Saint Marys River Fishing Reports (July 2026)

Despite some really cold days here in Fernandina Beach, the speckled trout bite was pretty darn good. There were a few days when the temperature was not bad. Fishing in deeper water was the key to getting these fish. We had good catches with plenty of slot-size fish. We ended up fishing in eight to ten feet of water using an adjustable float rig and a live shrimp. With the cold weather behind us, the fishing will kick into high gear.

Fishing has been really good on our nearshore ledges and rock piles. This is the time for big Black Sea bass. Fun action and great eating as the whole family will have fun doing it!

Fishing has been on fire. Clearer water. Schooled up fish. Abnormal amount of tailing on the flats. Recommend throwing small and lighter colored as they can be rather spooky. Maintaining distance from the fish is highly recommended. Prefer clear skies and midday low to take advantage of sight casting.

Some great nearshore bottom fishing the last several trips. Keeper Black Sea bass, triggerfish and vermilion snapper are showing up in numbers now that the water has cooled off.

Helping out the state with some EFP Snapper trips and there's plenty of those out there. We were done with our 24 fish snapper limit in under 30 minutes.

We have had some fantastic weather, and with the water cooling, the bite has been red hot. Nearshore Bull Reds, black drum, sheepshead, and, for the kids, the whiting are biting. Offshore Cobia, Grouper, Black Sea Bass. Trigger fish and plenty of Red Snapper.

Solid fishing around the jetties the last few weeks. Black drum, redfish, whiting and the sharks have showed up!

Wahoo and Grouper were biting this past week 60 miles offshore. Waiting on grouper season May 1! Big black and red drum at the jetties, along with lots of whiting.

Redfish and Black Drum around the jetties, with the big Black Seabass still offshore right now!

Picture of a few of the fish that we cleaned this morning. Ended up cleaning four keeper speckled trout and two black drum They had a good time. Had plenty others, but they had enough to eat.

Despite the Cold Weather Despite the weather being alittle chilly on some days the fishing has been pretty good. We have been getting some really nice redfish and speckled trout. On the days the weather was not freezing and we were able to get on the water the fish were willing to bite. Getting live shrimp has been challangingdue to the water temps, but mud minnows have worked just fine. Using the floating cork over structure has worked well. Also have been using a 1/4 ounce jighead on the bottom aslo produced.