fishing

Joe Murphy shows a redfish he caught and released recently fishing with blue crab.

We could definitely use less wind in our area. Every day, it seems the wind is blowing 15-plus knots. The forecast for today is showing improvement with lighter winds. Even with the high winds, anglers reported some decent catches.

Offshore fishing for snapper, grouper and flounder was decent for anglers with larger boats who could withstand the high winds. Many anglers also spotted cobia lurking around the wrecks and rock piles.
Live pogies, pinfish and grunts were doing the trick this past week. Rapala Magnums, Mirrolure deep divers and jigs rigged with plastic tails were working this past week for the lure angler when trying to entice a curious cobia.

The Hunker Down crew — (front row from left) Doug Geis, Hamp Tanner, Scott Geis, (back from left) John Tanner, who owns the boat, and Cliff Thrift — won the annual Amelia Island Bluewater Shoot-out Saturday, May 10, 2in Fernandina Beach.

Due to the continually rising cost of fuel, anglers are searching for different avenues to conserve fuel. There are ways to make every ounce of fuel burn effectively.

Anglers are going to have to boat-pool. Carpooling has been around for years; now we have to begin to look at boat-pooling. The days of seeing a lone angler out enjoying a day on the water may be over, as anglers begin to share rides to help with the ever-rising fuel costs.

Andrew Horstman shows a nice trout he caught recently in the Amelia River.

As the saying goes, “The heat is on.” With heat comes warmer water temperatures, leaving Northeast Florida with awesome fishing.

The mullet have started to infiltrate our backwaters, along with pogies and greenies at the jetties. Sardines and cigar minnows have arrived at the offshore reefs. This is all good for fishing in our area. With bait come predators.

Cobia are one of my favorite species to target, and the reports show catches improving weekly at our inshore reefs. This weekend I would expect them to begin showing up along our buoy line, along the beaches around the bait pods and in the by-catch of the shrimp boats.

Timmy Long (left) and Capt. Allen Mills hold up an 89-pound wahoo. The seventh annual Bluewater Shoot Out out of Fernandina Beach, Florida is this Saturday, May 10. 

During May, trolling for big game at the Gulf Stream usually provides a fantastic bite. This is the time of year the big-game reels are screaming with yards of line streaming off due to the bite of a huge wahoo, high-flying dolphin or a bruiser of a tuna. Now is the time to be trolling at the break.

Capt. Jim Guest with an impressive haul of huge black drum reeled in by himself, Johnathan Taylor (his first fish), Levi Martin, Claudia Guest and Jim Guest Jr. aboard the Guestamator.

Great fishing abounds in Northeast Florida in the spring time. One of the most popular species to target is the Spanish mackerel, which school in our inlets, sounds and along our beaches. The size of your boat doesn't matter; you can have fun fishing for these toothy critters from the boat or bank.

Jerry Walker with a nice trout caught in Nassau Sound.

Today’s weather forecast looks fabulous for anglers who want to try their luck fishing at their favorite fishing hole. With the high temperatures predicted in the low 80s, this would be a good time to get out on the water and recharge that inner solar panel.

Anglers who ventured offshore this week caught red snapper, sea bass and flounder. A few cobia also were reported being caught and spotted at the offshore reefs. If the water temperatures continue to climb, the cobia should begin to appear in a matter of weeks at our buoys, inshore towers and along our beaches looking for pogey pods. The sharks, jack crevalle and bull reds also will be feeding in and around the pogy pods.

Meteorologists have predicted absolutely beautiful spring weather conditions locally and good fishing should occur this weekend. Hopefully, this is the last of the cold weather for this season and our spring warm-up has begun. Once again, due to the high seas and winds, there were not many fishing reports from local anglers. If the seas are as calm as predicted, I expect plenty of grouper, sea bass and snapper will be located at the inshore reefs. If live bait is available, such as greenies, cigar minnows or pinfish, there also will be flounder caught at these locations. Further offshore in approximately 120 feet of water, dolphin, wahoo and tuna will be found trolling ballyhoo.

Richie and Richard Yancey with one of the many speckled trout they released on April 9 fishing the incoming tide of Nassau Sound with live shrimp floated deep.

Being a seasoned charter fishing guide, I can testify there are many down sides to the job. One of the upsides is being there when a child catches his or her first fish. This anticipation can’t be beat. On many occasions, this is not only their first fish, but the first time they have stepped foot on a boat and spent time on the water. For me, the feeling doesn’t get any better than watching the excitement and anticipation of a young fisherman with his very first fish at the end of the line. I hope this makes many of you who spend a lot of time on the water to stop and remember your first fish.

I don't know about you, but I am ready for some spring-like conditions. Back to back northeasters are beginning to wear on me. I believe the fish are here and are ready to chew, but we need the conditions to improve to fish effectively.

Today, the low tide will occur around 8:49 a.m. and the high around 3:05 p.m. Lighter winds are predicted and we have a perfect tide to try our luck.

Floating a live shrimp about a foot off the bottom along the mouth of feeder creeks, along oyster bars or the end of your favorite dock should give you good results this time of year. A jig rigged with a live shrimp hooked through the tail is another method for tempting redfish. Topwater plugs such as the Rapala skitter walk, skitter pop, Heddons Zara spook and the Mirrorlure Top Dogs are a few of the plugs that have been working recently.

Colby Sprunk (left) and Chris Geddes display a 40-pound black drum caught at south Amelia Island jetty fishing with their grandfather Clayton Smith on March 27.

Let’s hope the mixed weather conditions Nassau County experienced this week did not deter anglers visiting Amelia Island during their spring break. Rain is predicted for today; hopefully this will not affect our local anglers fishing The Florida Times-Union Spot tournament. Those planning to fish this event will have an incoming tide all morning.