Fall Fishing at Amelia
Story and photos by Terry Lacoss

Look for a big run of redfish to arrive at both the St. Mary's and Nassau inlets during the fall as water temperatures begin to cool. Redfish are also numerous at Amelia Island bays and tidal estuaries, and offer great sport for light-tackle spin and fly fishermen. Some of the best action often comes during the last of the outgoing and the first half of the incoming tides.  However, fishermen should not spend too much of their fishing day at any one redfish hole, since redfish are historically a schooling specie.
Jetty and bay redfish are taken while fishing with 20 to 50-lb. bottom fishing tackle and a heavy weight. A variety of redfish baits including finger mullet, shrimp mammies, greenies, croaker, pinfish, shrimp and cut baits are fished right on the bottom.
Backwater red bass fishing is enjoyed by light spinning, casting and fly-fishing tackle. Some of the more popular lures include led head jigs rigged with a plastic tail, a wide variety of surface plugs, spinner baits, jerk worms and mirror lures. Here in the shallows of the backwater, red bass fishermen enjoy sight casting to tailing reds both on the low and high tides.

Allen Mills releases a nice-sized redfish back into the water.
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Sea trout fishing is also very popular during the fall fishing season, particularly while drifting a live shrimp over a shell bar, up close to jetty rocks or along a drop off.    Surface lures also produce memorable strikes and often attract larger trout to your landing net. Sea trout can be found schooling close to oyster bars, at creek mouths and along jetty rocks. The mouth of Egans Creek historically has produced big catches of fall specks.
Flounder fishing is fantastic at some of the more popular Amelia Island backwater fishing holes for flatfish that often weigh well over the 10-lb. mark. Several fall fishing seasons ago, Carl Middleton landed a 15-lb. flounder while fishing at Fort Clinch's little jetties! Some of the best flounder baits include mud minnows and finger mullet.
Sheepshead fishing is also excellent with good numbers of these tasty fish holding close to jetty rocks, dock pilings and bridge supports. Barnacles and fiddler crabs are tempting sheepshead baits. However, the key to catching sheepshead is to be aware of their sneaky bite.
A variety of angling opportunities await deep-sea fishermen, including both bottom and striking fish. Grouper, red snapper and black sea bass can be found making their home around sunken wrecks, coral ledges and hard bottoms. Amberjack, barracuda, king mackerel, black fin tuna, bonito and wahoo head up the trolling species.

Offshore trolling can produce bonito (above), king mackerel,
amberjack, wahoo and more.
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Look for some of the best bottom fishing action to come from some of the closer-in fish structures that are within 10 to 15 miles offshore of the St. Mary's inlet and in water depths from 40 to 75 feet. Some of the better bottom bumping drops, include FA, FC and HH. Trolling species may be found in good numbers in water depths from 70 to 100 feet and are located from 15 to 50 miles offshore. Trolling action comes from "The Brunswick Bottom," "Elton Bottom" and TW. All of these excellent fall fish havens are marked with GPS and Loran coordinates on the Jacksonville offshore fishing chart.
Giant wahoo and yellow fin tuna can be found at Northeast Florida's Gulf Stream during the fall fishing season. Look for the best action to come while trolling the 30-fathom break in a zig-zag trolling pattern. During the fall, water temperature breaks often hold good concentrations of bait fish and striking fish, too.
Amelia Island's beaches produce great surf fishing action for pompano along the sandy beaches of Amelia Island. Bring along a sand sifter and sift up a few sand fleas for bait. Fresh shrimp, threaded onto a 1/4-oz. jig hook, also work well for pompano.
Other surf species include whiting, red bass, flounder and sea trout. Fishing right on the bottom with fresh shrimp or cut mullet will catch most of the great-eating surf fish. However, many local fishermen prefer to cast the 52-M Mirror Lure, which will attract large fall run trout and reds.
Excellent bridge fishing is available at the Nassau fishing pier and bridge. Once again, fishing right on the bottom with fresh dead shrimp will attract whiting, blues, black drum, small sharks and flounder.
Freshwater fishing in the many tidal rivers of Northeast Florida offers a mixed bag of largemouth bass, sea trout, redfish and stripers. Floating plastic worms and minnow-shaped topwater plugs are deadly for largemouth bass during the falling tide. However, a 1/4-oz. led head jig, rigged with a white plastic tail will catch a variety of these sweet-water game fish. Look for some of the best action to come from Lofton, Nassau, Boggy, Mills, Plumbers, Thomas and the St. Mary's Rivers.
Crabbing is great family fun and can be enjoyed by all while fishing right on the bottom with a string, weight and chicken neck. When a slight pull is detected, bring the crab slowly to the surface and net.  Keep the blue crabs in a bucket of water until time for cooking. For excellent eating, bring a large pot of water to boil and add crab seasoning. Then place the live crabs in the pot and boil until they turn pink.
Non-Florida residents are reminded that they will need to purchase a Florida saltwater fishing license while fishing from beaches, piers, bridges and from a boat.  For more fishing information, call the Amelia Angler at (904) 321-5090.