Oversized 29.25" Redfish for photographs and release. Boy what a fish!

After making our way down the Nassau further to Twin Creeks and all three anglers went to float rigs.
Chloe had "gone long" with  her drift off the stern and Cary had just started a short drift when Chloe hooked up. She was battling her fish to the boat when Cary hooked up - we had a "double" both landed their fish - two keeper sized Seatrout. We then drifted down the bank with the current and caught fish. They added two more Slot Redfish, a couple of small ones, a couple of hard fighting Jack Crevalle, and Cary battled another wiey Big Redfish. We were already counting him in the boat when he dug shallow and popped the line. Ouch. 

We caught fish right up until time to leave and with about four dead shrimp left in the well, we called it day but as we headed back we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.