The weather finally gave us a nice window last week of sunny skies and calm winds. From inshore to offshore every report I got was about how good the bite was! Unfortunately for offshore anglers the brief window has closed again and the coming weekend isn’t looking very nice past the jetties.
Throughout the First Coast fall is such a fun time to fish inshore. On those calm sunny days where the water is still you can see the schools of Redfish cruising on the banks and shrimp popping on the surfacpe. The Sheepshead fishing near the inlets has really been good this week. Despite the lack of recent rain locally all of the freshwater from Milton is still making its way out of the St. John’s and the lower salinity upriver pushes more of the brackish fish towards the inlets. A quick stop by B and M for a pint of fiddlers is a must if you’re planning to fish near Mayport the next few days.
In the creeks and the river we’ve seen a good push of Sea Trout moving inshore the last week or so. These are bigger more mature fish than the juveniles that have been back in the shallows all summer. The Bomber Long A, Rapala X rap, and Mirrolure L-30 are some go to options this time of year, they all fish very similar and each will trigger an aggressive Sea Trout or Redfish strike. If you prefer live bait then slip cork rigs are the go to for trout fisherman with anything from a live shrimp to a croaker for bait. The smaller baits will generate more action but this is a good time of year to be a hero, send back a big bait looking for that Gator trout building mass going into winter.
Offshore last weekend was a welcome reprieve for local anglers beaten down by high winds and short period swells the last month. This fall has been pretty rough so far off the beach with a constant flow of onshore wind. We made it out Saturday and Sunday with conditions as nice as you could hope for. The bottom fishing was hot, after filling the box with snapper we put the high speed spread out for the first troll of the season and put a few hours into looking for Wahoo. While we didn’t get the right bite a few other boats that committed to the troll and stayed later ended up catching a few. I had 78F water in 130-140ft, a little on the warm side for Wahoo fishing but as those temperatures fall the next few months the bite will just get hotter.
As always wishing y’all tight lines, fair winds, and following seas going into the weekend! If you’re looking to book a charter, submit a photo, or have a report to share reach out to me directly at chris@fishjax.org or visit www.fishjaxcharters.com.
Last Sunday beaches locals Tyler and Andrea got to help FWC Researchers collect data on the health of our Red Snapper population as participants in the EFP project. I was one of the lucky local captains to draw the first phase permit and am optimistic that the data from these projects will help guide better management decisions with more accurate assessments of the Florida Red Snapper stock. In each of our trips so far it’s taken less than 2 hours to reach the 36 Snapper for the study, less time than it takes biologist to do all the sampling at the dock!
Unfortunately at the same time FWC is doing this research we have NOAA reconsidering amendment 17A, a full closure of bottom fishing in the South Atlantic. If implemented this would override even the current restrictive measures the South Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council. To stand up against this closure that will devastate the offshore fishing community along the South East Coast you can submit public commentary now at the following link.
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