Nearby buoys
2026-10-19 13:08 UTC · NOAA NDBC 41069
2026-10-19 13:25 UTC · NOAA NDBC 41070
2026-10-19 13:56 UTC · NOAA NDBC 41112
2026-10-19 13:56 UTC · NOAA NDBC 41113
2026-10-19 13:56 UTC · NOAA NDBC 41117
Latest NOAA NDBC observations. Satellite and in water readings may differ.
Fishing Jacksonville / St Augustine
Off Jacksonville and St Augustine you are fishing the edge of a broad continental shelf, and the run to the blue water is longer than it is farther south. The shelf here carries you out past the ledges and live bottom before the depth really falls away toward the Gulf Stream. That distance is exactly why reading the water before you leave the inlet matters so much. Fuel and daylight are the budget, and the chart is how you spend them on purpose instead of running blind.
The Gulf Stream and its warm filaments are the main event. The Stream sits well offshore here, but it throws warm eddies and fingers of blue water back toward the shelf, and those features spin up color changes and temperature breaks that pull bait and the pelagics that follow it. A clean blue finger pushing in over the ledges is a very different proposition than flat green water, and the SST and chlorophyll layers together are what separate the two at a glance.
Structure does real work on this coast. The ledges, the live bottom and the artificial reefs and wrecks concentrate bait, and a temperature or color edge sitting over that bottom is where you want to be. Pairing the depth contours with the water color helps you line up the spot where the warm push, the edge and the structure all stack together rather than chasing one of the three on its own.
Seasonally, crews here typically target dolphin, known elsewhere as mahi, along the weed lines and blue water edges in the warmer months, with wahoo and tuna moving through on the Stream features. Kingfish work the nearshore and the ledges across much of the year, and bottom fishing over the live bottom and wrecks for snapper and grouper runs on its own seasons. Sailfish show when the conditions line up. None of this is a promise. Seasons, runs and regulations change every year, so always check current rules before you go.
The habit that pays here is simple. Before you clear the inlet, find where the warm blue water and the cleanest edge are sitting relative to the ledges, judge the run against your fuel and the forecast, and point the bow at the water that is already working.
What you get with ReelTemps
- Sea surface temperatureFind the temperature break
- Chlorophyll-aSpot the green-to-blue color seam
- Composite & single passBlended picture or the freshest overpass
- CompareTemperature and color side by side
- Depth readoutFathoms and feet on hover, tap or mark
- Currents & buoysSee the water move and ground-truth it
- Route, ruler & waypointsPlan the run and save your spots
From the water
I've tried every temp map out there and they all feel like they were built ten years ago. I'm not exactly a tech guy, but this one actually makes sense the second you open it. First time using it, I marked a break in about 30 seconds the night before and boated bluefin right on it the next morning.
Used to burn half a tank driving around looking for color change or a solid temp break. Now I check ReelTemps before I leave the dock and I know exactly where I'm going. Less time driving around guessing, more time with lines in the water.
Albacore season used to mean a couple hours of homework the night before and just hoping it held up. Now I do most of my research that morning and pull it up on my phone if things change once we're out there. Makes calling an audible a lot easier.