Question about the St. Johns River Florida?

[Spectre Powerboats]

What part of the St. Johns starts turning brackish? From a boating stand point, I am looking at what part of it becomes more salt than fresh, so I know to stay away. Thanks

[Z06man]

Sent a PM

[Dune1555]

My understanding that north of the Buckman Bridge is where it becomes very salty

[madtunnel]

I'd go with that. Down town is pretty much as far as I would go. If you come from down south river say palatka. You will flush out on your run back.

[wtsjr66]

We spent the weekend in Orange Park, where is the "hang-out" spot? Black Creek was really nice, but did not see many performance boats. I was thinking about dragging the River Rocket out and doing a little riding this year. Thanks

[JPEROG]

usually there are boats at Silver Glen on weekends and South of Lk. Monroe at the rope swing. Its rare to see a lot of performance boats together at one spot unless guys plan something.

Joe

[cody620]

wtsjr66 there are about 10 or so performance boats that hangout on Black Creek,, at red neck beach if the water is nice on the St Johns they run to Down Town Jacksonville and eat Lunch

[Hot Shot Merc]

Salt water is not as bad as many make it out to be. You wash your boat thoroughly with soap and water and flush motor with fresh water and your fine. None of my boats ever showed any signs of salt creep or corrosion. If you only enter salt water once in a while and clean the boat after then there will never be even the slightest issue. For me cleaning the boat after use has always been a labor of love. I actually enjoy spending time with my boats taking care of them You lake and river rats are spoiled

[mjw930]

As said above, from the Buckman Bridge south it's essentially fresh though if the tide is going out downtown is basically only mildly brackish.

As distance between the mouth of the St. Johns and the middle and upper basins increases, the salinity in the river gradually decreases. Marine water measures at 35 parts per thousand (ppt) or more while fresh water measures below 2 ppt. What ranges in between is characterized as brackish water. Near the center of Jacksonville, average measures have been collected at 11.40 ppt. Farther south at the Buckman Bridge, joining the south side of Jacksonville to Orange Park, it decreases to 2.9 ppt and falls again to 0.81 ppt at the Shands Bridge near Green Cove Springs.^[81][82]

[wtsjr66]

We passed the crowd at Redneck Beach on Sunday, thought I saw a red Hydrostream there. The Ogeechee here is Savannah has all but dried up as far as performance boating goes. We were really impressed with the Black Creek area and the friendliness of the people we met. Hope to drag the boat out soon and haul it down there for a weekend!

[JPEROG]

I don't know what the percentage of salt content has to be for shrimp to be in but they are catching them South of Palatka. I was really shocked when I heard this.

Joe

[mr fun]

who the heck knows, I would say on any given day, there may be salt involved, what we refer to as brackish. it depends on nature. if you want to be assured of fresh water, start down south, George Town or south. as j perog stated some marine life may give good indications, I know I've seen dolphins downtown. if brackish water freaks you out, start out down south.

[MeCapnDave]

What part of the St. Johns starts turning brackish? From a boating stand point, I am looking at what part of it becomes more salt than fresh, so I know to stay away. Thanks

Todd, your boats are gonna be faster in Salt water !!!

[Glasstream15]

Palatka calls itself "The Bass Capital of The World" and they are fresh water fish. And the shrimp you find from Shands Bridge south are fresh water shrimp. I run out of trout Creek mostly and I know that is all fresh water.

[mr fun]

I don't know what the percentage of salt content has to be for shrimp to be in but they are catching them South of Palatka. I was really shocked when I heard this.

Joe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_shrimp