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St. Augustine Fishing Report: Redfish, Trout, and Drum on the Bite as Winter Transition Kicks In
Published 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your St. Augustine fishing report.
We’re sitting on a falling morning tide, with low water around mid‑morning and a solid afternoon push back in; tide tables from Tideschart and NOAA for St. Augustine show lows in that 1‑foot range and afternoon highs pushing 4–5 feet, plenty of water movement to turn the bite on. Sunrise is right around 7:37 and sunset about 6:41, with about 11 hours of light, according to Tideschart’s local forecast. Air temps are upper 60s to low 70s, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and a light to moderate onshore breeze per the Jacksonville-area forecasts from FlaglerLive and News4Jax. Water temp is about 75 degrees per Tideschart, perfect for our winter transition mix of inshore species.
FishingReminder’s solunar tables have the early window from first light through mid‑morning and again late afternoon into dusk as the best bite periods. That lines up nicely with the tide swings, so plan to be set up and fishing as the water starts moving, not after.
Inshore this week, local chatter and recent charter reports out of St. Augustine have been steady on **slot redfish**, **speckled trout**, and **black drum**, with a few **flounder** still hanging around creek mouths and docks. Most folks are picking off half a dozen to a dozen mixed fish on a decent tide, with the better crews culling limits of trout and a couple reds per angler on live bait. The ICW banks north and south of town, especially the creek mouths dumping into the main channel, have been holding fish on that lower water.
Best baits right now: live **shrimp** and **mud minnows** under a popping cork for trout and schoolie reds; **cut mullet** or **crab chunks** on the bottom for redfish and drum. For lures, it’s hard to beat a 1/4‑ounce jig with a **paddle‑tail** or **shrimp imitation** in new penny, opening night, or white. Early and late, a small **topwater** walker over shell bars is still drawing some trout blow‑ups on the warmer mornings.
Off the beach and nearshore when the wind lays down, local boats have been picking at **sheepshead** on the Bridge of Lions pilings and nearby rocks, and **whiting** and **pompano** in the surf. Fresh dead shrimp, fiddler crabs for sheepshead, and sand fleas or Fishbites strips in the first and second troughs are getting the bites.
Couple of local hot spots to circle on the map:
- **Vilano Bridge / ICW Channel Edges** – good mix of trout, reds, and drum on the falling tide; work live shrimp on a Carolina rig or a jig tight to the drop.
- **Matanzas Inlet area** – strong current but great structure; fish the edges of the main channel and nearby creeks for reds and trout when the tide isn’t ripping.
If you’re bank‑bound, Butler Beach and the access points north toward Vilano give you plenty of surf holes to work at dawn and dusk. FishingReminder notes Butler as a productive beach spot, and that matches what locals see on the regular.
Stick to moving water, keep an eye on those clouds and showers, and downsize your leader if the water’s clear and calm.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report.
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’re sitting on a falling morning tide, with low water around mid‑morning and a solid afternoon push back in; tide tables from Tideschart and NOAA for St. Augustine show lows in that 1‑foot range and afternoon highs pushing 4–5 feet, plenty of water movement to turn the bite on. Sunrise is right around 7:37 and sunset about 6:41, with about 11 hours of light, according to Tideschart’s local forecast. Air temps are upper 60s to low 70s, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and a light to moderate onshore breeze per the Jacksonville-area forecasts from FlaglerLive and News4Jax. Water temp is about 75 degrees per Tideschart, perfect for our winter transition mix of inshore species.
FishingReminder’s solunar tables have the early window from first light through mid‑morning and again late afternoon into dusk as the best bite periods. That lines up nicely with the tide swings, so plan to be set up and fishing as the water starts moving, not after.
Inshore this week, local chatter and recent charter reports out of St. Augustine have been steady on **slot redfish**, **speckled trout**, and **black drum**, with a few **flounder** still hanging around creek mouths and docks. Most folks are picking off half a dozen to a dozen mixed fish on a decent tide, with the better crews culling limits of trout and a couple reds per angler on live bait. The ICW banks north and south of town, especially the creek mouths dumping into the main channel, have been holding fish on that lower water.
Best baits right now: live **shrimp** and **mud minnows** under a popping cork for trout and schoolie reds; **cut mullet** or **crab chunks** on the bottom for redfish and drum. For lures, it’s hard to beat a 1/4‑ounce jig with a **paddle‑tail** or **shrimp imitation** in new penny, opening night, or white. Early and late, a small **topwater** walker over shell bars is still drawing some trout blow‑ups on the warmer mornings.
Off the beach and nearshore when the wind lays down, local boats have been picking at **sheepshead** on the Bridge of Lions pilings and nearby rocks, and **whiting** and **pompano** in the surf. Fresh dead shrimp, fiddler crabs for sheepshead, and sand fleas or Fishbites strips in the first and second troughs are getting the bites.
Couple of local hot spots to circle on the map:
- **Vilano Bridge / ICW Channel Edges** – good mix of trout, reds, and drum on the falling tide; work live shrimp on a Carolina rig or a jig tight to the drop.
- **Matanzas Inlet area** – strong current but great structure; fish the edges of the main channel and nearby creeks for reds and trout when the tide isn’t ripping.
If you’re bank‑bound, Butler Beach and the access points north toward Vilano give you plenty of surf holes to work at dawn and dusk. FishingReminder notes Butler as a productive beach spot, and that matches what locals see on the regular.
Stick to moving water, keep an eye on those clouds and showers, and downsize your leader if the water’s clear and calm.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report.
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