Another week of summertime heat and afternoon thunderstorms has made for some good fishing along the First Coast. The bites been consistent on the backside of the full moon, not wide open but steady. This weekend the forecast looks great for getting out on the water. Mild seas and pretty calm winds will make for great conditions on the ocean and inshore.
The water temperatures have dropped 10 degrees along the beach since this time last week. The cooler water hasn’t slowed anything down nearshore or inshore though. The Redfish have seemed to enjoy the cool down with Capt. Justin Anderson reporting seeing schooled up and happy fish feeding during the lower tides this week from Palm valley through Vilano. Live shrimp or mud minnows under a popping cork are a great way to target Redfish and Trout in the creeks right now.
The summer Flounder bite has been steady near the inlets and upriver. There were some fish being caught off the pier this week as well which is always a good sign of another wave of fish moving into the inlets. The docks in Vilano and Mayport are holding some fish, mostly smaller but there’s been a couple nicer ones mixed in. A live mud minnow or finger mullet makes for great Flounder bait, if live baits are hard to come by then Gulp swimming mullets or Fish Bites are both effective for Flounder as well.
Nearshore the Kingfish bite has been steady. You’ll have to pick through the Barracudas and work to get your fish in quick with the all the sharks but there’s plenty of action to bend a rod on all the party ground numbers. With the water temperature cooling off a little bit we’ve seen a good number of Cobia around as well this week. It’s been a lot of smaller fish in the 30 inch range but there has been some keepers in the mix. These fish are mostly swimming with sharks so keep your eyes open whenever you see a larger shark on the wrecks this weekend.
Capt. Oz on the Majesty has had a good week with steady hauls of Vermilion snapper and Triggerfish with a few Mangrove snapper and Cobia mixed in. Out deeper towards the break the Mutton and Mangrove fishing has been consistent. It was really good last week on the front side of the full moon, you can expect it to taper off some on the backside. The current has been moving pretty good midweek with all the South flow it’s tough to flatline fish but you can get them on the bottom. A Carolina rig with just enough bait to feel bottom with 60# leader and a 6/0 Seaworx short shank inline circle hook is tried and true set up for Mangrove and Mutton fishing.
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.
I was lucky to get out on the Southern Cross between charters recently and had a fun double up with Ryan Flowers. He got to keep his nice Mangrove while my Gag went back to grow bigger for next season.
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