Captain Chris Cockerham
Fishing Connection
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Fishing the St. Johns River
By Chris Cockerham
Cooler Weather means a Hot Bite!
Are we on our way to cooler weather? Well, we are in Florida so that's subject to change at any minute, right? The winds are picking up out of the North East and the days have become much shorter.
Temperature's in the evening are now, somewhat bearable. So, what does that mean for us? Well if the winds permit, you need to get out! Slot red's and bull reds are thick from the North Jetty's in Fernandina, all the way down to the South end of Amelia Island.
The same holds true for Mayport, all the way upriver towards the Dames Point Bridge. Cut mullet and blue crab can be rotated if that's your only choice. These fish are schooling along the deep drops in our rivers so anchor up along the channel ledge of either the St. Marys River or the St. Johns River. Make sure to stay clear of all the shipping channels.
Obviously, you will need to use adequate weights to keep you at or near the bottom, so take a variety of sizes. The rest is a fun waiting game that's not taking long at all. If you are not into the big water. Our back creeks along the ICW have seen an excellent outgoing bite. Cut baits or any jig head tipped with your preferred plastic has been hot.
Moving on to Trout, Wow! Two weeks ago, you couldn't buy one. Now, they are all over our region and they're feeding very aggressively. Trout are following the schooling mullet as they run with the tide along the river. They are also slamming a variety of suspending baits as well, so make sure you have some handy to match the hatch. You will find that trout have become acquainted with all of our creek mouths along the ICW.
Focus on the first of the outgoing around structure when the water is clean. You can also use a popping cork with live shrimp to float over debris while targeting fish near structure.
Next, flounder have been very spotty to absolutely nonexistent. Although it hasn't been the best year, there are still some big fish being found. Most of the bigger flounder are being caught around the Mayport Inlet. I have been sent several nice pictures of studs that have been caught near Haulover as well. That said, I look for there to be a decent run following behind the cooler water temp.
The St. Johns River is loaded with bait so take advantage by netting some mullet.
If that's not doing the job, switch over co some Bucktail jigs tipped with gulp shrimp or the gulp mullet. Make sure to focus on clean water and fan cast to cover more ground. Look for a sick bite from the
Mayport dock's all the way back to White shell for the upcoming weeks. Good luck guys and be safe.