Episode Details
Back to Episodes
St. Augustine Fishing Report: Fall Bite Heats Up on Reds, Trout, and Surf Action
Published 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
It’s Artificial Lure here, bringing you the Sunday fishing report for St. Augustine and the surrounding waters on October 12th, 2025.
We woke up this morning to **overcast skies** and cooler air, temps hovering around 21°C, with a chance of light rain persisting off and on—typical Florida fall weather after a string of Nor’easters. The sunrise cracked the horizon at 7:24 a.m., with sunset rolling in around 6:58 p.m., giving us nearly 11 and a half hours of daylight and a nice long window to fish. With the full moon just behind us, we’re still seeing some solid tidal movement: a low tide hit just around 5:30 a.m., and our midday high tide is coming right at noon, peaking at about 6.5 feet according to NOAA and Tide-Forecast.com. Expect a bit more current than usual, thanks to those big tidal coefficients, so fish will be on the move and feeding, especially around those turn-of-tide periods.
On the inshore side, **redfish** action continues to be strong. Local guides like Capt. Tommy Derringer say the Intracoastal Waterway, along with Salt Run and the flats by Anastasia State Park, have been steady producers. Slot reds are tailing up on the shallow grass at high tide and taking live shrimp or mullet, but soft plastic paddle tails in natural hues like “New Penny” or “Root Beer” are out-fishing everything right now for the lure crowd. Trout are scattered but feeding, especially around the mouths of feeder creeks during moving water—topwater plugs at first light and suspending twitch baits have been the go-to.
Flounder reports are picking up with the fall mullet run in full swing. Most catches have come off sandy drop-offs and dock pilings, especially in the Matanzas River and under the Bridge of Lions. Live finger mullet on a jig head is your best bet, but the classic Gulp! Swimming Mullet in white or chartreuse will put flatties in the box all day.
If you’re heading out to the jetties or the beaches, surf fishing has been excellent on the backside of those big tides. Black drum, whiting, and plenty of pompano are showing up—fresh shrimp and Fishbites are the ticket, especially along deeper troughs at Butler Beach and the points at Anastasia State Park.
Nearshore, folks sneak out between fronts are finding Jacks and big Spanish mackerel on the bait pods just past the surf line. Cast diamond jigs, chrome spoons, or fast-moving Got-Cha plugs for best results—match the hatch and hold on tight!
The hot spots today:
- **City of St. Augustine Municipal Marina**: always a reliable spot for a mixed bag, especially for trout, drum, and reds. Loads of moving water draws in just about everything on these big tides.
- **Butler Beach**: great for surf fishing, offers a mix of pompano, drum, and whiting—watch the tide chart to hit the deeper holes at high tide.
- **Salt Run**: perfect for kayak or wade anglers chasing reds and trout on the incoming tide.
As for bait, live finger mullet is everywhere right now and remains king for most species. If you’re a lure angler, don’t skip paddle tails or topwaters in the morning. For surf, sand fleas and Fishbites in shrimp or clam flavor work well.
Big thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for your daily dose of local fishing action. 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 woke up this morning to **overcast skies** and cooler air, temps hovering around 21°C, with a chance of light rain persisting off and on—typical Florida fall weather after a string of Nor’easters. The sunrise cracked the horizon at 7:24 a.m., with sunset rolling in around 6:58 p.m., giving us nearly 11 and a half hours of daylight and a nice long window to fish. With the full moon just behind us, we’re still seeing some solid tidal movement: a low tide hit just around 5:30 a.m., and our midday high tide is coming right at noon, peaking at about 6.5 feet according to NOAA and Tide-Forecast.com. Expect a bit more current than usual, thanks to those big tidal coefficients, so fish will be on the move and feeding, especially around those turn-of-tide periods.
On the inshore side, **redfish** action continues to be strong. Local guides like Capt. Tommy Derringer say the Intracoastal Waterway, along with Salt Run and the flats by Anastasia State Park, have been steady producers. Slot reds are tailing up on the shallow grass at high tide and taking live shrimp or mullet, but soft plastic paddle tails in natural hues like “New Penny” or “Root Beer” are out-fishing everything right now for the lure crowd. Trout are scattered but feeding, especially around the mouths of feeder creeks during moving water—topwater plugs at first light and suspending twitch baits have been the go-to.
Flounder reports are picking up with the fall mullet run in full swing. Most catches have come off sandy drop-offs and dock pilings, especially in the Matanzas River and under the Bridge of Lions. Live finger mullet on a jig head is your best bet, but the classic Gulp! Swimming Mullet in white or chartreuse will put flatties in the box all day.
If you’re heading out to the jetties or the beaches, surf fishing has been excellent on the backside of those big tides. Black drum, whiting, and plenty of pompano are showing up—fresh shrimp and Fishbites are the ticket, especially along deeper troughs at Butler Beach and the points at Anastasia State Park.
Nearshore, folks sneak out between fronts are finding Jacks and big Spanish mackerel on the bait pods just past the surf line. Cast diamond jigs, chrome spoons, or fast-moving Got-Cha plugs for best results—match the hatch and hold on tight!
The hot spots today:
- **City of St. Augustine Municipal Marina**: always a reliable spot for a mixed bag, especially for trout, drum, and reds. Loads of moving water draws in just about everything on these big tides.
- **Butler Beach**: great for surf fishing, offers a mix of pompano, drum, and whiting—watch the tide chart to hit the deeper holes at high tide.
- **Salt Run**: perfect for kayak or wade anglers chasing reds and trout on the incoming tide.
As for bait, live finger mullet is everywhere right now and remains king for most species. If you’re a lure angler, don’t skip paddle tails or topwaters in the morning. For surf, sand fleas and Fishbites in shrimp or clam flavor work well.
Big thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for your daily dose of local fishing action. 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