Jacksonville, FL Fishing Report
29 April 2025
Welcome to Fish Whisperer Charters in Jacksonville, FL!
Water surface temperatures remain at a very nice 74° - 77° around the Mayport area depending on the tide. Water clarity remains decent depending on the tide but we are experiencing some ESE snotty winds that will probably muck them up a bit. Bait pods were fairly scattered over the weekend but when they were located, the pogies were easy to get a well loaded. If not, shrimp do a pretty good job, as well.
For inshore, redfish continue to be the most fun when they are chewing but jacks and small tarpon were also in the mix last Thursday through Saturday. Sheepshead are starting to thin out quite a bit for me with only 1 or 2 on a trip now but the black drum and whiting are tuning into shrimp, so I’ll be focusing on that during future trips along with the redfish. I fished the Mayport docks one morning and found trout and flounder in them which helped us take a 2nd place spot in an inshore slam tournament for Haskell. Fun times!
For nearshore fishing within 15nm, I ventured out Saturday morning and searched a couple of spots with a kingfish and catch and release greater amberjack. Water looked great and after a couple of trips, it will be more dialed in out there. I had pogies for bait and trolled them only, no bottom fishing. The nearshore/offshore fishery will be firing up more each week as we creep closer to late spring, so I expect there to be much more action soon. There have already been sailfish and blackfin tuna caught this spring!
TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, Procedures)
As I mentioned, bait has been scattered some days and as I was scouring the waters along the beach Saturday morning, I had a couple of back-up plans ready to go, if needed. Do you?
We’ve all been there. Heading out of the inlet with positive vibes on running into an amazing biomass of bait that we can easily get a net on and get right to fishing. However, once we get out there, it looks like a graveyard. No birds, no one reporting bait, and no splashes of water signaling bait in the vicinity. After choosing a direction to run and looking over the area, a decision has to be made to continue to waste time or move to the next phase. In my case, I typically have sabiki rigs as my back-up.
I always have an assortment of mostly #8 or #6 sabiki hook rigs and there are plenty of publicly listed wrecks and other areas to start jigging. The art of using these rigs is not really hooking the baitfish, because they do that pretty much on their own. The real skill level is not hooking yourself! I’ll usually use a 2oz sabiki sinker with mine and simply take note of where the bait is in the water column. Sometimes they are right at the top of the water and easy to pick up. Other times, they are in the water column and using sonar to locate them, that’s the depth that the sabiki should be worked through.
I teach a simple raise and lower motion until I feel a few baits on there and keep steady tension on the rod tip while reeling them in. Once they are near the surface, raise the rod tip up and grab the sinker, not the bait! While holding the sinker and keeping tension on the line, use a dehooker to drop them into a baitwell and repeat. This bait is usually higher quality than pogies and really keeps the young folks busy and happy while gathering it. One can also find a variety of bait doing this such as sardines, cigar minnows, squid, etc. Hope that helps!
If there are ever any questions, just post them up on my Facebook Page and I'll get back with you.
Catch em' up and stay safe!
Until next time...
Fair Winds & Following Seas,
Capt Kris Kell
Until next time...
Fair Winds & Following Seas,
Capt Kris Kell
