As I drove to the boat ramp pre-dawn the rain bands were on and off making me question the decision on fishing that morning. As I pulled into the parking lot the sunlight began to creep over the horizon and the rain stopped abruptly. The tide was high and flooding slightly so we went looking for places to fish float rigs. We had beautiful conditions with slightly overcast skies and a light breeze. We found success quickly catching several nice speckled trout from 19” to 25”. The largest trout was released to continue to spawn and reproduce. We also caught a large jack crevalle that fought us hard on our light tackle setups. The tropical storms are around and the weather has changed. I expect great inshore fishing this next few weeks heading into early fall fishing.

This mornings trip had excellent conditions and a great incoming tide. We started the trip just after low tide and ran to a few spots in the ICW checking for active redfish. Once we found an oyster bar with activity and hungry redfish we were hooked up shortly after. We went on to catch a few decent sized fish and unfortunately lost a nice one next to the boat on a pulled hook. Definitely a heartbreaker but we moved on to search for some clean incoming tide. Once we were set up in some deeper water we were able to land several more redfish and this beautiful 20” speckled sea trout. As the sun rose throughout the morning the temps soared quickly into the 90s and we were glad to be escaping the blazing heat after a successful morning of inshore fishing.

This mornings trip had excellent conditions and a great incoming tide. We started the trip just after low tide and ran to a few spots in the ICW checking for active redfish. Once we found an oyster bar with activity and hungry redfish we were hooked up shortly after. We went on to catch a few decent sized fish and unfortunately lost a nice one next to the boat on a pulled hook. Definitely a heartbreaker but we moved on to search for some clean incoming tide. Once we were set up in some deeper water we were able to land several more redfish and this beautiful 20” speckled sea trout. As the sun rose throughout the morning the temps soared quickly into the 90s and we were glad to be escaping the blazing heat after a successful morning of inshore fishing.

This mornings trip had excellent conditions and a great incoming tide. We started the trip just after low tide and ran to a few spots in the ICW checking for active redfish. Once we found an oyster bar with activity and hungry redfish we were hooked up shortly after. We went on to catch a few decent sized fish and unfortunately lost a nice one next to the boat on a pulled hook. Definitely a heartbreaker but we moved on to search for some clean incoming tide. Once we were set up in some deeper water we were able to land several more redfish and this beautiful 20” speckled sea trout. As the sun rose throughout the morning the temps soared quickly into the 90s and we were glad to be escaping the blazing heat after a successful morning of inshore fishing.

On todays four hour charter I ran further up river and went to an area that is mostly shallow, less than three feet deep, and littered with oyster bars. We casted out a typical spread of various baits including live shrimp, mud minnows, and finger mullet. We worked our first spot which looked promising but werent able to connect to much with any size. We threw back several short seatrout and redfish. After deciding that the area wasnt the fishiest that day I turned the boat back towards the ramp and decided on fishing a creek system that holds water well on a low tide. We crept our way into the shallows and found much happier redfish and Seatrout feeding in the swift current. Same bait, same rigs but this time we were hooking fish steadily. We caught mostly smaller trout and redfish but brought home one nice trout at 19 1/2 in long along with some whiting that were by catch. Our one bigger red we hooked and fought unfortunately came free from the hook right under the boat. Water temperatures are slowly returning to normal and the fish are getting back into their usual summertime routines.

As of July 5th the water temperature at the Mayport inlet hovered between 72-75. This is quite a drastic difference compared to the average temperature of 85 degrees. The fish have not wanted to bite out that way so intead Ive been taking clients to go do some back water fishing in the Intracoastal Waterway. By the time we run away from the inlet we are finding water temperatures up to 80 degrees. This little bit of warmer water definitely has the more active fish. We used a combonation of Shrimp, mud minnows, and fiddler crabs to work shallow and deep spots between 2ft and 20ft. We were able to bring home a couple of delicious flounder and a sheepshead for dinner. Although the keepers werent biting well we managed to stay busy catching and releasing several other species including black drum, Seatrout, catfish, and jack crevalle. As the new week begins I am hoping the water temps warm back up and the beaches/inlet fishing will come back to life. Tarpon fishing is on the brain and I am looking forward to their return.