St. Augustine Fishing Report: Outgoing Tide Magic and Early Morning Topwater Action

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your St. Augustine fishing report. We’ve got a classic Northeast Florida morning shaping up. Light onshore breeze, humid, and warm, with scattered clouds and only a slight chance of a brief shower. Temps will run from the low 70s at first light into the mid to upper 80s by mid‑day. Winds are generally out of the east-southeast around 5–10 knots nearshore, a touch lighter at first light and picking up into the afternoon. Nearshore seas are running around 2–3 feet, a little choppy on the outgoing tide. Sunrise is right around 6:20 a.m., with sunset close to 8:30 p.m., so you’ve got a long window to work prime low‑light periods at dawn and dusk. Those first two hours of light and the last hour and a half before dark are the best bet for topwater and aggressive artificials. Tidewise, expect a typical St. Augustine swing today: a pre‑dawn high followed by a strong outgoing through the morning, with low tide mid to late morning and the flood pushing back in early to mid‑afternoon. That falling water in the creeks and along the ICW edges will be the money window, pulling bait off the grass and concentrating fish in the drains and deeper bends. Inshore, the bite around St. Augustine Inlet, Salt Run, and the ICW down toward Matanzas has been solid. Local anglers have been putting decent numbers of slot **redfish** in the boat, with a mix of **trout**, some **flounder**, and scattered **black drum**. Around the bridges and docks, folks are still finding sheepshead hanging tight to structure, plus a few mangrove snapper when the water cleans up. Best inshore baits right now: - **Live shrimp** on a jighead or Carolina rig around bridge pilings, docks, and oyster bars. - **Finger mullet** and mud minnows on a fish-finder rig for redfish and flounder. - Cut **mullet** or ladyfish on the bottom along ICW ledges for reds and drum. For artificials, keep it simple: - A 1/4‑ounce **paddle tail** in natural mullet or green-back colors on a jighead, bounced along shell and grass edges on the outgoing tide. - Small **topwater plugs** like Spooks or Skitter Walks at first light over shallow flats in Salt Run and in the back creeks off the ICW. - Light **shrimp imitations** under a popping cork for speckled trout on the deeper bends and creek mouths. Off the beach, nearshore reports just outside St. Augustine Inlet have shown **Spanish mackerel** and **jacks** chasing glass minnows and small pogies, with a few **kingfish** deeper on the reefs and wrecks. Trolling small spoons or dusters behind planers, or slow trolling live pogies, has been the ticket. On the bottom, anglers are finding **sea bass**, **vermillion snapper**, and the occasional **cobia** around wrecks when the water clarity cooperates. Couple of hot spots to circle on your mental map: - **St. Augustine Inlet & Bridge of Lions area**: Work the jetty rocks and adjacent channel edges on the last of the outgoing and first of the incoming for redfish, trout, and the odd snook. Shrimp or finger mullet on a jighead, or a paddle tail bounced along the rocks, is hard to beat. Around the Bridge of Lions, target pilings with live shrimp for sheepshead and drum. - **Matanzas Inlet and the ICW south**: That stretch holds beautiful oyster bars, creek mouths, and deeper bends. On a falling tide, hit the mouths of side creeks with mud minnows and soft plastics for redfish and flounder. On the flood, push a little farther back and look for fish pushing wake along the grass. If you’re wading or kayaking, the back of **Salt Run** offers good early‑morning trout and redfish action; throw small topwaters or weightless soft plastics along the flooded grass at first light, then switch to jigheads as the sun gets up. That’s your on‑the‑water 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