St. Johns River Bass Guides

[Drawdown]

Any recommendations are appreciated! Old threads were full of names of guys who had hung it up, apparently.

 

My family vacations in St. Augustine Beach just about every year in late June, sometimes in the first week of July. I just recently had the notion I should look into booking a 6-hour trip on the water within a hour’s away from SAB (saltwater just doesn’t appeal to me, though it’d be *a lot* closer).

 

Figured being able to meet to launch close to Palatka would be ideal, though going as far as Georgetown could be worth it, too.

 

Would love to fish artificials, mainly because I want to become a better angler by getting experience in a new place—but I wonder how reluctant guides are to do that, since any snags start cutting into their bottom line. And other threads on here suggest their modus operandi is using native shiners.

[N Florida Mike]

CC Corey is good and he does the palatka/ Rodman/Ocklawaha river areas. 

I know he uses shiners. Not sure if he does artificial trips. You can watch his videos on North Florida Angler. I tried to get his contact info but my internet isnt working at the moment…

Sean Rush is another good one, I think he does mostly Rodman. 

Warning though- these guides are often booked months in advance.

[Captain Phil]

Professional guides prefer shiner fishing over artificials because they are normally being paid to catch fish.  If you want to learn to fish, you should let the guide know this in advance.  A fishing trip is a lot different than a teaching trip.  Hopefully, he can deliver both.  Back when I was guiding, I enjoyed teaching trips much more than catching trips.  Most of my customers were tournament anglers looking for local knowledge or anglers who wanted to learn from my experience.  If someone wanted to fish with shiners, I would recommend another guide.

 

Shiner fishing does two things, it removes the angler's skill from the equation and you can target big fish by the size of your bait.  Rodman is a great shiner fishery.  The water is clear and full off cover, making artificial lure fishing more difficult.   Whatever you do, make sure you and your guide are on the same page.  Before you book, tell him/her what you expect and you will get along much better.

[geo g]

I know water levels are getting really low on the southern end.

[Drawdown]

12 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

 

Warning though- these guides are often booked months in advance.

Yeah, I imagine it might be too late for this year. But I might jump on it for next year, if I know who to call.

22 minutes ago, geo g said:

I know water levels are getting really low on the southern end.

How far south does the tide affect levels? Might be worth going a tad further north than I mentioned, if throwing plastics. I don’t know. Would be neat to learn fishing the tide patterns as well, but I’m not set on it

[Captain Phil]

15 minutes ago, Drawdown said:

How far south does the tide affect levels? Might be worth going a tad further north than I mentioned, if throwing plastics. I don’t know. Would be neat to learn fishing the tide patterns as well, but I’m not set on it

 

Tides on the St. Johns River run as far south as Lake George.  They do not affect Rodman.  My son, who lives in Weston, tells me the Everglades is low right now.  Currently, the water levels are high in the Harris Chain about 45 minutes south of Rodman.  The last draw down in Rodman was 2019-20.  

[N Florida Mike]

I know tides are in effect at least to palatka. Past there to the south I can’t remember. @GRiver would know down there. When I fish the river , I fish high tide up in the cypress. At low tide I fish outer weed edges ( if you can find any) , and under low slung docks.

Spring runs off lake george are also good because of the cooler water.

Fishing artificials in june can be tough here. I’d be on the water at daybreak. Summer bite is better in the early A.M.

You also might consider ponds. There are a lot of them in N Florida. Nearly all of them hold fish. It’s easier to find and catch fish in them.