The author admires a trout that struck a topwater.

The First Coast area, as we call it, has the largest tidal fluctuation in Florida. “Average” tides are four feet and more, and there are always two tide cycles per 24- hour period. That’s a lot of water in constant motion, and tide speed can be considerable in some areas. That’s why veteran anglers don’t mess around with weenie trolling motors here. They want the bigger models that crank out 80 to over 100 pounds of thrust. On the full and new moons each month, and especially during winter, those tides rise and fall some six feet and more. That’s when savvy trout anglers really appreciate big trolling motors.

That strong current also moves baitfish a considerable distance, with the trout close behind, and a spot that may be hot for two hours on a particular tide may be dead for the rest of the day. The tide is the key to where and what type of cover he wants to fish.

“If I could pick perfect conditions it would be a high tide at sunrise,” Romeka notes. “That puts a lot of bait in the grass, and trout will be roaming the outside edge of that grassline. That’s a perfect time for a topwater plug, and the action will last for the first few hours of the falling tide as well.”

Under these conditions, Romeka is generally heading for saltgrass country. The most productive waters he’s found are the Hannah Mills area, Clapboard and Sisters Creek, Mill Cove, Chicopit Bay and the stretch of the ICW between Chicopit Bay and the Atlantic Boulevard bridge. All of these areas feature shoreline grass, and numerous sections where oyster clumps lie just outside the flooded grass. That’s a lot of cover to fish—but savvy anglers narrow their search to where there is visible baitfish activity. Find the bait and you’ll find the trout. Romeka also considers one other factor.

“Bigger trout are a lot like largemouth bass in that they do more ambushing than chasing,” he says. “They prefer to hold on points of grass that jut out into the current, small patches of grass just off the main grassline, or near the mouth of small feeder creeks dumping water out from the grass. If there are shallow oysters in the area, they will often be on the downcurrent eddy side of it. These are specific cover situations I work thoroughly, rather than spend time on some straight and featureless grassline.”

On high, falling water during morning or evening, Romeka’s first choice is a noisy topwater plug. In fact, he feels an aggressive surface lure is not only the best artificial for big trout, but will even out-produce live bait. He favors the MirrOlure Top Dog Jr. or She Dog. I’ve found single, rear-propeller baits (like the venerable Dalton Special or the newer High Roller) to be very effective as well. If trout start blowing up on the larger baits but not taking them, downsizing the plug can sometimes solve the problem. A Baby Zara Spook or a small floating Rapala will often turn those boilers into biters. Another option is a subsurface jerkbait like the Bomber Long A. Trout that merely swirl at a floating bait often snap up a jerkbait danced just below the surface.

By mid-point of the falling tide, most bait will have been pulled from the grass, and trout drop back to deeper water. They won’t return to those grass edges until the tide shifts and floods in enough to bring the bait back.

For the tail end of the falling tide and the first portion of the flood, Romeka will pull off the grass and turn his attention to sharper dropoffs at the mouths of tidal creeks, shell bar points, and oyster edges well outside the grassline. However, he won’t be doing it in shallow creeks, even after finding trout there only an hour before.

“You would think that if a creek was loaded with trout on the high tide, all you would have to do is find some deeper hole in the creek and that’s where they’d be during low water. But that hasn’t worked out for me and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make it work. I think those trout leave those shallower creeks completely and move back to the main river or the edge of the ICW. Our trout seem to move a long way on these big tides, and you have to move with them,” he said. The ICW is a good bet here: It offers a wealth of feeder creeks and oyster bars with a sharp dropoff.

Should one want to do a little angling downtown, the Fort Caroline shoreline, the area around Dames Point Bridge and almost any rock wall on a steep shoreline are top spots for gators.