Surf fishing in New Smyrna

Surf fishing in New Smyrna

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- When The Fish Man says they're biting, you need to drop what you're doing and go.

That's what I did Tuesday morning after Jacksonville's Larry Finch -- a.k.a. The Fish Man -- called the day before and said the pompano bite was on. In fact, Finch said, the pompano had been here in the surf just south of Ponce Inlet for weeks, and their numbers were staggering.

On a trip a week and a half ago, for example, Finch said he fished by himself with two rods and one sand spike and caught 101 pompano. Whoa.

Needless to say, I was salivating on the 1-hour and 15-minute drive from St. Augustine. My enthusiasm, though, was tempered by experience. I hoped this didn't turn out to be one of those "you should have been here yesterday" trips.

I arrived about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and drove north on New Smyrna's hard-packed beach until I sighted Finch's black Tundra pickup. Whatever misgivings I might have had immediately disappeared. Finch, his cousin, Butch Patterson, and Patterson's wife, Sue, were hooked up, dragging flopping slabs of silver onto the beach.

"We've already got about 35," Finch shouted, handing me a pre-made pompano rig.

Larry Finch.

In the back of his pickup, Finch had a 48-quart cooler full of sand fleas he had caught the night before (more on capturing sand fleas by moonlight later). I baited up, a flea on each of the rig's two hooks, and sent the 4-ounce sputnik sinker flying with my 11-foot surf rod.

Within minutes, the rod buckled in the PVC holder. When a 4-pound pompano hits, it's not the rat-a-tat bite of a whiting but rather a full-body slam. They fight stubbornly like a jack crevalle -- they're in the same family -- and when you've reeled them in close, they turn broadside to the beach to duke it out. At that point, it's advisable to let an incoming wave help you bring the fish in.

For the next couple of hours, the bite never stopped.

Sue took a break. "My arms are hurting," she said.

"We're tourists from Tennessee; we don't know what we're doing," Butch said while winking.

The Pattersons may be from Murfreesboro, Tenn., but they don't fish like tourists. The Fish Man was a blur, racing from bobbing rod to bobbing rod, reeling, rebaiting, casting back out.

Reduced pompano limits proposed

Recreational and commercial harvest of pompano would be reduced under a rule proposed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

At its meeting last week, the FWC proposed to lower the aggregate recreational bag limit for pompano and permit from 10 to five fish per day. Also, the present commercial trip limit in state waters would be reduced from 250 to 175 pompano.

A final public hearing on the proposal is scheduled May 28-30 in Kissimmee.

Pompano are overfished on both coasts of Florida, according to a recent stock assessment. Recreational fishermen catch more than 60 percent of the pompano in Florida, according to the FWC.

The goal of the proposed rule is to reduce pompano harvest by 10 percent.

-- Joe Julavits

"I love to catch pompano," he said.

As the tide rose on the flat beach, the action slowed. We totaled probably 70 pompano that morning, only one smaller than about 1 1/2 pounds. They averaged 3 pounds, with a few approaching 5.

Finch, 59, owns Atlantic Seafood on Atlantic Boulevard and the Fish Man Bait Shop. He has fished all his life, from redfish tournaments to commercial hook and line to just fun fishing. As a seafood dealer, he holds a Restricted Species permit that allows him to catch up to 250 pompano per day. The recreational daily bag limit is 10 fish per day.

Finch has a theory on why the pompano have been bunched up for weeks in New Smyrna.

"It's just a huge school, and when they get to that [Ponce] inlet, they have to make a decision on what to do," he said. "They're shallow water fish, and those jetties are blocking their migration north until they decide to move up the beach."

With ocean temperatures rising, the pompano could be on the move any day. Finch said the fish will eventually migrate to St. Augustine, then Mayport and Fernandina. He hopes to test his jetty-bunching theory this spring at Hanna Park immediately south of the Mayport jetties.

"Nobody targets pompano that much in the surf in the Jacksonville area," Finch said. "This month coming up -- April -- will be real good in the Jacksonville area."

Depending on the time of year, Finch targets pompano from Sebastian Inlet to Fernandina Beach. The best months are April and May during the spring migration, and September and October when the pompano head back south.

Among Finch's favorite pompano surf-fishing spots are Talbot Island and Fort Clinch in Fernandina Beach. In the fall, he'll fish from a boat at Nassau Sound and Fort George.

Finch uses 9- to 11-foot rods and baitcasting reels spooled with 15-pound test monofilament. His pompano rig, which connects via swivel to the line, is about a 3-foot length of 20-pound test featuring two No. 4 circle hooks knotted to dropper loops. Colored beads that slide on the loops above the hooks act as attractors.

The sputnik sinker, so named because it resembles the old Soviet spacecraft, is connected to the bottom of the rig with a snap swivel. The sputnik has four wire arms that improve holding power in the sand.

Pompano will eat shrimp and pieces of blue crab, but to seriously catch them, first you must catch sand fleas.

"I catch my fleas at night under the moonlight," he said. "It's a lot easier. It sounds crazy, but the fleas aren't spooked at night by people walking down the beach. They move right up to where the wave comes up to the sand."

Fleas can be caught with specialized sand flea rakes anywhere there's soft coquina sand, such as at Marineland or South Ponte Vedra Beach.

The proper tide for pompano depends on the contours of the beach. A flat beach, such as where we fished in New Smyrna, doesn't offer much in the way of bottom structure at high tide. But around low tide, our baits could reach the distant breakers and bar where the fish were holding.

"At high tide, you need to find a sloping beach, where you have a slough between you and the bar," Finch said. "The fish stay on the bars where the surf is.

"Fish where the surfers are."

Or better yet, where The Fish Man is.

Staff writer Joe Julavits' outdoors column appears each Sunday. He can be reached at (904) 359-4541 or via e-mail at jjulavitsjacksonville.com.

4-3-03

St. Johns River/jetties: More flounder showing in the St. Johns River. Redfish, trout in Mill Cove. Sheepshead still going strong at the Mayport jetties.

Offshore Fernandina: Sea bass, a few nice snapper on the close-in reefs. FC reef and Shultz's Bottom have produced some snapper. Whiting in the surf.

Offshore Mayport: Lots of red snapper, beeliners, sea bass around. Scamp grouper in 21 fathoms. Whiting, a few black drum and pompano in the surf.

Offshore St. Augustine: Bluefish, Spanish mackerel around St. Aug inlet. Whiting, a few pompano at Vilano Beach. Cobia in 100 feet. Stream trolling has been spotty.

Still thinking big "It was fat, not skinny," said Henry Miles (Devil's Elbow) referring to the 16.25-pound bluefish that was caught in the surf south of Matanzas Inlet.

Karen Miles identified the angler as Charlie Waldrip and said that he caught it on a frozen finger mullet. Miles also weighed bluefish of 11 and 12 pounds.

Another favorite haunt for the jumbo blues is along the south jetty at high tide but things have been quiet there to this point.

Smaller blues made life difficult for those trying to catch Spanish mackerel in St. Augustine Inlet according to Doug Poe (Hook, Line and Sinker).

Three guys came into Mike's Place Saturday, with each having a nice, legal red. They released about 15 others that they caught in North River with live shrimp. Earlier in the day, they used topwater plugs to land nine trout according to Bob Conroy.

All shops reported an increase in pompano catches throughout the county surf.

A respectable number of the fish are over 3 pounds and some are in the 5-pound. range. The pompano shared the surf with whiting, which seem to be everywhere including the inlets and even up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) where Conroy said they were catching them on the Usina Campground dock.

Henry Miles said that sheepshead catches were still good but not the 'great' they were a few weeks ago. He was referring to the southern waters of the county. They were still blistering them in the north, however.

4-10-03

Not only were the Spaniards in modest numbers at both area inlets (Matanzas and St. Augustine), but Brian Wissler (Devil's Elbow) reported that he caught three with live shrimp while fishing one of the feeder creek mouths to the south. The fish measured 15-34 inches, the last weighing about 4 pounds. Most of the schoolies in the area are closer to 12-15 inches.

No one is really fishing for the mackerel at the County Pier, according to Ron Joiner, but once you got through the little sharks and catfish, there were some pretty nice drum and pompano.

Darryl Lloyd, who also works the pier, said that there were about 15 pompano landed during his shift.

The bad news for the surf fishermen has been the dirty water. It's everywhere and doesn't want to leave. Internet reports seemed to indicate that the condition runs from Georgia on down to Canaveral.

The good news is that the Surf Fishing Expo is Saturday at the County Pier grounds. No charge, just lots to learn and friends to make.

4-13-03

For one thing, big -- very big -- bluefish moved in along the south jetties. Numerous reports of 12- to 16-pound fish made the rounds on the street and in the airwaves. Charter captain Kevin Faver, referred to them on his Saturday morning radio show (690 AM, 7 a.m.), and local bait shops backed up the talk.

Faver spoke of a blue blitz that included choppers going to 16 pounds. The interesting point of all the reports is that the fish were reported to be "fat."

In years past, when I wrote of big blues around here, they were skinny by autumn standards. Privett also spoke of numerous blues that were in the 4- to 6-pound class. These were throughout the surf, including the County Pier.

The surf, in general, has been less than outstanding although it has had its moments. Those moments included pompano, whiting, drum and an occasional red. More likely, the catches revolved around catfish and shovel nose sharks.

4-17-03

Spanish mackerel are sharing time with bluefish at area inlets. Trolled spoons are catching the Spanish. Blues to 17 pounds reported at St. Augustine inlet.

Inshore south of the St. Johns River: Quite a few redfish in the creeks. Trout still spotty. Pompano, blues, Spanish around St. Aug bayfront.

St. Johns River/jetties: Still plenty of sheepshead at Mayport jetties. Spanish, bluefish around rocks, too. Redfish in Mill Cove, creeks off the river.

Offshore Fernandina: Snapper, grouper at Schultz's Bottom, RL. Big drum at St. Marys inlet. Spanish, bluefish around the inlet, too.

Offshore Mayport: Kingfish at TW, BR. Some big snapper, beeliners, a few grouper on the wrecks. Whiting, bluefish in the surf.

Offshore St. Augustine: Rays on the beach, but no cobia reported. Snapper abundant at 21 fathoms. Whiting in surf. A few wahoo at the ledge.

From what I'm hearing, there must be a million bluefish out there.

The largest have moved on but there are legions of little blues -- even at the local reefs -- and occasional platoons of mid-sized (2 to 5 pounds) fish have made life interesting along the surf.

4-24-03

Before I, knew that Anna was even out there, the swells were hitting the beaches.

The surf, overall, was mixed. Henry Miles (Devil's Elbow) said that it was better than the ICW for "keeper fish."

They also had pretty good reports of pompano, whiting, drum, and blues. As for the non-keepers, he said that the ICW had plenty of ladyfish and jacks but perhaps more notable, a 40-pound tarpon in the Elbow.

5-11-03

5-15-03

Timmons said that the Spaniards were also at the Vilano Pier during highest moments of the tide.

He did not specify what has worked best.

While on the topic of piers, I fail to understand how Duval County can condemn, demolish, permit and construct a new major pier in a shorter time than St. Johns County can add an extension. Sigh.

Other catches at the County planks consisted of a few whiting, pompano and reds along with an increasing number of sharks.

Joiner said some of the sharks approached 6 feet in length but most were around 2 or 3 feet.

5-22-03

Things did not take a turn for the better at the County Pier until Wednesday morning, according to Darryl Lloyd. It was about then that the winds brought in some cleaner water that translated to more whiting. Aside from that, the problems there were pretty much as they were throughout most of the county -- surf fishing just wasn't very good.

Surf fishing was less than impressive with a few pompano and whiting making up most of the action.

7-10-03

Overall, there wasn't much in the way of variety though.

There are those who have taken advantage of the thermocline by concentrating on Spanish mackerel and whiting.

Ron Joiner (County Pier) reported excellent catches of Spanish mackerel in the evenings at the planks.

Boaters working the inlet area had little trouble finding Spanish while others fished outside the beach sand bars or along the bayfront for whiting.

9-21-03

Absent from most of the reports were flounder. Ben Williams said that a commercial gigger reported an average night of flounder takes, but was encouraged by the increase in size with most weighing about 3 pounds. In past years, this would be a good time of year for flounder at the County Pier, but they haven't really shown there yet. Ron Joiner pointed out that the best bite this week was the drum. Whiting were fair and other species were on vacation.

Few whiting and drum around but nothing like it should be this time of year.

10-11-03

Now that water temperatures are dropping gradually, the bottom fishing should fire up through Christmas.

There are pompano and some nice whiting being caught on shrimp at the breakers in Nassau Sound. Fort Clinch State Park is holding nice flounder at the little jetties and at the Fort Clinch Pier. The George W. Crady Bridge at Nassau Sound is reporting nice catches of redfish, whiting, trout and flounder.

Along the beaches of Fernandina Beach, some whiting, trout and small sharks are being caught.

10-16-03

Some of the best fishing around here is also season-specific, and is taking place right now. But few are taking advantage of it, and even fewer CAN take advantage of it because the weather has not been conducive to good fishing. The surf has been a washing machine, putting tons of seaweed through its final rinse cycle before tumble-drying it on the beach.

About two days a week were the best one could hope for and the pattern doesn't look to change.

11-6-03

Offshore Mayport: Bottom fishing remains strong for snapper, grouper, although there are quite a few short fish. Whiting, redfish in surf.

Offshore St. Augustine: Few boats have been lately, but bottom action has been good on the wrecks and at 21 fathoms. Whiting in surf.

4-10-03

Offshore Mayport: Small kingfish at BR. Good snapper action, but not many grouper around. Whiting, bluefish, catfish in the surf.

Offshore St. Augustine: Spanish mackerel, bluefish at St. Aug inlet. Lots of bait on local wrecks. Bottomfishing strong at 21 fathoms.

4-24-03

Inshore south of the St. Johns River: Whiting, pompano steady in surf. Lots of Spanish mackerel in inlet. Bluefish, kingfish and pompano around bayfront. Trout, drum and redfish in creeks.

St. Johns River/jetties: Speckled trout at jetties. Redfish at Hannah Mills and Clapboard. Bluefish, whiting and pompano off the beach. Spanish mackerel and drum are steady.

Offshore Fernandina: Lots of sea bass 40-50 miles out. Cobia, king and dolphin also reported. Trout has picked up in the backwater. Snapper and grouper still strong.

Offshore Mayport: Spanish mackerel around the jetties, highwater. Red snapper and beeliners are good. Some cobia and sea bass, but no kingfish.\

5-15-03

7-6-03

Another indication of cold water along the beach (71 degrees) is the number of whiting going home in the coolers. I observed one angler catch four or five in a short period of time on Friday at Surfside Park. He made some pretty long casts, and the number of boats sitting outside the sand bar on Saturday indicated that the bigger whiting are over the bar.

Bob Conroy (Mike's Place) said that Paul Wood took his craft off the beach Saturday and came back with 59 whiting and reported releasing many small fish. The fish I saw were caught at high tide. That may have brought them in closer.

7-3-03

Catches from the K-2, Jody Lynn and the Sea Love included red snapper, redeyes, mangrove snapper, amberjack, amberines, dolphin, triggerfish, and cobia.

None of them had knock-em-dead reports but all had something.

On some days it was quite slow, though.

7-10-03

This has been a long and strong thermocline, but there are signs that it is coming to an end.

7-31-03

8-10-03

Published Sunday, August 10, 2003

And who says you can't have it all in Florida?

My wife and I were at the beach Saturday morning trying to get some sun in before the daily rains came.

It was 10 a.m., and the winds were light out of the south-southwest. The air temperature was probably about 80 degrees.

Inexplicably the wind shifted to the east and the temperature dropped in a flash. It felt as if someone had turned on an air conditioner. Oceanside air-conditioning, what a concept.

The winds shortly resumed their assault from the southwest, and clouds quickly gathered in support of another lightning attack from the interior.

It's a pattern that is really starting to raise eyebrows from fishermen, surfers, meteorologists, oceanographers and marine biologists alike. The Bacchus registered a water temperature of 63 degrees as it went out the inlet Saturday, according to Dillon Sabate (Hook, Line and Sinker), and Volusia.org posted a surf temperature of 60 degrees.

Incredible. Those are March temperatures.

9-11-03

9-25-03

Guana was more generous with drum (as was the County Pier) and some of the reports coming from the dam were disturbing.

10-11-03

Now that water temperatures are dropping gradually, the bottom fishing should fire up through Christmas.

There are pompano and some nice whiting being caught on shrimp at the breakers in Nassau Sound. Fort Clinch State Park is holding nice flounder at the little jetties and at the Fort Clinch Pier. The George W. Crady Bridge at Nassau Sound is reporting nice catches of redfish, whiting, trout and flounder.

10-23-03

The word on the pompano from three sources was the fish were nice sized and even better yet -- were biting on the inside slough where you didn't have to cast a mile to get to them. Fresh shrimp and clams were prime baits. A few reds, blues and big whiting were also in the surf throughout the county.

10-30-03

St. Johns River/Jetties: Sheepshead at Mayport jetties and around Heckscher Drive docks, bridges. Spanish mackerel being caught outside jetties.

Offshore Fernandina: FA and FC reefs remain good bets for bottomfishing. Quite a few legal snapper. Bluefish in the surf.

Offshore Mayport: Partyboats scoring on grouper, snapper when seas cooperate. Some kingfish have been caught recently. Whiting in the surf.

Offshore St. Augustine: Bottomfishing continues to be generally good for grouper, snapper, sea bass. The surf has been spotty.

11-6-03

11-13-03

11-27-03

Published Thursday, November 27, 2003

We're about to get hit with our first true cold front of the year and it should be interesting to see how it affects the current fishing.

The water temperatures are still pretty much in the pleasant range (71 to 73 degrees) but that will undoubtedly change.

The colder water is certain to bring sheepshead and drum to the fore, and the drum seem to be getting ready for it. All reports were up, with the heaviest fish a 22 pounder caught at the County Pier. Darryl Lloyd described the overall pier action as slow interspersed with an occasional large whiting. Bob Conroy (Mike's Place) also said that surf fishing was poor in North Beach except for those who could cast far. They seemed to be doing pretty well on big whiting, he added.

An Internet report (Bell South Outdoors Show) confirmed his assessment as one angler wrote that he had a great day at the Gate Station with whiting going about one and a half pounds each. Of note, the author said others near him who could not cast outside the sand bar did very little in the way of fish. Those they did catch were small. Christmas has historically been a good time for whiting. Look for boats to fish just outside the break and "the fleet" to gather in the ICW near Pine Island and the mouth of Salt Run.

11-30-03

Ron Joiner (County Pier) said a few hardy anglers tried their fortunes at the county planks but didn't find much other than a few small bluefish and whiting. He added that the ocean was churned and murky.

At this time of year, wind presents more of a problem than temperature.

12-4-03

12-7-03

12-11-03

Offshore St. Augustine: Snapper, grouper catches consistent in 21 fathoms. Not many trolling reports. Big whiting, some black drum at the Flagler Beach Pier. Only a few sheepshead at county pier.

Darryl Lloyd (County Pier) only cited a few sheepshead at the County Pier, but that was not to be unexpected considering the surf conditions over recent days.

Few people fished for them, yet he said several were caught. They were about the only things, aside from a few small whiting and bluefish that came out of the surf in recent days.

12-18-03

Wednesday night as the temperature dropped, Channel 12 reported an ocean temperature of 58 degrees, which was colder than I expected. The water didn't dally in the 60s very long (except in the summer during the thermocline), but it remains to be seen how low it will go.

From a fishing perspective, the upper 50s and low 60s isn't too bad. Trout, drum, reds, sheepshead, bluefish and whiting tolerate and even thrive in it if there is enough forage to keep them occupied. During most winters -- even warm ones -- we'll briefly test 52-53 degrees, and that turns off most species. I think the coldest I ever wrote about was 48, and a couple of very hard freezes put ice in the marshes and fish on their backs.

In our part of the world, the colder water doesn't have as much algae, and consequently it becomes very clear at this time.

Darryl Lloyd (County Pier) said that he could see sheepshead swimming around the pilings of the pier, but only one person was fishing for them with any regularity. Fiddler crabs are hard to come by, and sheepshead are said to be a lot spookier when you can see them.

Nevertheless, there were still some good reports over the last few days. Brian Turnquist (Devil's Elbow) said that Fred Miles continued his assault on the Minorcan Delight with several good catches in the Elbow/Matanzas area. Fred likes to fish submerged shell bars in deeper parts of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Frank Timmons (Sea Love) noted several days of excellent sheepshead activity in the Vilano area before this latest front and added that regulars on the Vilano Pier did almost as good as those in boats.

12-21-03

Dave Privett said there was a good bite of whiting at the County Pier late Friday, and a call to the pier on Saturday revealed that a few of the fish were still around. Privett said the Anastasia surf in general had some nice whiting.

All the reds I heard of were short. There were pretty good numbers of them but they were small.

12-27-03

All last week the weather was erratic, calm and warm one day, then windy and brutally cold for Florida the next. Trout, redfish, black drum and sheepshead have dominated the inshore scene, with whiting in the surf and at the George Crady Bridge at the Nassau Sound.

1-1-04

Girlfriend and I fished Sunglow on Saturday. She caught 4 whiting, two of them were pretty good size. I sadly caught one. I did see a few nice drum come over the rail and one good size red.

1-4-04

1-8-04

1-15-04 WT55 Saint A

I expected the water temperatures to drop much more than they did, but the ocean still held the fort at 55 degrees.

He heard that trolling was slow to negligible, which was also pretty much how it was before the weekend.

Most bait shops along the ICW showed little in the way of activity over the last few days, but the warmer weather appears to bringing out a few more anglers as we head toward the weekend.

The word is that reds are available at low tide -- preferably in the back of creeks -- and drum can be found in the deeper holes.

One place that heats up at this time of year is the Barge off from the County Pier. Timmons offered that a couple of anglers returned from there saying they had a great day with weakfish (yellow mouth trout).

When you can find what's left of it, the Barge also tends to offer drum, sheepshead, and reds.

Bob Raduns (Camachee Island Charters) said that the inside waters are holding a lot of little bluefish, while Ron Joiner reported that the County Pier was a central gathering point for little whiting -- little being the operative word. I didn't hear much about trout, aside from a few who braved the cold to catch them at night around dock lights.

1-22-04

St. Johns River/Jetties: Sheepshead on and off at Mayport jetties, along with some ringtails, yellowmouth trout. Trout in deep water near structure in the river.

Offshore Fernandina: Wahoo at Gulf Stream. Sea bass at FA, FB, FC reefs. Some bull whiting in surf and at St. Marys inlet.

Offshore Mayport: Some kingfish, cobia on the offshore wrecks, along with beeliners and snapper. Sea bass on the closer-in bottom.

Offshore St. Augustine: Scattered wahoo, sailfish, dolphin at the ledge. Whiting off the Red Tops in about 30 feet of water. Sea bass on local wrecks.

Newspaper, Internet, telephone, and radio reports were just a tick above dismal. For one thing, not many people actually tried to fish.

1-25-04

BILL SABO

1-31-04

2-5-04

2-12-04

2-14-04

Water temperatures have been in the low to mid-50s, and the outside temperature fluctuations have left fishing reports to be on the slim side.

With anticipation of warmer weather right around the corner, local anglers should be ready for a strong run of bull whiting.

Whether fishing from the Fort Clinch pier, Amelia Island beaches, George Crady Bridge, Nassau Sound, or the Cumberland Sound, anglers can begin to expect excellent catches of whiting within the next several weeks.

Anglers fishing the south jetties have started to catch puppy drum and whiting at low tide using dead shrimp on the bottom. Fernandina Beach native Kenny Baker reported sporadic catches of whiting while surf fishing the north end. His best trip this week was 13 bull whiting.

2-19-04

Offshore St. Augustine: Wahoo and tuna at the ledge when the weather allows boats to get there. Sea bass, some beeliners on the wrecks. Surf is cold, fishing slow.

The surf was unfishable for most of the week, and even when the winds went west and flattened it out, the fishing wasn't very good.

Ron Joiner (County Pier) noted that the whiting were inconsistent at best despite there being more water to fish there. Erosion was heavy near the pier, and Joiner said that the beach lost about 15 feet during the latest blow. There is also a "cliff" of about 6 to 7 feet where the high tide cut away the sand.

2-26-04

Offshore Mayport: Sea bass, beeliners, triggerfish continue to save the day for bottom bumpers. More throwbacks than legal snapper around. A few whiting off the beach.

The surf was poor to non-existent, but big schools of reds were spotted -- and fished -- over the flats in the southern part of the county. Reports from the St. Johns River were surprisingly sparse despite a pretty good number of people going out. I hope that's just an anomaly.

3-6-04

With the water temperature climbing daily, the whiting should begin biting on Amelia Island's beaches and in the Nassau and Cumberland sounds.

3-7-04

There wasn't anything at the County Pier either, according to Darryl Lloyd. That's not surprising when you consider that the bottom below the pier is, in effect, new. Recent erosion has heavily scoured the surroundings.

3-13-04

Fishing for whiting started to pick up last weekend. I expect the water temperatures to continue to rise and the whiting bite will begin to turn on. Mike Price caught nine bull whiting while surf fishing March 6. Tom Corbett reports the whiting bite is improving. March 5-7 picked up.

The big black drum are here. A 70-plus-pounder was taken in the waterway north of St. Augustine, and a couple of 55-pounders were caught off the beach at Fernandina. Several fish camps have on-going tournaments for the heaviest drum.

Offshore Fernandina: Sea bass and some legal snapper and grouper within 15 miles of the beach. Attention is shifting to the big drum off the beach. Whiting in the Amelia Island surf.

Offshore Mayport: Partyboats picking up more legal snapper, along with the usual beeliners and sea bass. Cobia at Elton Bottom. Some whiting in surf at Hanna Park.

Offshore St. Augustine: Beeliners, good-size sea bass in 100 feet of water. A few cobia, tuna there, too. Wahoo have slowed since the full moon. Scattered whiting in the surf.

3-20-04

This is a great start to what I think is going to be a banner year for beach whiting fishermen on Amelia Island.

3-21-04

Whiting catches were up for those who could cast far or get in a boat. The county pier had good reports in number and size. But it was excellent to the south reading the internet with some big pomps too—Canaveral to Flagler

BILL SABO

In a nutshell, things were a whole lot better for more people than they were a month ago. We're on course.

Where to start? In the surf, whiting catches were up for those who can cast far or get outside the breakers in a boat. The County Pier had some very good reports both in terms of numbers and size. Reading the Internet, it was excellent to the south, and although there weren't any reports on big numbers of pompano, many of those landed were heavyweights. By the south, I mean in this case, Canaveral Seashore, New Smyrna and Flagler.

Reds lit up throughout the county. Rats, slots, oversized, you name it. They were all somewhere at some time. With schools of mullet ranging from fingerling to 8 inches now appearing, the predators (reds, trout, bluefish and jacks) definitely woke up to go to dinner.

It's difficult to get a handle on exact locations because unlike the winter when fish find their comfort zone, everything is in flux.

Even trout and flounder showed modest increases in catch reports from everyone reporting. Trout numbers were encouraging, but flounder were minimal, which is better than their previous status of non-existent. Trout figures were good in both terms of size and number, but the best catches were coming at night from those looking for them under the lights as opposed to those finding them accidentally in the day.

3-25-04 Saint aug

Excellent catches of whiting at the county pier over the weekend according to Ron Joiner. This is consistent with catches from Flagler pier where the run started a week earlier. Some catches ranged from 60 to 80, many were bulls and they rain is surges.

3-27 and 29, 2004

Spring has finally arrived, and with it came warm weather and fantastic fishing all week.

Black drum fishing seems to have taken center stage this week. Anglers have been catching puppy drum up to full-grown big boys, during the day and evening. The breakers at Nassau Sound, Main Beach, the south jetties and Cumberland Sound are the best bets for those big ones.

Jason Scott and crew caught and released seven drum on March 21 while fishing the breakers at Nassau Sound. They were using crab and shrimp fished on the bottom. On March 23, Jason caught and released 20 trout and two reds using topwater plugs along the Amelia River. All fish were caught on the outgoing tide while casting around exposed oyster bars.

Whiting fishing continued to be good all week. Surf fishing on Amelia Island's beaches, the George Crady Bridge, Fort Clinch Pier or by boat in the Nassau Sound or the Cumberland Sound has been great on the low tide through the incoming to high tide.

Joe Green and sons caught over 40 whiting on March 27 surf fishing along the south Amelia beaches. Travis Ewing also had a great catch, bringing in 16 bull whiting while surf fishing on Monday.

I prefer to use the fish finder rig, which consists of a sinker slide, 3-ounce pyramid sinker, and barrel swivel with an 18-inch leader to a No. 1 bait holder hook. I recommend peeling your shrimp when fishing for those tasty fun fish.

With the water temperatures warming up gradually, fishing also has heated up. Don't worry about the cold front that passed through this week, the water temperatures should come back to normal by the weekend.

On the surf fishing scene, the whiting bite turned on in full force. Mark Mertz caught 40 whiting while fishing for about an hour in the late afternoon March 19. He said the surf conditions were calm and clear.

David Osteen and Kenny Baker also report good catches of whiting along the beaches of Amelia Island. The whiting bite has been good at the south jetties, at Main Beach, Nassau Sound and along the Nassau River.

I think we've had an early black drum bite this year, and the drum catches have been awesome. Most of the drum have been in the 20- to 40-pound range, with a few 60- to 70-pounders also being caught. Jason Scott had excellent results black drum fishing at Nassau Sound last week. Jason is using live crab and dead shrimp fished on the bottom.

Ronnie Foster and crew caught three drum and a nice catch of whiting fishing the south jetty this past week. Mutt Daniel has also reported excellent catches of black drum. Many of the anglers have caught drum at Main Beach, Nassau Sound and Cumberland Sound. The best baits are crab, clam and large shrimp used by themselves or as a combination.