St. Augustine Summer Bite: Topwater at Dawn, Storms Inland, Tarpon on the Beach

Artificial Lure here with your St. Augustine fishing report. We’ve got a classic Northeast Florida summer pattern setting up. Light southwest breeze early, building to a 10–15 knot sea breeze this afternoon with scattered storms pushing in from inland. Air temps are running mid 70s at dawn, climbing to near 90 by mid‑afternoon, and the nearshore water temp is sitting in the low 80s according to recent NOAA coastal observations. First light is right around 6:20 a.m., with sunrise just a few minutes after that and sunset close to 8:30 p.m., so you’ve got long low‑light windows to work the bite on both ends of the day. Tides around the St. Augustine Inlet are on a mid‑range cycle today. High tide hits shortly after sunrise, with low tide early afternoon, then another evening high pushing up around sunset based on the latest NOAA tide tables for the St. Augustine station. That means a nice outbound flow late morning and a good incoming push for the dusk bite. Inshore, the creeks off the ICW — especially around Salt Run, the Vilano side creeks, and down toward Matanzas — have been giving up mixed bags. Local bait shops report decent numbers of slot redfish, plenty of speckled trout, a few upper‑slot snook in the deeper mangrove edges, plus the usual jacks and ladyfish. Flounder numbers are picking up around docks and rip‑rap, with a few keepers each tide cycle. On lures, keep it simple. At first light, walk‑the‑dog topwaters in bone or mullet patterns are drawing trout and cruising reds over shell bars and grass points. As the sun gets up, switch to 3–4 inch paddle‑tail soft plastics on 1/8 to 1/4 ounce jig heads in new penny, silver mullet, or opening night colors. Gold spoons are still a local favorite for covering water on the flats and around flooded grass. For snook around dock pilings and bridge shadows, soft jerkbaits and small swimbaits in natural baitfish colors are getting crushed on the outgoing. If you’re fishing bait, live shrimp, finger mullet, and mud minnows are the ticket. Fish them on Carolina rigs or under a popping cork along current edges. Live mullet or pinfish around bridge pilings and inlet rocks are producing some solid reds, drum, and the occasional tarpon roll. Speaking of tarpon, the beach run is starting. Just outside the breakers, glass minnows and pogies are drawing in tarpon, sharks, and big jacks. Slow‑trolled live pogies or free‑lined baits around bait pods are your best shot, with heavy spinning tackle and plenty of line. A couple of hot spots to circle on your map today: Salt Run and the nearby flats: Great early‑morning topwater and soft‑plastic bite for trout and reds on the edges of the channel and over scattered shell. St. Augustine Inlet and the Vilano Bridge area: Work the rocks and pilings on the last of the outgoing and first of the incoming for reds, drum, and snook with live bait and jigs. Overall fish activity has been best during the first two hours of moving water on either side of the turns, especially under low light and just before those afternoon storms build. Midday slack water has been predictably slow, so plan to scout, move, and hydrate during that window and hit it hard again for the evening push. That’s your St. Augustine fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next 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