December backcountry-Jacksonville

A few more awesome redfish from this week. Over 30 per trip.

Fishing in the backcountry saltwater estuaries continues to provide non stop action for spotted sea trout and redfish. Both species are schooled up in impressive numbers here in Northeast Florida. I had the chance to spend a few hours on the water guiding some longtime friends the past 2 trips.
My buddy Mike and son Noah had the chance to experience some shallow water sight fishing for redfish. We found a big group of upper and over slot fish.

Kelly Stacy, son Todd and his friend Mike had a blast catching trout and reds on lures last week. We actually left the trout biting to move to another area to target redfish.

Redfish and Trout...everywhere!

Redfish and trout are schooled up in big numbers in the backwater creeks here in northeast florida. Last weeks passing of hurricane Sandy produced high winds and exceptionally high flood tides. I was fortunate to have Jake and his dad, Lee on my boat. Both guys were able to sight fish on spinning tackle and most impressively, fly rods for tailing redfish in the marsh.

Bob and Steve caught over 30 redfish in the creeks on the lower tides earlier this week.

The water and weather are staring to cool down allowing for perfect conditions for catching redfish in the creek systems here in North Florida.
The last 2 trips we sight fished for upper and over slot redfish.
There are still good numbers of large
Bull redfish in the St Johns River.

Two boats to choose from: The 18 foot flats boat is outfitted exclusively for backwater and inland fishing. It is equipped to fish two or three anglers comfortably, or 2 adults and 2 children.

The 22 foot bay boat is outfitted for inland, inlet and near shore fishing. It is equipped for up to 4 or 5 anglers. It has a bimini top that is stowed and can be deployed if needed.

Hot Summertime Action!!

Fishing has been outstanding for big speckled trout the last 2 months. The spring and summer months are great for fishing top water plugs and lipped diving crank baits in deep drop offs along the St Johns River. I have had the most success using "walk the dog" style lures such as a Zara Spook and Skitter Walk plugs in the early morning low and late afternoon low light situations. Experiencing the explosive strike of a big 8 pound gator trout is an awesome sight! 

The St Johns river is loaded with small shad and mullet, so it’s important to “match the hatch” when selecting a sub surface lure. The Swim n Image made by Heddon and Bombers Long A lipped diver lures have been deadly for trout.

The Cobia fishing along the beach has been really good when the sea's are calm. Sight casting bucktail jigs and live Menhaden around the migrating Manta Ray's right along the beach has produced good numbers of this hard fighting, great tasting fish.
Here is a picture of a 70 pounder we sight fished last month:

The summer fishing here in Northeast Florida offers more variety of species than any other time of year.

Capt. Ron Schurr
(904) 707-8328
www.fishingnorthflorida.com 

Fall-Winter Inshore Catching!

The inshore and backwater fishing here in Northeast Florida is experiencing some of the finest action all year. With the passing of the first few cold fronts, the water has cooled down putting the flounder, redfish, black drum and speckled trout on the move and on the feed. The flounder run is one the best in several years, with some calling it the “greatest ever”. Thousands of fatties are migrating towards the inlets and off shore waters, making them easy to target along the edges of the St Johns River. Finger mullet fished on light jig heads and fish finder rigs from Mayport westward to Blount Island have been producing most catches. Bagging a 10 fish limit of these excellent tasting fish is not too difficult right now.

My favorite species, redfish, have moved into the backwater creeks in very big numbers. The cooler water combined with higher than normal tides have pushed the bigger upper slot redfish further in the marsh feeding on crabs and mullet. As the water temps continues to drop, I expect catches of 20 or more fish per trip, with December, January and February being some of the peak times for schooling reds. I prefer fishing light jigs tipped with shrimp or a small mud minnow along oyster beds. Lure fishing in the creeks systems is equally effective in the cold months. Small 3 and 4 inch soft plastics such as tube lures, Gulp shrimp and DOA shad tail lures, in darker colors are my choice.

Speckled trout are thick along the Intracoastal Waterway and the miles of creeks closer towards the inlets and ocean. I have been actually moving to get away from the trout lately, there have been that many. Most of these aggressive feeders have been in the 1 to 4 lb range, and usually will hit soft plastic mullet lures or deep running crank baits almost every cast.

Many people assume the fishing to be slower in the colder months, which is not the case.

The next 4 months are my favorites!



Capt. Ron Schurr

(904) 707-8328

www.fishingnorthflorida.com