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Summertime St. Augustine Fishing Report - Reds, Trout, Flounder, Tarpon and More on the Menu
Published 8 months ago
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Artificial Lure here with your St. Augustine fishing report for Friday, August 29th, 2025. We’re rolling into the tail-end of summer with that signature First Coast humidity—air’s thick, breeze is out of the northeast at 5 to 10 knots, and the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of afternoon showers and maybe a rumble of thunder. Plan accordingly, especially if you’re heading offshore, as seas will run about 2 feet, giving us nice conditions inside the Intracoastal.
Today’s tidal swings are textbook for fishing action near St. Augustine. This morning’s high tide hit just before daylight around 5:34 am, and another big push is coming this evening at 6:20 pm according to tides4fishing. Low water is mid-day, about 11:49 am. That means your best bet is to get lines wet around the incoming tide first thing, or take advantage of the late afternoon flood for that pre-sunset bite. Sunrise was at 6:55, sunset clocks out at 8:01, so you’ve got a full 13 hours of daylight to chase that dream fish.
Reports from recent charters and casual anglers say the bite’s been steady. Redfish are starting to school up in the backwaters and around the flats with decent numbers caught, especially on the last of the outgoing tide around Vilano and the north bridge pilings. Slot-size reds are responding well to live shrimp rigged under a popping cork and, true to my name, soft plastic paddle tails in new penny and electric chicken. Trout are scattered along the drop-offs in Salt Run and the ICW edges—try a live mullet freelined or a suspending twitchbait in chartreuse.
Flounder action’s been picking up over at the Vilano boat ramp flats and around the docks at Salt Run. Mud minnows or finger mullet on a simple jighead will produce, but white Gulp! swimming mullet has been a local go-to for those tossing artificials. Sheepshead are chewing around the Bridge of Lions and pier pilings, especially if you can scrape up some fiddler crabs for bait.
Off the beach, tarpon are rolling and busting bait pods in the mornings just outside the surfline. Slow-troll a live mullet or pogie, or throw a large swimbait if you want to tempt a silver king with hardware—just hold on tight for the fireworks. Spanish mackerel and a few kingfish are being found around the nearshore reefs, especially the SE Hole and Nine Mile—try casting flashy spoons or trolling duster rigs tipped with dead cigar minnows.
Hot spots for the weekend? You can’t go wrong targeting the docks at Salt Run for an early morning flounder and trout session, or working the north side of the Vilano Bridge on the late afternoon flood for those schooling redfish. If the surf’s calling, Crescent Beach is seeing scattered pompano and whiting on sand fleas near the deeper troughs.
Baits and lures: Live shrimp, finger mullet, and mud minnows are local currency this time of year. Artificial anglers should stick to soft plastics in shrimp or baitfish patterns, topwater plugs just after sunrise, and gold spoons for working grass edges and oyster bars. Don’t overlook a Gulp! or Z-Man PaddlerZ on a 1/4-oz jighead when working deeper pockets.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more local tackle talk, tide tips, and fishing know-how. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
Today’s tidal swings are textbook for fishing action near St. Augustine. This morning’s high tide hit just before daylight around 5:34 am, and another big push is coming this evening at 6:20 pm according to tides4fishing. Low water is mid-day, about 11:49 am. That means your best bet is to get lines wet around the incoming tide first thing, or take advantage of the late afternoon flood for that pre-sunset bite. Sunrise was at 6:55, sunset clocks out at 8:01, so you’ve got a full 13 hours of daylight to chase that dream fish.
Reports from recent charters and casual anglers say the bite’s been steady. Redfish are starting to school up in the backwaters and around the flats with decent numbers caught, especially on the last of the outgoing tide around Vilano and the north bridge pilings. Slot-size reds are responding well to live shrimp rigged under a popping cork and, true to my name, soft plastic paddle tails in new penny and electric chicken. Trout are scattered along the drop-offs in Salt Run and the ICW edges—try a live mullet freelined or a suspending twitchbait in chartreuse.
Flounder action’s been picking up over at the Vilano boat ramp flats and around the docks at Salt Run. Mud minnows or finger mullet on a simple jighead will produce, but white Gulp! swimming mullet has been a local go-to for those tossing artificials. Sheepshead are chewing around the Bridge of Lions and pier pilings, especially if you can scrape up some fiddler crabs for bait.
Off the beach, tarpon are rolling and busting bait pods in the mornings just outside the surfline. Slow-troll a live mullet or pogie, or throw a large swimbait if you want to tempt a silver king with hardware—just hold on tight for the fireworks. Spanish mackerel and a few kingfish are being found around the nearshore reefs, especially the SE Hole and Nine Mile—try casting flashy spoons or trolling duster rigs tipped with dead cigar minnows.
Hot spots for the weekend? You can’t go wrong targeting the docks at Salt Run for an early morning flounder and trout session, or working the north side of the Vilano Bridge on the late afternoon flood for those schooling redfish. If the surf’s calling, Crescent Beach is seeing scattered pompano and whiting on sand fleas near the deeper troughs.
Baits and lures: Live shrimp, finger mullet, and mud minnows are local currency this time of year. Artificial anglers should stick to soft plastics in shrimp or baitfish patterns, topwater plugs just after sunrise, and gold spoons for working grass edges and oyster bars. Don’t overlook a Gulp! or Z-Man PaddlerZ on a 1/4-oz jighead when working deeper pockets.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more local tackle talk, tide tips, and fishing know-how. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI