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St. Augustine Fishing Report: Late September Bounty on the Ancient City Inshore
Published 7 months, 1 week ago
Description
Artificial Lure here with your St. Augustine fishing report for Wednesday, September 24th, 2025.
Morning’s breaking crisp over the Ancient City—cloud cover is light at 8%, a balmy **80°F** with gentle winds around 4 mph out of the west. Humidity’s at 73%, making it a classic late September day on the Northeast Florida coast. Water temperature is holding steady at **77°F**, perfect for both inshore and surf fishing conditions. Sunrise hit at **7:15 am**, and sunset heads our way at 7:19 pm—so you’ve got a hearty 12 hours of daylight to get on the bite.
Tides are running strong with a big coefficient at Matanzas Inlet and St. Augustine Beach. We started the day with a low tide at 3:57 am, moving to a solid high at **10:23 am** up to 5.41 ft. Look for the next low at 4:33 pm and a final high at 10:40 pm. Big tides mean active currents, so fish have been feeding hard, especially around transitions. Prime fishing times are mid-morning and late afternoon into dusk, as the water pushes in and out—classic ambush points for predators.
Reports have been stellar: local boats and shore anglers have pulled in some **fat redfish** up against the oyster bars and dropoffs in the ICW and Salt Run. Good numbers of **speckled trout** showing up just inside the Matanzas and Vilano bridges, with several keepers over 20 inches this week. **Flounder** are stacking up around the Vilano Pier and pilings south of the inlet—best action on the rising tide. Surf casters along St. Augustine Beach have also found **pompano** and slot-sized **black drum** early and late.
Live bait is dynamite right now—**finger mullet** if you can net ‘em, otherwise live shrimp is a winner for trout and reds. Pinfish and mud minnows are picking up flounder for those drifting. For artificials, folks are scoring big on **soft plastic paddle tails** in new penny and opening night, rigged on 1/8 to 1/4 oz jig heads. Topwater plugs like the MirrOlure She Dog and Heddon Super Spook Jr. are provoking aggressive strikes in the early hours. For tricking drum and trout, a slow roll with the classic DOA shrimp’s producing, especially around rock jetties and on deeper grass flats.
Hot spots today:
- **Salt Run**: Redfish on live mullet and plastics, plus schooling trout near deeper grass edges.
- **Vilano Bridge and Pier**: Flounder hugging structure, black drum cruising through at slack tide.
- **Matanzas Inlet**: Incoming water is pulling big trout and reds tight to oyster beds—try throwing paddle tails and topwaters just as the tide starts to push.
Don’t overlook the south end of St. Augustine Beach early—pompano and whiting are cruising close to shore, especially around sunrise with small sand fleas or chartreuse/white goofy jigs.
Best advice? Fish the tide swings, move with the bait, and keep your presentation natural—these big-moving tides will get the predators feeding hard. Keep an eye on birds—they’re leading to active bait balls and dragging jacks and blues in behind them.
Thanks for tuning in to your St. Augustine fishing report with Artificial Lure! Don’t forget to subscribe for daily tides, local insights, and angler action all season. 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
Morning’s breaking crisp over the Ancient City—cloud cover is light at 8%, a balmy **80°F** with gentle winds around 4 mph out of the west. Humidity’s at 73%, making it a classic late September day on the Northeast Florida coast. Water temperature is holding steady at **77°F**, perfect for both inshore and surf fishing conditions. Sunrise hit at **7:15 am**, and sunset heads our way at 7:19 pm—so you’ve got a hearty 12 hours of daylight to get on the bite.
Tides are running strong with a big coefficient at Matanzas Inlet and St. Augustine Beach. We started the day with a low tide at 3:57 am, moving to a solid high at **10:23 am** up to 5.41 ft. Look for the next low at 4:33 pm and a final high at 10:40 pm. Big tides mean active currents, so fish have been feeding hard, especially around transitions. Prime fishing times are mid-morning and late afternoon into dusk, as the water pushes in and out—classic ambush points for predators.
Reports have been stellar: local boats and shore anglers have pulled in some **fat redfish** up against the oyster bars and dropoffs in the ICW and Salt Run. Good numbers of **speckled trout** showing up just inside the Matanzas and Vilano bridges, with several keepers over 20 inches this week. **Flounder** are stacking up around the Vilano Pier and pilings south of the inlet—best action on the rising tide. Surf casters along St. Augustine Beach have also found **pompano** and slot-sized **black drum** early and late.
Live bait is dynamite right now—**finger mullet** if you can net ‘em, otherwise live shrimp is a winner for trout and reds. Pinfish and mud minnows are picking up flounder for those drifting. For artificials, folks are scoring big on **soft plastic paddle tails** in new penny and opening night, rigged on 1/8 to 1/4 oz jig heads. Topwater plugs like the MirrOlure She Dog and Heddon Super Spook Jr. are provoking aggressive strikes in the early hours. For tricking drum and trout, a slow roll with the classic DOA shrimp’s producing, especially around rock jetties and on deeper grass flats.
Hot spots today:
- **Salt Run**: Redfish on live mullet and plastics, plus schooling trout near deeper grass edges.
- **Vilano Bridge and Pier**: Flounder hugging structure, black drum cruising through at slack tide.
- **Matanzas Inlet**: Incoming water is pulling big trout and reds tight to oyster beds—try throwing paddle tails and topwaters just as the tide starts to push.
Don’t overlook the south end of St. Augustine Beach early—pompano and whiting are cruising close to shore, especially around sunrise with small sand fleas or chartreuse/white goofy jigs.
Best advice? Fish the tide swings, move with the bait, and keep your presentation natural—these big-moving tides will get the predators feeding hard. Keep an eye on birds—they’re leading to active bait balls and dragging jacks and blues in behind them.
Thanks for tuning in to your St. Augustine fishing report with Artificial Lure! Don’t forget to subscribe for daily tides, local insights, and angler action all season. 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