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Inshore Fishing Forecast - Reds, Trout, and Sheepshead Biting in St. Augustine
Published 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in from St. Augustine with your inshore and nearshore fishing rundown.
We’ve got a classic North Florida winter pattern setting up. According to Surfline’s St. Augustine Pier tide chart, the morning high rolls through around 4:40 a.m. with about 4.7 feet of water, then drops out to a mid‑morning low just under a foot, before pushing back in mid‑afternoon. That falling water after sunrise is the money window in the creeks and along the ICW edges.
Tides4Fishing’s St. Augustine Beach data shows sunrise right around 7:10 a.m. and sunset about 5:30 p.m., so first light through about 9 a.m. is when you want to be sliding into the marsh mouths. FishingReminder’s solunar tables line up with that, calling a major bite from roughly 6:15 to 8:15 a.m. and another push toward dusk, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Weather-wise, the St. Augustine Beach Pier marine forecast is calling cool, stable conditions with light morning winds and a bumpier ocean as that 7–8 foot swell fills in. That keeps most small boats inside, which is fine because the inshore bite’s been doing the heavy lifting anyway.
Inshore, it’s been a redfish and trout show. Local reports out of the Tolomato and Matanzas systems have slot reds stacking on shell corners and along the first drop off the grass, with a mix of 18–24 inch fish and the occasional overslot mixed in. Speckled trout are chewing in deeper bends and around docks with 4–8 feet of water, with plenty of 15–18 inch keepers and some over‑20 gators for folks fishing slow and low.
Sheepshead are starting to fire on the bridges and rockier structure – think Vilano Bridge pilings, docks around Camachee Cove, and any crusty concrete in the ICW. Anglers soaking fiddler crabs have been putting several fish per person on deck when the current eases, with a few in the 3–5 pound class.
Best baits right now:
- Live shrimp on a 1/4 oz jighead or under a popping cork for trout and mixed bag.
- Mud minnows and finger mullet on Carolina rigs or jigheads for reds.
- Fiddler crabs tight to structure for sheepshead.
Best artificial lures:
- 3–4 inch soft plastics in natural or new penny colors on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads for both trout and reds.
- MirrOlure MirrOdines and 17MR‑style twitchbaits over shell at first light.
- Small Gulp! shrimp on light jigheads for dock‑hopping the ICW.
Couple of local hot spots if you’re looking to launch today:
- **Tolomato River / Vilano area** – Work the ICW edge north of Vilano on the last of the falling tide for trout and slot reds. Focus on shell bars and creek mouths dumping off the west bank.
- **Matanzas River / Butler Beach down to the inlet** – That stretch has been giving up reds on crab‑eaten shorelines and trout in the deeper bends; slide closer to the inlet on the rising tide for a shot at drum and sheepshead around hard structure.
Beachside, when the surf settles between sets, folks have been picking up whiting and the odd pompano on double‑drop rigs with sand fleas and shrimp, especially near St. Augustine Pier and down toward Crescent Beach.
Fish that falling water this morning, slow your presentation as the sun climbs, and then set up on structure for the afternoon push.
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 North Florida winter pattern setting up. According to Surfline’s St. Augustine Pier tide chart, the morning high rolls through around 4:40 a.m. with about 4.7 feet of water, then drops out to a mid‑morning low just under a foot, before pushing back in mid‑afternoon. That falling water after sunrise is the money window in the creeks and along the ICW edges.
Tides4Fishing’s St. Augustine Beach data shows sunrise right around 7:10 a.m. and sunset about 5:30 p.m., so first light through about 9 a.m. is when you want to be sliding into the marsh mouths. FishingReminder’s solunar tables line up with that, calling a major bite from roughly 6:15 to 8:15 a.m. and another push toward dusk, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Weather-wise, the St. Augustine Beach Pier marine forecast is calling cool, stable conditions with light morning winds and a bumpier ocean as that 7–8 foot swell fills in. That keeps most small boats inside, which is fine because the inshore bite’s been doing the heavy lifting anyway.
Inshore, it’s been a redfish and trout show. Local reports out of the Tolomato and Matanzas systems have slot reds stacking on shell corners and along the first drop off the grass, with a mix of 18–24 inch fish and the occasional overslot mixed in. Speckled trout are chewing in deeper bends and around docks with 4–8 feet of water, with plenty of 15–18 inch keepers and some over‑20 gators for folks fishing slow and low.
Sheepshead are starting to fire on the bridges and rockier structure – think Vilano Bridge pilings, docks around Camachee Cove, and any crusty concrete in the ICW. Anglers soaking fiddler crabs have been putting several fish per person on deck when the current eases, with a few in the 3–5 pound class.
Best baits right now:
- Live shrimp on a 1/4 oz jighead or under a popping cork for trout and mixed bag.
- Mud minnows and finger mullet on Carolina rigs or jigheads for reds.
- Fiddler crabs tight to structure for sheepshead.
Best artificial lures:
- 3–4 inch soft plastics in natural or new penny colors on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads for both trout and reds.
- MirrOlure MirrOdines and 17MR‑style twitchbaits over shell at first light.
- Small Gulp! shrimp on light jigheads for dock‑hopping the ICW.
Couple of local hot spots if you’re looking to launch today:
- **Tolomato River / Vilano area** – Work the ICW edge north of Vilano on the last of the falling tide for trout and slot reds. Focus on shell bars and creek mouths dumping off the west bank.
- **Matanzas River / Butler Beach down to the inlet** – That stretch has been giving up reds on crab‑eaten shorelines and trout in the deeper bends; slide closer to the inlet on the rising tide for a shot at drum and sheepshead around hard structure.
Beachside, when the surf settles between sets, folks have been picking up whiting and the odd pompano on double‑drop rigs with sand fleas and shrimp, especially near St. Augustine Pier and down toward Crescent Beach.
Fish that falling water this morning, slow your presentation as the sun climbs, and then set up on structure for the afternoon push.
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