Catch big trout in the maze of downtown Jacksonville waterways.
By Chris Christian

Big trout like to hang around docks, especially those adjacent to deep water with an old boat tied to them. I learned that many years ago and seldom pass by that kind of target without making a few casts. But I was shocked when Jim Romeka pulled up next to a 600-foot merchant vessel docked at Blount Island, and began tossing a topwater plug at a section of rock seawall off the ship’s bow. From my perspective, that was carrying my tidbit of angling wisdom to extremes.

However, my opinion on the matter changed three casts later, when a 6-pound trout boiled off the rock wall and exploded on his topwater.

I suppose it did meet my dock/boat/deepwater criteria. There certainly was a dock, a “boat” of sorts, and since we were in 30 feet of water, the deep water aspect was well-addressed. The ingredients were there, just on a different scale. But the term “different” becomes normal when you’re fishing around Jacksonville.

I seriously doubt there’s a more diverse water body in Florida than the St. Johns River at Jacksonville. One would have to include the maze of shallow and deep spartina grass and oyster-lined tidal creeks in the Hannah Mills and Sisters Creek area, to the main ship channel from the Mayport Jetties to below Buckman Bridge. Also the shallow, oyster-laden flats around Mill Cove, the array of docks, and the Intra-coastal Waterway from Chicopit Bay to the Atlantic Boulevard Bridge. That’s just about any inshore angling situation one could find.

It’s an interesting area to fish, and for those chasing big trout, it can be a very rewarding one.

“When it comes to big trout,” says Romeka, “I’d put the lower St. Johns River up against any other spot in Florida, and it’s more productive than all but a few.”

I’d have to concur with his assessment. Having stalked trout from Flamingo to Georgia, I can only think of a couple of spots where my chances of catching a Florida trout over eight pounds are better. A lot of that has to do with forage, as it turns out.

"I'd put the lower St. Johns River up against any other spot in Florida."

Redfish tournament catch statistics have shown that the St. Johns rivermouth produces the heaviest reds for their length in Florida. Why? Biologists tell me it’s because of a very rich estuarine environment that puts some serious weight on redfish. (The equivalent of eating at McDonalds every day).

Jacksonville, indeed, is a much-overlooked trout fishery, and for anglers who would like to tap into that, virtually any month of the year can be productive. In fact, during one midday August trip with Romeka, I landed a 7-pound trout at noon under a searing, clear blue sky, on a topwater plug, in only three feet of water.

You’re not supposed to be able to do that. But Jacksonville somehow is different.

For those who want to hit the peak seasons, however, Romeka (who’s been fishing and guiding in the Jacksonville area for over 25 years) pins it down a bit more definitively.

A lure selection like this should cover just about any feeding situation.

“Mid-February through May would be my choice for the best shot at a gator trout in this area,” he says. “There are more of them around, and they’re in a serious feeding mode as the water warms. You can catch good numbers of trout and some big ones, at other times of the year. But spring is the time for trophies, and I believe every trout over 10 pounds that was ever landed in my boat was a spring fish.”

Those big trout were caught in some remarkably diverse areas. Some were in three to four feet of water off spartina grassbeds, tucked away in shallow and nameless tidal creeks. Others were right out in the main ship channels, and came from spots where deep water meets shoreline seawall.

Where to fish depends largely on the tides, and for those used to those gentle South Florida and Gulf Coast currents, the River City is quite different.

The First Coast area, as we call it, has the largest tidal fluctuation in Florida. “Average” tides are four feet and more, and there are always two tide cycles per 24- hour period. That’s a lot of water in constant motion, and tide speed can be considerable in some areas. That’s why veteran anglers don’t mess around with weenie trolling motors here. They want the bigger models that crank out 80 to over 100 pounds of thrust. On the full and new moons each month, and especially during winter, those tides rise and fall some six feet and more. That’s when savvy trout anglers really appreciate big trolling motors.

That strong current also moves baitfish a considerable distance, with the trout close behind, and a spot that may be hot for two hours on a particular tide may be dead for the rest of the day. The tide is the key to where and what type of cover he wants to fish.

“If I could pick perfect conditions it would be a high tide at sunrise,” Romeka notes. “That puts a lot of bait in the grass, and trout will be roaming the outside edge of that grassline. That’s a perfect time for a topwater plug, and the action will last for the first few hours of the falling tide as well.”

Under these conditions, Romeka is generally heading for saltgrass country. The most productive waters he’s found are the Hannah Mills area, Clapboard and Sisters Creek, Mill Cove, Chicopit Bay and the stretch of the ICW between Chicopit Bay and the Atlantic Boulevard bridge. All of these areas feature shoreline grass, and numerous sections where oyster clumps lie just outside the flooded grass. That’s a lot of cover to fish—but savvy anglers narrow their search to where there is visible baitfish activity. Find the bait and you’ll find the trout. Romeka also considers one other factor.

A Different Twist With Live Bait

Jim Romeka feels that artificial lures, specifically topwater plugs, are the best bet for River City gators, but he’s not adverse to using live bait. As with much of Jacksonville’s trout fishing, however, this is also different. “Live finger mullet or big mud minnows can be excellent big trout baits in the spring,” he explains, “but the strong tidal current makes it difficult to get them positioned on the edges and keep them there. They get swept past the ambush points too fast.” Romeka, who also knows his largemouth bass, solved the problem by stealing a page from his freshwater book and slow-trolling baits with his electric motor. “I put the boat right on the edge of the grass or rock,” he explains, “and use the trolling motor to move slowly into the current. The baits are tossed out about 50 or 60 feet off the stern, and they stay right on the edge where the big trout are waiting.”

“Bigger trout are a lot like largemouth bass in that they do more ambushing than chasing,” he says. “They prefer to hold on points of grass that jut out into the current, small patches of grass just off the main grassline, or near the mouth of small feeder creeks dumping water out from the grass. If there are shallow oysters in the area, they will often be on the downcurrent eddy side of it. These are specific cover situations I work thoroughly, rather than spend time on some straight and featureless grassline.”

On high, falling water during morning or evening, Romeka’s first choice is a noisy topwater plug. In fact, he feels an aggressive surface lure is not only the best artificial for big trout, but will even out-produce live bait. He favors the MirrOlure Top Dog Jr. or She Dog. I’ve found single, rear-propeller baits (like the venerable Dalton Special or the newer High Roller) to be very effective as well. If trout start blowing up on the larger baits but not taking them, downsizing the plug can sometimes solve the problem. A Baby Zara Spook or a small floating Rapala will often turn those boilers into biters. Another option is a subsurface jerkbait like the Bomber Long A. Trout that merely swirl at a floating bait often snap up a jerkbait danced just below the surface.

By mid-point of the falling tide, most bait will have been pulled from the grass, and trout drop back to deeper water. They won’t return to those grass edges until the tide shifts and floods in enough to bring the bait back.

Trout that merely swirl at a floating bait often snap up a jerkbait.

For the tail end of the falling tide and the first portion of the flood, Romeka will pull off the grass and turn his attention to sharper dropoffs at the mouths of tidal creeks, shell bar points, and oyster edges well outside the grassline. However, he won’t be doing it in shallow creeks, even after finding trout there only an hour before.

“You would think that if a creek was loaded with trout on the high tide, all you would have to do is find some deeper hole in the creek and that’s where they’d be during low water. But that hasn’t worked out for me and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make it work. I think those trout leave those shallower creeks completely and move back to the main river or the edge of the ICW. Our trout seem to move a long way on these big tides, and you have to move with them,” he said. The ICW is a good bet here: It offers a wealth of feeder creeks and oyster bars with a sharp dropoff.

Should one want to do a little angling downtown, the Fort Caroline shoreline, the area around Dames Point Bridge and almost any rock wall on a steep shoreline are top spots for gators.

“The rock breakwalls by the Dames Point Bridge have produced a lot of big trout,” Romeka notes. “There are actually two lines of rock, one right on the shoreline and the other about 15 feet out from that, which may be barely visible during low tide. Trout love to cruise the edges of both sides on a high tide, and the outer rock during low.”

The Fort Caroline shoreline is dock-laden and slopes sharply to 20-plus feet of water, another favored big trout haunt.

Topwater plugs and jerkbaits are still effective lures on these deeper banks, but there are times when a 4- or 5-inch plastic tail on a 1/8- or 1/4-ounce jighead can be a better bet, especially on the tide’s lower end during midday hours. Combinations of chartreuse/red (sometimes called electric chicken), pearl white, or if the water happens to be a bit dark, root beer with gold flake, are preferred colors.

From Fort George to Dames Point is a nice chunk of water to cover, the favorite area for Romeka during most of the spring season. But, if the action tails off there later in the spring, he simply heads south.

“Sometimes in late spring you can get some good trout movements from the Dames Point Bridge all the way down to the Buckman Bridge in Orange Park,” he says. “This area doesn’t have the strong tides we get up in Jax, and the cover is quite different from up north. You don’t have a lot of grass or oyster, so what you’re looking for are docks and rock breakwalls near deep water. At times that section can be a real hotspot for big trout.”

If variety is indeed the spice of life, you can find plenty of that in the River City. And plenty of big trout as well.