St. Augustine Fishing Report: Morning Falling Tide Sets Up Hot Bite on Trout and Reds

This is Artificial Lure with your St. Augustine fishing report. We’ve got a warm, muggy start along the First Coast. Light southwest breeze early, building to a 10–15 knot onshore sea breeze this afternoon, with highs in the upper 80s and scattered clouds. Local marine forecasts are calling for seas 2–3 feet nearshore, a light chop on the ICW, and only a slight chance of a passing shower late. Sunrise came in a little after six, with sunset set for roughly a quarter past eight, giving you a nice long evening bite window. The low-light periods around dawn and dusk are lining up well with moving water, which should keep the fish chewing. According to local tide tables for the St. Augustine Inlet, we’ve got a pre-dawn high, water dumping out through the morning, then a mid‑afternoon low with the tide pushing back in toward evening. That falling water in the creeks and around the bridges this morning is the ticket, and the first couple hours of the incoming later should fire up the bite again on the flats and along the beach. Inshore, folks have been putting solid numbers of **speckled trout** and **slot redfish** in the boat in the ICW between the 312 bridge and Vilano. Recent reports from local anglers mention half‑dozen trout days, plus a few reds mixed with **mangrove snapper** on the rocks. Live shrimp under a popping cork is still king, but 3–4 inch paddle tails in “new penny” or “opening night” on 1/8 oz jig heads are producing well in the cleaner water. For topwater, walk‑the‑dog plugs in bone or mullet patterns have been getting crushed at first light over grass edges. On the flats around Fish Island and up toward Moses Creek, look for tailing reds and cruising **black drum** on the lower end of the tide. Best bet is a quartered blue crab or shrimp on a light Carolina rig. Keep it quiet, stake out, and let them come to you. The **Matanzas Inlet** and the rocks around the St. Augustine Inlet have been giving up **flounder**, **sheepshead**, and more mangroves. Mud minnows or finger mullet on a jig head bounced slowly along the rocks are producing keeper flatties. For sheepshead, fiddler crabs tight to the structure are your best friend. Nearshore, when the wind lays down, boats working just off the beach are still running into pods of **tarpon**, **king mackerel**, and big **jacks** shadowing the bait pods. Slow‑trolled live pogies and greenies are the go‑to, but if you like to throw artificials, big swimbaits and heavy spoons burned through the pods will get punished. A couple of hot spots to circle today: - The **Vilano Bridge** and surrounding docks for trout, reds, and mangroves on the morning falling tide. - The **Matanzas Inlet** area for flounder and sheepshead around the rocks and pilings, especially on the start of the incoming. Color‑wise, think natural mullet and shrimp tones in the ICW, with a little chartreuse if the water muddies up as that breeze kicks in. Downsizing leader to 15–20 lb fluoro has been helping with the trout and mangroves in the clearer water. That’s the word on the water from St. Augustine today. 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