Best Fishing Spots in Cedar Key
Cedar Key has one of the best fisheries in Florida. There are redfish, spotted sea trout, flounder, black drum, bonnet head sharks and many more species to be had in and around the mudflats, grass flats and oyster bars.
I have been fishing the waters from the mouth of the Suwanee River down to Cedar Key for more than 20 years and it's one of my favorite ecosystems to fish.
The fish come in from the Gulf of Mexico with the tide to search the tidal creeks, mud flats and oyster bars for shrimp, crabs and small bait fish. AND that's where we ambush them as they are moving through.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida and have been fishing the flats and oyster bars all over Florida for over 40 years. I guess that you could call me a skinny water specialist. The Cedar Key area is perfect for extremely shallow water fishing.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish around Cedar Key.
Cedar Key has one of the best fisheries in Florida. There are redfish, spotted sea trout, flounder, black drum, bonnet head sharks and many more species to be had in and around the mudflats, grass flats and oyster bars.
I have been fishing the waters from the mouth of the Suwanee River down to Cedar Key for more than 20 years and it's one of my favorite ecosystems to fish.
The fish come in from the Gulf of Mexico with the tide to search the tidal creeks, mud flats and oyster bars for shrimp, crabs and small bait fish. AND that's where we ambush them as they are moving through.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida and have been fishing the flats and oyster bars all over Florida for over 40 years. I guess that you could call me a skinny water specialist. The Cedar Key area is perfect for extremely shallow water fishing.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish around Cedar Key.
Fishing for Redfish in Cedar Key
Tidal Creeks-- Fishing for redfish in Cedar Key tidal creeks is the way to go. The redfish like to push up into the very skinny waters in search of shrimp, crabs and bait fish as the tide begins to rise. The redfish are the first ones to hit the shallow mud flats. They like to get first dibs on the crabs, shrimp and fish before the other predators come in with the tide.
So it is best to be at a bottle neck of some kind before the tide turns. Then you know that the redfish will have to come right past you as they run up the creeks. You can often see them on the shallow mud flats as their backs are exposed to the air as they swim in just inches of water.
My favorite set up is a deeper cut between two oyster bars or an oyster bar and a mud flat. I like to let the tide funnel the fish right to where I am fishing at. The redfish are usually in schools and the fish in the school are all roughly the same size.
So if you are only catching 15 inch redfish where you are at, then you might want to move to see if you can find bigger fish. You can also wait the little ones out if you have a good ambush spot because the big ones will probably eventually move through your ambush point.
BEST ALL AROUND ROD AND REEL COMBO FOR INSHORE FISHING
In my opinion, the perfect all around rod and reel combo for inshore fishing is a 3500 series reel and a 7 foot medium or medium/heavy strength, fast action rod. Fill the spool with 15 pound braided line and use a 20 pound leader.
I have used many different rods and reels over the last 40 years of fishing like Diawa, Shimano and Penn.
My favorite line of reels that are out now is the Penn Spinfisher series reels. They are smooth, tough; have great drag systems; and best of all a sealed body so sand and water don't get inside the reels.
They are perfect for surf fishing, wade fishing and kayak fishing. (Any fishing technique that makes it likely for water or sand to get in them)
You can expect to pay $150 plus for these reels. BUT they are worth it.
My second favorite non-sealed reels are the Diawa BG reels.
They are the reels that I use on my flats boat because I know that they are unlikely to get dunked in the water or to get beach sand in them.
You can expect to pay $100 plus for these reels. They are a great bargain in my opinion.
Best Baits and Lures-- I like to use a simple live or fresh dead shrimp with a split shot and a 1/0 or 2/0 circle hook. This set up has caught me hundreds and hundreds of redfish over the years. The technique is simple. Just cast the shrimp up current and let it bounce back to you with the tide and repeat.
Another great bait choice is fiddler crabs. You can catch a ton of fiddler crabs during the lower parts of the tides. Just throw them in a bucket and give them some shade so the sun doesn't cook your live bait.
Mud minnows are another great bait if you can net some. Those fish are practically impossible to kill but I would suggest having a bubbler of some kind or a bait bucket to keep them in the water. I have had mud minnows get out of the bucket and stay alive in a small puddle of water on the bottom of my jon boat for two days.
My favorite lures for redfish are scented soft plastics like a Berkeley Gulp Swimming Mullet and 3 inch shrimp. The best way to fish them is to cast them up current and bounce them on the bottom as you retrieve it with the tide. Just use a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce jig head if the tide is very strong.
Another great soft plastic lure is a 3 inch DOA CAL swimming shad with a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce jig head. My favorite colors are white or some natural color combination.
Another great lure is a gold spoon. Use a weedless gold spoon and fish it the same way as you did with the jigs. Gold definitely works better than silver for redfish.
Grass Flats-- The grass flats around Cedar Key are another great place to find redfish. You will want to find the grass flats with sandy pot holes scattered throughout them. The redfish like to hide on the outer edge of the pot holes waiting to ambush baitfish and shrimp that swim over the pot hole.
Best Baits and Lures-- The best baits and lures are the same as the ones that you used in the tidal creeks with one exception. Use a live or fresh dead shrimp with a split shot or a soft plastic jig set up.
The exception is a popping cork with a live or fresh dead shrimp. Add a popping cork to your shrimp as you drift the grass flats and pop it with a quick twitch of your rod tip. The redfish will crush the shrimp and your cork will disappear under the water.
You can even add a scented jig under the popping cork instead of real bait. This set up will catch almost as many fish as the real shrimp will. I like the Berkeley swimming mullet and the 3 inch shrimp the best but any fake shrimp lure will work just fine. See best redfish baits and lures here.
Watch the video below and catch more redfish and sea trout.
Fishing for Spotted Sea Trout in Cedar Key
Tidal Creeks-- A great place to target spotted sea trout a.k.a. speckled trout is the tidal creeks around Cedar Key. They will leave the grass flats to follow the tide into and out of the myriad of tidal creeks in and around Cedar Key.
They will usually be in large schools and you might catch 30 fish before the whole school moves through your spot. The size of the fish in the school will usually be similar so if you are catching undersized fish and want some to take home, you will have to wait out the little guys or move.
The good news is that the trout, reds, black drum and flounder all have the same idea and you can catch all four species on four different casts if you are lucky. All four species also like to eat the same food so you don't even have to switch up your baits to catch them all.
Baits and Lures-- My favorite bait by far is the live shrimp with a split shot to get it to the bottom. I only want enough weight to get it to the bottom but not so much that it will stay put. I want the shrimp to bounce along the bottom with the tide moving it .
The best technique is to cast the bait up current and let it sink. All that I want to do is take up the slack as the bait comes close. Once the bait goes past me it is time to reel it back in and repeat the process over and over again.
I like to bounce the bottom because reds, black drum, and flounder will be on the bottom with the trout. BUT if I was only targeting trout, then I would focus on the top and middle part of the water column.
A shrimp underneath a popping cork 18 to 24 inches of between the cork and the shrimp is another great way to catch speckled trout. The trout are in the entire water column but the best place to target them is the top and middle part of the water column.
My favorite lures are the Berkeley Gulp swimming mullet and 3 inch shrimp with a 1/8 ounce jig head underneath a popping cork. A fake shrimp lure will work just fine the scented ones are better.
Another great choice is the 3 inch DOA CAL shad soft plastic lures. You will want to cast this lure up current and start reeling at about the same speed as the tide to keep the lure in the middle part of the water column.
Grass Flats-- Grass flats and spotted sea trout go together like chicken wings and college football. Spotted sea trout are creatures of the grass flats. They might visit docks, mud flats, oyster bars and tidal creeks with the incoming tides but their home is the grass flats. So if you want to catch a ton of trout then you should head to a grass flat.
I like to drift the grass flats to cover as much water as I can when searching for spotted sea trout. I usually use lures to catch trout on the grass flats but if I had to use a live bait, then it would be a shrimp under a popping cork.
You will want to increase or decrease the amount of line from the cork to the shrimp depending upon the water depth. If you are in 4 feet of water then an 18 inch distance will be fine. If you are in 6 feet of water then I would lengthen it to 24 to 36 inches to keep the bait in the strike zone.
I created a FREE ONLINE REDFISH FISHING COURSE that you can see on this website. Just click on the blue fishing course phrase above and it will take you right there.
Baits and Lures-- I like to use a Berkeley swimming mullet and a 3 inch shrimp with a 1/8 ounce jig head if I am using a scented lure. If I am using an unscented lure then the DOA CAL 3 inch shad is my go to lure. I like the white or natural color combinations with a red jig head. These lures are great for coving a lot of water and finding where the fish are. Another great lure is a gold spoon.
Watch the video below and catch more black drum in Cedar Key.
Fishing for Black Drum in Cedar Key
Tidal Creeks-- Black drum come into the tidal creeks with the incoming tide to forage for crabs, shrimp and small fish. The black drum in the video above was about 40 pounds and I caught it on 8 pound mono filament line.
Black drum will search for their prey with their incredible olfactory system. They have 4 nostrils and barbels under their chins that let them taste/smell for prey items even if the water is too murky for them to see. That is why I like to use scented lures and real bait when I am fishing for black drum.
I like to target black drum during the lower parts of the tide when they are tailing for food. When the tide is low you can see their big tails stick out of the water as they root around in the mud and oysters for crustaceans and small fish. I guess that you can say that I am sight fishing for them most of the time.
I very rarely target big black drum because their meat is wormy and they usually take a long time to get in with light tackle. BUT they are fun to catch every now and again.
Baits and Lures-- My favorite baits for black drum are shrimp and crabs. There are almost always fiddler crabs around the mud flats and oyster bars and you can buy live shrimp at just about every bait shop in Florida. There are oyster crabs underneath the oyster clumps that you can use too. Small blue crabs are another great choice.
Black drum will be feeding in the bottom part of the water column where they can use their amazing barbels and sense of smell to find food. This means that you will need to add some weight to your live or fresh dead bait to get their attention.
The best lures are Berkeley 3 inch shrimp in white or natural color combinations with a red 1/8 ounce jig head. Just cast the jig in front of the black drum and let it sit and stink. They will find it. Believe me.
They will hit spoons, DOA CALs, spinner baits and all kinds of other lures if you can get their attention but a stinky soft plastic is the best lure to use by far.
Watch the video below and catch more Cedar Key trout and flounder.
Fishing for Flounder in Cedar Key
Tidal Creeks-- Flounder are one of those delicious fish that like to hang around their fish friends that we have talked about in this article so far. I am just kidding. They are not friends. They are only together because the prey items that they all like to eat are in the same place.
The one thing to keep in mind if you are targeting flounder is to keep your bait within a foot of the bottom. Any higher in the water column and you are probably out of the strike zone for catching 90% of the flounder that are in the area. Another pro tip is to SLOOOOWWW down your retrieve. Slower is better for flounder.
FUN FACT-- Florida is lucky enough to have two species of flounder in our waters. There is the Gulf Flounder and the Southern Flounder. The one that was caught in the video above is a Gulf Flounder. They are smaller than the Southern Flounder and have only 3 dark eye spots on their backs.
The Southern Flounder has many more spots and they are usually larger than the Gulf Flounder. I know what you are saying, "Thanks Mr. Trivia now how the hell do you catch them." Okay let's make you into an official Flounder Pounder.
Baits and Lures-- The best way to catch flounder around Cedar Key tidal creeks is bouncing your bait as slowly as possible on the bottom from up current. Flounder are a lie and wait predator and prefer to wait for food to come to them. So they will find an ambush spot where they think their prey will swim within striking distance of them.
A live shrimp on a jig head or a mud minnow on a jig head is a great way to target flounder. Just cast them up current and bounce them slowly back to you. Flounder are kind of funny and will follow the bait for a while before hitting it.
AND their strike is very subtle which makes it hard to feel. I definitely suggest loading your reel with braided line when fishing for flounder because its no stretch qualities make it easier to feel the most subtle of strikes.
The best lures for catching flounder are scented jigs that are bounced on the bottom. The Berkeley Gulp swimming mullet is my favorite. The next best lure is the Gulp 3 inch shrimp. My favorite colors are white and molting for flounder. Some people swear by electric chicken and other bright colors but for me white and molting work the best.
A weed less gold or silver spoon will also catch a ton of flounder but you have to set the hook quicker because they won't hold onto it as long as they will a soft plastic.
Conclusion:
Cedar Key and the areas to the south of the mouth of the Suwanee River are great fishing spots. These tidal ecosystems are full of redfish, black drum, spotted sea trout, flounders, bonnet head sharks and many more species of fish.
I have been taking the 4 hour drive to this area from the Atlantic Coast for more than 20 years because it is such a great environment to fish in. The people are very nice and the Old Southern Charm is alive and well in this area of the state. This also adds to the charm of the area.
I hope that this article helps you catch more fish or at the very least have more fun doing it.
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