Flounder fishing in The First Coast

In The First Coast, flounder peak April–May and September–November and are around year-round, spawning in November, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. October: Fall peak — the run through the inlets and creek mouths starts.

1. JanuaryAroundSheepshead on the jetties and docks; winter red schools in the creeks. Fiddlers on the Mayport jetties and every dock for sheepshead; clear-water red schools in the creeks at low tide; trout deep in the river bends.
2. FebruaryAroundSheepshead spawn on the jetties and reefs; drum on the bridges. The biggest sheepshead of the year on the jetty rocks and nearshore reefs; black drum on the river bridges with crab.
3. MarchArrivingThe kings start; trout and reds spread through the marsh. Last of the sheepshead; the spring kingfish run starts late month on the nearshore reefs; trout and reds move out onto the marsh edges.
4. AprilPeakThe spring king run peaks; trout on the grass; reds in the creeks. Kings on the nearshore reefs and off the jetties; cobia on the buoys; trout on the flooded grass at high water; whiting in the surf.
5. MayPeakKings, cobia and tarpon off the jetties; reds and trout in the marsh. Big kings and cobia on the reefs and the Mayport jetties; the first tarpon at the river mouth; reds and trout on the creek mouths on the outgoing.
6. JuneAroundTarpon at the jetties; reds in the flooded grass; flounder on the drops. The Mayport tarpon fishery — pogies at the jetties and along the beach. Reds up in the spartina on the top of the tide, flounder on the creek drops.
7. JulyAroundSummer: jetty tarpon and bull reds, marsh reds on the high water. Tarpon and bull reds at the jetties on live pogies; marsh reds in the grass on the flood; trout early on the ICW points.
8. AugustAroundBull reds stack in the river; tarpon on the beach. Big bull reds in the St. Johns and off the jetties as the spawn approaches; tarpon on the beach bait pods; flounder on the drops.
9. SeptemberPeakBull red spawn in the river mouth; the mullet run begins. The best bull redfish of the year at the Mayport jetties and the river mouth; mullet start down the beach with jacks and tarpon behind them.
10. OctoberPeakFall peak — the run through the inlets and creek mouths starts.
11. NovemberSpawningPeak run on the outgoing at St. Augustine, the St. Johns and Nassau Sound. Fall closure — check MyFWC.
12. DecemberAroundWinter pattern: sheepshead, clear-water reds, deep trout. Jetties and docks for sheepshead; low-water creek reds on sunny days; trout in the deep river and ICW bends.

Spartina marsh, oyster-lined creeks and the Intracoastal from Ponce Inlet to the Georgia line, the St. Johns River and the Mayport jetties, St. Augustine and Matanzas inlets, and the beaches. More like Georgia's lowcountry than the rest of Florida.

Fish Scouter charts 351 dock / pilings, 18 beach / surf, 5 pass / inlet spots in the The First Coast map area — the kinds flounder hold on.

• Mud minnows (killifish)Lip-hooked on a jig head or a 1/0 hook dragged along the bottom — the flounder bait.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.

• Leader20–30 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook1/0–2/0
• Jig head1/4–1/2 oz
• Braid10–20 lb

Feeds in 54–82°F water, best at 60–75°F.

All about flounder · The First Coast, the whole year