Jacksonville Fishing Report 3/20/24
This week has brought another blast of cool air down to the First Coast with lows dipping into the 40s for a few nights midweek and forecasts are calling for a windy and wet start to the coming weekend. After the warm up last week got things moving this little cool down shouldn’t have much effect on the fishing. It may even temporarily stall some of the northbound beach migration keeping the Spanish and Bluefish around a little longer.
With the weather this weekend it might be a good idea to take a day off the water and swing by Strike Zone Fishing for their tent sale running from 3/21 to 3/23. This is a great opportunity to stock up on essentials for the coming year. The next few months are always some of the best to be on the water and it’s nice to have a reserve of the stuff you use the most ready to go at home.
In the creeks the Redfish are still schooled up but there’s more and more bait moving around every trip and it won’t be long before we see those schools start spreading out into smaller groups for the rest of the year. I spent a couple days poking around the shallow stuff this week and was happy to find the fish more active. Each creek had Redfish popping and slurping small grass shrimp off the surface, in a few spots we saw them backing and busting while chasing Mullet around the oyster beds. With all the Mullet I’ve been seeing it’s about time to switch from 3” to 5” paddle tails to match the hatch.
At lower tides we found fish staging in 2 feet of water or so around oysters and choke points near mud flats. Once the incoming water got into the grass we focused more on fishing the edges of the Spartina and up on flats themselves. Both were productive, all of the fish we caught this week were on 1/8 oz jig heads with paddle tails. If you prefer live bait there’s enough Mullet to cast net some or Mud Minnows work very well. For low tide I would just fish them on a jig head, higher tides floating them on a popping cork is very productive and you’ll also catch some Trout.
The Sheepshead and Drum are still stacked up pretty well in the inlet and with the Spanish and Bluefish on the rocks too there’s plenty of action to be had. If you’re taking a kid fishing this week that’s where I would head first. You can either troll for the Bluefish and Spanish with small spoons or just set up on the tips and pick at them with casting jigs while also bottom fishing for the Sheepshead and Drum. Look for birds working to indicate schools of the Spanish, they can be up inside the river on cleaner water and are always along the beaches if you’re not getting action in the inlet.
Offshore the weathers been a little tough to start the week but we had a nice window last weekend and a number of boats have declared for Wednesday with more I expect heading out Thursday. I hit the blue water with some friends aboard the Southern Cross last Sunday and we struck out on the Wahoo but had a great bite of Mutton snapper to save the day. While trolling that morning we marked up some new bottom spots in 130-135 foot that we hadn’t fished before and with nothing but a Kingfish in the box by 2pm decided to switch gears. First drift Andrew sticks a nice Mutton on the jig so we dropped the hook and got to work, by the time the sharks moved in on us a couple hours later we had our limit of Vermilion, some Triggerfish, and a dozen nice Mutton Snapper. While we started slow it turned out to be a great day of fishing and the ocean laid down nice for a quick ride home.
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.
It’s always nice when something other than a Jack eats the jig, great Mutton Snapper for Andrew Broughton this week out of Mayport.
Allen Andone with one of the many Redfish he caught while we explored some creeks off the ICW this week.
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