FISHING REPORT Redfish rule the river 6-18-15

**FISHING REPORT**

***Redfish rule the river***

**JIm SUTTON**

The hottest bite on the river might still be redfish. A commercial catfish guy set 600 hooks early this week. He had 200 of them straightened out  and that redfish. Theyre all over the river, and these are slot-sized fish. The rat reds dont seem to want to make the trip south.

If anybody had told me two or three years ago that St. Johns River guides would be advertising redfish charters, Id have called the littler ones liars.

The bream bite is still good, but theyre going deeper, seeking cooler water. Stripers are cruising the sandbars and being caught along with the reds. Lake Lochloosa is still giving up some speckled perch in the deepest water.

Bass fishing is good about four hours a day

 early and late: Though pitching river shrimp under docks is a good mid-day tactic.

And there are some small shrimp being netted now, but just enough for bait, and mostly up around the Buckman Bridge.

The mullet wall on the Shands Bridge is loaded with cane-polers and some big schools of black mullet are ganging up and moving south toward Palatka.

**The Intracoastal Waterway**

The flounder fishing is slowly improving, but the fish remain small. Between the giggers, divers and the 10-fish limit for the anglers, there just too much pressure on the fish for their own good  and ultimately our own.

The FWC needs to revisit the flounder regulations and give the stock a little bit of a break.

Redfish are all over the ICW, but more and more in deeper, cooler water. If you see bait, an oyster bar and moving water all in one place, that would be a good one to stop and fish.

Jacks and ladyfish are doing their part to keep the bait stores in business.

With the temperatures weve been having, a good plan would be to get under any of the bridges on the shady side and drop fresh shrimp down deep for black drum.

Nighttime fishing is looking a lot better these days and offers the best shot for some speckled seatrout.

**The Atlantic**

There were few reports of offshore trolling in the deeper water. And those were pretty poor. The big news was of a boat out of Mayport that caught three swordfish  in the daytime.

The fish were 125, 140 and 300 pounds, according to Florida Sportsman Rick Ryals.

There were a few kingfish caught out around the Outer Plane. But it been slow. The amberjack bite is hot and the bonito are thick.

We didnt hear anything about kingfish on the beaches. The pogies are there. The kings are not.

The shark fishing behind the shrimp boats is always good this time of year. And a few tarpon have been jumped around the St. Augustine and Matanzas Inlets.

Surf fishing has been spotty, with light catches of small whiting. There are lots of catfish and bonnethead sharks. A few pompano were caught on the north beaches this week, but why theyre still around here is anybody guess. the weather

Southerly winds are forecast all weekend with seas at 2 to 4 feet. Highs will be in the lower 90s with no real rain in sight, other than isolated afternoon showers. tournaments

Kenny Crawford may be the winningest king-fish angler in the SKA, and he did it again last weekend in the King-Buster 400, weighing the winning fish at 38.70 pounds. William Gooding took second with a 32.80-pound fish. C&H Lure Steve Grant took third with a 32.40-pounder. Kristen Bishop was the top lady angler with a 31.75-pound fish. Carter Pickett weighed a 22.25-pounder to win the junior angler division.

**Jim Sutton provides a weekly fishing report for The Record. Reach him at jim.sutton@ ° staugustine.com** °

**Photo’s
Conrtibuted**

Captain Kenny Crawford with the winning kingfish from last weekend KingBuster 400 tournament in Jacksonville

Julia and Lucas Douglas Fishing in the ICW West of MarineLand Fl.