St. Augustine Summer Redfish: Ride the Morning Tide for Slot Fish and Topwater Action

This is Artificial Lure with your St. Augustine fishing report. We’ve got a classic North Florida summer pattern on tap around the Ancient City. Local marine forecasts are calling for light southwest winds early, turning onshore with the sea breeze this afternoon, highs pushing into the upper 80s, and a mix of sun and building clouds with a chance of a stray storm later. NOAA tide tables show a predawn high tide rolling through the inlet with a good fall through the morning, then another flood building mid‑afternoon. First light comes early, with sunrise right around six, and sunset landing near eight‑thirty, so you’ve got a long window to work those moving waters. Inshore, the falling tide this morning is your money shot. Redfish and speckled trout have been chewing along the grass edges and creek mouths off the Tolomato and Matanzas systems, especially where that clean ocean water pushes in and drags bait back out. Local tackle shops report solid numbers of slot reds and a mix of keeper trout with a few gator‑class fish taken at first light on topwater plugs. Live shrimp and mud minnows under a popping cork have been steady producers, with anglers bringing in half‑dozen to ten fish on a good tide. Flounder action has quietly picked up around docks, rock piles, and the inlet jetties. Folks drifting finger mullet or mud minnows on jig heads are putting a handful of flatfish in the box, with the occasional doormat mixed in. Sheepshead are still hanging around the bridges and pilings, eating fiddler crabs and barnacle‑scraped offerings, though not as thick as winter. Off the beach, the surf bite has been a mix of whiting, occasional pompano, and some nice slot‑size black drum. Fresh dead shrimp, sand fleas, and Fishbites strips have been the ticket on double‑drop rigs, especially on the last of the incoming and first of the fall when the water cleans up. King mackerel and big jacks have been cruising the bait pods just outside the breakers and off the end of the St. Augustine Pier and inlet, with slow‑trolled live pogies turning heads. For lures, keep it simple and local: – At first light, walk‑the‑dog topwaters in bone or mullet patterns for trout and reds on the flats. – Once the sun’s up, 1/8–1/4 oz jig heads with paddle‑tail plastics in new penny, natural mullet, or smoky silver have been getting thumped. – Around structure, go with a heavier jig and a Gulp shrimp in white or nuclear chicken for flounder and bonus reds. Hot‑spot wise, two areas stand out right now. The first is the Vilano to Palm Valley stretch of the Intracoastal, working the oyster bars and creek mouths on the last of the outgoing. The second is the Matanzas Inlet area, especially the deeper bends and channels just inside the bridge, where that mixed tide pulls bait and stacks predators. Work those edges, keep an eye on the birds and bait flips, and be ready when the current shifts. That’s the word on the water from St. Augustine. 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