Author: Terry Lacoss
96965 Buccaneer Trail
Amelia
Title: “Summer Fishing at Amelia”
Big news for
summer fishermen includes the all new “Fernandina Beach Fishing Rodeo”
presented by the Nassau Sports Fishing Association. Formerly called the “Nassau Sports Fishing
Association Tournament of Champions” the event also has new dates and a
complete new format. The event has been
moved from the first weekend of June to August 5-7, 2011.The popular event
which formerly was directed to king mackerel, is now a fishing rodeo targeting
a variety of deep sea and backwater species of game fish.
Several factors
were taken into consideration when changing the event to a more family orientated
tournament and a one day event, while at the same time, keeping the same
Southern Kingfish Association format for competitive SKA kingfish teams.
Deep sea species
for the rodeo portion of the tournament will include amberjack, grouper,
dolphin, wahoo and cobia. Backwater
rodeo species include redfish, sea trout, flounder, sheepshead and the redfish
with the most “Spots”.
The event is also
scheduled for the month of August when fishing for a variety of saltwater game
fish is best! The Captain’s meeting is
scheduled on Friday evening at the Fernandina Harbor Marina where the “Sounds
of Centre Street” offer entertainment following the “Captain’s Meeting”.
For more
information, visit www.fishnsfa.com, or
call the tournament headquarters “Amelia Angler Outfitters” (904-261-2870.
Summer fishing at
King fishing along the pristine beaches of
Chumming from an
anchored or drifting boat is also productive for kingfish, tarpon, cobia, jack
crevalle and a variety of pelagic sharks including the exciting “Spinner”
sharks. Once hooked, 50-100 pound
spinner sharks will come spinning from the water in a wild aerial display, then
taking off on a hundred yard, thumb burning run.
Inlet fishing at
both the
Fishing along
the St. Mary’s jetty rocks during the slow moving tide produces a grab bag
catch of flounder, redfish, puppy drum, sea trout, whiting and delicious eating
sheepshead. Working a ½ ounce led head
jig and live shrimp slowly along the deep edges of the jetty rocks is key for
many of these excellent eating species. Sheepshead
are more apt to take a live fiddler crab barbed to a #1 kahle hook.
Most deep sea
boats will anchor directly over the bottom structure while fishing dead on the
bottom with live cigar minnows, pinfish, mullet, or menhaden. Fifty – pound fishing tackle is recommended
when hooking giant reef fish and reeling them up and away from the dangers of
the deep water structure.
Live bait trolling
is also exciting during the summer fishing season offshore where a variety of
striking fish including Atlantic sailfish, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel,
dolphin, wahoo, blackfin tuna, cobia, barracuda and amberjack will produce an
exciting battle at sea.
One of the more
productive offshore fish havens includes FA fish haven, which is located only
8-miles offshore of the St. Mary’s jetty rocks. FA fish haven includes several large areas of
hard bottoms, paired with lime rock ledges and sunken wrecks. The “FA Barge” almost always holds rod
bending game fish. Other popular
offshore fish havens include FB, FC, HH, the Nassau Bottom and AH reefs. All of these popular fishing waters are marked
with GPS coordinates on the local offshore fishing charts.
Be sure and visit
your favorite local bait and tackle store before fishing offshore for the
latest information and baits that will make your day of deep water fishing a
complete success.
The “Continental
Shelf” is located some 65-nautical miles offshore of
Before leaving
your home port, make sure that you let someone know where your fishing party
will be blue water fishing and when you plan on returning.
Backwater fishing
for redfish and sea trout is excellent during the warm summer fishing season
where topwater fishing is king.
By far some of
the best time of the year to target both redfish and sea trout with surface
lures is during the summer when the water temperature has warmed up into the
low 80’s.
However tides
and water clarity become huge factors when working topwater plugs in many of
Another key
factor when targeting topwater trout and reds, is the availability of
baitfish. Look for schooling menhaden,
mullet and glass minnows and you will be sure to find trout and redfish
nearby. I can safely say with the lack
of baitfish, you would be much better off cranking up your big motor and
exploring new waters.
Once you have
located both numerous schools of bait fish and clean water, look for ambush
points where baitfish are migrating past a marsh point, the mouth of a feeder
creek, through a deep slough, or past the deep side of an oysterbar. Cast your surface lure up tide of the ambush
point, working it slowly past the ambush point and hang on!
Sea trout will
frequently come up from under your surface lure during the strike, while
redfish will often poke their head out of the water and come crashing down on
your surface plug. In both cases,
patience in setting the hooks of your surface plug is critical. Many skilled topwater fishermen will actually
wait until they feel the pressure of the hooked fish on their rod tip before setting
the hooks. Setting the hooks to soon
will frequently result in pulling the plug away from the foraging red, or
trout.
Some of the more
productive surface plugs include the Storm “Chug Bug”, Heddon “Zara Spook”,
Bomber “Badonk-A-Donk”, Rapala “Skitter Walk” and the traditional
Smithwick“Devil’s Horse”. Best color
patterns include, gold, white and chartreuse.
Finally, work your
surface plugs slow and with a lot of noise!
Summer surf
fishing along Amelia Island beaches include pompano, whiting puppy drum, sea
trout, redfish, flounder bluefish and more.
Fishing on the bottom with fresh shrimp is key. Best tide includes the last of the in-coming
and all of the falling tide.
Crabbing is
excellent family fun during the summer fishing season while fishing dead on the
bottom with a chicken neck, or fish head.
Using a long piece of kite string with a four ounce led weight tied to
the end of the string and bait allows fishing dead on the bottom where blue
crabs are more likely to be caught. Once
a slight tug is detected, pull the crab slowly to the surface and net.
For excellent
eating, bring a large pot of water to boil with crab seasoning added. Place the live crabs in the pot and boil
until they become a bright pink color. Pick the white crab meat from the crab shell
and enjoy!
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