Bite Atlas
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Bite AtlasFlorida field guide← Jacksonville
Mayport / Fort George
Incoming tide lines up with this spot. Active marine alerts add some friction to every call today.
Every spot starts at 54, and each factor below moves it up or down. The score rates conditions, not the chance of a catch.
The St. Johns River mouth meets the Atlantic Ocean — one of the largest and most powerful inlets on Florida's East Coast. The river outflow creates massive current that holds bull redfish in the 30–50 inch class, staging tarpon over 100 lbs, and one of the state's best flounder migrations.
75–100 GO · Strong fit60–74 WINDOW · Timing matters0–59 HOLD · Limited fit
Scores rate how well conditions suit a spot. They aren't the chance of catching a fish.
Fetch time is separate from observation time. Stale measurements are excluded from scoring.
✓ helps the score ~ partial fit ✗ hurts the score – not available
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Hooks, baits, and lanes for Mayport Jetties
Large cut mullet chunk (4-inch piece) or live menhaden/finger mullet on a 7/0 circle hook with 50 lb fluoro leader, 4–6 oz bank sinker to hold bottom in the current. Cast into the channel current and let it soak. The bite feels like a slow, heavy pull — don't jerk. Just reel tight and lift. These fish run hard and long — let the drag do the work. 20+ minute fights are normal.
Large live menhaden (pogies), mullet, or blue crab on a 8/0 circle hook with 80 lb fluoro leader on 50 lb braid or heavy conventional tackle. Free-line or use a large float in the channel current during dawn and dusk windows in June-September. Expect fish over 100 lbs. Clear the area when hooked — tarpon runs and jumps will cross every line around you.
1/2 oz white bucktail tipped with a strip of fresh mullet belly or a live finger mullet on a stinger hook. Drag across the sandy transitions at the base of the jetty rocks during October-November on falling tide. Flounder lie flat in the sand waiting for bait to come over them. The bite feels like you picked up a weight — wait 3 full seconds, then sweep the rod to set.
Live fiddler crab or large shrimp on a 1/0 hook with 20 lb fluoro and enough weight to hold bottom against the current. Drop right against the barnacle-covered jetty rocks. Short-stroke the hookset — sheepshead have hard, crushing mouths. The most reliable bite on the jetty year-round.
Treat the channel edges as ambush lanes and fish moving current, not dead water.
Fish passes, bridges, and beach migration lanes at dawn. Match the bait, not the lure catalog.
Drag baits across sand-mud transitions and channel drop-offs. Flounder ambush — they don't chase. Slow down.
Work slower water right off structure or on the calmer side of the surf cut.
Watch for bait blowups on the surface. Cast into the mayhem, strip fast. Jacks are reaction feeders, not ambush fish.
Fish vertical and tight to pilings; this is a precision bite, not a long-cast bite.
Near a major phase — tidal activity is elevated