St. Augustine Offshore February Fishing Report

Wahoo are King

February is Wahoo time in NE Florida. Unlike the last couple of winters, we have had some cold weather. Water temperatures are colder than in recent years and that should be a plus for Wahoo fishing. The best case is when water temperatures stay in the 60s until at least the 23-fathom mark.  Those conditions push the fish out to the shelf edge where they are easier to locate. So how do we catch them. High speed trolling is a great way to locate Wahoo due to the fact you cover more territory. Any local bait and tackle stores can get you set up with the right stuff

I prefer to pull baits mostly because it allows my charters to catch fish other than Wahoo. With the fish congregated near the shelf edge double digit days are not uncommon. In addition to Wahoo there will be plenty of black fin tuna around. We pull a mixed spread of wire and mono rigs. The normal set up is a blue and white islander ballyhoo rigged on wire behind a planner. The flat line will be a wire rig as well. The rest of the spread will be a mixture of wire and mono rigs depending on what is biting. Usually I will pull one larger bait on one of my shotguns. The other will have the tried and proven cedar plug.

If bottom fish are your thing just remember Amberjack and Grouper are closed. If the troll bite is slow, it usually only takes a couple of drops to catch enough Vermillion snapper, Red porgy and Triggerfish for dinner. There really isn’t a reason to fish a larger bait in February so double hook rigs are the way to go.

Watch the weather, stay safe and ‘Let’s Go Fishing’

Captain Robert Johnson

Jodie Lynn Charters

(904)540-2628

jlfishing@bellsouth.net

www.jodielynncharters.com