Northeast Florida hits its summer stride this week. King mackerel have pushed onto the nearshore reefs and the pier, and the marsh is holding redfish on the low tides around Jacksonville and the St. Johns.
What’s Hitting
Kingfish have moved in on the nearshore wrecks and around the pier, giving up smoker-sized fish on live bait. Redfish are working the marsh grass and oyster bars on the falling tide. Mangrove snapper are thick on the jetties and nearshore structure, and a few tarpon have shown along the beaches and in the river.
Where to Find Them
Slow-troll live bait on the nearshore reefs and around the ends of the jetties for kings. Reds hold tight to the marsh drains and oyster bars in the Intracoastal and the back rivers on the low. Snapper stack the rocks at the St. Johns jetties.
Tides & Conditions
Water temps are in the low 80s. The falling tide that drains the marsh concentrates redfish against the structure — time your trip to fish the last two hours of the outgoing. Nearshore, a light morning sea gives the cleanest water for kings before the afternoon storms. Pogies (menhaden) have schooled thick along the beaches and around the jetties, and the kings, tarpon, and bigger reds are all keyed on them. Run the beach at first light looking for the flipping bait schools and the birds working over them, and load the well before you start slow-trolling the nearshore reefs.
Tackle & Tactics
Slow-troll a live pogy on a stinger rig for kings. For marsh reds, a gold spoon, a paddletail on a jighead, or a live shrimp under a cork worked along the grass line does it. Jetty snapper eat cut bait and live shrimp on a knocker rig with 20 lb fluoro.
Local Intel This Week
Sisters Creek (Helen Cooper Floyd) ramp gives quick access to the St. Johns and the jetties, with the Mayport ramp and B.B. McCormick ramp in Palm Valley covering the ICW. Kings are concentrating on the nearshore reefs, reds on the falling-tide marsh edges. Always check current FWC/state and federal regulations and open seasons before keeping any fish — bag and size limits change through the summer.
This Week’s Tip
For marsh redfish on the drop, position up-current of an oyster bar or a drain and let your bait wash down naturally into the ambush point. Reds set up facing the current waiting for the tide to deliver food — a bait that arrives with the flow looks right and gets eaten.