Amelia Island's spring fishing season gets underway with a major black drum run. It's no secret when the main run of drum fish arrive, area boat ramps will suddenly be busy with fishermen launching their boats and purchasing supplies at area tackle shops.

Black drum grow big too, often reaching weights of over 80 pounds. David Cartwright holds the Florida all-tackle black drum record. His big drum weighing 96 pounds was landed off Fernandina Beach's "Main Beach".

Red drum fishing also picks up in early spring at both inlet mouths of Amelia Island. Red drum can also grow big, often weighing well over 30 pounds!

Both black and red drum are typically caught while fishing right on the bottom with blue crabs, large dead shrimp, or conch.

Spring is the season for huge black drum!
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Blue water fishermen will be targeting wahoo this spring at northeast Florida's continental shelf. Trolling with plastic lures, including the "Wahoo Whacker", "American Express", the "C&H" and "Cedar" plugs works best. Expect to find dolphin, sailfish, blue marlin and blackfin tuna where the continental shelf gives way to water depths of well over 1,000 feet.

Bottom fishing for gag grouper, red snapper, black sea bass, triggerfish and cobia is excellent during the spring. In recent spring fishing seasons, bottom fishermen have been catching red snapper at the Elton Bottom weighing well over the 20-pound mark. These large snapper are often called "Mule" snapper and are taken readily while fishing deep with live minnows.

Giant kingfish should also be running this spring at the Elton Bottom. Jig up large live blue runners off the deep rock ledges, then live bait troll them over the ledges.

FA, FC, AH and HH fish havens are closer to shore and harbor excellent spring bottom fishing as well. Fish on the bottom with fresh local squid, cut baits, or live minnows.

Another great day of offshore fishing at Amelia yields
wahoo, tuna, grouper and more!
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A major run of cobia also takes place during the spring months. Cobia can be targeted at local offshore reefs, holding under rays, under menhaden schools and close to channel markers.

A good cobia normally weighs 30 to 50 pounds, puts up a respectable fight and is very good eating!

Jetty fishermen can expect a mixed bag catch of puppy drum, redfish, sea trout,

bluefish, flounder, sheepshead, jack crevalle and whiting. It pays to bring along a variety of both dead and live baits including live shrimp, live bullhead minnows, fresh shrimp and cut baits.

Surf fishing is excellent for "Beach" whiting along the beaches of Amelia Island. Fish on the bottom with a double hook rig. Bait the upper hook with a fresh shrimp and the lower hook with a piece of cut bait. Look for the last of the flood and the first few hours of the falling tides to produce the best surf fishing action.

Pompano, bluefish, sea trout, flounder, redfish, puppy drum and small sharks also run in the surf too!

Backwater fishing is excellent during the spring fishing season for schooling redfish. Look for redfish to school during the flood tide over flooded marshes and during low tide phases, in depressions located on flats and bays. The Johnson gold spoon, inline spinners, topwater plugs and Berkley Gulp shrimp are all excellent lures for redfish.

Be sure and purchase a local backwater-fishing chart from a local tackle shop so you can motor straight to the best red fishing waters.

Giant sea trout are typically taken during the spring fishing season when they are fattening up for their annual spawn. Seasoned trophy speck fishermen often cast for trout weighing well over the five-pound mark with a variety of topwater plugs including the "Chug Bug", "Skitter Walk", "Top Dog" and the floating "Mirror Lure".

Historically, "Tiger Basin", "Nassau Sound" and "Lanceford Creek" have given up their share of "Gator" size specks.

Surf fishing can result in good catches of sea trout (above), 
whiting, pompano, bluefish and sharks.
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Backwater fishermen hoping for a lot of fishing action should purchase a live baitwell full of shrimp and fish them under a "Cajun Rattlin" float. Cast this deadly setup close to flooded marshes, oyster bars and sandbars and get ready to catch a wide variety of saltwater game fish!

If your fishing pleasure is on foot, the George Crady and the Fort Clinch fishing piers offer excellent pier fishing. During the spring, it's not unusual for fishermen to land black drum weighing from 15 to 40 pounds from these fishy piers!

Without a doubt, the spring fishing season is the best time of year to target trophy-sized largemouth bass. There are several freshwater rivers located in our small corner of northeast Florida that, every spring, give up their share of bass weighing to ten pounds.

All of these freshwater rivers are also affected by the tides. Normally speaking, you can add four hours to find the correct tide in the upper reaches of the freshwater rivers. For example, if it's high tide at Nassau Sound at noon, it will be high tide in the freshwater reaches of Lofton Creek four hours later, or 4:00 PM.

Some of the best trophy largemouth bass fishing comes during the high tide phases and the first few hours of the falling tide. One of the best fishing techniques for trophy bass continues to be drifting wild shiners under a small float along shoreline cover. Bass lures include the Bomber "Long-A", gold Rapala and dark-colored "Finesse" plastic worms.

Redfish can be taken from Amelia's ocean waters
or in a variety of  backwater areas.
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Some of the more productive freshwater streams include Lofton, Boggy, Mills, Nassau and both the big and little St. Mary's Rivers. These freshwater tidal rivers experience very little fishing pressure, so enjoy your day of "Bassin"!

Freshwater river fishermen can also expect to catch stripers, redfish, seatrout, catfish and even flounder in some of the saltier portions of the rivers.

Crabbing is popular family fun during Amelia Island's spring fishing season. Tie a chicken part to the end of a long section of kite string, along with a 4-oz. weight to get the bait down on the bottom. When a slight tug is detected, bring the crab slowly to the surface and net. Keep your crabs alive in a bucket of saltwater until it's time to cook them.

For delicious eating, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add crab seasoning. Next, place the live crabs in the pot of boiling water and cook until the crabs turn a bright pink in color. Enjoy!

Non-Florida residents over the age of 12, will need to purchase a saltwater fishing license when fishing from land, boats, or piers. This does include crabbing!

For more fishing and charter information call the Amelia Angler at 321-5090.