It's that time of the year again in North Florida. One week it's shorts and flipflops, the next you might have to deal with frost on the boat at dawn. Despite the changing weather conditions and windy days, fishing in the greater Jacksonville area north to Amelia Island has been red hot.
Large Flounder have been stacked up in the St Johns from Dames Point out to Mayport with doormats up to 13# a real possibility. When the tides are larger we have been catching fish in the 3-7# class in creek mouths and dropoffs around the oyster bars.
On the warmer days and low tides redfish up to 10 pounds have been in shallow water on mudflats or patrolling the oysters. These fish get active on the warmer afternoons and are blasting mullet in the shallows. The cooler temps encourage these fish to school up so when you find the reds, there are generally quite a few in that immediate area. Earlier in the day and when it's colder, these fish are laid up over mud, or hanging just a bit deeper.
Speckled trout are on a rampage throughout the region in the main river from downtown to mayport as well as creekmouths off the intracoastal wherever there is a good current. The trout get particularly active after a good cold front passes by.
The cooler temps have also turned the sheephead bite on. 20+ fish days are not uncommon with most fish up to 7 pounds. Any good structure in the river or around jettys is an excellent place to start.
In a short trip on Thursday, we racked up a dozen reds to 8 pounds, 4 trout and a 6 pound flounder in just over an hour fishing white weighted fishbites jerkbaits down about a 200 yard stetch of oyster littered creekbank. Now is the time to get in on the action.
Capt. Rob
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