Bridging the summer slump.

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The Shands Bridge, which crosses the St. Johns River about 30 miles south of Jacksonville, offers Northeast anglers an unusual array of species rarely found together all at the same time in the same place: channel catfish and mullet, striped bass and yellowmouth trout (weakfish), redfish, croakers and eating-size shrimp by the bucketful.

The St. Johns is a mile or more wide in the vicinity of the Shands, which links Green Cove Springs on the west bank with the community of Orangedale on the east side. The river bottom in the area accounts for the diversity of species. Sandy mussel-shell beds are numerous, as are holes and steep dropoffs.

The bridge intersects the marked, deep river channel relatively close to the west shoreline. Near the eastern terminus of the bridge, the shallows drop off precipitously, creating a ledge. Rocks are the dominant feature at the northeast corner of the bridge. It's a hodgepodge of habitat that attracts a hodgepodge of critters.

What's nice about the Shands--and the St. Johns River in general--is that the fishing and shrimping are usually productive during a time of year when activity in other waters is sluggish because of the heat.

The bridge pilings harbor stripers at various times of the year. Anglers troll lipped diving plugs close to the pilings or work bucktail jigs around the structure.

Two areas within a stone's throw of the Shands are historical hotbeds for shrimp. The first spot is at the edge of the river channel near the northwest corner of the bridge, close to the Shands fishing pier. When the shrimp are there, so are the boats. Another spot is along the dropoff in the southeast quadrant, beginning right next to the bridge and extending south for several hundred yards. Again, a pod of boats with castnets flying is a tipoff that the shrimp are in.

Bridge pilings and the expansive shell bottoms both north and south of the bridge are home to the Shands slam--croaker, yellowmouth trout and redfish. When the trout are thick, they'll hit grubtail jigs. Otherwise, fresh-dead shrimp fished on the bottom with a sliding egg sinker rig will score all three species. Anglers often super-size the slam with channel catfish weighing over 15 pounds.

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Tide direction doesn't seem to matter that much at the Shands--as long as there is some tidal movement.

Boat ramps on either side of the river give access to the Shands Bridge. On the east bank, Trout Creek Park (public) and Pacetti's Marina (ramp fee) are located off State Road 13 on Trout Creek, a tributary of the St. Johns. Another choice is the public Palmo Road ramp off SR 13 south of Trout Creek. West bank public facilities include the Governors Creek ramp on US 17 in Green Cove Springs and the Shands ramp (shallow-draft boats only) off SR 16 near the bridge.

Elsewhere, the most consistent inshore fishing this month is near area inlets. Bull reds school inside the St. Johns River Inlet at Mayport and at the St. Marys River Inlet in Fernandina Beach. Pogy or blue crab baits will catch them. Tarpon and flounder will be visiting the inlets at Mayport, Fernandina and St. Augustine. Also look for tarpon in Salt Run near St. Augustine Inlet and at the Vilano Bridge.

Offshore, wrecks and natural bottom within 15 miles of the beach should keep trolling boats occupied with a mix of kingfish, barracuda, bonito, amberjacks and the occasional sailfish. Live baits work best, but frozen cigar minnows and ribbonfish will suffice. Trolled spoons are another option.

Best Bet: NORTHEAST

Northeast Florida's kingfish tournament season is winding down, and boat traffic along the beach is thinning out. But the bait schools are still there, and so are the predators, barring some unusual climate event such as a thermocline.

The beach cast includes tarpon, king mackerel, blacktip and spinner sharks, jack crevalle and bull redfish. Any of them will seriously stretch your string. The fish are generally found in the vicinity of pogy pods, and the bite--especially tarpon--is usually best early and late in the day. But that's not to say you can't hang a big fish at midday.

Slow-trolling with live pogies is a proven beach method. Other anglers, including those crazies in kayaks, may concentrate on individual bait pods, pitching a pogy bait into the school to see what's underneath.

Some old-schoolers still chum-fish off the beach with great success, although they don't talk about it much. They set up a chum line using fresh chum from shrimp boats, blocks of frozen chum or pogies caught in a castnet. Pieces of chum are tossed over the transom at intervals, resulting in a slick forming behind the boat. Fish are drawn to the oily feast, snacking their way up the line toward the boat.

Don't overdo the chumming. Too many pieces, and the baits get overlooked. Too few, and the fish lose interest. The neat thing about chum-fishing is its visual appeal. Watching amped-up tarpon and sharks home in on your offerings gets the heart pumping. If you're targeting tarpon only, have fun snatching your bait away from an onrushing blacktip.

Chum-fishing boats are usually allowed to drift, often with the aid of a sea anchor to control speed and position the craft vis-a-vis the prevailing wind.

As long as bait is present, beach fishing should be productive throughout the region this month, from Fernandina to Flagler. The waters adjacent to inlets such as Nassau Sound and Matanzas Inlet are always worth exploring.