Warming water temperatures of early spring attract a wide variety of game fish to the waters of Amelia Island, showcasing giant black drum. In fact, it's the annual spring run of black drum that gathers a fleet of Amelia Island sport fishing boats to many of the area's deep inlet waters. When the spring run of black drum actually arrives, word spreads rapidly among the local fishing community. During the next black drum tide, you'd better arrive early - because there may not be room enough to drop your boat's anchor!
     Amelia Island is rich in black drum fishing history, beginning with Stella Moore's historic catch on March 24, 1957. Stella hooked and landed a 93-lb. black drum while fishing at the tip of the St. Mary's north jetty. Her catch was recorded as Florida's all-tackle record for black drum and was uncontested for some 45 fishing seasons. What was more impressive was Stella weighed 87 pounds when she hauled in her record fish, while her big drum outweighed her by six pounds!
     In March of 2001, Fernandina Beach's Jim Cartwright landed a 96-lb. black drum, which eventually replaced Stella Moore's black drum as the new all-tackle record for Florida.
     The big run of black drum normally begins in late February at Nassau Sound, then migrates up the beaches to the deep inlet waters of Cumberland Sound. Night fishing is very popular for black drum weighing from 20 to 90 pounds. Some of the best drum baits include blue crabs, conch or large shrimp. Often, combinations of these delicious baits produce drum strikes when single baits fail.

Black drum are plentiful during Amelia Island's spring fishing season.
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     Fishing the inlets and beaches of Amelia Island also produces excellent catches of whiting, red drum, sharks and cobia during the spring fishing season. With this in mind, fishermen often come prepared with a variety of baits and lures to try when the black drum are not biting.
     Amelia Island's Gulf Stream is located some 60 nautical miles offshore and offers outstanding wahoo, dolphin, sailfish, blackfin tuna and blue marlin fishing during the months of May and June. Most blue water fishermen prefer to troll the edges of the 60-fathom break where numerous weed lines and water temperature breaks can be found. Some of the more popular lures include the C&H, Wahoo Whacker, Islander and the Tuna Tango. When speed trolling over eight knots, these plastic lures are very effective when locating big game fish. However, when rigged with ballyhoo and trolled under eight knots, this popular lure and bait combo can be very effective when trolling the edges of temperature breaks and weed lines.
     Amelia Island offshore waters also harbor numerous natural and manmade reefs within a 10-mile journey from land. During the spring, bottom fishermen tangle with grouper, red snapper, black sea bass and cobia. Live bait trolling with cigar minnows, menhaden, or Spanish sardines often produces strikes from king mackerel, blackfin tuna, barracuda, cobia and the occasional wahoo or dolphin.

Offshore bottom fishing can produce nice catches of
grouper(above), red snapper and sea bass.
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     Backwater fishing in the Amelia River and all of its many bays and tidal estuaries produces excellent sea trout, red drum and flounder fishing. Giant sea trout can be found in the deep holes at the Shave and Nassau Bridges while drifting large live shrimp deep under a trout float. Redfish school on flats adjacent to oyster bars and creek mouths during low tide periods and can be taken with top water plugs, led head jigs and a variety of flies. Flounder weighing up to ten pounds school at creek mouths, jetty rocks and the deep sides of oyster bars during the falling tides. Some of the best flounder baits include live bullhead minnows or finger mullet.
     Surf fishing is also excellent during the spring for whiting, flounder, pompano, bluefish, redfish, puppy drum and sea trout. Look for the falling tide to produce the best fishing action where sloughs gather both bait and game fish. Fresh shrimp is the preferred bait for surf fishing and will tempt bites from a wide variety of surf species. However, "fresh" is the key word. Serious surf fishermen will purchase live shrimp and take them to the surf on ice. Other productive surf baits include finger mullet, cut bait and sand fleas.
     The Nassau Sound bridge fishing pier offers excellent fishing for red drum, black drum, whiting, bluefish and sea trout during all of the incoming tide and the very last of the outgoing tide. Most bridge fishermen fish right on the bottom with fresh shrimp for a grab-bag catch, while drifting live shrimp under a trout float produces great sea trout action. Be sure and bring a long rope attached to a fish basket to land your catch from your high perch on the bridge!
     Fishing at the footsteps of historic Fort Clinch produces great catches of flounder, sea trout, red drum and whiting during the spring. Fish right on the bottom with live shrimp, bullhead minnows or finger mullet during the falling tide.
     Largemouth bass fishing heats up during the spring fishing season for bigmouth bass that often weigh over the ten-pound mark. Look for the best action to come during the last portion of the falling tide while casting topwater plugs and jerk worms. Some of the better freshwater rivers include Lofton, St. Marys, Plummers, Boggy and Thomas' Rivers.
     Non-Florida residents will need to purchase a Florida saltwater fishing license when fishing or crabbing from land, bridges or piers. For fishing charters and more information, call the Amelia Angler, (904) 321-5090.