Captain's Report: Fishing Conditions & Recent St. Augustine Fishing Charters

Jan 1, 2014

Happy New Year!  Well, I haven’t done a fishing report in quite a while.  With the holidays and a lot of fishing, I just haven’t slowed down long enough to take the time.

The month of November was the windiest I can remember.  We averaged one northeaster every week.  There were days that just weren’t fishable, days the we got out but were limited to where we could run to, and days that we could run and fish where we wanted.  Windy days we stayed within a couple miles of town and fished hard.  Every day we did this we actually had pretty good day, catching lots of black drum in the 2 – 3 lb range and a few slot reds and lots of under sized reds.  On the days the weather allowed us to move about, we caught a mixed bag of fish.  Higher tides put us on some trout, running from 14” to 19” inch fish.  This time of year we typically don’t catch the bigger trout – that’s normally a spring catch. 

As the tides got lower we moved into areas that hold the redfish and did really well on them along with the black drum.  The black drum seemed to be in the 2 – 3 lb range with the redfish running from 17” up to 25”. 

The month of December seemed to get a little more back to normal weather and the fishing was about what you would expect.  The trout bite left town but the redfish bite got really hot. We started these trips in the backcountry creeks catching redfish  between 17” – 25”, with a few nice black drum and sheep head mixed in the 2 – […]

Fishing started out pretty slow the first of the week.  With the cold front coming in we really had to work hard for the fish we caught.  As the front pushed through and the air temperature dropped the fishing really got hot. From midweek through the weekend we had plenty of action on the trout, redfish, flounder and black drum.  The trout we caught were all on artificial and fly, running from just undersized up to 20”.  Redfish this week were all live bait or fly, with a few flounder also on live bait and fly.  Black drum were caught on bait. 

 Friday I fished a flat I have only been on once since last winter.  As soon as we got up on it and started fishing I realized the redfish were back in their regular spots.  There were quite a few small groups of fish 20” – 22”.  There was one large school of around 50 fish in the 25” – 30” range, and they were feeding hard.  Being a live bait trip, we power poled down and threw quartered up crab to them, getting hook-ups one after the other until the tide stopped running. 

 Saturday I went back to this spot with a fly angler and were on these fish for 2 hours or more, ending up with 2 nice upper slot fish out of the school with a few pull-offs.  By the end of the trip the angler had the “northeast slam” – some nice trout, a flounder and some redfish on the fly.  It was a great trip.  And with the air and water temps dropping, the fishing should do nothing but get better!

The first of the week started out with rain and hard northeast winds.  I didn’t get back out on the water until Wednesday.  The tides were right this week for afternoon fishing and the redfish bite was really good.  I have started out a little early in the afternoon for the redfish bite, and made a few stops at some normal trout hangouts with no luck.  

As the oyster beds started showing it was game on for the redfish in the 23” to 27” size!  We averaged about six to eight of this size fish per person on the afternoon half-day trips.  As the air and water temperatures start dropping the fishing will get better and better with all the inshore species such as redfish, trout and black drum.  

The main ingredient to a good predictable bite is some stable weather. When that isn’t happening, I adjust my strategy to follow the fish’s behavior.  For example, the last couple of weeks, we have had a lot of northeast winds that have been holding the water in and not letting it fall out like it normally does. When this happens the fish change their normal habits and are hard to find.  During this time, my typical hot spots haven’t been producing, so I’ve hit the areas we don’t typically fish to find them.  Understanding and following these fish and their behaviors is the best way to have a productive trip.   

The week of Sept 30th through October 6th brought some pretty strong Northeast winds that held the water in the river to the point where our low tides never truly got low.  When the water never gets low it has a bad effect on our traditional outgoing low tide fishing.  The baitfish spread out, and don’t get bunched up in the regular places they’re forced to go on extremely low tides.  Fishing up in the river and backcountry creeks was tough with few fish caught in the places we normally fish.  Fishing for redfish was pretty good around the bridges and docks near the inlet.  This is common during this time of year on the slower ends of the tide. 

Toward the end of the week we had flood high tides that occur this time of year, on the new moon and full moon.  The redfish normally get up in the spartina grass, tailing. But due to the west wind and the smaller tides, the fish didn’t really move into the grass as they normally do.   So we changed our strategy and caught fish in the creek fingers just adjacent to the grass flats, pushing around the edges slurping shrimp. 

 October 7th – 13th the tides seemed to get somewhat back to normal and the fishing did as well.  The river and backcountry creeks this week were full of 15” – 17” redfish.  You could probably catch 50 of these in a half-day trip if you want.  The trick has been to find the places that are holding the slot fish.  The bigger fish have been concentrated in several places I fish.  When we found them, there was plenty of fun to be had!  […]

For the most part the fishing has been great this month. A typical day has been starting out close to town, catching plenty of mangrove snapper between 10 and 13 inches. These little snapper are fun to catch and even better to eat! We’ve been spending about an hour doing this type of fishing, then moving up north into the back country creeks catching quite a few slot redfish and lots of Black drum in the 2 – 3 lb range.

As the tide gets lower we have been moving out onto the flats fishing for schooling reds. These fish have been running between 22 inches up to 30 inches. Then as the tide starts in we have been getting a consistent redfish bite on a couple of Rip lines in deeper water out on the intercoastal. These fish have been running between 22 and 24 inches. This last week, the 16th through the 22nd, these trips have been starting about 2 hours before high tide. Some trips have been spin cast and the others have been fly tackle.
The fall mullet run is in full swing and the inlet is full of jacks in the 8 to 15 lb class. We’ve been starting the day out pulling on some of these big Jacks. Whether throwing spin or fly tackle, these fish are a handful!

As the tide gets near high at the inlet we run to the north and fish the redfish in the grass on this full moon flood tide. The flood tide fishing has been excellent! We fish the redfish in the grass the way I always have during flood tide – getting out of the boat and walking the grass flats. I had […]

This week has been a completely different fishing pattern than last week. We have had tides this week that were good early in the morning the first of the week and moving to midday by the end of the week. It has been hot, slick and calm with very little wind and the big schools that were on the flats last week have moved out.

This week we have been catching an average of three nice fish on the flats every day. To catch fish we have been moving and fishing a lot of spots, catching a fish or two – then moving on to the next spot – maybe getting a bite or not, then moving on. By the end of the day, we ended up with a good mixed bag of redfish, black drum, flounder, mangrove snapper and a few really nice trout.

This week we had good tides starting the week in the early afternoon and moving into the late afternoon by the end of the week.  We also have been in a weather cycle where every afternoon the rain showers have moved in.  Two days this week it just wasn’t going to happen and we had to cancel, but the rest of the week we got the fishing trips in – dodging rain storms and at times fishing in the light stuff.  

The fishing in the backcountry creeks was pretty slow this week but the redfish on the flats have been schooled up in good numbers of fish from 22” up to the largest of the week at 34”. These fish have been sitting in their regular spots on outgoing low tide and acting like they do in a winter pattern. With the overcast rainy and cooler conditions in the afternoon this week these fish have been very aggressive and not the least bit spooky.  You just have to stay back off them, make long casts and hold on until they try to take the rod out of your hand.

This week has been a really good week of fishing without a tough day where we really had to work hard to catch fish.  The creek fishing this week has produced very few redfish in the areas where we were catching so many last week.  But the black drum in the keeper size have moved in.  Fishing the right tide has produced easy limits in a short amount of time.

Last week we were catching redfish both deep and shallow, but this week the fish we have been catching are schooled up on flats in a foot of water or less, acting like wintertime fish.  We have been going in the creeks catching a limit of black drum then moving out on to the flats and finish up on the redfish.  All of these fish have been in the 22 inch – 31 inch range.  When you find these fish like this catching them is not rocket sicience.  Just stay back of them, make long casts and just hold on till something tries to take your rod out of your hand!

August 11, 2013

During the past two weeks I took some vacation time and went to Montana.  I stayed with a very old friend that now has a house in the southwest corner of thestate.  This is some of the most beautiful country in the world.  The house is located 10 miles off the hard road, between Custer National Park and Yellowstone.  I spent 7 days fishing for brown and rainbow trout.  We fished four days on Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone, two days on the Yellowstone River itself, and 1 day on the Stillwater.  I had a great time and hope to go back in the spring next year. 

 This week started out with early afternoon low tides, and we really had to work hard to catch redfish.  WE fished a lot of water from downtown, north to Palm Valley.  As the week went on and the tides got later in the afternoon, the redfish really picked up and by Friday we were catching up to 15 fish in the 22 inch range, with three or four in the 30 – 32 inch range. 

 We really got lucky with the afternoon thunderstorms this week with the easterly sea breeze.  It kept all the bad weather inland so we had no problem with the storms.  Next week we will be having good early morning tides.  We’ll be starting the trips at daylight and I expect the fishing to stay good with the early starts and good tides. 

July 8 – July 14

 This week Mon – Wed the fishing was pretty consistent fishing the afternoon tides. We were catching a good bag of redfish in the 20” range with a couple over slot fish in the 28” – 33” range each day.  It seemed like every day we were catching 1 trout, but these trout were big – ranging from 5 pounds up to 8 ½ pounds.  We also caught a few nice flounder. 

Thursday we switched to morning tides and the bite really fell off. We worked hard for a couple redfish and a nice trout.  Friday through Sunday on the morning tide the fishing got hot again.  These three days we were catching 10 to 15 reds in the 21” range, with a couple upper slot fish and some nice over slot.  These 3 days we also caught a few of those really nice trout with a few flounder in the mix.