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Jacksonville Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Jacksonville and Mayport: saltwater fishing under Florida's 2026 rules, with live tides from NOAA's Mayport (Bar Pilots Dock) station.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 7:16 PM
Air / High
72 / 72 F
Wind
NNE 15 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8720218, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Jacksonville lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 15 mph, steady pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 72. Tides: high 6:53 AM and 7:16 PM, low 12:25 AM and 12:50 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 78 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:01 AM-12:01 PM and 10:28 PM-12:28 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled troutExcellent

Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

Tomorrow: Similar at 74 F with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Florida requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $17.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Florida licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing redfish (red drum) here? Check the size and bag limits with FWC before you keep anything. The season dates for Florida, read off the agency, are on the Florida seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8720218 (Mayport). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
LOW12:25 AM0.9 ft
HIGH6:53 AM5.3 ft
LOW12:50 PM1.0 ft
HIGH7:16 PM5.2 ft
Sat
LOW1:07 AM0.6 ft
HIGH7:39 AM5.6 ft
LOW1:38 PM0.7 ft
HIGH8:00 PM5.3 ft

Mayport tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp72 F
High / Low72 / 57 F
WindNNE 15-21 mph
Pressure1019.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain12% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:33 / 18:46
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~78 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Jacksonville this week

The best day on Jacksonville this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:01 AM-12:01 PM and 10:28 PM-12:28 AM
Minor period
4:22 AM-5:22 AM
Sun
07:33 to 18:46
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 17 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Jacksonville: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: late-summer and fall bull run; inshore all year

Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), called redfish across the South, is a bronze inshore drum with a black spot near the tail, fished on grass flats, oyster bars, marsh creeks and beaches from the Chesapeake around Florida to Texas. Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Shallow bays spring and summer; deeper water in winter

Speckled trout is the anglers' name for the spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), a spotted member of the drum family that lives in shallow bays and estuaries from the Chesapeake to Texas. Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

When to come: the Jacksonville calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Redfish (red drum)
Speckled trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 78 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~78 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Jacksonville today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 74 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 76 F, wind to 14 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 71 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Florida requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Florida saltwater fishing license (the NPS notes it is required in the preserve). Red drum, flounder, sheepshead, black drum and seatrout rules as above. Red drum may not be harvested in federal waters, gigging or spearing them is prohibited, and for-hire captains and crew cannot keep a bag limit.

Access

Beach parks and boat ramps were not verified on an official page for this guide.

About this water

Saltwater fishing around Jacksonville and Mayport, Duval County, Florida; NOAA tide station 8720218 (Mayport, Bar Pilots Dock).

Fishing Jacksonville: the full guide

Tides at Mayport

NOAA's Mayport (Bar Pilots Dock) station, 8720218, at 30.398 N, 81.428 W, reports live water levels and publishes tide predictions; it was reporting on October 8, 2026.

Red drum, flounder and sheepshead

Florida's 2026 saltwater rules (FWC, as published July 20, 2026): red drum 18 to 27 inches, 1 per harvester a day, with vessel limits that vary by region and catch-and-release only in the Indian River Lagoon; flounder 14 inches, 5 a day, closed October 15 to November 30; sheepshead 12 inches, 8 a day, with a 50-fish vessel limit in March and April; black drum 14 to 24 inches, 5 a day, one fish over 24 inches allowed.

Spotted seatrout

In FWC's Northeast management region, spotted seatrout are open all year with a 3-fish limit and a 15- to 19-inch slot, and no over-slot fish may be kept. Check FWC's region map for the waters you fish.

Timucuan Preserve rules

The National Park Service's Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve allows fishing under Florida law with a Florida license, but bans it at Kingsley Plantation from the dock and the retaining wall, from the Cedar Point dock, from the banks of the Thomas Creek unit, at Fort Caroline National Memorial including Spanish Pond, and in the Theodore Roosevelt Area outside the designated saltwater marsh and tidal creeks.

Common questions

When is flounder closed in Florida?

Florida closes flounder from October 15 to November 30; the rest of the year the limit is 5 a day at 14 inches.

How many redfish can I keep?

One per harvester a day, 18 to 27 inches; vessel limits vary by region.

Where can't I fish in the Timucuan Preserve?

At Kingsley Plantation from the dock and retaining wall, from the Cedar Point dock, from the banks of the Thomas Creek unit, at Fort Caroline including Spanish Pond, and in the Theodore Roosevelt Area outside the designated marsh and creeks.

Is fishing good at Jacksonville right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

St. Augustine38 miOrange Lake79 miSaint Johns River95 miClearwater Lake98 miSt. Johns River101 miLake Harris114 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8720218 β€” Mayport
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 30.3930, -81.4310 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.