# Jacksonville Surf and Pier



## REKER (Jun 23, 2010)

Hey guys, i'll be in the Jax area this coming November and am curious to know what species will be around? Just trying to narrow down the tackle I should bring, also, which tackle shop is the most preferred?

Thanks in advance.


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## REKER (Jun 23, 2010)

Wow, no one has anything to add?


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## goinfishing (Sep 10, 2013)

They must be too busy fishing to reply to anything ;-) hahahaha. Just seems like there isn't much activity on here except for one


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## tjbjornsen (Oct 31, 2009)

Here are a couple of sites that are pretty active for where you are going to be;

http://www.surfishingflorida.com/Home/tabid/103/Default.aspx

http://www.floridasportsman.com/regions/northeast/

That is a great time to be down there as far as surf fishing, especially if you are a pompano fan. That is considered the beginning of their prime Pompano Season.
I've never found a "preferred" tackle shop, most of the ones I went into seemed pretty disinterested in helping out a non-local. Good luck with that. 
As for gear, I guess that depends on if you are going to be fishing from piers or the beach. 
Can't help with the pier thing, but from the surf you are going to need to get out pretty far, the beaches there are flat and wide. 
Anything that you feel comfortable throwing light pompano style rigs a long way is what you should be thinking about. Light, 2 hook dropper style rigs, 2-3-4 ounces of lead, smaller hooks, standard Pompano/Whiting fare. 
You could just bring along a few packs of River Rigs, in a couple of different hook sizes and be in pretty good shape there... 
As to bait, clam chunks and fresh shrimp are what the locals use, I always have a bag or two of FishBites (heck, they were invented and are still made in Jacksonville!) on hand as well.
There are plenty of beaches to access by foot, or with a small beach cart. If you want to drive on the beach you will have to go a bit south, to Crescent Beach below St. Augustine, by Matanzas Inlet. 
Use those two sites above, and Google Maps/Earth is your friend when looking for Beach access. 
Or just head East from wherever you are, turn South when you get to A1A, and pull over when you see the ocean and someplace to park!

Now if you are looking to go down there and chase sharks or something like that from the beach, I'm not your guy.
Good Luck, and search through older posts here, there is lots of information to be gleaned just from looking at what has already been posted.

TjB


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## Sweettosalt (Oct 12, 2014)

if your looking to just catch the pier is a good place to start as the previous poster said bring 2-4 ounce weights. Start with 2s and adjust up. Small pieces of shrimp fished on small bait holders on a fishfinder rig or a store bought pompano rig will get you most anything that swims but may not be the biggest. A few small mullet still in the surf, decent amount of flounder and reds as well.


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## HuskyMD (May 19, 2000)

I'm from VA but my mom lives in Palatka. I've been down there many times. I always fish the inlet at Crescent Beach. If you don't have a truck, there is a nice parking lot and you can walk onto the beach and walk over to the inlet. You can find some decent places to fish on the way if you can read the beach. If you are up for the walk, I like to fish just before the bend at the inlet. Just as already said, good time of year for Pompano. There is a tackle shop on A1A near the inlet called Devils Elbow, but they rarely have fresh bait, always frozen. 
The Jacksonville Pier has decent fishing and a website dedicated to the fishing - if you are going to up that way, you may just want to stay up there.


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