Summer has officially started (June 21st)! This is probably no news. Mornings are likely the best time to fish. As the day heats up on shore, hot air raises drawing in a cool sea breeze. A sea breeze is from the east which can churn expose water making fishing difficult. Early morning fishing is often more comfortable and less choppy. Mud flats are holding some reds. Mud flats during the summer are generally more productive on higher water. Seatrout can be found around the beachfront but finding favorable conditions isn’t a given. Some small first year redfish (rat reds) are just large enough to bite hook. Tons of baby black tip sharks in the sounds and rivers as well as tons of bait (menhaden). Capt. Ron Thomas of the Bahia Bleu Marina says the tarpon have not showed up (in numbers) south of Savannah and similarly few tarpon have shown up in local waters. Most fishermen opt to fish the sounds during the summer months and the backwaters during the fall and winter. Strong east winds last week made fishing difficult no matter where you were fishing. On a challenging day one key for success is to find and fish protected water . Fish close to structure and deep during hot conditions.

Bait shops are finding more shrimp but supply is still inconsistent. Shrimp coming the creeks are painfully small almost too small to fish. One fishermen called me today and asked what’s the best bait for his mud minnow trap. Almost anything will work, my favorite bait for a mud minnow trap is a fresh fish carcass (minus the fillets!). If you can find some medium to large mud minnows fish them. Small pogies (3 inches) are great for seatrout. Larger pogies are great for larger reds. When the wind has been from the east fishing has been tough. Best fishing has been in the morning.

Tides look good for the first week of July. Fishing will pick up as storms and low pressure push out!

Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan