The Clay County Department of Tourism has partnered with Coastal Angler Magazine as they share monthly fishing updates for the waterways of Clay County. 

Here’s a look at what’s biting this September in Clay County!

September is a great month. Fishing, shrimping and football in that order. 

First up, croakers are biting and you’ll have a great time catching them. Fish the ledges and holes from Marker 16 to 26 and you should do okay. Baits of choice–bait shrimp or nightcrawlers. Remember if you catch a small one, cut him up and you should catch a trout or perhaps a redfish.

Weakfish or Yellowmouth trout as we know them around here are on the move and biting in the same spots as the croakers. You’ll catch them on cut croakers or bait shrimp. Frozen does work but is not as good as fresh.

Redfish are active tailing in the shallow grass line. Crabs are fish choice, but shrimp is coming on strong. You can probably catch them on shrimp, crabs or cut croakers but remember your bass lures will work too. It’s not a requirement that you purchase species-specific lures. A 1/8oz jig head with a fish bites tail will work great if you work it very slow and a gold redfish magic worked slow works swell.

Next are the mullet. Getting bigger by the day and are biting well. All you need is bait and your usual tackle: Number two or number four hooks, splitshot and some bobbers and you’ve got the makings of a good mullet set-up. Remember chum always helps.

Shrimping, shrimping, shrimping. They’re here and they’re from bait to eating size. You’ll be able to net them in deep water or off the docks and piers. You’ll need a webbed net for the deep water and some chum and a regular net off the piers anywhere near the channel in the Green Cove Springs area. Find the edge of the drop-off on the channel edge in the middle of the day and look for the shrimp to show on your fish finder. They kind of look like fuzz on your display screen.

Bream fishing under docks and in the creeks near pads should be great. Baits of choice are fly rod poppers and either a fly rod or a bream pole. You can also use a tasty cricket, or two, on your regular gear. I like to chum an area with crabs. Take the shell off the crab and discard it where you set up to fish and use the joint muscles to put on your hook for bait. I have caught boat loads of bream in the Doctors Inlet area and the smaller lakes near Keystone should produce very well in September. 

Largemouth are willing to take a bait from under any shady area. You can use live shrimp floated under a bobber and hold on. Around the docks in Doctors Inlet is one of my favorite areas. You can use shallow diving crankbaits, usually zero to three feet. And, of course, shiners still work. As the shrimp run increases, the bass will eat more and more shrimp and less and less of anything else.  

Striper fishing at the Shands Bridge is mighty good this time of year. All you need are some live finger mullet, smallish shiners, or live shrimp. You can also use lipless crankbaits and Rapala-type plugs. The best time of day is almost dark through sunrise. They’re active and want a meal.

Well, ’til next time, keep your line wet and your lure moving.