The marshes look alive following recent rain! The salt marsh is a bright green color with only a few intermittent splotches of brown Puffy cumulus clouds still linger with threats of more typical afternoon showers. The week preceding Memorial Day was a washout with constant wind and rain. Inshore and offshore fishermen were landlocked. Fishing was good before the fowl weather. As front passed despite incredibly large amounts of rain conditions are pretty good! Since the front passed large redfish have been caught in grass by those pitching plastics. Anglers looking for toothy critters haven’t been disappointed. There are still good concentrations of sharks along the rips and outer sand bars. Large schools of small menhaden are popping up in Warsaw sound near high water as well near Causton Bluff and in the Savannah River. Who would have thought it? The seatrout bite has been good but points where seatrout can appear are being dominated by two and three pound ladyfish. Great fun for those looking for some nonstop action! Ladyfish will also readily take fly. So bring the light tackle! Ospreys, pelicans and terns can be seen driving for fish. Bonnet head sharks can be seen pinning shrimp and crab against a bank. An incredible an almost daily sight this time of the year! Commercial shrimpers have begun their season. The sight of shrimp boats on the horizon means shrimp are in the sounds. So far only a few commercial shrimpers are venturing out. Don Adams, a local bait shrimper is catching a mixture of brown and shrimp. The ratio has changed most of the shrimp are small brown shrimp. When the bait is small most fishermen like the idea getting lots of bait for their dollar but as in any situation you can’t please everybody. This is the time of year when shrimp can be short supply. White shrimp are moving to sounds. Brown shrimp are moving into tidal waters. Having a cast net on board is always a good idea. Catching a few dozens small menhaden could mean the difference between some great fishing or a bust! The water in Warsaw Sound is still pretty salty despite recent rain. Fishing should continue improve as rain water pushes out.
There’s already been one small tarpon landed! Small fish first then as the season progresses and bigger bait and bigger fish! As summer approaches the flounder bite should heat up as well! Best flounder fishing will found near sandy bottoms close to the ocean. Whiting are still biting but look for this bite to slow down as the days heat up. Mud minnows are active in the creeks. This is a great bait for seatrout and redfish. The down side to fishing a mud minnow is small fish such as whiting or croaker don’t prefer this bait. You’re also not likely to catch black drum on a mud minnow. A perfectly cooked shrimp is hard for a person pass up. Its equally hard for most fish to pass on the not cooked version of this delicious morsel! Black drum love shrimp! A small piece of a shrimp or a bugged out shrimp will work fine! The short version of this is pinching and crushing the head off. Then twisting the tail off to exposed lots its rear without a shell covering. Black drum love to bite from the tail to the head so run your hook towards the rear of the shrimp. Strange concoctions can and do catch fish. The largest whiting seemed to be caught on globs of two or even three kinds of bait. Is nothing scared? Not when comes to fishing, whatever is working lean into it and have fun!!! Looks like another great year for black drum! Some dandy drum in recent days have been caught off the Tybee pier!
Hope this of help! Remember keep only what plan to eat and release the rest!
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan