Fishing Report & Forecast St. Augustine Inshore

By Capt. Tommy Derringer

It’s just an awesome time of the year to fish in Northeast Florida… Spring seems to be here early this year and this warmer weather will bring in the baitfish (mullet, pogies, etc.) and just about every predatory fish will be on the hunt for a good meal. Redfish will still be up on the flats, trout will be feeding along the ICW banks, and the drum and flounder will be stacked in the deeper creek holes. Just about everywhere you go you’re going to run into some good fishing over the next couple of months.

Redfish will remain schooled up if the water temps stay on the cooler side. Look for the schools of redfish on the lower tide stages (especially on the negative low tides we get with a good west wind). I like to find flats that have somewhat of a deeper escape route for the fish. One of my favorite scenarios would be a large flat on the edge of the ICW that has a deeper area that drains into the ICW. The fish will stack up in those “drains” as the tide gets really low. If you’re going with artificials, I like to use a Saltwater Assassin paddle tail on the same jig. Find the schools by looking for large wakes and/or “muds” that the fish will cause by moving around. Make sure to lead the fish by quite a bit as they can and will be a little spooky this time of year. You can also find some big schools of redfish stacked in the creek holes on the same low tides. Push back as far as possible in the creeks and find that last deep spot… sometimes the best bite can be in that last creek in the back just as the tide starts to come in.

The next couple of months are my absolute favorite times of the year to target big trout. Trout will be turning on with the warming air and water temps. Toss your favorite top-water plug, like the Berkley J-Walker, at first and last light along the ICW shell banks for some great big trout action. Once the sun comes up a bit switch to a subsurface plug or your favorite soft plastic on a jighead. The soft plastic and jighead rig account for a good number of trout catches on my boat this time of year. I like to use the twitch, twitch, pause retrieval method. The fish usually take the lure on the pause. Target creek mouths on the outgoing tide and the ICW shell banks on the incoming. Any kind of rocks, docks, or structure with moving water around them will also be holding some nice trout. And of course, the live shrimp under a popping cork sometimes can’t be beat.

This month is typically on of the best times of the year for black drum in our area. The monster drum (sometimes up to 80lbs+) can be targeted in the deepest areas of the ICW and in all the area inlets. A halved blue crab on the bottom is the bait of choice for these prehistoric looking fish. The big ones will be spawning so make sure to thoroughly revive them to ensure a healthy release so they can take care of their business and keep the drum population thriving. The smaller “slot” sized black drum can be found in the creek holes and near deeper water structure such as bridges and jetties. Live or dead shrimp, fiddler crabs, and clams fished along the bottom will all make for some great drum action..