Having met Capt. King at Lang's Marina on the old waterfront in St. Marys, our plan was for the fishing party to get into some big bull reds. Walking down the dock to the captain's boat, we passed beneath the shadow of the Cumberland Queen, the National Park Service ferry that shuttles passengers to and from Cumberland Island, which, besides being the largest of the Peach State's barrier islands, is also home to its namesake National Seashore.

Once on the water, Capt. King's first order of business was to provide plenty of live bait, preferably the pogies (the local name for menhaden) that big red drum prefer. As the captain explained, even though shrimp will catch the big reds, that bait often also attracts bait-stealers such as whiting and catfish, and using pogies eliminates that problem. In the deeper water where we were to target the bull reds, using the pogies even produces some larger seatrout.

The baitfish are located by looking for "working birds" -- gulls or terns diving onto the surface to feed on the small fish. In the absence of active birds, you can often still see the "busy water" that the schools of bait create as they swarm near the surface. With a little experience you can tell the difference between the popping that the shrimp make on the top and the wakes of the schools of minnows.

After a bit of scouting, with some hits and misses along the beach of southern Cumberland Island, our guide was able to use his cast net to fill the baitwell with pogies that were 2 to 4 inches long. It became quite evident to me that the persistence and aptitude Capt. King displayed with his cast net bode well for a successful day of saltwater fishing.

With the livewell full, we anchored along a jetty that jutted out along the north side of the mouth of the St. Marys. The tide was going out, and the conflict it created in colliding with the incoming waves caused whitecaps. The schools of baitfish trapped in the turmoil attracted the red drum.

Using heavyweight rods loaded with 50-pound braided line, we baited circle hooks with pogies, hooking the small fish just in front of the eye through its nostrils. Using the circle hook doesn't require setting the hook by jerking the rod upward. The fish hooks itself as it moves off with the bait. That makes the chances of the fish swallowing the hook much slimmer.

I lowered my bait into approximately 17 to 20 feet of water -- and within seconds the rod was bent in half! My first spottail of the day weighed over 20 pounds.