You’re tuned in with Artificial Lure, checking in from St. Augustine with your local fishing report.
We’re sitting on a classic winter pattern: cool, clear mornings in the low 60s, warming into the low to mid 70s by afternoon with light winds and plenty of sun, according to timeanddate.com and the National Weather Service out of Jacksonville. That high pressure and clear sky mean pretty water and spooky fish, so think light leaders and natural presentations.
Sunrise is right around 7:21 a.m. and sunset about 5:42 p.m. per timeanddate.com, giving us a tight 10‑hour window. First and last light are your money shots, especially when they line up with the moving water.
On the tide, timeanddate.com and Tide-Forecast’s St. Augustine City Dock table show a low tide just after daybreak, around 6 a.m., and a midday high near 12:10 p.m., with another falling tide late in the day. Tides4Fishing’s St. Augustine Beach table backs that trend, showing a pre‑dawn low and a strong mid‑morning push. That gives you a classic plan: work the last of the outgoing at first light, then ride the flood up into the creeks and grass edges.
Inshore, local docks and shop chatter around Vilano and the Intracoastal are all about winter redfish, speckled trout, and some solid black drum. Anglers have been picking up small pods of upper‑slot reds tailing on the low water and sliding up onto the shell and grass as the tide climbs. Trout numbers have been steady in the deeper bends and around drop‑offs, with a few 20‑plus‑inch fish mixed in. Drum and sheepshead are chewing around bridge pilings and rock edges, especially on fiddlers and shrimp.
For lures, this is prime “keep it subtle” season. Early and late, a small topwater like a Spook Jr. or Skitter Walk in bone or natural mullet has been drawing trout and red blow‑ups over shell bars and creek mouths. As the sun gets up, switch to:
- 3–4 inch paddle tails in new penny, silver mullet, or opening night on 1/8 to 1/4 oz jigheads.
- Shrimp‑style plastics on light jigheads or weedless hooks around oyster edges and docks.
Live bait is still king for numbers: live shrimp under a popping cork along ICW channel edges, mud minnows on jigheads dragged slowly across the bottom, and fiddler crabs tight to structure for sheepshead and drum.
Off the beach and near the inlets, Tides4Fishing’s solunar chart for St. Augustine Beach shows solid bite windows bracketing that mid‑day high. Surf anglers along A1A have been seeing whiting, blues, and a few pompano on shrimp, Fishbites, and sand fleas when you can find them. Keep your rigs light and your casts just behind the first bar.
A couple of hot spots to put on your list:
- The **Vilano Bridge / ICW channel edges**: good tide sweep, deep water, and plenty of structure. Work the down‑current side with shrimp and jigs for trout, drum, and sheepshead.
- **Matanzas Inlet and the flats just inside it**: on that incoming tide, reds and trout slide up on the bars and grass edges; fish plastics or live shrimp along the breaks and watch your depth finder for drops.
Overall activity is moderate but very predictable: when that water starts moving, the bite turns on. When it slacks, slow down, fish deeper, or make a short move.
That’s your St. Augustine fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report.
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