Now let's talk fishing! In the summer, the fishing is usually better early in the morning or during the last few hours of daylight. I'll go out midday if it's cloudy and cooler, but if it's really sunny and hot, I would rather not be fishing because the fish I catch, if any, won't be worth the heat.

REDFISH will bite hard on live shrimp and live mullet rigged with a float and weight. Cast along grass banks at high tides, and creek mouths on out-going tides because the bait fish they prey on, school around these areas. My favorite artificial baits for Reds are the Top Dog series, the four-inch shad from Illusion lures, and the D.O.A. shrimp which catches most everything. Cast along grass banks, oyster beds or any place you see bait fish.

FLOUNDER are tricky because you have to drag the bait right in front of them to get them to bite. The best baits for flounder are live mullet or live mud minnows on a Mr. Wiffle jig head dragged along shallow, muddy or sandy bottoms. There are also several lures that will catch flounder. Curly tail grubs on a jig head, D.O.A. shrimp and D.O.A. terrorizers are tempting to flounder when dragged along the bottom. Retreive the grubs slowly with a twitch every three seconds. D.O.A.'s seem to work best when retreived slowly with two twitches every two seconds. Try the pinfish color shad from Illusion lures, with a white jig head. Twitch it, then reel in the slack line and repeat until the lure is in. Look for the muddy shallow bottoms along grass banks and around the outside of oyster beds.

TROUT hang out in the holes and fast-moving currents of the flats waiting for their prey to come to them. Fish these areas using live mullet hooked from the bottom lip through the top lip on a jig head. Also, use live mullet on a two-foot leader with a float at the top and 1/2 oz. egg weight in the middle. No mullet? No problem! The best lures for trout (in my opinion) are the D.O.A. shrimp, YO-Zuri's red head white body twitch baits, and curly tail grubs (chartreuse, glow and white with a red tail). Retrieve the grubs with varying speeds and an occasional twitch until you start catching fish. Then stick with that speed because trout can be picky about the speed of their prey.

FISH WITH FIGHT are fun! The most commonly caught "fish with fight" are JACK CREVALLE. Although they can get quite large, most people do not eat them. They range in size and will hit a spoon, a Top Dog or anything that is shinny or loud like a popper. Jacks are not hard to find just look in the flats for a lot of splashing and small bait fish flying everywhere.

TARPON will fight till your arms fall off and then some. But the chance of hooking one and getting it into reach does not happen very often. If you do catch one, you will never get tired of telling the story of its 4' plus jumps. To keep a tarpon, you will need a $50 tag that allows you to keep two. I suggest keeping a camera with you to record your catch instead of buying the Tarpon tag. Tarpon will eat a large mullet or some big plugs.

LOCATION: We have some of the best fishing right here in St. Augustine. We have a big pier on the beach and also on the intracoastal waterway. If you don't know the waters you want to fish in, I suggest taking a private charter. The captain of the boat will take you to the fish and give you tips on how to catch them.

GEAR: If you are fishing for meat, I suggest a 6-1/2 or 7ft. medium weight rod with a spinning reel or a bait caster lined with 12 to 20lb test line. But if you want to give the fish a chance to win his freedom, I suggest a 6 or 6-1/2ft. light weight rod with a small spinning reel lined with 6 to 10lb. test line. I use a PENN 714Z UltraSport reel with 6lb. test on a 6 ft. light weight rod when I want to put my skill to the test. See you on the water!

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