Similar Fish:
southern flounder, P. lethostigma (no eye-like spots; color pattern is key to distinguishing the two species)

Description
All flatfishes, including the southern flounder, are compressed laterally and spend most of their life lying and swimming along the bottom on their side. In the case of southern flounder, the left side is always the "up" side; in other species, the opposite is true. Small flounder grow rapidly and may reach 12 inches in length by the end of their first year. Males seldom exceed 12 inches, but females grow larger than males and often reach a length of 25 inches.

Where Found
Although flounder can be taken by rod and reel in almost any portion of the bay, it is more often productive to fish around jetties or oyster reefs that extend from shore into the bay. Flounder do not swim continuously so they tend to accumulate in such places in their search for food. During the fall, when flounder are moving to the Gulf for spawning, the best catches are made in the channels and passes leading to the Gulf. During the spring, wading anglers work the edges of channels, such as the Intracoastal Waterway, as the fish are moving back into the bays. Floundering is best during the migration from October to December. Hundreds of lanterns can often be seen in and around the pass areas during this period, as the fishers wade through the shallows in search of fish.  During the spring and summer the best catches with gigs are made in the back bays. Areas with cord grass (Spartina alterniflora) along the shoreline are good producers, and a bottom that is slightly silty or muddy generally is better than a hard sand bottom. The mouths of small bayous and sloughs often yield flounder.  Since water clarity is very important to the success of any floundering trip, floundering should be done on calm nights. When fishing on windy nights, anglers should try to work small protected bays and shorelines.  The best catches are made during an incoming tide and on dark nights as opposed to moonlit nights. However, do not hesitate to flounder on an outgoing tide. During a falling tide trying farther offshore in water one to two feet deep or around offshore sandbars is often more productive. Avoid nights when the tides are abnormally high. Stingrays also frequent the shallows at night. They are flat and can sometimes be mistaken for a flounder or stepped on by the unwary. The inexperienced flounder fisher should make certain of what he has gigged before retrieving it. If in doubt, simply hold the creature on the bottom with the gig and wait for the water to settle before attempting to retrieve your catch. A multi-pronged gig is helpful in such cases, because the catch can be lifted unassisted from the bottom.

How To Catch
Flounder are taken by rod and reel or by gig. When fishing with rod and reel, light tackle offers both the greatest sport and best chance for catching flounder. Both artificial lures and natural bait can be used. Over barren bottoms, leaded plastic worms (worm jigs) are often very effective. In heavily vegetated areas, shallow-running spoons are best. Flounder prefer live to dead bait. Live shrimp retrieved slowly along the bottom often produce excellent results. Killifish (referred to locally as mud minnows) fished in a similar fashion, is good bait. These fish can often be taken in large numbers with the cast or minnow seine. Although many are taken by rod and reel, "floundering" or gigging offers the best challenge for this species. The flounder is vulnerable to this technique because it often enters the shallows at night to feed. Both the skills of the angler and the hunter are called for here. Lanterns are used in searching for flounder and gigs ranging from single-pronged to modified hay forks are used to spear the fish. The anglers wade quietly along the shallows looking for flounder. Once the flounder is within the light from the lantern, normally it will not move, affording the fisher a chance to "gig" the fish. Although this sounds like a sure-fire method, many fish are missed because they go undetected until they swim away or because of inaccurate gigging by an overanxious angler. The more sophisticated flounder fisher may mount his lanterns (or battery-powered lamps) on the front of a flat-bottomed skiff. The skiff is then poled through the water in search of fish or is pushed by a small air motor. Floundering from a boat is much easier than wading. It allows the angler to cover more area and search bottoms that are too soft for wading.

 

Other Names
Silver King

Similar Fish
(as juveniles) ladyfish, Elops saurus.

Size:
Most angler catchs 40 to 50 pounds.

Description
The tarpon, a spectacular large fish which rightly carries the name of Silver King, is unmistakable. Characteristics include large flat scales up to three inches in diameter, an elongated dorsal fin, falcate anal fin and large bony underslung jaw.

Where Found
Young tarpon may be found in brackish water around marsh channels in St. Augustine Florida. Adults sometimes may also move up the larger rivers in St. Augustine.

How To Catch
Tarpon will hit trolled spoons and jigs and also will take live pinfish and mullet under a cork and menhaden using drift fishing methods. The ensuing fight is dramatic, marked by leaps from the water and shaking of the body.

Remarks
Slow grower; matures at 7 to 13 years of age; spawning occurs between May and September in St. Augustine; female may lay more than 12 million eggs; can tolerate wide range of salinity; juveniles commonly found in fresh water; can breathe air at surface; feeds mainly on fish and large crustaceans in St. Augustine.

Other Names
Sea Drum, Saltwater Drum, Gray Drum, Drumfish, Striped Drum, Tambor

Similar Fish:
The vertical bars on juvenile black drum are somewhat similar to those on sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus; spadefish, Chaetodipterus faber; red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus.

Description
The black drum is a chunky, high-backed fish with many barbels or whiskers under the lower jaw. Younger fish have four or five dark vertical bars on their sides but these disappear with age. The bellies of older fish are white but coloration of backs and sides can vary greatly. A length of six inches is reached in the first year, 12 inches the second and 16 inches the third. Increases of about two inches per year occur after that.

Where Found
The black drum is found along the Atlantic Coast from New York through Florida including St. Augustine. This species can adapt to a wider range of habitats than any other important food fish. They thrive in water so shallow that their backs are exposed. They are found in extremely warm shallow flats during summer and survive better than many other fish in freezing weather. They are attracted to freshwater runoff of creeks and rivers.  Drum are found in the clearest waters in St. Augustine Florida on the sand flats and in the muddiest waters of a flooding slough.

How To Catch
Black drum fishing can be enjoyed by anyone visiting St. Augustine.  Black drum are rarely taken on artificial baits since most feeding is done by feel and smell. Cut fish, squid and shrimp are used, with peeled shrimp tails. Since feeding is done on the bottom, the basic technique is simple - put a baited hook on the bottom and wait for the drum to swallow it.  The tackle to be used depends on the size of the fish present in Saint Augustine. For small drum, light tackle is more sporting but for 40-pounders, heavy rods with plenty of backbone are needed. Use a strong single hook with line and leader of appropriate strength. A conventional bottom rig with sinker and one or more drops with single hooks is most common for bank and surf fishing or for fishing from an anchored boat.  Drum will often "mouth" the bait for some time before swallowing it, so anglers must wait until the fish moves off with the bait, then jerk the rod tip up to set the hook. Drum neither jump often nor make long racing runs or any of the other things a great sport fish is supposed to do, however they are powerful and will fight all the way in.  For those unable to catch their own, black drum are harvested commercially in the St. Augustine area throughout the year. These drum can be purchased in stores and fish markets.

Spawning
Unlike spotted seatrout that spawns only in the bays, and red drum that spawns only in the Gulf, black drum will spawn in either bay or Gulf or in the connecting passes. Free spawning occurs mostly in February, March, and April with some later spawning occurring in June and July in St. Augustine. Larval drum are found in the surf and along bay shorelines in March and April, and by early summer one-half to one-inch juveniles are common in shallow, muddy creeks, sloughs and boat basins in St. Augustine.

Growth
A length of six inches is reached in the first year, 12 inches the second and 16 inches the third. Increases of about two inches per year occur after that.

Food and Feeding
In St. Augustine young drums feed on maritime worms, small shrimp, and crabs and small fish. Larger drum eat small crabs, worms, algae, small fish and mollusks. Barbels (or whiskers) are used to find food by feel and smell. Drum often dig or root out buried mollusks and worms while feeding in a head-down position. This process is called "tailing" and creates small craters in the bottom which anglers call "drum noodles." Experienced anglers can detect the recent passage of a school of drum by the presence of many "noodles." The black drum has no canine teeth like those of the spotted seatrout, but does have highly developed pharyngeal teeth (in the pharynx or throat) which are used to crush mollusks and crabs before swallowing.

Movements
When food is plentiful and water conditions acceptable in St. Augustine, movements are small, but long migrations in search of food and more desirable habitats have been recorded. Spawning migrations and movements toward freshwater flow are also notable.

Eating Quality
While some prefer flounder, red drum, snapper, or some more glamorous fish, many anglers maintain that black drum less than five pounds, cleaned and prepared properly, may be better than many of these so-called "choice" fish. Fish taken in cold weather before spawning tend to be fatter and in better condition than those caught in summer after spawning. Drum weighing more than five pounds usually have coarse flesh; the larger the fish, the coarser the flesh.