Late Spring Setup: Northwest Breeze, Steady Bite, Reds and Trout on the Move

This is Artificial Lure with your St. Augustine fishing report. We’ve got a classic late‑spring pattern setting up. A cool, light northwest breeze at daybreak will swing onshore by late morning with winds around 8–12 knots off the ocean. Skies are mostly clear, temps starting in the low 70s and pushing into the mid‑80s this afternoon. Barometer is steady, and that’s helped keep the bite pretty consistent the last few days. According to the National Weather Service marine forecast out of Jacksonville, seas are running 2–3 feet nearshore, a little lumpier past 10 miles but very manageable for smaller boats early. NOAA tide tables for the St. Augustine Inlet show a pre‑dawn incoming tide, topping out around mid‑morning, then falling through early afternoon. That first couple hours of incoming has been the money window for most inshore folks. Sunrise comes just after 6:20 a.m., sunset a bit after 8:10 p.m., so you’ve got a long day to pick your shots. Dawn and the last hour of light are still the best for topwater work around the grass and docks. Inshore, the usual suspects have been chewing. Local shop reports from places like Avid Angler and Fishbites Trading Post say reds have been steady in the creeks off the ICW north and south of town—think Moses Creek, Pellicer, and the back of Salt Run. Most fish are slot reds with a few over-slots mixed in. Trout are hanging on the edges of deeper bends and around shell bars, especially halfway through the outgoing tide. For artificials, a 3–4 inch paddle tail in new penny, electric chicken, or anything with some chartreuse has been hot, rigged on a 1/8–1/4 oz jighead. Topwater plugs like a Spook Jr. or Skitter Walk have been drawing some explosive strikes at first light over flooded grass and along oyster edges. Live shrimp under a popping cork and mud minnows on a jighead remain the go‑to for folks who’d rather soak bait. Flounder reports have picked up around the Vilano Bridge pilings and along the rocks at the inlet. Most are keepers, with a few doormats. Finger mullet and mud minnows on a sliding egg sinker rig or bucktail jigs sweetened with a strip of mullet are getting bit. Nearshore, local captains out of the St. Augustine Marina and Camachee Cove have been putting customers on good numbers of king mackerel on the beach when the water cleans up—slow‑trolled live pogies and ribbonfish around bait pods and near the shrimp boats. Spanish mackerel and bluefish are mixed in, hitting small silver spoons and gotcha plugs. A few cobia are still popping up on rays and along color changes just off the beach, so keep a big bucktail or an eel-style soft plastic ready on a heavier rod. Water clarity has been decent on the higher tides in the river and around the inlet, but gets pretty stained on the bottom of the outgoing, especially after any afternoon storms. Adjust lure color accordingly—go natural when it’s clear, brighter or darker profiles when it muddies up. If you’re looking for a couple of hot spots to start your day: First, work the oyster bars and grass lines along the ICW between the 312 bridge and the 206 bridge on the first of the incoming for reds and trout. Second, hit the rocks and channel edges around the St. Augustine Inlet at the top of the tide for flounder and a mixed bag of jacks, drum, and the occasional snook. That’s your St. Augustine fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a 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