I lived and fished there for 15 years. I lived in Mandarin (South Jax) near Jullington creek. Be prepared the water in the back creeks is black. We used wild shiners for live bait. For lures we used black and blue jigs and worked the pads. I would also throw a rat-L-trap along those pad edges. Palatka is also a good part of the St.Johns I fished a lot with about the same cover. Downtown is a waste of time along with some of the bridges they have mud bottoms and no cover. Never caught a bass on a bridge or saw them on fish finder just a wasteland. Plastic worm were also good in dark colors like junebug and black and blue flake. Talk to some of the locals it has been 5 years since I fished there. the 2 bait shops I knew of have since closed but there is a good one at Whitey's fish camp in Orange Park. Look them up and give them a call and they could tell you what's going down on the St. Johns.
