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St. Augustine Fishing Report: Reds, Trout, and Flounder on the Move
Published 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Good morning, folks—Artificial Lure here with your fresh-off-the-dock fishing report for St. Augustine and the First Coast waters, Wednesday, September 17th, 2025.
We kicked the day off with a **sunrise at 7:07 AM**, and you can expect to pack it in just as the sun sets at 7:35 PM. The air’s crisp and pleasant in the upper 70s at dawn, climbing to the mid-80s by mid-afternoon, with an onshore breeze picking up out of the east. Skies look partly cloudy, with enough blue to keep things bright but just enough cover to cool anglers stalking the flats.
**Tides are moving big today**, with a high at St. Augustine City Dock peaking near 6:56 AM, then bottoming out around 12:57 PM. Evening anglers, your next high will be about 7:33 PM, ideal for a sunset bite. Over at St. Augustine Beach, look for a solid high tide at 8:14 AM and a low just after 2 PM. This means lots of water movement—excellent news for predatory fish looking for an easy meal, so don’t miss those moving-water windows.
Now to **the bite:** Reports coming in from charter captains and locals say the redfish action is steady on the higher tides, especially early around the grass lines and creek mouths. If you’re near the flats or the backwaters of Salt Run, try pitching **cut mullet** or **live shrimp**. Slot reds have been cruising, and a few oversized bulls are being spotted tailing on the high tides.
**Speckled trout** are holding over deeper grass beds in Salt Run and up around Vilano. They’re taking popping cork rigs with either live shrimp or Gulp! baits in new penny or white. For the artificials crowd, MirrOlure suspending twitchbaits and Z-Man soft plastics in natural hues are picking up solid strikes at first light and during overcast stretches.
If you’re after **flounder,** focus inshore on the drop-offs and edges—shrimp-tipped jigs and small finger mullet are working best. Just north around Guana and down by Matanzas Inlet, word has it the flatties are starting to stack up as the mullet run fires off. Be patient on the outgoing tide, working the baits slow with a tight line.
**Sheepshead** are showing up thick on the area bridges and docks—local favorites have been fiddler crabs and chunks of fresh shrimp. Look for black drum mixing in, especially if you’re dropping baits near deeper pilings around the Bridge of Lions or the Vilano Pier.
Off the beach, the surf’s seeing good runs of **Spanish mackerel** and a few keeper pompano. Silver spoons are the artificial of choice, but sand fleas or shrimp on a double-drop rig will get the job done when the surf’s calm. Early risers are still catching a few bluefish cruising the troughs.
Top shops like Genung’s Fish Camp and Avid Angler are reporting high demand for live bait—especially mullet and shrimp—so get there early if you want the good stuff.
**Hot spots to try today:**
- Salt Run at high tide for trout and redfish action.
- The Vilano Bridge for sheepshead, black drum, and redfish as the tide drops.
- Matanzas Inlet and nearby flats for flounder, especially on the outgoing.
And don’t forget, when the tide’s moving fast, match it with heavier jigheads, but when it slacks off, scale down for a more natural drift—those First Coast fish can get picky.
That’s the word for St. Augustine this Wednesday—tight lines to ya, thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to subscribe for all the latest, and share the stoke.
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
We kicked the day off with a **sunrise at 7:07 AM**, and you can expect to pack it in just as the sun sets at 7:35 PM. The air’s crisp and pleasant in the upper 70s at dawn, climbing to the mid-80s by mid-afternoon, with an onshore breeze picking up out of the east. Skies look partly cloudy, with enough blue to keep things bright but just enough cover to cool anglers stalking the flats.
**Tides are moving big today**, with a high at St. Augustine City Dock peaking near 6:56 AM, then bottoming out around 12:57 PM. Evening anglers, your next high will be about 7:33 PM, ideal for a sunset bite. Over at St. Augustine Beach, look for a solid high tide at 8:14 AM and a low just after 2 PM. This means lots of water movement—excellent news for predatory fish looking for an easy meal, so don’t miss those moving-water windows.
Now to **the bite:** Reports coming in from charter captains and locals say the redfish action is steady on the higher tides, especially early around the grass lines and creek mouths. If you’re near the flats or the backwaters of Salt Run, try pitching **cut mullet** or **live shrimp**. Slot reds have been cruising, and a few oversized bulls are being spotted tailing on the high tides.
**Speckled trout** are holding over deeper grass beds in Salt Run and up around Vilano. They’re taking popping cork rigs with either live shrimp or Gulp! baits in new penny or white. For the artificials crowd, MirrOlure suspending twitchbaits and Z-Man soft plastics in natural hues are picking up solid strikes at first light and during overcast stretches.
If you’re after **flounder,** focus inshore on the drop-offs and edges—shrimp-tipped jigs and small finger mullet are working best. Just north around Guana and down by Matanzas Inlet, word has it the flatties are starting to stack up as the mullet run fires off. Be patient on the outgoing tide, working the baits slow with a tight line.
**Sheepshead** are showing up thick on the area bridges and docks—local favorites have been fiddler crabs and chunks of fresh shrimp. Look for black drum mixing in, especially if you’re dropping baits near deeper pilings around the Bridge of Lions or the Vilano Pier.
Off the beach, the surf’s seeing good runs of **Spanish mackerel** and a few keeper pompano. Silver spoons are the artificial of choice, but sand fleas or shrimp on a double-drop rig will get the job done when the surf’s calm. Early risers are still catching a few bluefish cruising the troughs.
Top shops like Genung’s Fish Camp and Avid Angler are reporting high demand for live bait—especially mullet and shrimp—so get there early if you want the good stuff.
**Hot spots to try today:**
- Salt Run at high tide for trout and redfish action.
- The Vilano Bridge for sheepshead, black drum, and redfish as the tide drops.
- Matanzas Inlet and nearby flats for flounder, especially on the outgoing.
And don’t forget, when the tide’s moving fast, match it with heavier jigheads, but when it slacks off, scale down for a more natural drift—those First Coast fish can get picky.
That’s the word for St. Augustine this Wednesday—tight lines to ya, thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to subscribe for all the latest, and share the stoke.
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