Inshore fishing report NE Florida

Florida Fishing Report for:
Intracoastal Waterway, St Johns River and Nearshore Waters from Fernandina to Saint Augustine
Updated: December 13, 2006.
NE Florida inshore fishing report

Speckled trout are in high gear in our area right now. You can target them with lipped diving lures, DOA shrimp, Gulp shrimp, or the real thing(live shrimp) with a good chance of success. Use a sliding float rig with the live ones to cover the productive zone within a couple of feet of the bottom. In the creeks try free lining a live shrimp or minnow with a splitshot. The water temperature is around 55-60 degrees, so it's a bit chilly for top water plugs. There are also some good size yellowmouth trout biting at the jetties. Try a white Gulp shrimp on a jighead, and work it slowly.

Sheephead like the cooler water, and are biting fairly well along the big rocks and other structure in the river. Fish a fiddler crab on a jighead or egg sinker fishfinder rig. Some nice black drum are also being caught on shrimp, clam, and crab baits. Last outing I caught quite a few bluefish while throwing plugs for trout.

The redfish are in the creeks around the oyster bars and small tributaries which drain into the creeks on the outgoing tide. You are likely to catch some flounder also fishing these same spots. There are also some reds at the tips of the big rocks hitting on jigs tipped with shrimp or mud minnows.

Traditionally, this is the beginning of the winter slow down for us charter captains, which is really unfortunate, as the fishing can be spectacular. The chances are good that you will catch a mixed bag of beautiful NE Florida fish!

Tight lines! CAPT Bob Cosby

-- Captain Bob's Fishing Charters,Inc. [url]http://www.captainbobsfishingcharters.com[/url]