Summer Fishing at Amelia
Story and photos by Terry Lacoss

King mackerel fishing at Amelia Island is hotter than July 4th firecrackers! This hot summer fishing action is showcased with the 27th annual "Tournament of Champions" kingfish tournament presented by the Nassau Sport Fishing Association. The dates for this year's event are June 18-20. The top prize is $25,000 for the largest kingfish weighed in during the two-day tournament. Other prizes will be awarded in the classes of "Lady Angler", "Jr. Angler" and "23-foot boat and under".

During last year's kingfish tournament, team "Tuna Tails" topped all competitors with a 45.4-lb. king mackerel.

"We were live bait trolling at the "Elton Bottom" when a big king mackerel nailed a live goggle-eye trolled deep with a downrigger, said Steve Martin. "The big king took off on a long run that seemed to last forever! I had to actually back off on the reel's drag so that the small kingfish hooks would not tear free. The big "Mack" made several long runs while we anxiously waited for the fish to come within gaffing range. Finally, after a 20-minute battle, Captain Ralph Oliver gaffed my fish right in the middle section of the back and hoisted our winning kingfish on board."

For more information on this year's kingfish tournament, visit the website at www.fishnsfa.com.

Historically, some of the larger king mackerel in recent fishing seasons have been coming from the "Elton Bottom", which is a massive live bottom some 40 miles offshore from the St. Mary's inlet.  Here, king mackerel fishermen are slow trolling large blue runners, goggle-eyes and ribbonfish for king mackerel that could weigh over the 50-lb. mark.

King mackerel fishing is also red hot at many of the close to shore fish havens including FA, FC, HH, RL and the popular "Nassau Bottom". Here, fishermen are slow trolling menhaden, mullet and ribbonfish for summer king mackerel.

King mackerel fishing is also excellent at both the Nassau and St. Mary's inlets during the summer months. The best tactics here include slow trolling large live menhaden and chumming heavily close to tide lines, deep channel edges and large pods of menhaden along the beaches.

Drift fishing can be excellent during the summer fishing season while targeting hard bottom ledges and wrecks for red snapper, grouper, sea bass, cobia and amberjack. Fish on the bottom with live cigar minnows, grunts, pinfish or fresh local squid.

Trolling large plastic lures at the 30-fathom curve, also called the "Big Ledge", can produce wahoo weighing to 100 pounds, dolphin weighing to 50 pounds, sailfish to eight feet and blue marlin that could weigh upwards of 300 pounds.

Tarpon fishing can also be red hot during the summer months at Nassau Sound, the St. Mary's inlet and in the backwater bays and rivers. Here, fishermen will anchor their tarpon skiff uptide of a school of giant tarpon and fish on the bottom with cut chunks of menhaden, whiting or bluefish. Tossing chum into the school of tarpon also increases your chances of hooking up to a high-leaping tarpon. Amelia Island tarpon often weigh between 80 and 120 pounds. The largest tarpon ever recorded weighed 194 pounds and was caught by Roland Martin while fishing aboard the Amelia Angler.

Shark fishing has also been growing in popularity in leaps and bounds during the last few summer fishing seasons, particularly with young saltwater fishermen. Amelia Island attracts a wide variety of summer sharks including hammerhead, bonnethead, tiger, dusky, bull, lemon, spinner, nurse sharks and more. A popular shark fishing technique is to pull your boat right behind a shrimp boat that has just hauled in their nets and is in the process of cleaning their decks of the bi-catch. Here, sharks will gather and feed on the free meal created by the shrimp nets.  Simply drop a large piece of cut bait into the wake of the shrimp boat and hang on for the upcoming shark fight that is sure to take place!

Big schools of red drum, also called redfish, offer deep rod-bending action at the tips of both the St. Mary's north and south jetty rocks. Fish right on the bottom during the middle of the incoming tide with cut bait or fresh large shrimp. Red drum can weigh up to 50 pounds and must be released properly, which may require venting their inflated air bladder with a sharp needle or special venting tool. The slot limit on red drum is 18 to 27 inches with a daily bag limit of one legal red drum per angler.

Jetty fishermen can also expect to catch cobia, sharks, whiting, bluefish, black drum, sheepshead, sea trout, flounder and more!

Backwater fishermen can expect to enjoy great topwater plug action for redfish and sea trout during the flooding tide.  Look for the Chug Bug, the Zara Spook, the Johnny Rattler and the Top Dog to produce ferocious strikes.

Flounder can be found schooling at creek mouths and just off from oyster bars on mud flats during a falling tide.  The best fishing tactic for flounder weighing to over eight pounds includes fishing with a small live finger mullet on a fish finder setup. Retrieve the live finger mullet slowly along the bottom until a strike is detected. Once a flounder has taken the live bait, count to five slowly, then set the hook firmly!

Surf fishing is excellent for pompano, whiting, flounder, yellow mouth trout, sea trout, red drum, blues, flounder and puppy drum during the summer fishing season. Look for some of the best surf fishing to come at the "Pipeline", which is located by the lighthouse on South Fletcher Avenue, and the newly constructed jetties at Nassau Sound. Once again, fresh shrimp fished right on the bottom produces the best action for many of these species. Savvy fishermen also sift the sand for sand fleas, which are also excellent baits, particularly for excellent-eating pompano. When sea trout are located, try casting a 52-M "Mirror Lure" with a red and white color pattern for specks that could weigh over five pounds.

The Fort Clinch fishing pier at the north end of Amelia Island and the George Crady fishing pier located at the island's southern tip both offer excellent fishing action. During the higher tides, fish on the bottom with finger mullet or fresh dead shrimp, or drift live shrimp under a trout float. Expect to catch red drum, sea trout, flounder and puppy drum.

Largemouth bass fishing is good during early morning and late afternoon hours in many of northeast Florida's freshwater streams including Lofton, Thomas, Mills, Boggy, and Plumbers creeks. Try floating a dark-colored trick worm slowly along fishy shorelines with a slow moving current. Topwater lures including the Chug Bug and the Rapala work well for Florida freshwater bass that could weigh over eight pounds.

The big and little St. Mary's Rivers also offer excellent summer fishing for largemouth bass, stripers and bream. Try fishing just above the Highway 17 bridge where numerous small feeder creeks feed the river.

For great family fun during the summertime, go crabbing! Fish right on the bottom with a chicken part, weighted with a 5-oz. pyramid sinker. When a tug is detected, bring the blue crab slowly to the surface and net with a long-handled net. Keep the blue crabs alive in a bucket of water until you are ready to cook them.  Place the crabs in a boiling pot of hot water with crab seasoning added and cook until they turn a bright pink color. Crabbing is not only fun, but offers excellent eating too!

Out of state fishermen over the age of 16 will need to purchase a Florida saltwater fishing license when fishing from land and piers. For more fishing and charter information, call the Amelia Angler at (904) 321-5090.