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Cool Mornings, Warm Afternoons: An Early-Winter Fishing Report from St. Augustine
Published 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in from St. Augustine.
We’ve got a classic early-winter pattern setting up. According to Surfline’s tide table for St. Augustine Pier, the early-morning high is pushing about 4.5 feet just before sunrise, with the afternoon high creeping a touch higher and good water movement both cycles. Fishingreminder’s local forecast lines up, showing a strong afternoon flood around 2:30 p.m. with nearly 5 feet of water and decent solunar activity. That gives us two solid windows: first light through mid‑morning, then again a couple hours before the afternoon high.
Sunrise is right around 7:10 a.m., with sunset a little after 5:20 p.m., so we’ve got a tight, low-sun morning bite and an early dusk chew. Marine Weather from the St. Augustine to Flagler zone has us in cool, dry air, north to northwest breeze, seas 2 to 3 nearshore – very fishable, but layer up; it’s crisp on that pier before the sun gets up.
Inshore, the usual winter suspects have been steady. Local reports this week have slot redfish and a few upper-slot fish coming out of the ICW between the Vilano Bridge and the 312 Bridge, with mixed trout on the deeper bends and creek mouths. Most boats are seeing a half-dozen to a dozen keeper reds plus plenty of rat reds, along with 5–10 trout if they work the tide right. A few flounder are still hanging on tight to structure, especially around dock pilings and deeper rock edges.
Best baits right now:
- **Live shrimp** on a jighead or split-shot rig is king.
- **Mud minnows** and finger mullet, when you can find them, are producing the better reds.
Best artificials:
- 3–4 inch **paddle-tail plastics** on 1/8 to 1/4 oz jigheads in new penny, silver mullet, or opening night.
- **MirrOlure MirrOdines** and small suspending twitchbaits over shell and potholes for trout on the higher water.
- On calm afternoons, a **small topwater** can still draw trout and schoolie reds on the flats around high tide.
Surf side, St. Augustine Beach and Butler Beach have had a decent run of **pompano, whiting, and a few black drum**. Folks soaking double-drop rigs with sand fleas, fresh shrimp, and Fishbites are putting together steady coolers – a dozen whiting and a couple pompano is very doable when the water stays clean. Fish the first and second trough on the incoming tide; that pre‑sunrise push and last two hours before the afternoon high are money.
Couple hot spots to circle today:
- **Matanzas Inlet area**: Work the ICW side edges and creek mouths with live shrimp on the dropping tide for reds and trout; watch the current, it rips through there.
- **Vilano to Camachee Cove**: Creek mouths and deeper bends are holding mixed trout and reds; slow-roll paddle-tails along the bottom.
- From the sand, **St. Augustine Pier south side down toward Anastasia State Park** has been the most consistent for surf species when the wind stays north and the water doesn’t muddy up.
Overall activity: bite is **better on moving water**, especially that afternoon flood with the warmer surface temps. Slow your presentation, keep your leaders light and your profiles small, and you’ll do fine.
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’ve got a classic early-winter pattern setting up. According to Surfline’s tide table for St. Augustine Pier, the early-morning high is pushing about 4.5 feet just before sunrise, with the afternoon high creeping a touch higher and good water movement both cycles. Fishingreminder’s local forecast lines up, showing a strong afternoon flood around 2:30 p.m. with nearly 5 feet of water and decent solunar activity. That gives us two solid windows: first light through mid‑morning, then again a couple hours before the afternoon high.
Sunrise is right around 7:10 a.m., with sunset a little after 5:20 p.m., so we’ve got a tight, low-sun morning bite and an early dusk chew. Marine Weather from the St. Augustine to Flagler zone has us in cool, dry air, north to northwest breeze, seas 2 to 3 nearshore – very fishable, but layer up; it’s crisp on that pier before the sun gets up.
Inshore, the usual winter suspects have been steady. Local reports this week have slot redfish and a few upper-slot fish coming out of the ICW between the Vilano Bridge and the 312 Bridge, with mixed trout on the deeper bends and creek mouths. Most boats are seeing a half-dozen to a dozen keeper reds plus plenty of rat reds, along with 5–10 trout if they work the tide right. A few flounder are still hanging on tight to structure, especially around dock pilings and deeper rock edges.
Best baits right now:
- **Live shrimp** on a jighead or split-shot rig is king.
- **Mud minnows** and finger mullet, when you can find them, are producing the better reds.
Best artificials:
- 3–4 inch **paddle-tail plastics** on 1/8 to 1/4 oz jigheads in new penny, silver mullet, or opening night.
- **MirrOlure MirrOdines** and small suspending twitchbaits over shell and potholes for trout on the higher water.
- On calm afternoons, a **small topwater** can still draw trout and schoolie reds on the flats around high tide.
Surf side, St. Augustine Beach and Butler Beach have had a decent run of **pompano, whiting, and a few black drum**. Folks soaking double-drop rigs with sand fleas, fresh shrimp, and Fishbites are putting together steady coolers – a dozen whiting and a couple pompano is very doable when the water stays clean. Fish the first and second trough on the incoming tide; that pre‑sunrise push and last two hours before the afternoon high are money.
Couple hot spots to circle today:
- **Matanzas Inlet area**: Work the ICW side edges and creek mouths with live shrimp on the dropping tide for reds and trout; watch the current, it rips through there.
- **Vilano to Camachee Cove**: Creek mouths and deeper bends are holding mixed trout and reds; slow-roll paddle-tails along the bottom.
- From the sand, **St. Augustine Pier south side down toward Anastasia State Park** has been the most consistent for surf species when the wind stays north and the water doesn’t muddy up.
Overall activity: bite is **better on moving water**, especially that afternoon flood with the warmer surface temps. Slow your presentation, keep your leaders light and your profiles small, and you’ll do fine.
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