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Mar 01, 2010
As winter is winding down fishermen are getting ready for Spring fishing! The Savannah Boat Show, Bass Pro Shop Savannah Fishing Classic as well the Savannah Chapter Coastal Conservation Association Annual Banquet were all excellent opportunities for fishermen to gather and enjoy good friendship as well exchange plenty of good information through seminars or just conversation. When attending events such as these you can not help but learn more about fishing, make new friends and reacquaint with old ones. If you could not attend, you might want to schedule a few of these events in for 2011. There is always plenty to learn! When listening to a seminar I try to go by the three rule. If I hear something three times this is likely something important. When guys are saying the same thing you can pretty much count on it. Also when you listen to seminar perhaps a large portion wont pertain to your type of fishing. The trick is pick out what you can use then apply it. If you're learning a new knot try tying it as soon you can.
Now back to fishing - redfish numbers look good! Anglers are catching reds on a variety of soft plastics and flies. One seminar tip is you can soften the way your bait or plastic hits by slowly pulling your line as before your plastic hit the water. This is something I do and often instruct those on my boat on how to cast in skinny water. Redfish can be very skittish. Long soft casts can greatly help during this time of the year.
The sheepshead bite has been good! A fellow guide recently said the offshore is good but the big ones are still inshore. Best bet is call ahead if planning on purchasing fiddler crabs from your favorite bait shop.
The water is still pretty cold. Don Adams of Adams Bait House said normally the water temperature this time of the year will be around 53 degree. Don said todays' reading was at 50 degrees. This is much colder than norm. It will likely take afew warm days before water temperatures start to climb.
Some seatrout have been caught during the last couple of weeks on mud minnows and bits of dead shrimp. Some Stripers action up river despite unusual currents. The tide can be coming in and the flow is going out. Most of the striper action has been with finger mullet and jigs. Those catching fish are fishing deep and near structure.
As winter is winding down the opportunity to attend seminars is also winding down. Check the Coastal Conservation Association for upcoming banquets. This is a great way to support the coast and enjoy the company of fellow fishermen!
Hope this of interest and help!
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Feb 04, 2010
Spring tides last weekend combined with wind and lots of rain resulted in poor water quality for fishing. Nonetheless, there are large schools of redfish on the flats. In muddy conditions redfish will have difficulty finding a bait. Even when a fish hits a plastic the bite is more of soft bump as opposed to an aggressive hit. For those serious about fishing in muddy water scented baits with colors that can penetrated the murkiness is an alternative. Fishing a live bait such as mud minnow and just letting the fish find the bait is likely the better approach. Prior to the tides springing there were good catches of sheepshead both inshore and offshore.
On one excursion last week the offshore sheepshead bite did not happen. Then on the way in we fished some inshore structure to find a very good bite. The fiddler crabs were in poor shape either dead or dying. Despite mostly dead crabs the bite was very good! Several fish in five pound plus range. Another boat fishing close by wasn't catching fish while we pulling them in. The secrete"zombie fiddlers". Dead fiddlers really wasn't a factor. Sheepshead were biting! The guys in other boat repositioned and started catching fish. They reported catching plenty of sheepshead the day before offshore while like us not able to catch a single fish offshore on this day. Why did the offshore bite turnoff and inshore bite turn? I'm not sure. I am sure it pays to be flexible. Dead crabs can work. Some fishermen say frozen fiddler can work while other say frozen fiddlers are a waste of time. If your bait has died or is mostly dead you might be surprised on what you can catch with that bait. Chumming the water with some fiddlers or fiddler bits can't hurt and might be a big help to your fishing. Typically fishermen think sheepshead inshore will be smaller with only one or two larger sheepshead holding on a structure. While this is the prevailing thought it is still possible to catch a bunch of impressive fish while fishing inshore. As more fishermen get tuned into sheepshead fishing its always a good idea to keep only what you plan to eat and release the rest. These fish can be exceptionally fun to catch! Despite conventional wisdom on the difficulty of catching this fish; sheepshead are a structure oriented fish and be easily patterned. With this in mind going light on one's catch makes sense. This was a fish a few years few fishermen targeted now days seeing a boat with a load of sheepshead is not unusual. With relatively liberal limits this fish can quickly suffer. Kept what you want to eat and release the rest!
As tides subside during the week fishing should improve as well. The sheepshead bite has been strong. If sheepshead fishing be flexible. If the offshore is cold plan ahead to fish inshore. Plan your fishing when tidal current will have the least impact. Better yet fish structure where there is an eddy that will negate the current. These honey holes hard to find and harder to hold onto. Best places to fish for sheepshead: rock jetties, pilings, seawall, fallen trees. Ideal creeks are those creeks or sloughs are relatively close to the ocean.
Large schools on the flats! Spinners baits, chatter baits and spoons sounds like ideal baits in dirty water. The problem with fishing these baits is that you'll often scare redfish in this swallow dirty winter water. Stick with soft plastics and scent!
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jan 18, 2010
The cold weather has finally broke on the Georgia coast! This is great news! With almost two straight weeks of sub freezing temperatures the first thought was we came out pretty much unscathed. Right now its wait and see. Terns can be seen feeding on lots of small fish that were stunned or killed. Some keeper size sea trout have been seen lying dead on the flats or floating. One forboding report of large number of dead sea trout in the sound just in front of the Savannah River. The extent of damage remains to be seen. Perhaps this is the worst of it. On a more positive note even in the bitter cold fishermen were still catching red fish. On Friday January 15th we caught and released several nice red fish while fly fishing. All flies aren't created equal! We fished Chris Webber's rattle shrimp with good results. Fish literally destroyed a couple of flies (some very good red fish action). Red fish can been seen tailing on the flats. With not much bait around porpoises are aggressively feeding on red fish. When fish are tailing try dropping the fly or soft plastic close by.. As conditions warm red fish should be hungry!
The report is the stirper bite has been a little better south of Savannah. Recent flood water will likely make fishing the Ogeechee a mess. Those fishing the Savannah River have had little or no success. The best red fish action has been on flats close to the sounds. Live shrimp is currently not available. As conditions warm Larry's Bait Shop and Sand Fly Bait & Tackle should be restocking on shrimp. Although with water temperature as cold as it is once your shrimp hits the water it will die. The lowly mud minnow is a hardy superior bait to fish during the winter that can survive the cold.
Miss Judy's first of two inshore clinics was held last Saturday at Tubby's Tank House in Thuderbolt. A fun occasion with plenty of good food and good talk about fishing! The next school is February 20th at Tubby's. To register or for information call Miss Judy at 912.897.2478 or go to www.missjudycharters.com Hope to see you there!
During the school I was asked what can we fish for now? The answer is sheepshead and red fish! One of the guides asked if I would say something about how to handle and release a fish. Prior to the extreme cold we were catching lots red fish 20 inches and larger, some sea trout but mostly red fish. The simplest most effective thing a fisherman can do is smash the barb on your hook with a pair pliers. This one thing will make unhooking your fish much easier and less stressful. Smaller fish seemed to be more resilient and can be dropped into the water. The larger the fish, the more care in releasing. Dropping a large red fish into the water could stun and perhaps kill the fish. Hold the fish by the tail, look for the dorsal to kick up. When this happens the fish should be ready to go. The only motion is a little side to side if needed. If the fish needs a few moments don't rush it. Most if not all red fish can be released unharmed. Try to avoid putting a death grip on your fish. This means hold fish tight enough that its secure and no more. My trick is if looks like its going to take more than a moment to unhook the fish turn it upside down. This temporarily stuns fish and hopefully now you've gotten the hook out and he's ready to be put back in the water.
Some fishermen reported catching nice sea bass on the near shore wrecks! Next week when tide recede into the five foot could be a good time to head up river and look for stripers. Often the best stripers days are when the currents in the Savannah River aren't boiling. If stripers fail to show up fishermen will likely be able to catch some red fish along the banks.
This is winter time so manage your expectations accordingly. Sea trout action will likely be scarce. The red fish action will likely remain good! If conditions allow those venturing offshore could find good action on near shore wrecks. The striper bite is a little problematic. Todate the striper bite has not been strong but that can quickly change. Last year some of the best striper action was in February. Hope this of interest and help! Keep what you want to eat and release the rest.
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jan 13, 2010
Eleven straight days with temperatures below freezing! Thank goodness we are in warming trend! Despite brutally cold weather some of the fishermen who ventured out caught fish. The bite has been mostly redfish on soft plastics. The few bait shops that have had shrimp are now out. Larry's bait shop in Port Wentworth will be restocking but it take several days. Larry wants everyone to know that he has purple back fiddler from Florida. Nonetheless during the winter it's always best to call ahead. Larry also had some large mud minnows on hand. This week in some frigid conditions large schools of redfish were up on the flats. Tough fishing but there were some fish to be caught.
Just prior to the intense cold a couple of 30 inch stripers reported landed in the Savannah River. The striper bite has been off with only a few fish caught. Moderate to slow inshore sheepshead action. Anticipate the offshore sheepshead bite to be picking up!
With mid day water temperature yesterday in the Savannah River was at 39 degree and 40 degree at Thunderbolt conditions are cold. Thankfully conditions are warming. As water temperature raises anticipate the bite to pick up. A typical bench mark is 56 degrees. When temperature is raising during the day to the mid fifties its not unusual to see both sea trout and redfish turning on. Water temperature dip below 40 degree there is a very real threat of fish kills. So far no reports of concern in our waters. However North Carolina appears to have had fish kills of redfish and seatrout. Lets trust the damage is less thought and they have a speedy recovery.
Best bet for the coming week redfish, sheepshead and stripers On sunny days try fishing deep for stripers with a natural bait or deep jigging in the main channel. Redfish on the flats and sheepshead hanging close to oyster and barnacle encrusted structure.
Hope this of interest and help!
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Dec 21, 2009
December 21st is officially the first day of winter. The morning now are cold, not frightfully cold but cold nonetheless. Fishing despite the cold and wind has been good if not exceptionally good! Large schools of large redfish on flats. When fish aren't disturbed its been possible to pick off big numbers of large fish. These fish are hungry and on the prowl for food. With cooler temperatures fiddler crabs, which are a typical sight along mud banks, are no where to be seen. These crustaceans have burrowed deep into their muddy caverns seeking warmth. Bait fish another common sight have all but vanished except on occasion to those keenly looking for bait. Fiddler crabs and bait fish comprise the red drum's diet. As food diminishes red drum are more aggressively feeding. Despite cold air water temperature along the coast is relatively mild, in the low to mid 50's, allowing for a very favorable redfish bite. This will continue as long as water temperatures remain relatively mild and fish are able to find a food source. When the food source vanishes or water temperature drops the bite will change to a slower more subtle, less frequent bite. Until then enjoy the hot bite while it lasts! This bite as dramatically as it turns on will turn off just as quickly. How long will it last? Who know? For now the redfish bite is on! Seatrout action has been good! Most of the fishermen targeting seatrout are using soft plastics. Clear and crystal patterns have been favorites. During the winter months look for seatrout back in the grass. Normally fishermen associate seatrout with current, not necessarily so during the winter. As water temperatures drop seatrout will conserve energy by staying out of the frigid currents and literally hanging in and along grassy areas. These seatrout are looking for finger mullet. Pitching any soft bait that will resemble a finger mullet can be effective.
Those who enjoy bait fishing can do well on live or dead shrimp, finger mullet as well as mud minnows. Seatrout in most instances prefer a live bait or artificials. For best chances of good action concentrate on marshy area rather than fishing rips and currents. Look for fish that conserving energy. There is still some shrimp on the flats but shrimp in the shallows is becoming scarcer by the day. Don Adams, Adams Bait House, says he is planning on staying open until New Years then it will be one day at time. If the weather remains mild and Don is still able to find shrimp he'll stay open a little longer. Your best bet is to call ahead to see if he's open and has shrimp. If the weather is fowl trust me bait shops wont stay open. Adams Bait House phone number is 912.898. 1550. Don't underestimate the lowly mud minnow. It’s a great bait and catch plenty of fish provided there are fish to be caught where you are fishing. Anticipate as water temperature drops the bite will be slower. Concentrate on marshy areas out of direct current or try trolling soft plastics or fish deep.
A few stripers being caught. Mostly smaller fish on plastics, a few on the fly. Vast amounts of fresh water coming to the coast will likely mean a good striper bite in the coming weeks. So far a few larger reported but not a lot of action.
Hope this of help!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Dec 01, 2009
Fishing over the Thanksgiving week was the most part was very obliging. The day before Thanksgiving was the toughest with strong winds and little current. When the weather deteriorated small sea trout were the norm. On other days the bite was good with large reds one day followed by schooling red fish the next. The sea trout bite in Wassaw Sound has been good! Sea trout are feeding on shrimp on flats. Sea trout can be found well off the marsh grass. Nonetheless when the bite slows, towards the top of the tide, its usually a good idea to fish close to the grass. Floats like Cajun Thunders can be very effective in drawing up strikes. Best sea trout bites can be found in places with clean water and current. When currents are slow, fishing slow can be effective. Those who enjoy pitching a fly rod last week did well on sea trout and red fish. Sometimes pitching a fly requires commitment. When the bites are not happening a simple statement like - I hope the fish don't interrupt my fishing. Sounds a silly but before you know it fish are striking! Perhaps its as simple as relaxing and letting things happen. A slightly warmer day can mean red fish are turned on and on the feed. When this happens fishing can be easy. On the other hand when you find yourself fishing through a front nothing might seems to work. You might see fish tailing with little results. On these days you might try moving to another spot to find active fish. Making a change of location is likely appropriate. If nothing else your expectation has changed. Sometimes a move is all you need. The point is not to over commit.
Look for signs. One fishermen said he found fish last week by fishing where birds were working. More commonly mullet being pushed out of the water is a give away that red fish or sea trout could be close by. Just one mullet coming out of the water at crazy angle could belie a fat sea trout or red fish. If nothing else seeing a mullet pushed out of the water can mean you need to give it a few more minuets. When you catch one fish all the thrashing and crashing can draw other fish to your area. Another frequently overlooked sign is a shrimp popping out the water. As water temperature drops there is greater likelihood of a nice fish pushing the shrimp or mullet.
In summary fish has been good! When conditions warmed after Thanksgiving red fish could found schooling and feeding. Red fish were charged up with blue tails flashing! Red fish bites were hard as sea trout on the feed! On these days red fish will eat literally anything including a bare hook. When finding an ideal red fish bite temperature and currents are exactly to their likely. Following Thanksgiving this meant a warming trend and rising barometer, close to ideal conditions.
Tides are building this week to 8.6 feet on Thursday morning. Definitely a big tide. Nonetheless, there will opportunities to find and catch fish. The trick is to have a few back up plans when winds kick up. The best bite has been towards the sounds but as fall wains anticipate the best bite to be up river. Some small stripers being caught. Whiting fishing is still good when wind has lain. .
Hope this of help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Nov 20, 2009
The weather this week has been incredible! Mild sunny days and some great fishing! Typically this time of the year fishermen are finding large numbers of large sea trout up river. This year conditions have been slightly milder than in other years. Consequently, the best fishing has towards the sounds. Traditional community drops have produced big numbers of big fish! This can change quickly but to date the best bite has been towards the sounds. Fishing areas that have produced the largest numbers are areas with lots of water passing. Fishermen are saying drops that produced merger catches in previous years are producing phenomenal catches of large fish. Earl from Adams Bait Shop reports they are still finding shrimp but finding shrimp is becoming more difficult. Those throwing a cast net can still catch bait but as temperatures fall catching shrimp will more difficult as well. Plenty of mullet in the rivers and creeks. Fishing has been good if not outstanding!
The forecast going into the Thanksgiving holiday week looks good! The best fishing will likely be towards the sound. Lots of dirty water in the South Channel as well in the Savannah River. Although red fish can and will eat in dirty water. Crushing your shrimp to put more scent in the water can be an effective trick. When currents are slow, barely moving, seek areas with stronger current. Typically high incoming and high outgoing tides can be excellent tides to target sea trout. Later during the outgoing would be a classic time to fish for red fish.
Tides for the coming week are under seven feet. These are small tides for fishing in Savannah. Long casts with soft plastics can be very effective in fishing for red fish in shallow water with little current. Remember noise can be a factor. Give other fishermen plenty of room. One company making fishing charts has written stay half mile from the next fisherman. On some flats one boat motoring up or trolling to close can literally blow the fishing. Give fellow fishermen plenty of room. If you cast to where another boat is casting you are way too close. Currents, whether you're in a creek or river or on mud flat all factors that make each decision a little different. In short its best to give up on a drop for another day if it means you going to compromise another's fishing.
How to tell if you're too close - the saltwater rule if there is a slight possibility of compromising another's fishing, you're too close.
A sign this week of mild conditions is late season tarpon about fifty pounds caught November 21, 2009 by two Savannah fishermen while fishing for sea trout. A unusual catch for this time of year! Not too worry the seasons are changing.
Fish On! Hope this of interest and help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Nov 11, 2009
The bite has been good! Fall is great time for inshore fishing! This year has been no exception! The October redfish bite has been strong. When the bite is on a fishermen at times can literally throw a bare hook and catch a quality redfish. Recently we stuck a soft plastic into a submerged oyster bed only to have redfish suck up the plastic and almost pull the rod into the water. A sign of feeding redfish is when see a blue tail on these fish. These fish with a blue tail are in an active feeding mode. Contrary to popular opinion catching a fish or two wont scare fish off the flat. The thrashing and fighting of a fish can and often excites the school into a feeding frenzy. When this happens catching is easy. Just chunk anything into the water and hold on. Just like shrimp up the flats. The question is how long will this last? As long temperatures are mild and we don't experience a real shot of winter fishing for redfish should remain strong. Another great sign for redfish is orange butter flies. We are seeing plenty!
As temperatures continue to fall anticipate the seatrout bite to intensify. The seatrout has been good but will likely get even better. During October on one trip we on a nice seatrout bite only to find sharks have taken over a few days later. Its likely a bonnet shark is not able to run down a healthy seatrout but several sharks on flat can push the seatrout off.
Temperatures to date have been pretty mild. Shrimp are still up on the flats. Should be relatively easy for a person to cast net a quart or two. Lots of small to medium shrimp. Reports of large shrimp being caught by deep water casting. Sheepshead appear to pretty numerous inshore as well flounder. Usually large flounder are caught during September. This year there have been reports of good catches large late season flounder.
A word on conservation. Keeping some fish no problem. Keeping a lot of upper end redfish will impact the school you are fishing. Just a reminder it takes five years for redfish to sexual maturity. Keeping a few redfish is no problem but when possible release as many upper end fish as possible. I do not keep a redfish for myself. Its not because I would not enjoy eating the fish it's simply because this fish is so fun to catch. My hope is when you and go out there will be plenty of strong tugs. If you keep a limit, no problem. If you have access to the resource and catch plenty of these fish my suggestion is go light on the resource.
Tides during the week are increasing. Early morning tide on Saturday Nov. 14th is at 8.2 feet. Nonetheless fishing should be good! The Cystic Fibrosis Savannah Inshore Tournament is being held this weekend at the Bahia Bleu Marina in Thunderbolt. Should be a fun event! And more importantly is its benefitting a good cause. Also in this event every fish caught will be released. This is concept that is a little novel but an excellent idea. Likely if we ever have to have a closure it will take years before a reopening. Please support your CCA chapter as well turn your spent fish to the DNR at designated freezer drop offs. There are drop off freezers at Hogans Marina, Bahia Bleu and Landing Harbor on Skidaway Island. This is an excellent program to participate in. These carcasses are a key component in establishing limits. Enough said.
Hope you survived the recent rain and are able to get on the water!
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Oct 14, 2009
Tides are building throughout the week peaking at 8.7 feet on Sunday. Big tides, tides close to the 9 foot range mean strong currents, muddy water and more challenging fishing conditions. If you read this report much you know my preference is larger tides as opposed to extremely small tides. Large tides mean vast amounts of water and fish will be moving. In general the smaller tides are best but when currents are barely moving fishing can come to stand still. Although the tides are high fishermen should be able to catch fish. Clean water and suitable currents should be the key. Lots of trash fish in local waters. A few late season tarpon as well as sharks are on the beachfront. Seatrout and redfish action has been good! Conditions have been warm if not summer like. This week a northeaster has set in bringing a drop to more fall like temperatures. Lots of redfish in all sizes. Shrimp appear to be very abundant. Some fishermen saying they are seeing more redfish than ever and wondering if the boost is due to the redfish stocking project or if nature is just producing more. Whatever the reason redfish numbers appear by most accounts to be good shape. Fishermen like those throwing a cast net get locked into fishing one area. Spreading out just a little could produce big results. Just because several boats are in an area is no guarantee of good fishing. My suggestion if lots are in area look elsewhere. Not will fishing be more peaceful and scenic it will likely be fishier. Try a new spot! Fall is an awesome time of year to drop anchor on a new location. If a spot looks good try it. One fisherman at the marina this week described his catch to me of a little of everything: a few seatrout, a few redfish, a couple of black drums. In short the recount was a good day of fishing. His strategy for fishing came from one my seminars. Likely the spots he fishes I'll never fish and vice versa. He took general information and applied it to his fishing. Nothing complicated. Just letting the day unfold and good can will happen. Some days can be like work (meaning you have to do more looking to find fish) but even a tough day is fun!
My hope is that you have fun on the water! Redfish bite has been good! When we've had clean water and suitable currents we've caught some dandy seatrout. Looks like another good year for black drum. Inshore sheepshead can be found close to rock jetties, pilings and other structure. Lots of small menhaden in the rivers. Small blue fish are working the menhaden. Those who like eating blues should be able to find them in the rivers and in the sounds.
Hope this of help! Fish On!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Oct 07, 2009
Seatrout are biting! Lots shrimp in the creeks! Lots of small bluefish in the sounds as well sharks. As temperatures begin to fall look for the blues and sharks to head out for deeper water. For now plenty of sharks, bluefish and whiting in the sounds. Spanish mackerel can be seen jumping out of the surf chasing finger mullet. Fishing a finger mullet in the surf is an excellent way to catch to spanish. Large redfish can found around inlets, sand bars, jetties and other beachfront structure. Again finger mullet would be an awesome bait! Take your cast net and throw your net when see a school of mullet skimming the surface. Spanish mackerel can quickly chew up a light leader so be prepared to do some quick cranking or try beefing up to a steel leader. If the steel leader fails to produce fish switch back to mono. Likely these fish are in a feeding mode and a steel wont matter.
The seatrout bite has been good! Lots of seatrout in the sounds as well on the inside. The key to catching seatrout is current and long drifts. With a long drift you'll likely find fish. Staying close to bank could be mistake. Lots of seatrout can well off the back and in some creeks they could be literally in the middle. Today the largest seatrout were 50 to 60 feet off the bank. Popping and conventional bobbers worked equally as well. If you fishing in six feet of water start fishing at the bobber. In other words you're only fishing the depth of the leader. Take a few casts to explore the area. If you fail to have any bites keep deepening up. Change is the key! Once you find a pattern that works keep repeating it. With this mind above all stay within the limits. Consciously taking more than a limit is illegal. Don't condone it or laugh with a friend who does. Keep what you want to eat and release the rest.
Redfish and blackdrum bite has been strong! Fishing is funny sport. Areas that can produce incredible one day could be dormant the next. That said there have been lots of reports of nice redfish (20 inches and better with several over sized fish) and black drum (in the three to seven pound range) around Wassaw. These fish are mostly close to the grass in some spots several yards off the structure but usually the smaller redfish are found close to structure. Lots of small redfish are legal size (14 inches). There are still lots of undersized redfish (13 inches or so). Trash fish are numerous. When bait fishing parcel out your bait with care or you might end feeding a bunch of pinfish and yellowtails.
Tides peaked at 8.3 feet Tuesday morning. Tides should fishier and fishier as we head into the weekend. Fall is a great time for fishermen to hit the water! One frequently asked question is, where can you catch fish? This is time when almost any spot of marsh grass could be a potential hot spot. Likely spots to anchor is any place you can detect a subtle change such as a point. Seatrout love clean water and current so hard bottom areas could be likely areas.
Hope this of help! Practice Catch and Release! Support the fishery join your local CCA Chapter!
Fish On!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Sep 29, 2009
Fall is upon us! The heat of the summer has broken. The days are shorter and there is a crispness in the air. What an awesome time! Seatrout are running and redfish are fattening up! Fishermen are catching dozens of small seatrout most slightly under size but plenty in the 13 to 15 inch range as well as the big boys. The primary bait of choice during the fall is live shrimp. One tip for big seatrout is to switch from a live bait to a plastic. Offer something different. Large (10 inch) floats while once the norm are can still effectively produce seatrout. These big floats will bob in water and continue to bob when popped. The result is a jumping shrimp that's hard for a seatrout to resist. Another old rig fashion is a carolina clacker style rig under a small adjustable float. This rig will produced plenty of redfish and seatrout as well as few flounders and sheepshead. Is it all in a rig? Probably not. Then main ingredient do you enjoy fishing the rig and do think it will produce. The adjustable float rig can help fishermen stay on fish as the water gets higher(by sliding the slip knot up the main line). A little flash and noise which can draw in fish can be helpful!
Most fishermen are staying this should be a good fall! Looks like plenty of bait and lots smaller fish have already shown up. The previous week we had unusually high tides due to a persistent east, northeast wind. During that more challenging period with one tide that peaked at 9.5 feet. We still caught good fish with fishermen staying on two consecutive trips that this was best fishing ever! Pretty strong statement given the conditions. My thought if we able to fish when the fishing is supposed to be shut down then is likely going to be a good year!
Small Tides Big Tides?
Typically fishermen want to fish the smallest tides. In theory this sounds good. What's the best time to fish? The short answer when it works in with your schedule. If you wait for the ideal conditions likely you wont fish much. On days with less than ideal conditions fish with what nature gives you. You'll likely catch some pretty nice fish. Youll likely fine yourself doing more enjoying and less concerned about how many fillets. Despite conventional wisdom small tides can look great but sometimes be some of the most difficult to fish. Imagine water flowing. The flow is greatly reduced. This also mean the number fish moving is also reduced. Granted it is easier for fish to feed and frolic in gentler currents but when the currents become very slow fishing can become very challenging. In general try to avoid the extreme tides. When fishing small tides try light artificials and long casts.
Fishing should be good this week and into the weekend. Plenty of bait in the rivers and creeks. Nice catches of seatrout and redfish have reported. Typically late summer, early fall produces some large flounders. This year no exception with large flounder last week being landed south of Savannah. Those seeking large shrimp should target the high incoming and high outgoing.
Hope this of help. Remember practice and release. Keep only what you plan to eat.
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Aug 26, 2009
Last week conditions were challenging due to spring tides and lots of fresh water. The best fishing was in areas with hard bottoms , relatively clean water and currents that weren't too strong. The best tide stage was fishing both sides of high water, high incoming and high outgoing. The ladyfish bite was crazy! Plenty of ladies in the three to four pound range! Some seatrout mixed in but ladyfish with their large eyes and keen sight had a definite feeding advantage in the stained colored water. The lady fish bites can be savage, followed by frenetic fights with jumps that are as high as five feet! A large ladyfish has the power to take a fisherman completely around the boat! If we are shark fishing I would call that fish a 360. A ladyfish can be 360! Great fights! One fisherman described the fight as psycho. Definitely a fun fish on light tackle! Catching this fish was said to be a sign of good luck. Perhaps because they are so difficult to get in. If you get one in then good things will follows. I'm not so sure about the superstition. I am sure ladyfish are a fun fish on light tackle and that having the opportunity to play with them is pretty good luck! At the conclusion of one trip we had the lines on three adjustable float rods that were busted either by big redfish, big ladyfish or big sharks. Plenty of action and some powerful fish! One large fish stripped an entire spool of power pro line in a matter of seconds. Bonnethead sharks as large and as powerful as they are could have done something like that. There are some very large sharks on the flats as well some early season stag bass. Ladyfish action can be intense towards the sound. A few flounder caught when the currents slow. Some large redfish landed during the week. The shark has slowed in Wassaw but is strong just north of Savannah. Typically Wassaw has some cleanest water during large tides. The better bite was had by those venturing north. Very nice water in the intracoastal in protected spots where tidal effect was less. Some nice redfish and blackdrum caught in these areas. This was definitely a challenging week. Fishermen fishing close to the sound looking for tarpon and shark struggled. Lots of small menhaden pushing in. Small bluefish are pushing the bait to the surface. Despite what looks like lots of bait the big fish bite is more challenging due to big tides. You could catch quality fish, conditions were just more challenging. Nonetheless last week it was possible to catch nice fish. have some frenetic action as well hooking into some monsters.
The tides are subsiding and conditions will be quickly improving! Often after a period of spring tides fish will hungry and bite will on! Fishing should be good as we head into fall. Plenty of shrimp in local waters! Don Adams said he catching plenty of shrimp running his nets deep. Twice last week I took Don advice and found shrimp ten feet deep. Usually fishermen will cast to the bank. Those throwing a cast net will do the same. Throwing towards a bank will work for smaller shrimp on higher going. For larger bait and eating shrimp throw deeper until fresh begins to dissipate. Most of the shrimp are red legs in other words they are coming in from the sounds. Anticipate seatrout and redfish not to far behind!
Tides look good for the comingl week! Fishing should be improving! One report already of this year's crop of redfish already legal size. Seems a little early but difference schools can be further along the growth process. Most the reds are still a couple of inches shy of legal size (14 inches). Hope this of help and interest! Remember keep only what you plan to and release the rest.
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Aug 17, 2009
Lots of rain has put a slight damper on fishing. That said, conditions can change quickly! Areas that were holding lots of shrimp are empty. What's happened? Fish, shrimp and are seeking more favorable conditions. For fisherman it's a matter of finding those places. Despite a lack of shrimp in local waters Don Adams is finding and catching lots of shrimps. Don is shrimping deep. Fishermen can take a clue when there are periods of heavy rain fish and shrimp are often deep. Sometimes the most effective rig is a carolina rig or better known as a bottom rig. Likely there is a layer of fresh water floating on top of the salt. Also pay attention to what's biting. If you're catching whiting on a seatrout drop maybe it's a whiting day. Fish for whiting. Just after some heavy rain we were catching whiting on almost every drop. While fishing along some with large chucks of mullet for tarpon and sharks we were still catching whiting. My words were I think you guys are meant to eat whiting tonight. For whatever the reason the whiting bite has especially good following the rain. Some shark action. Of course large bonnet head sharks are ever present. Black tips and sand bar sharks seem to be the most abundant. The best bite has been near the sounds. Lots of undersized seatrout, redfish and flounder. As conditions continues to improve the bite will pick up. When catching undersized fish its possible to work up some keeper fish. Typically you're catching seven or eight undersized seatrout for each keeper fish. In the coming weeks the small fish should fatten up. Large ladyfish can be found prowling around rips and points. Lots of croakers! Although not a fish to be taken it's good to see good numbers of this fish! Some reports of large stag bass (large redfish) around St. Cathrine's and Wassaw. Labor day is thought of as time when large stag bass run the beachfront. A few have already been caught! The flounder bite in recent is little off.
August is generally deemed the top month for tarpon in locals. Usually it is. When large baits, large menhaden, push into local waters tarpon will follow. So far some baits have pushed in but the bulk of the bait fish have been smaller river menhaden. Some tarpon have been caught but to date not a particularly strong bite. Don't count the big fish out. As stated earlier conditions can quickly change. One day last week while tarpon we caught as anticipated several large sharks. We got close to two tarpon but no hook ups. A few tarpon have been caught but at present only a lackluster bite. Most the tarpon have caught on mullet.
Evening tides will be springing this week with tides cresting on Wednesday evening. Fishermen can find and catch quality but conditions will be more challenging. Look for clean water. Try fishing deep for whiting, seatrout and redfish. Those throwing a cast net for shrimp might struggle if water remains brackish. Again conditions can change quickly one or two days without rain and shrimp will once again be plentiful along marshy banks. Despite a temporary set back to local fishing caused by weeks of heavy rain the long effect will likely be very positive for shrimp, crab and fish.
Hope this of help! Fish On!
Keep only what you plan to eat and release the rest.
Capt. Jack McGowan
Aug 7, 2009
Fishing has up and down and little of both but overall good. Good quality fish. Some days when you think fishing could be a struggle the bite has been good. Despite lots of dirty water conditions can change rapidly. An area had a poor bite the next day can yield a strong bite or vice versa. What's going on? It's nature. Patterns are already being to change. Seatrout that were on the beachfront now be found in the sounds. Lots of small seatrout and redfish. Good numbers of blackdrum and sheepshead can be found hanging around shelly points. Massive bonnethead sharks are prowling the coastal waters of Carolina and Georgia. These are top end bonnetheads that hurt fishing tackle if played incorrectly. Large sand bar sharks are in the sounds. Sand bar sharks are fish that must be released but lots of fun to catch. A few tarpon being hooked up, so far not many being landed. Most of the tarpon are being caught on live or dead mullet. Not lots of big ocean menhaden to be found. On some mornings small menhaden can be found all the way from Thunderbolt to South Carolina. Dolphin quickly show up when bait fish are present. Bait fish that were everywhere can quickly vanish. Those who enjoy crabbing are saying we gotten too much rain and crabbing isn't productive. The thought is the crabs are seeking saltier water. Shrimping still looks good. Don Adams, of Adams Bait House, is finding good quantity and quality shrimp. Those throwing a cast net likewise are finding little trouble in finding shrimp. Some flounder being caught. The best bite this week has been redfish and seatrout.
Intense heat and afternoon storms has meant the best fishing has been during the morning hours. A few tarpon hookups during the early evening but for the most part the best fishing has been during the morning. Anticipate this to be the case for the next several days. Tides for the coming week looks good. The following week evening tides will be springing but for the coming weeks tides should be good. During the summer try to fish early to beat the heat. When seeking seatrout try to fish current. Anticipate more seatrout action on the inside as patterns begin to change to a fall pattern. Although the flounder bite has been slow action will likely be picking up on through September.
Hope this report is of help and interest! Only keep what you plan to eat and release the rest!
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jul 26, 2009
High evening tides muddied water and made conditions during the week difficult to fish. Many people think shark fishing is a summer time given. This isn't necessarily the case. Strong currents and muddy water can make shark fishing very challenging. Typically and incoming tide can offer an abundance of sharks and all sorts of fish. This week the outgoing produced most of big bites. We hooked one (100 pound) tarpon on finely aged mullet that was cut into. The only point is most fishermen go great extremes to fish live bait for tarpon. Lots of tarpon are caught on dead bait. When conditions are muddy if a quality fish take your then loses it chances are the fish wont be able to track the bait down. Fishing the week was tricky. Seatrout bit pretty good when fishing areas with clean water and moderate current. Fishing for shark and tarpon was slow. Big tides pulled most of the bait out. Consistent reports of large menhaden on the south of Wassaw. Typical areas for whiting produced only small newly birthed blacktip sharks.
As quickly as conditions became difficult to fish, due last week to a lunar perigee on the July 21st the moon was at its closest point to the earth. During the coming week tides will be subsiding and conditions should be improving. Plenty of bait in the creeks and rivers but anticipate big tides to have pull the bulk of the bait shrimp into the sounds. Nice catches of flounder being reported from the slough at Little Tybee. During big tides as a generalization the best time to fish can be at the top or bottom of the tide or look areas with clean water and moderate currents.
The unusual catch this week was a cobia at the mouth of Turner Creek and the Wilmington River. The fish was released. It was likely around 30 inch. Earl from Adams bait shop says fish towards the sounds that where most of the fish are being caught not much on the inside. On the other hand some creeks and rivers on the inside are teeming with life lots of bait, small seatrout, a wide of small fish as well as large bonnet head sharks and small black tip shark in the two foot range. It's summer time so fishermen fishing for bite can go through lots of bait in short order. In muddy conditions its not uncommon for ladyfish to dominate a seatrout drop. The eyes on a ladyfish are very large. Its likely ladyfish can see your bait much easier in muddy conditions. On days when the water quality is poor. The water is containing lots of silt, try popping your float more often or even better use a popping float. Fishermen can find some redfish back in the grass but its summer. Flats that can holds lots of redfish in cooler conditions might hold only a few.
Overall looks like good year! Fishing this week should be improving as tides subside. Try to avoid to fishing areas with muddy water.
Hope this of help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jul 12, 2009
Sounds like a familiar refrain nonetheless, "fishing has been good"! A mixture of large and small fish. Lots of small redfish holding in most marshy area with oysters beds close by. Similarly lots of seatrout around twelve inches in length. Lots of bigger seatrout can be found close to beach fronts. Don Adams, Adams Bait Shop, said most of the brown shrimp have been pulled out with the last spring tides. Plenty of white shrimp in the creeks and rivers. Those throwing a net should have little trouble in getting bait for fishing. These shrimp are still too small for eating. Fiddler crabs seem to be everywhere! Opening the screen door of the cleaning station at the marina a dozen or so fiddlers can be seen scurrying to find hiding a place. There so many fiddlers that several will stow away on your boat if left overnight in the water. Fiddlers crabs compromise the bulk of the small redfish's diet. Perhaps the abundance of fiddlers crabs up and down the coast is an indicator of a banner year for redfish! Redfish action has been good with the bulk of the redfish being caught are small juvenile redfish. That being said there are definitely nicer redfish to be found. Most days we've fished for a combination bite. We're primarily targeting seatrout. When fishing close in too structure its possible to catch some nice reds. When water conditions are poor we're fishing more for redfish. Some nice flounder and black drum being caught! We generally have the best flounder fishing when the tides are small and the currents are slow moving. As said at the beginning of the report fishing has been good! We catching good numbers mostly small fish but plenty of larger fish as well! Sheepshead can sometimes be found congregating on the tip of shallow water points. A more consistent sheepshead bite can be found at the Savannah River jetties. When fishing a float for sheepshead fish close to the jetties and deep. It's possible to a fish drop shot rig for sheepshead as well as the traditional egg sinker carolina rig. Nice whiting still being caught. The down side to whiting fishing now is there are so many newly birthed baby black tip sharks. Those desiring a mess of whiting might want keep trying new spots. We've seen some very large whiting in lat couple of weeks.
Big fish are in! First report of large ocean pogies on the beach front. When big baits come into the sound system large fish will follow. These fish can be jack crevalles, cobia, tarpon and large sharks. Last week a few tarpon have been hooked and landed as well a couple of cobia. Break offs are likely large sharks or massive rays. In short, big fish have moved in! This time of year even when not targeting big fish it's always a good idea to have at least one tarpon class rod on your boat. You never know.
Tides will be building throughout the week, peaking with an 8.2 feet high tide on Sunday July 19th in the evening. Typically an 8.2 foot can be a difficult tide to fish. With tides running higher than predicted anticipate more water. If the pattern remains as it has for the last couple of high tides periods fishermen will likely catch some quality fish. Tides look fishy all week. The question mark will be the weather in particularly thunder storms. When fishermen are able to get out fishing should be good! Big fish are in!
Hope this of help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jun 24, 2009
Its official, summer is here! We've been fortunate most days early morning cloud coverage has spared the brunt of the impact. That said fishing is still best early morning or late afternoon. During the early afternoon heat catching fish is possible just not as likely or as comfortable. One fish that does not seem to mind the summer heat is the flounder. Flounder fishing has been good! A couple of days ago while fishing for seatrout we landed a flounder that weighed over six pounds! Those targeting flounder can do well! Finger mullet, mud minnow and soft white curl tail plastics are all great baits for flounder. Most fishermen target this fish on the lower tide stages. This fish can like sheepshead can be targeted on higher water. It just a manner of fishing the fish. Likely spots on higher water are pockets where bait is pinned in or the mouth of a gully on a outgoing or incoming tide.
The not only is air temperature hot so is the seatrout bite! Lots of undersized seatrout as well as plenty of legal fish! Lots of small fish abound so when fishing live bait take plenty of bait. Seatrout love current so look for rips. The hot spot is usually where the rip begins to form but fish could be anywhere along the rip. If you can't seem to find seatrout during the day, you might try your luck at night fishing. One fisherman reported catching three fish over 23 inches on live shrimp on a bream buster pole fishing around dock lights. Some of the best summer catches are by fishermen fishing at night. Areas that seem void of life during the day can be literally lit up at night! Some fishermen last week struggled to find fish while others caught large roe seatrout. Don't get discouraged just keep trying and you'll likely find fish!
Reports of cobia on near shore structure and as well a few in the sounds. A favorite bait is menhaden. Lots of newly birthed black tip sharks in the sounds. These fish are around 12 inches long. One fishermen said they these fish are so recently birthed their heads are translucent. Big schools of atlantic sharp nose shark have temporarily moved into deeper water. Plenty of larger sharks to tussle with so be prepared to fish stout tackle!
Afternoon tides this week are building and will be subsiding as of Thursday June 25th , 2009. This week tides were unusually high. Higher than predicted tides seems to be more of rule than an exception. What is the reason? Not sure. Despite high tides and lots of off colored water fishing has been good. In general the best places for summer fishing is close the sound. Fishermen can often catch a breeze and water coming in off the ocean is usually clean. The whiting bite is slowing down as shark bite heats up. Although those targeting whiting should be able to catch a good mess of fish just be prepared to fish through lots of small fish (in small black tip sharks). That's summer time fishing.
Fishing has been good! Dolphins can shut down a seatrout drop in a minuet. Dolphin need to eat as well. If your fishing is interrupted by dolphins just move on and look for the next drop. Typically areas with lots of dolphins means there is lots of bait there. Another day you might find good fishing in that area just make a mental or written note and move on. Shrimp Adams Bait Shop is catching is larger than last week. Bait looks great!
Hope this of help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan 912.441.9930
Practice Catch and Release!.
Jun 16, 2009
Lots of small seatrout caught last week. It's possible to catch keepers when you're catching undersized seatrout but it will takes lots of bait. The alternative to fishing with shrimp is put a DOA shrimp under a popping cork. You should get plenty of bites! Small jack crevalles and ladyfish can be found in tidal creeks close to the beach front. Redfish action is mostly large fish. Redfish numbers aren't concentrated but good action can found if you can get these fish to bite and they don't break off. The seatrout bite is good. Those fishing soft plastics will eliminate lots of trash fish.
Shark action continues to heat up! Lots of 30" atlantic sharp nose can be found long sand bars as well larger sharks. Some mystery crashes that could be large black tip or spinner sharks or even giant rays or tarpon. Whatever they are they are large! Most of bait in the sounds is medium sized menhaden. Whiting are still biting but the bite has slowed dramatically. Small brown shrimp are showing up but throwing a cast net can be problematic. If you haven't caught any shrimp in a few casts more casting could be a futile. Brown shrimp are moving it and will be more plentiful in coming days. Lots of fishermen are hitting the water with reports of good fishing. Don Adams, Adams Bait Shop reported on Saturday finding shrimp but as soon as he unloaded he had practically sold out. Donnie said he never seen anything like it. The fact that lots of folks are getting out and enjoying the resource is good. On the other hand if your day is dependent on the bait shop you might want to call ahead or dig out your cast. Recently on two separate occasions while fishing with Miss Judy a couple casts resulted in plenty of mullet.. The mullet are about 4 to 5 inches in length. A great size for fishing! Mullet are fast swimmers so loading the boat in one or two takes a little luck but it can be done. A veteran angler reports that he's catching large roe seatrout on mud minnows. He's releasing most of his fish. This fisherman says pay attention when you're casting you might see thousands of tiny minnows scattering . He calls these tiny minnows "fry". They might be immature glass minnows Whatever they are this fisherman believe seatrout are keying on this bait. Since fishing a glass minnow for the most part isn't practical the next best bait would be a mud minnow. A down side to fishing mud minnows is the cut offs from small blue fish. That said a mud minnow is a great bait for seatrout, flounder and redfish!
With hot days the water can look cloudy due an algae bloom. The water close to the beaches looks very clean with visibility several feet maybe four or more feet. For these waters that's very clean water. Shark bite is crazy! Like most fishing it's all about the current finding the currents they like. In general those places with slow or no current will have less shark action. Areas with good current and structure are the best. Structure can be sand bars, gaps in the sand bars, edges of sand bars to name a few. The best bite can be achieved by moving or sliding your bait. This small movement is saying to the shark hey look at me. When a shark bite is on a fisherman can miss a fish, reel , miss again, then stop your bait practically at your boat to have a fish engulf your bait almost as if was on cue! Developing proper technique for sharks is much like seatrout just more intense! A fishermen will experience intense tugs that will be hard to replicate in years of fishing. Many will down play a shark. The thought is a serious angler would not fish for a shark. This is far from correct. The fight is about as good as could expect on light tackle. They can hurt you and your tackle. They are obliging in that if you miss one next is coming along. Electrically storms and abrupt changes in salinity can send these creatures to the depths or back to the ocean. With conservation in mind always treat these fish with respect. Handle as carefully as possible. One careless move can cost. Some fish are best not even handled. There are alpha fish. Size is not the determinant in whether to handle a fish. Sometimes if the fish is hooked deeply or it is too aggressive then cut the leader as close to the hook as possible and move on. There are certain rigs and tackle I prefer that will have to wait for another day.
As days heat up try to fish either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Tidal creek and marshy areas can be miserably when things heat up. Add to the heat and humidity black flies and you a miserable combination. The best bet when conditions are hot and buggy is pull your anchor and turn the air conditioning. In other words crank the throttle down and get some air flowing.
Tides will be the negative range heading into the weekend. Fishermen should be able to manage. If fishing around the change of the tide, midday. Anticipate condition to hot and plan accordingly.
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
June 8, 2009
Wow, it's almost summer! The flounder bite is on! This week a couple of good catches and one phenomenal catch! A catch of dozen keeper and better sized flounder is a good catch. A catch of a couple of dozen fish with several over five pounds is a particularly good catch. It can and does happen but flounder fishing like any fishing is subject to vagaries of nature. Seatrout action this week likewise has been good. Seatrout are mostly mixed in sized with about half of what's being caught are under sized. Nonetheless, fishermen are able to put together consistent good catches of seatrout. Just because the fish bit well in one location one day does not mean fishermen can find the same kind of on action on following days at the same location. There can be many reasons why the bite changed. In short fish have tails and fishermen sometimes will have keep looking till you find fish. As the shark bite intensifies, the whiting bite is slowing. Schools of altantic sharp nose sharks can be found along sand bars near barrier islands. Capt. Judy reports the size limit is 30 inches from the fork so if you keep one of these frisky rascals make it's legal and be extremely careful in handling this fish or any toothy fish.
Lots of small menhaden in the mouth of the South Channel. Small menhaden in Warsaw sound as well just not as thick. Small menhaden can be a great bait for shark, seatrout, redfish and flounder. Often one throw of cast net will land all the bait you could want! Mullet while not in super large schools are abundant enough that one well placed cast could land a dozen or more great baits. One fisherman throwing a cast net reported catching several quarts of brown shrimp in an half hour. Then on a following day the report was the shrimp had vanished. This fisherman statement was check up into the creeks for brown shrimp. The down side with throwing a cast net deep in a head of creek is typically the mud is soft and gooey. Adams Bait Shop has consistently been able to find shrimp. That being said the time between brown and white shrimp, shrimp can be scarce. Shrimp can also be impacted by lunar stages. A full moon can literally pull shrimp into the sounds. Shrimp in bait shops are available but could become scarce as supply diminishes and demand increases.
Tides of late has been higher than normal likely due to rain water that's still dissipating into the ocean and southeast, east wind that tend to hold water in the sounds. Despite higher water than predicted fishing has been good! Cloudy skies generally favor fishing. Cloudy days offer fisherman cooler conditions and pleasant breezes. The down size is being catch in a rain shower. On the other little or no thunder and lighting have accompanied these storms. Likely good fishing just before a front. As the front hits even if fish would bite its not possible to fish. Then as a front passes the bite returns. Where water has muddied fishing could be off. Fishing is generally best in areas with clean water and suitable current. Simply put not too strong, not too weak.
Hope this of help! Remember release the fish you don't intend to eat! Tides look sweet all week!
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
May 28, 2009
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
May 18, 2009
As the week starts we are experiencing inclement weather: windy and unseasonably cold. This an aberration. Yesterday the weather was mild and a few days before that it was hot. Wait just a little bit and the weather will change again. Fishing has been good! Good seatrout action in tidal creeks close to the sounds and around the backwaters. When currents have been slow action has been good in tidal creeks where slightly stronger currents funnel through. Good seatrout action in the sounds fishing along rips and sandbars. Ladyfish have moved in and can provide plenty of excitement on light tackle. Large schools of Atlantic sharp nose sharks can be found around sandy bottom areas. Lots of fresh water to contend with. The best bite last week has been further away from rivers that carry lots of run off to the coast. Female sea trout can be large and full of roe. The largest we caught and released yesterday was a 20 incher. That one fish could possibly produce lots of sea trout. The whiting bite is still strong but as sharks increase the whiting will drop off. A few flounder being caught. Last week sea trout, whiting, lady fish, atlantic sharp nose and bonnet head sharks bit well. The redfish bite was a little off despite tide that looked favorable for this fish. Some fishermen have reported catching lots of small blue fish. This makes sense when you small menhaden pushed to the surface usually blue fish are the culprit.
For the next several weeks the shark bite should be intense! Fronts with lots of rain can move of these fish to saltier water. Conditions have been near prefect. One lady angler week last missed a shark. A few cranks on the reel, let bait settle. The shark hit again and missed! This time faster cranks and let the bait settle. The shark hit again and missed. One more time! The bait is almost to the boat and wham! A hooked up of four footer almost at the boat. The point of this is conditions in local waters are well suited for a variety of fish and they are hot! Fishing one area looking for max end bonnet heads we found big sea trout! When your charter says this feels like a shark you know have a nice trout! When sharks move in sea trout wont hang around for long but until that happens sea trout can be great fun!
The Atlantic sharp nose are sharks all about 3 feet in length. An ideal size for light tackle. Limits have changed concerning sharks. On small sharks composites its one per person or two per boat whichever is less and a size of 30 inches. It appears there are plenty out there so if you keep a couple don't feel guilty. It might be helpful for the reds and trout to thin out a few sharks. Some reports of large cobia being caught mostly on live bait on the bottom.
Fishing action will likely be slow during the week till inclement clears out. As we head into the Memorial Day weekend if winds subside fishing could be good provided fishermen can clean water and decent drifts. This is time to start bringing out the heavier because you know what's out there. Pretty sure last week we jump a bull shark in the flats off of Cabbage Island. Big fish are moving in!
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
May 12, 2009
With a few warm days it feels as if summer is already here! The water is still a little muddy from wind and lots of fresh water pushing down river to the coast. That being said still, " fishing has been good! "A strong if not great whiting bite! The whiting bite will lessen start as conditions continue to warm. Large pods of 6 inch pogies are thick in the sounds. With bait fish comes sharks. While fishing near a large pod we hooked and caught several male atlantic sharp nose sharks. A fun fighting fish about 3 feet in length. Lots of ladyfish have shown as well! The ladyfish action around the beachfront has been strong! This a fun fish particularly with a fly or artificial. The seatrout bite has been good particularly in the sounds fishing rips with live bait. Seatrout are keying on glass minnows but will readily take a shrimp. Most the shrimp are a little large. Don't anticipate to see smaller shrimp until the brownies , brown shrimp, arrive which is about the 1st of June.
Lots of anticipation on the flounder bite. Generally the flounder bite corresponds to Memorial Day as general time frame when fishermen say flounder are biting! A few are being caught but anticipate the flounder bite to picking up in the coming weeks!
When pogies are flicking on the water there are likely predator around. As conditions warm large predator fish will be more and more numerous. For now most the pogies are being pushed up by blue fish, lady fish or small sharks but that will be changing.
The CCA Skidaway Chapter recently had their annual banquet. The chapter banquets are great opportunity to renew a membership as well as attend a fun event! This is definitely a organization that fishermen and conservationists can rally behind! Check their website for coming events at www.ccaga.org Miss Judy of Miss Judy Charters spoke recently at chapter meeting. These are fun learning occasions where one can pick up some information on fishing!
As water gets cleaner the bite should pick up. Tides are decreasing throughout the week. Likely the better seatrout bite will be locations with better currents. Redfish action has been good. Fishermen who are consistently targeting these fish are able to land six or more in an outing with up about twelve fish. Mud minnows as well shrimp are a great redfish bait! A report or two of large schools or redfish but don’t anticipate to see that. Those fish are on the move and not easily caught. As the flats heat the schools tend to break up but an occasional school can be spotted. Sharks also have a tendency to bust up schools of redfish or seatrout. As water raise look for reds hanging around dock piling in deeper water.
Hope this of interest and help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
May 05, 2009
The pattern for last couple of weeks has been when fishermen have found clean water there has been good fishing! Seatrout are large and females are full of roe! One fisherman reports redfish on inside, outside and up the creeks! The redfish bite while not ballistic has been good. Reds have caught on plastics, live and dead bait. Plenty of peanut sized menhaden in the rivers. One fishermen reported catching some quality redfish on small menhaden. Lots of bonnet head sharks rolling into local waters. Typically bonnet heads are feeding on shrimp and crab. At present it would hard to avoid a few bonnet heads. On the other hand at the conclusion of one recent trip we were looking for a max end bonnet head (to catch and release) and came across large seatrout. As water continue to warm seatrout will get pushed out by bonnet heads. In the mean time, large seatrout are on the prowl! Conservation is key. One youth angler during the week to his credit was insistent on releasing all the fish. This young angler was skilled and knowledgeable over his years. At the dock one person viewing our saying goodbyes said, Jack that must be what all the hard work while. Absolutely, yes! Lots of whiting in local waters. More and more flounders are showing up. Last week we caught our first male atlantic sharp nose (shark) a sign summer is right around the corner. Small schools of glass minnows can be seen swimming while at anchor. Lots of wind in recent days probably accounting for lots of muddy water. Again clean water has been the key. On one school of reds in shallow the water (last week)did not hold because the water was so clear. That's pretty much the exception. A chop can make seeing fish difficult. On a choppy day you could be blowing out nice redfish right by the boat. Good seatrout action in the sounds but nice fish caught on the inside as well. Redfish while not in large schools can be found in small pods of 8 or 10 fish and there some large ones!
Conservation is the key! Most fishermen enjoy taking some fish and there's nothing wrong with that as long as the fish are eaten. In the current issue of the CCA Tide magazine, May/June 2009 in an article relating to flounders there was a statement you can have a banner year or two and the fishery can still be in serious decline. This is something hard for most of us wrap our heads around. Science is the key. A couple of banner years while awesome only reveals part of the picture. This is why (on our coast) the CCA Coastal Conservation Association of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources are vital players on helping to preserve a healthy fishery. One component fishermen can participate is the Carcass Recovery Program by placing their spent fish carcasses after cleaning into a designated freezer (which are at most marinas). The age of fish is determined by counting the rings on the ear the bone much like a tree as well as how the fish are doing. This is relatively small innocuous step that can help those doing the research get a fair and balance picture. Please participate! Good science, good regulations equals a healthy fishery.
Fishing should continue to heat up as we head toward the Memorial Day Weekend! Memorial day for many marks the beginning of the flounder bite! Bait is pouring into the sounds. Be careful when on the water during a holiday period lots of boats. No wake zones are enforced particularly during holiday periods so boat responsibly!
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Apr 21, 2009
Wow! This Spring is rocketing by! Water temps are bumping up. Seatrout are fat and laden with roe. One fisherman said a couple of friends boated 25 roe trout. The bite is on! Despite being an awesome fish going light is always a good thing. These fish are taking live shrimp as well as plastic with abandon. The sheepshead bite is on! Plenty of keeper sized sheepshead are showing up. Sometimes hooking these fish while float fishing can look silly with so many fish that are missed. Try tail hooking your shrimp or changing your hook set. An illustrious captain said you'll eventually get them "dailed in". And if you don't it still fun even if the fish win most of the encounters. Seth owner of Sand Fly Tackle has lots of Bass Assasins packages that are sticky on the outside due to a water. Seth is selling these for a buck a pack. A great price for a great product. Lots of the best patterns for particularly nothing. Check it out! Good news for local redfish, the Waddell Fish Hatchery has secured funding to stay in operation for the near future. Hopefully this news will be permanent and the benefits to the coast will continue! Definitely this is an issue to be supportive of.
Despite strong winds fisherman have caught some quality redfish, seatrout, sheepshead and an occasional flounder. The whiting has been good! With warming temperature seatrout and redfish should fire off. Bait supplies have been good. Last week shrimp from Adams Bait Shop was a little smaller, very close to ideal if not ideal. Tide for this week are small. Anticipate the seatrout bite to be strongest when currents form. Some tide logs will list current speed. Those periods with stronger currents will likely produce the best seatrout bite.
Ample rain has turned the marsh grass a lush green and washing needed nutrients into the water. Lots of crabs in local waters. Rain should help the resource. Just chatted with another local fishermen he reported catching some good seatrout not ballistic but good!
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Apr 14, 2009
Windy conditions have dominated during the week. Despite strong wind whiting have cooperated. Some seatrout and redfish but the bite has been sporadic. There is a wedge of fresh water along the coast due heavy rain in recent days. This wedge will likely take days or weeks to dissipate. The best bite has been toward the sounds where saltier water can be found. Don Adams, Adams Bait House, is finding shrimp. These shrimp are fairly large white shrimp. A little larger than ideal but good large baits. The consistent word is that the schools of redfish on the flats have broken up and most of reds that can be found are in small groups or singles.
What to fish for? Sounds pretty simple, what's biting. Some days are best for redfish some seatrout some for sheepshead some for whiting. Fish for what nature will give you. When one species is biting fish for that species. In the coming days the bite will switch from primarily redfish to seatrout. Whiting a relatively small under rated fish can provide plenty of action and excellent table fare for those desiring a few fish to eat. The whiting bite has been consistent. Typically the spring run, spawning run, is stronger than the fall run. This year looks comparable to other seasons. Lots of fishermen have commented about how fishing seems to weeks behind schedule. Some fishermen look at the Spring equinox as the beginning of spring (when the sun is directly above the equator). Other fishermen look at Easter as the critical date as the beginning of Spring since this date is not tied to a fixed date but the first Sunday following Paschal full moon. In short this is interesting but incomplete. Patterning long time weather trends are best left to the scientist rather than a general statement. On the coast we have had lots of wind and rain. Despite the difficulties to those on water the wind and rain is no doubt a good thing mixing and mingling the atmosphere creating a healthier environment.
The coming days should produce good seatrout fishing. The whiting bite has been consistent. Lots of cold water sharks are in the sounds a few black tips as well bonnet head sharks. The sheepshead bite will be slowing down as water temperature heats up. A few strong seatrout catches , up to 30 fish, but for the most part action remains spotty due to nature. Strong wind and very brackish water has made fishing difficult. Fishing lee shores has been critical as well as fishing slowly. Some bites have been extremely soft and slow. As barometric pressure rises and conditions improve the aggressiveness of the bite should improve as well. Redfish and seatrout will react to plastic when twitched nearby but anticipate fewer bites until conditions improve. A few flounder already being caught, a good harbinger for summer! Small bait are pushing into the sounds. Seatrout, mackerel and bluefish will be closely behind the bait. Don Adams (912.898.1550) has been carrying fiddler crabs but call ahead to make sure he still has some on hand.
Hope this of help! See you on the water! Practice and release!
Good fishing!! Capt. Jack McGowan
Mar 23, 2008
As conditions continue to warm the bite is progressively getting better! Whiting an indicator fish are showing in increasingly larger numbers. The general thought of this relatively small but tasty fish is they indicate the arrival of Spring fishing and what's to come (sharks, tarpon, jacks, spanish and more)! This year as in most years the bite starts a little further down the Georgia coast and moves up. On one recent outing we landed over 30 keeper size fish and released several smaller ones. The bite for most of that fishing period was soft and slow requiring feel and a delicate touch. A soft slow bite likely could be due to water temperature below 60 degrees or slower than normal currents. Each day is a little different. Adjusting is part of fishing. Its funny whether fishing for sheepshead, whiting or some other fish making adjustment is all part of it.
With warming conditions and water temperature in the mid to upper 60's. seatrout are starting to bite! Some fishermen are saying the bite is a little late year. On the other hand an official from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources stated there were no fish kills over the winter. Likely fishing will be good in the coming days, weeks and months! Seatrout catches thus far have been scattered and inconsistent anticipate that to change as temperature rise. Miss Judy saying - 65 and everything is alive is good number to gauge fishing success! (For more about Miss Judy, her fishing report, or to book with her go www.missjudycharters.com). Typically seatrout in the Spring in the back waters will be large, hungry and feeding. Mud minnows are great bait to target Springtime seatrout. A favorite simple rig is to hook a mud minnow on 1/4 oz. jig and simply let it sit. Shrimp are the favorite bait in local waters nonetheless sometimes during the Spring a mud minnow can be very effective. If possible take some of both.
Sheepshead action remains strong! Fishermen both inshore and near shore have caught large numbers. Sheepshead can be a great fighting fish. At times tricky to catch but well worth the effort. My only caveat with sheepshead fishing is the larger fish are the ones loaded with roe. My traditional view has been past on to me by my mother that is smaller seafood is the best (to eat)! I think this holds true with sheepshead as well. Often fishermen will have hunters mentality that is larger is better. A 22 inch seatrout while looks nice and tastes only fair. This fish could hold thousands of potential seatrout in it. In short the largest seatrout are usually females loaded with roe. A 22 inch seatrout and above would be a great fish to release! With all that said keeping a few fish to eat is a ok. Part of goodness of fishing is that you can eat some what you catch.
Along with the whiting around the sandbars cold water sharks have shown up as well. As temperatures rise cold water sharks (dog fish) will recede to cooler ocean water and warm water sharks will start filling local waters.
Redfish have supplied most of action the past several weeks. Some fisherman believe the past year provided the best fishing ever in local waters! Nature despite wind and a cold winter has been extremely kind. More black drum last year than many can remembered . So far the black drum catch has been pretty incidental, one here one there. As temperature warm more drum should start showing up as well. Reports of large numbers of redfish being caught slightly north and south of Savannah by fishermen using traditional float rigs. Redfish are in good numbers and be found in schools by patience fishermen.
Tides throughout this week look good. Negative tides start on Wednesday March 25 and will extend through weekend. Although tides are in the negative range they are only slightly negative. The impact for fishermen will likely be minimal. Tides looks good! Whiting fishing good, seatrout fair to good to excellent, redfish fair to good. Bait is plentiful in the baitshop once reports start coming back of good catches anticipate bait can be hard to come by.
Hope this of interest and help! Fish On!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Mar 17, 2009
The long awaited St. Patrick's day has descended upon the city! For many Savannahians and non Savannahians this is the favorite day of the year! In Savannah on St. Patrick's day everyone is Irish for a day. The main activity is focused around the St. Patrick's day parade. The celebration in Savannah is only second to New York city. What does St. Patrick day have to do with a fishing report? Around St. Patrick's day the season begins to change from a dormant winter pattern to a vibrant Spring pattern flourishing with life. Azaleas are in bloom. The vast marsh expands surrounding the islands are still a canvas color but green be seen emerging from the grass. The schools of redfish have broken up as temperature rise. Most of redfish holding in the grass are by themselves or in small groups. Seatrout typically begins to get active and stay active around this time. Evidence of small peanut size menhaden can be observed by the occasional flickering of a bait fish hitting the surface of the water. Likely small blue fish are pushing the menhaden to the surface. Both seatrout and redfish love menhaden! A small menhaden can fished under a float rig or simply threaded on a jig sometimes after popping the head off. Placing a rod in a rod holder rigged with a small menhaden on a jig can produce some gorgeous reds!
For the most part the late winter bite has been a little off due likely to a colder than average winter. On a more positive note despite a cold winter there were no reports of fish kills and shrimp is presently available at local bait shops. Last week most the fish caught were redfish back in the grass. This is specialize fishing requiring keen eye sight, good casting, an intimate knowledge of what these fish like and last but least the proper equipment (rods, reels, lures as well shallow draft boat). The majority of reds caught in the grass will be by sighting the fish first. Blind casting while the norm in most fishing can be counter productive for reds in the grass. These fish will eat but there a lots of things that can go awry. On the other hand a redfish back in the grass are not as able to detect a fisherman. Fishing slowly and quietly is often the key. Capt. Ray Crawely of Miss Judy Charters specializes in reds in the grass. Ray prides himself on homemade concoctions that work! Each fisherman will have their speciality or what they enjoy the most. Capt. Ray enjoys the stealthy fishing of redfish in the grass. This type of fishing is particularly effective on big tides day. On days with big tides most fishermen will struggle is when a fisherman like Capt. Ray can shine. The marsh is flooded. Typically fishermen will find water silted from big tides and full debris. Water back in the grass will be clean. Areas that were unreachable are easily accessed. Boats that have minimal draft are a must for this kind of fishing. Knowing exactly where is critical. Its not uncommon for a fisherman to be so far back in grass that getting assistance would be impossible. Too complicate matters ridges that were unseen a few moments ago can quickly trap a boat. Scouting trip should be just that scouting trip. Once a fisherman knows the capabilities of his boat and his terrain then and only then should a fisherman expand his range. Its not uncommon for one group of fisherman to see a boat catching fish and try to join in. This type of fishing isn't for all. Experience is the key. Anticipate the fisherman in the bow to have most of chances so rotate the bow and have fun! For fish reds in the grass definitely get a charter! My recommendation is Capt. Ray of Miss Judy Charters. On my boat we will penetrate into grass when conditions are favorable basically incoming water, tides 8.5 feet or higher. Beware of southwest and west winds. Water that high at one can appear to quickly go out. Use your watch not your senses. Your time could be as early as half an hour into the outgoing or as much as hour and half into the outgoing. Remember the longer your stay the more likely you are to get stuck. When you pushed things. When you try to make something happen that when you're going to break equipment and possibility stick your boat. Let the tides work for you! Hope this of interest and fun! Hope to see you on the water!
Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Mar 03, 2009
Periods of calm weather between fronts has provided good fishing! Most redfish have been caught on plastics. Numbers of fish are good! During the winter catching a few fish can be tricky. One day fishermen can catch a couple of dozen fish only to be blanked the following day. A typical question is when do fish bite best? What is the barometer doing? This question can provoke lots of conversation and speculation. The short answer (to when do fish bite the best) is when fish are being caught. Just before the front and even when the weather deteriorating the bite will likely be on. Nature is taking care of itself: fish, birds and all wild life will feed prior to poor weather. Typically, the best winter bite is just before a front. A classic example was last week fishermen did well with both seatrout and redfish as the front approached. As the poor weather settled in fish hunkered down.
Striper action has been slow but in recent days the striper bite has picked! A couple of fishermen landed 15 on the fly! Sounds like the good old days! Most stripers have been taken on finger mullet. Reports of plenty of bait: small menhaden and shrimp up the Savannah River as well as lots of seatrout. So far seatrout have not been very active but as conditions warm anticipate the seatrout action to heat up!
The sheepshead bite has been good inshore and offshore! The offshore bite has garnered most of the attention. Nonetheless, the inshore bite has been respectable. Normally flounders are though of as summer time fish in coastal waters. That being said a few have been caught in deep water creeks as well as on the flats. These fish are the exception and not the rule for winter inshore fishing.. A few whiting being caught by persistent die hard whiting fishermen. Again as temperatures warm the whiting bite will heat up!
What's going on up river? Locals are saying this has been a very unusual winter. Areas that would typically hold fish in the Back and Middle River have been void of fish. One statement that is repeated is the Savannah River is experiencing the highest salinity on record. This has been definitely been a cold winter. Exactly why fish and bait are in one river as opposed to another who knows. It does appear there is a late winter run of stripers which to date have been scant. Some fishermen believe the stripers are in the more salty reaches towards the sounds in waters the DNR is unable to detect them in. Other believe that these are not moving all the way down river to the coast. For now good number of stripers in local waters!
As the weather continues to warm heading into the weekend tides and weather should be nice providing for good fishing! Striper, redfish, seatrout and sheepshead fishing could be good!
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Only keep what you intend to eat and release the rest! Fish On!
Feb 16, 2009
Since the last cold front the bite has slowed dramatically. Some quality redfish and seatrout can be found on the flats. The preferred bait this time is mud minnows. Shrimp are available at Larry's Bait &Tackle in Port Wenworth. Shrimp are difficult to keep alive in cold water. Nonetheless shrimp are always a preferred bait. A dead can be bugged out (pulling the head and tail off). This is very effective for black drum, sheepshead, redfish and seatrout. Those fishermen opting to fish the near shore wrecks and reefs will find plenty of action with sea bass and sheepshead. The prevailing thought is the further out (to sea) the larger the fish. Action can be hot so take plenty of bait! Offshore the preferred bait for sheepshead is the purple back fiddler crab. Ray and Amy of Tybee Island Bait and Tackle (912.786.7472) are stocking both mud minnows and fiddler crabs. Larry's Bait & Tackle (912.272.7339) has a variety of baits including finger mullet. Whichever bait shop you have in mind the best bet is call to ahead to make sure bait is available.
Those catching seatrout and redfish are not posting big numbers of fish but they are catching quality fish. The seatrout are large. Their stomach appear to be empty and it looks like some are starting to show initial signs of roe. Most of the reds and seatrout are being caught on plastics but a live or dead bait would work well! Coming off spring tides water in the Savannah River system has been extremely muddy. Clean water can be found in the intra coastal water way as well around sandy bottom areas. A typical winter pattern is for bait and fish to head up river. This year thus far has been the exception. The inshore bite has been primarily around the barrier islands. Anticipate more of the same until conditions start to warm. Those wanting plenty of action need to head offshore. Those who enjoy the quietness of a mud flat can find some quality fish in the shallows. Best tide for fishing the flats is usually low incoming or the last of the outgoing. When fishing the flats always be aware of where you in relation to the tide. Getting stuck on flat or sandbar can mean a long cold afternoon. When your boat stick immediately try to get your boat moving. Once a hull locks onto a flat you're stuck. In some situations even a towing company will have to wait for the tide to float your boat off. So be cautious!
Tides for the coming week are soft meaning not large tides. Currents will be gentle. Fishermen will have lots of time on the flats due to small tides. Sheepshead fishermen will have extended opportunities as well. Not much being reported on stripers. Nonetheless small tides would allow for favorable conditions for stripers if they show up in local waters. At present striper action has been scant.
Hope this is of help! Make sure to catch Miss Judy's second and final Inshore Clinic Feb. 21st. at Tubby's in Thunderbolt! For more information go to www.missjudycharters.com or call Miss Judy at 912.897.4921.
Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jan 13, 2009
Winter is finally here! Despite the cold weather fishing has been good! Fish are cold blooded. As water warms anticipate the bite to be stronger. Cold rainy overcast days are least fun to fish and the least productive. Prior to this cold wave water temperature ranged from the upper 50's to the low 60's. Mild days with lots of sun brought fish up to shallows. The sea trout bite was good, mostly on artificials.. Live lining a mud minnow is another favorite winter technique. Don Adams, Adams Bait House, is finding shrimp south of Savannah. Don reports the bait he is finding is in one location and small. Most of shrimp fishermen associate with winter fishing are large shrimp coming from deep holes. The shrimp Don is finding is about 3 inches. This is a prefect size for school size fish. Miss Judy and I have mentioned several times this year how useful fishing a dead shrimp or "bugged out" can be. A piece of dead shrimp can add scent to the water, perhaps mimicking a fiddler crab. Regardless of exactly why it works it is safe to say fishing a piece of dead shrimp can be very effective for red drum, sea trout, sheepshead and black drum. A mud minnow while a great bait wont produce sheepshead and black drum bite like a piece of fresh dead shrimp.
Sheepshead
Sheepshead can be tricky to catch. The technique is simply vertical fishing around structure such as fallen trees, dock pilings, rip raps, rocks, bridge abutments to name some likely structure. In short any structure that has at least 4 or more at low water and plenty of barnacles and oyster growth is a candidate to be fished. Where shells are individually broken off this can indicate sheepshead activity. The sheepshead bite per Capt. "Wild Bill" can be hot one day and off the next. It's likely there are fish there but for whatever reason just not biting. When sheepshead fishing I look for immediate gratification. To start don't be so concerned what the bites feel like as long you're getting bites. The presence of small fish can mean some larger fish are present. As fishermen begin to focus on the bite the percentage of fish caught will pick up. If you feel a bump and your bait is gone. The shore answer is change what you're doing. With super braids massive hook sets aren't needed just firm and deliberate. Generally fishing with a low rod tip works best. Sheepshead are fast but obliging. Feeling the bottom is critical. After your egg sinker touches the bottom ever so slowly start jigging the bottom with pauses. After a minuet or so reel in and check your bait
Some Sheepshead Rigging Tips
Fish as light as possible! Sounds pretty straight forward but lets look a little closer. As the tide diminishes not as much weight is required to sink your bait to the bottom. Downsizing your egg sinker to a 1/4 ounce can provide sensitivity that the standard 1 ½ ounce egg sinker can't match. Leader material can vary. You can not go wrong with fluorocarbon. A short leader generally works best. A 12 inch leader would be a long leader. I'm fishing leaders from 7 to 9 inches of mostly 20 pound leader material. Its hard for me to get away from 25 pound fluorocarbon simply because I've seen so many fish (in the 10 pound range) safely landed with that test of leader material. There are several types on the market. For the specifics you will have to attend Miss Judy Inshore seminar. I will say a characteristics of a quality leader material is that it is smooth. Bumpy leader material feels like the line is inconsistent. An inconsistent line could mean stronger in one spot and weaker in another. All leader materials are not created equal. If a 10 pound fish is breaking a 25 pound leader there's a problem. Typical you should be able to put a lot of pressure on a fish without a break off. Granted your drag must not be locked down. Typically a few pound of pressure on a fish is enormous!
We've talked about leaders now lets talk briefly about hooks. There a lots of specialty hooks. All will do a fine job. Smaller hook are more appropriate for fishing fiddler crabs. Khale hooks while awkward looking are very suitable. My preference is a compromise hook not a specialty hook not a khale hook. A compromise hook can catch a little of everything from red fish and seatrout to black drum and sheepshead to whiting and small sharks. What is this wonderful hook? A standard hook that can catch a varity of fish is Eagle Claw's 085 1/0. This is a useful little hook. While likely not the best in any one application likely one of the most useful.
Tides this week will be subsiding by Wednesday to less than 8 feet. Smaller tides could mean good fishing for red drum, black drum and sheepshead of course weather depending. When the winds kick up fish structure in protected water. If wind and seas lay could a good time to fish near shore structures. When the water is very clear fluorocarbon leaders can make a difference as well fishing lighter leaders and bleeding bait hooks. Best bet when buying bait this time is to call ahead to check if the shop is open and bait is available. Adams is always the last to close for the season so call ahead to save yourself a busted trip. Adams Bait Shop number is 912.898.1550. Larry of Larry's Bait & Tackle has been open for during the winter has stocked a wide array of live baits. Best bet call ahead. Larry's number is 912.272.7339.
Hope this of help! Good fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Jan 02, 2009
Hard to believe 2009 is already here! The weather has been see sawing: cold fronts followed by unseasonably mild weather. On the whole not bad. Mild temperatures mean no fish kills and bait, shrimp, is available (at Adams). The bite in recent days has been primarily in the sounds, beach fronts creeks and sloughs. Storms that crossed northern Georgia dumped large amounts of rain which in turn flowed to the coast. The Savannah River system normally offers a strong winter fishery is off while rain water dissipates. Fishing will heat up in the Savannah River system as salinity rises. For now the best fishing has been in near the sounds. Inshore sheepshead and black drum bite is still on! Many fisherman have said and are saying this appears to be one of the strongest year for black drum. When the seatrout and redfish bite is slow sheepshead and black drum can provide plenty of bites and some quality fish!
Despite challenging conditions during winter it is possible to catch some nice fish! One fisherman today reported catching lots of redfish and seatrout. These fish can be waded up! A big catch one day can produce little or nothing the next. The best fishing has been towards the sounds. Those trolling plastics are doing well in the intra coastal. Nonetheless, fishing is fishing, one fisherman said he caught twenty nice seatrout while his fishing companion caught only two. That's just the peculiarity of any given day. The short of this report is there are good fish to be found! Even fishing an ideal drop on an ideal tide could produce a bunch or a bust. When seatrout and redfish can't be located fishing for sheepshead and black drum is an alternative that can likely provide lots of bites as well as quality fish. When fishing for sheepshead around heavy structure a drop shot can work well. Likely hot spots for sheepshead are close to rocks, fallen trees, dock and bridge pilings . Check your bait often. This is not the type of fishing where your bait will have to soak for half an hour. Typically the bite is within a matter of seconds. During the winter one day can perfectly suited for pitching artificials or a fly on the flats for redfish. While another day could provide a good seatrout bite. Yet another day is more aptly suited for sheepshead and black drum. The sounds are filling with mergansers, a migratory sea duck. Cormorants can be seen swimming in the rivers in search of bait fish. Egrets can be seen standing along marshy bank waiting for an unsuspecting minnow. Porpoises are in search of red drum; the main stay of their winter time diet. There are fewer boats are on the water. Most are fishing for sheepshead. Some are just taking winter jaunt. Winter fishing while mercurial can still fun and rewarding. Anticipate the best bite on mild sunny days.
Hope this of help! Hope to see you out there! Be sure to catch at least one of Miss Judy's two Inshore Seminars this winter!
Good Fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Dec 03, 2008
Fished yesterday with Capt. Wild Bill Jarrell from Yellow Bluff. We fished around St. Catherine's. Fishing was excellent! Seatrout bite consistently throughout the day. Shrimp was the bait of choice but bunches were landed on artificials as well! The bite around Savannah has been up and down. Several reports of lots of big seatrout and redfish around Thunderbolt and Cabbage Island. Some fishermen had no problem finding and catching fish over the Thanksgiving weekend while many struggled. The bite has definitely changed. Those fishing live shrimp found the bite soft and slow. Those who fished artificials found an aggressive reactionary bite. The bite was streaky. For a while the bite was hot then a slow down followed by a fish here or there. For the most part the bite has been mostly around the sounds.
A few winter patterns that can be productive. Fish mud flats provided the water is clean enough for fish to find your bait. In dirty water try fishing a chuck of dead bait. Deep holes can hold seatrout and redfish. A favorite tide to try fishing a hole is on low tide. Last but not least seatrout have been known to hold back in the grass when the water cold (the low 50's is cold). Try fishing flooded grass much as you do for redfish. Anticipate seatrout to be holding in thin grass out of the current on the edges. Perhaps cold moving water for seatrout is much like wind chill for us. Not sure why it works but in cold conditions seatrout can be found in thin grass edges. Another winter trick is try plan your fishing during the warmest part of the day. Not only will fishing be more pleasurable but as conditions warm up this is likely when fish will bite the best. Some good reports of sheepshead action both inshore and offshore. Good numbers of sheepshead. Lots just under size with several larger fish. Whiting are still being caught but as late the numbers have not been large. Striper action is heat up!
Tides are relatively small this week with tides less than 7 on the high and around 1 foot on low water. These tides should give those pitching plastics plenty of opportunity to search for reds. Small tides are also favorable tides for those targeting sheepshead as well targeting stripers. Smaller tides should allow for good opportunities for sheepshead, redfish and stripers. If live bait isn't producing, try pitching an artificial and look for reactionary bites rather than "hungry fish". When fishing in cold conditions expect lots of bites to soft and slow. Adjust hook set accordingly. Slow your hook set to match the bite.
Black drum can still be found in good numbers. Black drum often can be found around wood. If fishing is slow try fishing fallen try tress or dock pilings for black drum and sheepshead you might be surprised what you hook into!
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Fish On!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Nov 25, 2008
This is first year in a long time that we've had a freeze before Thanksgiving! Cold fronts generally aren’t a problem as long temperatures bounce back. A shot of wintery weather can school seatrout. Fishermen this time of year can complain of no bites only to have another fisherman just a short distance away catching one after the other. Despite finding near prefect conditions if the fish are biting keep moving. Lots of the seatrout this week were in the 15 to 16 inch range. Definitely bigger fish around but the bulk of schooling action has been with keeper sized fish. Look for clean water and drifts aren't too fast and aren't too slow. When finding very clean water pitching plastics can be effective! Last week's most of the bites were soft and slow. The trick with a soft and slow bite is patience. Even when pitching plastics anticipate some of the bites to be soft and slow. Downsizing your plastics, on a soft and slow bite, to a three grub can be a good idea! Glup baits in the shrimp and swimming mullet pattern are favorites. When live shrimp are scarce try putting a Gulp bait under your float. Giving a little popping actions to your float can help talk up a seatrout. Despite the cold seatrout bite has been very good!. Capt. Brian Woelber boat's in this year's Cystic Fibrosis Tournament took top honors with a large catch of seatrout. Good job, Capt. Brian!
Shrimp are in! Jimmy Adams said his brother is having to release large net loads of shrimp. Bait shrimpers can only keep 50 quarts in their tanks. As long as the bait stays in fishing should be good! Adams Baitshops as rule tries to stay open through December if the weather is mild maybe longer. Finger mullet can be found in deep holes back and in the heads of creeks. Striper action is heating with several large fish landed. So far most of the striper action has been on shrimp and in the main Savannah River. The Savannah River is also notorious for large seatrout (seatrout over 2lbs). Water clarity is critical. A drop red hot one day can be ice cold the next. When water clarity is poor don't invest a lot of time on a drop. If a drop isn't producing in 15 to 20 minuets, even if the conditions are good, its time to move particularly now when fish are schooling. Its not only about conditions, simply are fish there. Finding fish sometimes can be as simply as short move. Seatrout love to hang close to object that break the current and cause rips. Fishermen can often find rips off of points, around gullies and creek mouths as well as manmade objects like pilings and walls. Rips sometimes can produce a hot seatrout bite. If rips aren't working try fishing areas with hard bottom. Hard bottom usually means clean water. Seatrout bite should be good through the Thanksgiving week. Tides are less than 8 feet. Currents should be favorable for seatrout! Afternoon tides will be decreasing. This week likely mean a better bite for seatrout in the morning and redfish in the afternoon. Afternoon tides are roughly a foot smaller. Small tides mean gentle currents.
Staying warm when fishing in cold condition critical! Just as critical is keeping your hands warms. Wind and cold can make using your hands almost useless. Tip of the week - wear water proof gloves when conditions are cold and do not stick a bare hand in the live well! Landing a seatrout requires feel in your fingers. Wear gloves that cover your fingers. Hand warmers are another good idea.
Hope this of help! Fish on! Capt. Jack McGowan
Nov 12, 2008
The bite is hot! Redfish action is strong! As the temperature drops seatrout can be found schooling. Schooling action last week was close to the sounds and barrier islands. In recent days seatrout have been on the move in search of food as they fatten up before winter. Tides last week were 7 foot (or less) throughout the week. This week tides are building to 9 feet on Thursday and Friday. Typically big tides are the times to stay off the water and wait for better conditions. Fish will eat even on big tides! When conditions aren't too poor, fishing should be good! Fishing windward areas can be productive until conditions literally get to rough. Tip of the week - have an anchoring system on board capable of holding your boat in strong wind and strong current. This tip alone should help put lots of fish in your boat! Cloudy days with not much sun light can quickly plunge water temperature. Trash fish are still around but are quickly becoming scarce as water temperature falls. On blue bird days, sunny days without a cloud in the sky, try fishing deep. Blue birds are generally thoughts of as the least productive for hunting or fishing. That said we've had several nice days of fishing without a cloud in the sky.
Fishing has been good to excellent! Nice seatrout, lots of redfish as well as blackdrum, sheepshead, and occasional flounder! The baitshops are still finding shrimp but as temperatures continue to drop anticipate bait supplies to become inconsistent in coming weeks. Traditional plastics have been catching fish as well as new ones by Berkley and Strorm. The main ingredient with any artificial is confidence and right technique for that lure. Technique is critical! The best teacher is seeing someone catch a fish then duplicating that technique. This is another reason to attend one Miss Judy's inshore clinics or book a learning charter (please book this through Miss Judy and specifically request for me).
In recent days good catches of seatrout near the sounds, up the Savannah River as well on the jetties. Corks that produce clicks such as Cajun thunders and bay side Bloppers are very effective this time of the year. While fishing practically still water, Steve Howell asked if he was popping his cork too much. My reply was going to be yes then big old five pound drum engulfed his shrimp. So much for the subtle approach! Can popping be over done? Likely on the other hand seatrout love action. The key is to keep changing your pattern till you're on a pattern that works. Seatrout fishing should be good for next several weeks! Likely the best seatrout fishing is yet to come!
Tides will remain big through the week. Next week tides on Tuesday, Nov. 18th. tides will subside to 7.9 feet and will continue to decrease throughout the week. Fishing should be good! A few big stripers already showing up. Most of the stripers action for the past few years has been in the main Savannah River. The best time to striper fish is usually at the last of the incoming or first of the outgoing. On sunny days fish deep! Days with little current can be unproductive as well days with too much current. Typically most of these fish are caught during the early morning hours or late afternoon. These fish love structure as rocks and wood. Some stripers around but seatrout and redfish taking center stage!
Those who like catching whiting are doing well! Frank Setera said he caught some nice ones this week as well nice seatrout near sandy bottoms areas. Frank's unusual catch was a big old stag bass while whiting fishing! You never know. Frank said the sharks have all but vanished. I saw a bonnethead in the Wilmington River several days ago chasing a shrimp but how most of the sharks have eased out to deeper water.
Hope this interest and help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan
Oct 13, 2008
Fishing has been good! Lots of legal size redfish around oyster beds near marsh grass. Seatrout are plentiful! Shrimp are abundant so almost any creek mouth or gully has the potential of producing good fishing this time of the year. A spot red hot one day can produce almost nothing the next. Water clarity is important! A rule of thumb is work your drop about 30 minuets, if the fish aren't biting then move on. Having a fishing plan is a good idea. Coordinate your fishing to be at certain drop at a tide stage you believe fish are likely to be there. Fishing 6 to 12 drops on an outing is typical. A word about anchoring. A power pole is a useful tool if you have one. On windy days which has been most days, a heavy anchor is not a good idea, it is a must. This sounds like an over kill but an anchor about twice the size of what is matched for your boat is a good fowl weather anchor. If your back is a little tender then do not go with an over sized anchor. On the hand there are many days when an over sized anchor is the only option. My statement has been if the over sized anchor pulls we don't need to fishing there. Another option is working your trolling motor. You can cheat the wind on many days. Again if the winds and currents are such that your trolling is ineffective look else where for a place to fish.
On most days even with a stiff wind fisherman can find spots out of the wind and with fish. Shrimp are plentiful but so are the bait fish: yellow tails, pinfish and croakers. The worst culprit are needlefish. Needlefish are relentless. Typically try to cast away from the trash fish or you'll just encourage more of the same. It possible to have a good redfish and seatrout with trashfish mixed in. Local waters are still warm suitable for little bait steelers as well as sought species. On those occasions when you're just feeding the trash fish move to another drop! Most bait well can comfortably hold a couple quarts of shrimp. Losing lots of bait means fishermen are throwing off lots of bait in there casting or just trying to win a battle against the little fish. In either case a change is needed. The difficulty is when you are catching some quality fish as well as trash fish. What do you do? First pattern the trash fish. Redfish will likely be close the structure; trash fish will likely be off the structure in deeper water. In short don't cast to little fish and expect a different result.
This past week has produced some really good fishing! Large redfish near the beachfronts! Strong seatrout action in the sounds as well as quality black drum and sheepshead. Several fishermen have stated this looks like the best year they have seen in a long time for both black drum and sheepshead! Some flounders being caught near little gullies on the outgoing tide as shrimp and mullet pour out.
Tides are increasing this week to over 8.9 feet on Thursday. These are big tides. Dealing with wind is tough. Dealing with wind and big tides could be even tougher. For the recreational fisherman stay inside unless you got to fish. For those heading out fish the top of the morning high tide or the afternoon incoming tide look best. The afternoon tides throughout the week are considerably smaller. Likely better fishing will be in the afternoon with smaller tides and a longer period to fish. That being said the afternoon fishing would be late afternoon.
Hope this of help in planning your next fishing or booking your next charter! Thanks again!
Remember go light on the resource. Keep only what you want to eat and release the rest. We are having a great year nonetheless going light on the resource only makes sense.
Good fishing! C apt. Jack McGowan
Oct 2, 2008
Fall is here! What a great time of the year! This week another storm skirted north of the Georgia. A collective sigh of relief is released each time a storm passes. As the aftermath of recent storms abates, wind and higher than normal tides, fishermen are poised for good fishing in local waters! There already have been several good catches of large seatrout. These fish are on the move and hungry! Areas that were void of fish a week ago are now prime! Fall is that time of the year when almost any spot could produce a mess of fish. That said, it still "just fishing". Fall is the most likely time of the year to catch a mess of fish. Fishing is good in the sounds, in the rivers, in the creeks as well as up brackish rivers! Don't over look the heads of creeks. As bait, shrimp, pushes in fish will follow. The heads of creeks are likely areas to hold fall fish. A great tide stage for seatrout is high incoming or outgoing. Look for clean water, bait, and a drift that would be comparable to a slow walk. Sometimes the key in whether you'll catch a lot or a little is how effectively you work your float. Working a float is pretty simple. In essence you're ringing the dinner bell. You're either trying to mimic nature or you're just trying to get the fish's attention. Either way you have to confidence that these gadgets and techniques draw fish and produce strikes. The short answer is they do. My suggestion is attend Miss Judy's Inshore clinic this winter or in the mean time book a leaning charter to lean more on working a float. If booking with Miss Judy and you would like my assistance please let Miss Judy know. Enough of that - fishing has been good!
Don Adams, Adams Bait House says last week there were good catches of black drum, sheepshead, redfish and seatrout. Donnie repeated a familiar refrain that black drum are everywhere! Actually they're not everywhere but black drum numbers look good! Most of the redfish are still small but enough are keeper size if you're desiring a few. Large redfish on the flats as well! Shrimp are plentiful! Cast netters should have little trouble in finding bait but shrimp like fish constantly move. Depending on tide stage throwing a cast net might not be an option. Also if you're heading to favorite drop early in the morning the last thing you want to think about is finding bait. Fishing is all about timing. When the water is out of the grass you need to be fishing. When the water is in the grass throwing a cast will likely be fruitless. Granted there are exceptions to every pattern. In general when the water is grass casting will be poor. Blue bird days, days with not a cloud in sky can also poise a problem. My suggestion is buy your bait or try to get your bait lined up a day ahead of time. Shrimping like fishing will have its own skill set. Some questions that need to addressed are how effective is your boat in extremely shallow water? Does your boat clean up easily? Is the bow or stern clear for easy throwing? If your boat sticks in the mud can you unstick it with minium effort? One fairly effective way to handle your boat if you're not sure (of how well you can manage it in shallow water) is set the anchor in front of gully with enough water under your boat that you're comfortable you wont get stuck. In a few casts you'll quickly find out if on shrimp or not. Sometimes while putting down a bank I'll watch my wake slap against the bank. If I see shrimp kicking up then this is where I want to shrimp. For me shrimping like fishing is all about timing (I already mentioned about tide stage specifically the water needs to be out of the grass. Next a few words about duration, how long does it take?). I look at the activity of shrimping as enjoyable but I try to limit my throwing time to half hour. If I'm spending hours to catch to a quart of shrimp I feel should be doing something else. Half an hour seems like a reasonable amount of time. Don't be afraid to venture off the beaten path and throw in areas where you haven't seen another person throwing. You might rewarded with tons of bait. Before I conclude on cast netting a few words about net size. Old timers would throw a small three or four foot net to locate shrimp then switch to larger net. Whatever net you decide on. You should be able to comfortably throw it for hours and into a wind (if need be). Lots of differing thought on length. A lot of that will depend your comfort, what you've gotten used to and the water depth you're casting. Cast nets from 5 to 10 feet can be extremely effective. A lighter net will throw easier and pick up less crude. On the other hand a lighter net will sink slower. My opinion is you need at least two or three nets depending on conditions and the kind of bait you're after. For shallow shrimping a 5,6 or 7 foot light (west coast) net is fine! For menhaden you're going be throwing in water from 7 to 25 feet deep. You want a net 6 foot and larger that sinks fast. I use the same quick sinking net for menhaden, mullet and deeper shrimp. Allen at River Supply has put together a good selection of light, heavy and speciality nets. It's always a good to hold a net before buying. You'll be surprised at the differences. A modern monofilament cast net is generally thought to last for a season or two. If you've had your net for 15 years or more you're likely not throwing it much or the bottom is clean of debris, good for you!. A cast net typically will last a season or two with pretty hard use. That said you still get what you pay for. Look for nets closer to the top end rather than the bottom. Have a back up net in case the one you're throwing gets rips up. Gone are the days when you see firemen outside of the Oglethrope branch fire department making nets. Today's net are all monofilament machine made. These machine made nets are pretty good. I miss the old cloth nets on the other hand today's new nets are hard to beat. When disposing of an old net take it to Allen at River Supply or another tackle shop for recycling. The lead can be used for another net or for sinkers. The mono is likely remelted for fishing line.
The only we did not touch on was mesh size. First and foremost make sure what you intent to do is legal. Get the regulations for the state you're throwing in (whether South Carolina, Georgia or Florida). My cast netting is in Georgia. My mesh size of choice is ½ inch (I look at shrimp as bait not food) but there are plenty options and reasons for a different size mesh. My suggestion is talk it over with the folks you're buying your tackle from. Let them what know what you're thinking about and listen to their recommendations. After 1 March 2009 you will need a 5/8 mesh net for food shrimping. The limits are more restrictive for bait shrimp only two quarts, 48 quarts heads for food shrimp. Make sure you understand the regulations and have the right net for the job specifically that complies with the regulations and works.
Hope this of help! Fishing has been great! Some very nice seatrout and redfish this week. Some late season tarpon and jacks are around for those desiring to tussle with a big fish!
Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan Keep only what you intend to eat and release the rest!
Sep 25, 2008
The weather has been bumpy! Big tides and persistent strong north, northeast, northwest winds have made conditions challenging. It's possible to catch fish in less than ideal conditions just more problematic. What to look for? First, try fishing protected water. In short get out of the wind. If fishing protected water is not working try putting the wind at your back and fish wind driven grass lines where bait could be pushed in. Redfish are plentiful!. Most of these fish are still a little under sized but some keepers are showing up as well (14 inch Ga size). Large red are on the prowl as well so don't think all you're going to catch are small fish. The bait of choice is shrimp. Shrimp are plentiful! Big tides can drive shrimp from the creeks and river into the sounds. Banks that were holding lots of shrimp a week ago can be void of today. River and creeks that have current pulling from two directions are more likely to hold shrimp. River and creeks with a direct flow to the sound are more likely during big tides to be washed out. Persistent winds have created higher than expected tides, holding water and causing conditions to appear more brackish than normal.
Despite challenging conditions good fish can be caught! When low pressure system finally work through fishing should be good. Indications were strong before the fronts. Good catches of large seatrout, tarpon were thick on the outer bars and good redfish action. Those venturing into the wind can catch some nice fish! For seatrout if traditional popping cork rigs don't work try fishing deeper. Lots of reports of small seatrout. Fish that are almost legal will be keeper size in a few weeks! Black drum bite has been good to excellent. Black drum love wood, so fish dock piling, snags, dead trees anything with wood. Some sheepshead action. Sheepshead can be found close to pilings or hanging on oyster covered points. Both black drum and sheepshead can be a light biting fish. When fishing a shrimp one trick is to tail hook the bait and crush the head. Good whiting action near the sounds when the sounds have been calm enough to fish.
Tides have been unusually high due to strong north, northeast winds. Anticipate big water to remain till fronts work through. Conditions are challenging. Lots of small fish or as Miss Judy would say lots of "fetish fish". Little fish that specialize in stealing a bait. Just because you're out of the wind, you've found clean water doesn't meant going catch bigger fish. On one recent trip while waiting before picking up at Miss Judy"s I noticed lots finger mullet working a point. In about three cast I had about four dozen finger mullet. Several were flung off during the day but several enticed a nice fish! A bait fish is a great bait and provide a plus in catching some nice fish. Big seatrout and redfish love finger mullet. A piece of cut mullet is also a great bait!
Hope this of help! Anticipate dicey conditions until fronts work through. If the opportunity avails itself put some finger mullet in your bait well it might save the day!
Good fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Sep 15, 2008
Sounds like a familiar refrain: fishing has been good! This week plenty of action with redfish and black drum. Larger fish on cut bait, finger mullet and some shrimp. Smaller redfish on shrimp. Small redfish, this year's crop, are large enough to eat a plastic and can provide plenty of action. Most of these fish are 13 to 13 ½ inches, still a little under sized for keeping, but lots of fun on light tackle. Ladyfish seem to be everywhere. Again a great fight on light tackle! Most of the black drum are about two pounds. Black drum like sheepshead can be a little tough to clean but tasty! Black drum and sheepshead bite best in slower moving currents. The last couple of weeks catching plenty of black drum with an occasional sheepshead. Black drum are schooling in the rivers as well as in the sounds. When fishing for drum dead shrimp will work fine. The trick is get your bait close to the bottom and be prepared to set your hook at the slightest twitch. Small redfish are hungry so again an early hook set is best. Lots of small seatrout reported being caught this week. A good sign for fall fishing! As of yet not many seatrout have moved upriver. As bait, shrimp, continues to push into local creeks and rivers anticipate seatrout and redfish to follow. The better catches of seatrout have been towards the sounds. The whiting bite is good. Lots of whiting in the sounds. A usual method is to drop anchor slightly off center of a channel, along a sand bar or mud flat and bottom fish. Typically it doesn't take long to get some bumps. Small sharks as well a variety of small fish are still thick in local waters so having an ample supply bait is a good idea.
When speaking today with Don Adams, owner of Adams Bait Shop, Donny said shrimping is good but it's a lot like fishing. Shrimp are here today and somewhere else tomorrow. Despite wind, rain and increasing tides Donny has been able to find shrimp. The shrimp are a nice size for fishing! Again having an ample supply of shrimp while fishing is a good idea. Pesky needlefish are present as well yellow tails, croakers and the like. Those who like eating a small fish yellow tails and croakers are excellent eating little fish. Anticipate being kidded if a buddy see you cleaning a small fish but they are good! This year for the first since childhood I ate couple of croakers. Very much reminded me of childhood (the little fish were tasty).
As tides continue to build throughout the week anticipate conditions to be more challenging. Larger tides will mean muddier water with more floating debris. The afternoon low tides during the week are in the positive range possibly mitigating conditions. The tides on Wednesday and Thursday are the highest with a 8.3 and 8.4 feet respectively. As tides builds look for areas with clean water, bait , birds and slower currents. On days with the higher tides focus your fishing on the top or bottom of tide. In muddy water usually you'll find clean water right against the grass. Try to notice if the water in the grass is muddy if not you can likely catch seatrout and redfish by fishing right against the grass. Small fish can be nuisance. If you're being overwhelmed by small fish pull anchor and try another spot. Remember fish have tails and just because you caught fish on a drop recently doesn't mean they are there today. Keep moving you'll likely find them!
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Sep 11, 2008
Fishing has been good up and down the coast! Good catches of seatrout south of Savannah. Good redfish and black drum action in the Savannah area as well as north of Savannah. Some flounder but the flounder bite appears to have slowed. The whiting bite has been good in the rivers around Savannah. Shrimp are plentiful but on the move. Shorelines that are holding plenty of shrimp one day can be empty the next. Typically when a caster find shrimp it only takes a few minutes to boat several quarts. The shrimp are still a little on the small for eating but ideal for fishing. Good schools of mullets can be seen in local creeks and rivers. Mullet are an excellent bait for big seatrout and redfish! When the opportunity avails itself don't pass up putting a few mullet in your livewell! Seatrout action has been fair with some large trout as well small trout in the mix. Most of the action the past couple of weeks has been with black drum and redfish. Lots of small redfish an inch to half inch under size with a few of this year's fish already 14 to 15 inches. Good schools of redfish 20 to 29 inches with even reports of a few ocean sized redfish coming into the backwaters. As bait pushes in anticipate the fall bite to heat up! Luckily we on the Georgia coast have missed the brunt of the storms for the past few weeks. Lots of clean water despite higher than normal tides and lots of wind. Fishing has been good with catches in the sounds, in the river and the creeks. Lots of trash fish: pin fish, needle fish, yellow tails to name a few. Having an ample supply of bait when this time of year is a good idea! Live bait, artificials, and cut bait will work. Sometimes a cut bait can produce a better fish than a shrimp. The idea is bigger fish feed on fish. When jig fishing stay in touch with your jig or you'll leave lots jigs in the fish. Trying to remove a jig from deep inside a seatrout or redfish will result in killing the fish almost every time. Cut your line as close to jig as possible and release the fish. The fish has a much better chance working the jig through its digestive system than yanking it out. When you feel a bump set the hook. Missing a few fish is preferable to leaving lots of jigs in fish. When jig fishing you need to stay on your game. As soon the jig touches the water you need to be prepared to set the hook. The bait can be hot! One trip we caught three redfish with nothing on the jig, not a bait, not a plastic (one of the fish was a keeper). When the bite is on a delayed reaction will mean the fish will swallow the jig down to its crushers. You want to enjoy the fish and treat them as gently as possible. Fish engulfing your jigs means you need to tighten your game.
The bite has been good if not great! Several times we could have loaded the boat. To the credit of the those on board we've only taken some that going to be quickly eaten. Seafood is best fresh. Usually once fish or game is in the freezer it's quickly forgotten. Most inshore trips should be viewed as an adventure rather than loading the boat. Yes catching quality fish is possible but most fish need to be released.
Tides are continuing to build throughout the week but will remain in the good range through the weekend. As tides build seatrout bite will likely pick up. Despite wind and rain fishermen should be able to find plenty of clean water. Redfish, black drum, sheepshead will likely be good. Seatrout action will likely pick up as drifts improve.
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Aug 27, 2008
Last week fishing was hampered by tropical storm Fay. On the water Monday, Saturday and Sunday. Despite lots of rain Don Adams of Adam's Baithouse reported that shrimp are plentiful and the water is clear despite the rain and wind. Strong weather events usually result in muddy water and higher than normal tides. For some reason still plenty of clean water. Prior to the storm we had plenty of bites. Catching fish was difficult due to the wind. Nonetheless we caught some nice seatrout. As the main brunt of the storm passed wind was still big factor. We found lots of black drum and redfish in the heads of some creeks. In a four hour trip we likely had two dozen or more black drum (2 to 4 pounds) with half a dozen redfish from 20 inches on up. This is a good day for any conditions much less marginal conditions. Most of the shark action in Warsaw has been confined to small sharks about 18 inches. Some whiting being caught. Reports of good catches of whiting and redfish in Tybee Creek. Fishermen who were able to get out of the wind and find clean water had a good chance of catching fish. As Fay pushed away fisherman were able to return to the water. Lots of small redfish still being caught. Most of these fish are around 13 ½ inches. We landed some nice redfish up to 10 pound, a few flounders and some seatrout. Anticipate the best action to be deep until top layer of fresh water mixes with the salt. Lots of small redfish and seatrout. Nicer fish can be caught on the flats but the best recent action for seatrout has been by those fishing deep. Lots of small fish so bring plenty of bait! Bait shops should have good supplies of bait but you never know. Throwing can be fun and effective way to catch your own bait. My thought is that if takes more than about 30 minuets to get a quart you're better off buying the bait. Sometimes you'll find the bait shops are closed or out of bait so throwing your cast net can work. A couple of days ago after 30 minuets of throwing with not much to show for it I decided to throw for a few more minuets. It might be an exaggeration but I think I had about three quarts in six casts. Pretty amazing! The bait, shrimp, are about prefect fishing size. Lots of bait means it wont be long till seatrout and redfish are in the creeks and rivers. Of course there are fish in the back waters now but in the coming weeks these fish will gain size and there will be more of them!
Capt. Wild Bill Jarrell of Yellow Bluff reported spotting lots tarpon! Finding bait for tarpon fishing can be problematic. Plenty of pogies one day and gone the next. I always recommend getting some bait the day before fishing. Lots of rain can drive pogies out of the sound. Dead baits can work well for tarpon just make sure the bait is fresh! A typical summer wind is a south, southwest wind. Sounds pretty easy to fish. The fronts of barrier island can get pretty bumpy. Most tarpon are caught early or on overcast and cloudy days. This is true seatrout and redfish as well.
When asked does it look a good season for fishing? My answer is absolutely, YES! So far plenty of bait. We have had good rain. The marshes look lush and green. Most folks are in agreement the limits we have on seatrout and redfish are working. It wasn't many years ago that Georgia had no limits. Limits means lots of fish are being released that otherwise would not. In the last few weeks I've released several redfish that been caught more than once. Even when a fish is legal size you don't have to kept it. Kept what you want to eat and release the rest.
Tides this week are a little funky with evening tides over 8.2 and 8.3 feet on Friday and Saturday respectively. Tides aren't the best. Fishing could be good to poor going into the Labor Day weekend. The safe bet is to anticipate fair fishing, Thunderstorms are always a summertime possibility. Fishing could be problematic but you never know unless you go! Hope you have fun on the water! Beat a fast retreat if storms pop up!
Before closing a few words about attending a recent CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) meeting. The theme of meeting of the meeting was resource first! What a great theme! In short a great a resource can mean great fishing! This is what the CCA is advocating! This something all who enjoy the coast can be proud to get behind. Support your local CCA chapter!
Hope this of interest and help!!
Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Aug 18, 2008
Last week there were several reports of large seatrout. The biggest fish were found around beach front; although large fish were caught in rivers near the sounds as well! Ample amount of rain meant most of the large were in deeper water (8 to 12 feet). An adjustable float rig with live shrimp or finger mullet was the prescribed method. Fish are deep during periods of heavy rain. Shrimp in a bait bucket hanging off a dock will often die if there is a lot rain in a short period of time. Freshwater is literally floating on the saltwater. The most favorable place for a large seatrout after a period of heavy rain is deep. Smaller male seatrout can be found be the shallows. Fishing deep is trickier. A rip or current line might be visible but it is just as likely there wont be any visible indications. Fishing deep you're still looking for structure. The structure could be submerged trees, a man made object, a ledge, or a hole to name a few. A favorite tide is low incoming. Although you'll find various drops work at various tides. Large seatrout are an exciting fish. Exciting to catch, fun to look at and good eat! With that said my strong encouragement is for most large seatrout to be released. These large fish are holding next year's crop. Wendell Harper reputed as likely the best seatrout fisherman on the Georgia coast has said that these large fish should be released. This is from a man who makes a good portion of his living catching seatrout. If Wendell believes releasing large seatrout can have a positive impact on the resource then it is likely so. A statement from fishing guides is that whatever the limit is then as long they are within the limit everything is fine. A few years the Georgia DNR had a program that would meant a slot limit in other words releasing large fish (over 20 inches). The program never materialized due to a lack of funding. Staying with in the limits is like meeting the minimum requirement. What do you do when large seatrout are biting and your folks want to keep everyone. You try to encourage going light on the resource. When possible whether a recreational fisherman or charter fish for a variety of fish. Say you keep a couple of large seatrout, a redfish, some whiting, a couple of sharks and you have a mess of fish. Maybe in few years my outlook will be different but as of now it looks like we have plenty of sharks perhaps even too many. Keeping a shark one or two means you be saving a bunch of seatrout. from either being caught by you or chopped by a shark.
Speaking of sharks. Sharks can be found along the sandbars off Warsaw. Fresh water has a tendency to drive fish out and deep. When the water in the sound is salty that usually when the shark is on. Big bait, large menhaden are in some weeks and out on others. Reports of large bait has been consistent off the sandbars off the north jetty. Bait will mean tarpon, kingfish, jack and large sharks. When bait is not present it's possible to catch predator fish just not as likely as when large schools of bait are present. August is usually the peak month for tarpon! If storms do not kick up the tarpon bite should be good! If you're struggling finding menhaden try catching some bait fish like pinfish with rod and reel. It's pretty fun and should be easy to do. Just down size your hook to number 6 or so and fish dead bait on the bottom near a dock or grass line. You might first try chumming them up with some little bits of shrimps.
Tides for this week are definitely on the increase although the highest is only 7.8 feet on Sunday. Tides should be good for seatrout! Here is a report on the BurnsideBopper that was a long time in coming. The float is an excellent float! Made well with several qualities that competitors do not have. It is locally made and definitely a superior product. I have no hesitation in recommending these two floats. The larger is made for conventional (8 to 9foot) casting tackle. This is tackle that now days I don't fish much. This probably the reason for the delay in writing about this float. I was used the larger float on a heavier 7 foot spinning tackle for large sharks, tarpon and jacks. The float did ok. When I fished the float as it was intented it did a fine job! The idea is a popping float for a casting rod that could you fish along the beach front for seatrout. This float does the job. Strengths of both the smaller and larger version: a unique design apt for casting, good sound, no additional weight needed and a more substantial main wire that is most resistant of any float on the market to bending. Sandfly Tackle Shop is a supplier or you can find the float on line at www.burnsidebopper.com. Good float! If you fish casting rods youll 'want this float. The smaller is a winner as well. The larger one is a must!
Hope this report is of interest and help. Remember to practice catch and release when possible!
Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Aug 9, 2008
Coming off Spring tides fishing is improving! Big tides in the evenings slowed fishing due to strong currents, muddy water and strong wind. Strong wind exacerbated high evening high tides. Fishermen could catch fish in lee shores and in areas with slower currents. In these areas the bite was mostly small redfish, seatrout as some well flounder. Action was fair. The shark/tarpon bite slowed as well. Sharks generally are believed to have fair to poor eye sight. Muddy water can make finding a bait nearly impossible for most any fish. Typically ladyfish rise to the challenge of strong currents and muddy water. Ladyfish have large eyes with likely excellent sight. A drop that might typically produce seatrout in clean water is producing ladyfish in dirty water. Ladyfish can be hoot to catch! Handling this fish is another story. Put a wet towel over the fish. Ladyfish are extremely slimy. A ladyfish if it does not throw the hook your hook can fight itself to its death. Reel fast just keep up with a lady! Use a rubber mesh landing net in lieu of nylon net. This will help keep the slime coat on the fish. After netting when you grab the fish (with the wet towel) turn it up side down. The fish should momentarily stop its crazy antics. Quickly remove the hook and chunk it back to fight another day.
It looks like a great year for redfish! Salutations to the Georgia DNR and to the CCA of Georgia (if need more information on either check my website for a link or goggle). In short we are seeing lots of small first year redfish in the creeks and rivers. A lot of these fish are likely a result of a program conducted by DNR and the CCA to study the efficacy of stocking redfish in Warsaw sound. In short this is something every coastal fisherman needs to get behind! A tangible way is to communicate to both organizations that we are seeing benefits and that the program is of great value to our fishery. The Redfish Rally is a tournament which is designed like all tournaments to have fun but more specifically it generates needed funds for this program. My encouragement is for all interested in redfish on our coast participate in the tournament or at least sign for the tournament or even better make a contribution greater than the entry fee or consider turning your prize back in to be used again for this program and last but not least ask the DNR about participating in the fin clipping program or carcass recovery program. A healthy redfish population is vital to our fishery. Do all you can to get behind the Peach State Redfish Initiative!
The bite this summer has been good! During a recent CCA tarpon tournament several boats landed and released several tarpon. We are having a good tarpon season! Several boats have landed four or five in an outing. This is great fishing! Landing one tarpon takes some doing. Landing several means you're around fish and you’re doing a lot things right! This year we've had a lot big ocean pogies come into the sounds. As a result the tarpon bite has been better than the last several years. The bite can still be mercurial. Meaning fish are here one day and gone the next. When the bait is in (the sounds), the fish (tarpon) will close by. When tarpon have vanished there are likely some around you. Look for tarpon on rips, passes and cuts around the sand bars, bait (large ocean menhaden) and big birds (pelicans) crashing the bait. When schools of menhaden are being crashed from above it's likely there is an intense food chain below with tarpon, sharks and jacks present. Sharks can thick and bites instantaneous and intense! Anticipate the shark/tarpon action to be strong throughout August!
Tides for the second week in August looks good! If weather permits there should plenty of opportunity to fish during the week. Bite should be good for small redfishs, seatrout, flounder, shark/tarpon and jacks. Larger redfish can be caught but as the flats heat up look for larger reds in deeper water. Lots of trash fish around so have plenty on hand. On the other there is lots of shrimp in the rivers and creeks. Small trash fish that you would normally discard could be a great bait for shark/tarpon. Keeping some trash fish can mean the difference in landing a big fish. Recently we kept some bait stealers and later converted those small ones for some large ones. So you never know. You can spend a lot of time and gas searching for bait with a cast net or just a few minuets fun fishing. By the way those who have been concerned about the croakers can sleep easy. Eight and nine inch croakers are seemingly ever where. In short the cycle for croakers is definitely up! This is a good thing!
Hope this report is of help and of interest! Remember to practice catch and release!
Good fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jul 28, 2008
Creeks and rivers are full of shrimp! One fisherman said in about twenty casts he had about two quarts. That's pretty good! Shrimp are still a little small but most part ideal for fishing. As tides build in the next few days anticipate some shrimp to be pulled into the sounds. Nonetheless there should be plenty of bait shrimp for those casting a net. The seatrout bite has ranged from average to excellent. On some days seatrout are biting fast and furious. On other days catching a few is good. Catching seatrout is all about the drift and finding clean water. Some tarpon are in. We have been seeing one or two tarpon while trout fishing. Large numbers of tarpon have yet to push in. Although large menhaden are in the sounds and around the beach fronts. With large bait in it wont be long till predators fish find them: tarpon, large sharks, jacks, spanish and even kings. Look for baits being pushed to the surface or pelicans working the bait. Large bait, large fish. While trout fishing a nice tarpon cruised between our boat and a shell rake. The 70 or 80 pound tarpon cruised against the current as gentle as you please. Jon's took a cast at the tarpon which landed well onto the shells. Fish fever! I told him not to worry had we hook up that fish likely would have jumped and landed on the shells. The fish was within a couple of feet of the shell rake. Jon and Sydney landed a few large black tips earlier in the morning then we switched to trout fishing. Fishing has been good!
The shark bite is changing. There have been lots of small sharks in local waters. Bonnet heads are still plentiful. The large concentration of atlantic sharp nose appear to have moved out of Warsaw. Large sharks are in! A couple of reports of lots of black tip sharks north of Savannah. The word has been pretty consistent some tarpon are in local waters. Look for more tarpon in the coming weeks. Those targeting reds on the flats are finding fish more difficult. As tidal flats heat up small fish push in. Redfish usually will seek deeper cooler water as conditions heat up. Look for the best inshore days when there is cloud coverage. High pressure, clear sky, little breeze often means slow fishing. We've had many days with lots of cloud coverage. Usually the best bet during the summer is to start fishing early and try to be off the water by two. Usually around one thirty in the afternoon a sea breeze will kick in. This breeze is out of the east and typically brisk. Lots of seatrout in all size ranges. Good fishing now and an indicator of good fishing this fall! Lots of little redfish around. It's common to catch a redfish or two in your cast net. One fisherman said he recently caught a couple of keeper spanish while throwing his cast net for some menhaden. Plenty of small three inch finger mullet as well as larger mullet in the rivers .
In the past few weeks we've hooked up landed dozen of big black tips. One thing that I keep saying is "the bend is your friend". Let the rod fight the fish. In just a couple of fights a fisherman can get experience what its like to fight a large fish. Last week a charter, Hurricane Mike, hooked up, fought and successfully landed several large fish. We got a few glimpses, two or three, at a silver king but did not hook up one that day. When large baits are in and the water quality is good large fish wont be far behind!
As July winds down tides are increasing. Large tides are in the evening and not over 8.4 feet. Despite large tides fishing should be good! Expect fishing to be slower on days with little or no cloud coverage. Try to avoid the heat of the day. Fish early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Contrary to conventional thought a few stripers being landed as well as some trout in rivers that have a fresh water source. Shrimp are doing well. Crabs are doing fair to poor. Not sure why crabs are hard to come by.
That's all! Hope this report of interest and help! Practice catch and release and support your local CCA Chapter.
Good fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jul 14, 2008
Fishing this summer has been good! Several days during the week of 4th despite big tides good catches of redfish in all size ranges, black drum, seatrout and flounder. Are conditions favorable to fish? The answer is often a little tricker than looking at a tide chart. Although a tide chart is usually a good place to start it can be a little misleading. If you're waiting for prefect conditions you'll likely never fish. In short, fish the conditions. For seatrout seek places with good drifts, clean water, bait and perhaps seeing the fish as well. A good drift is about the speed of a slow walk. Not too fast, not too slow. Both incoming and outgoing tide can effective tides to fish. A good of thumb is in about half an hour if you haven't caught some good fish or had some good bites move on. Fish have tails. Just because the conditions look promising does not mean you're going to catch fish there today.
What to look for. When spotting bait. Look for bait that's being pushed to the surface. This can mean there are predator fish under the bait. Small bait such as a small menhaden flicking to the surface can mean small blue fish or seatrout. Any bait being forced to the surface is worth a few casts. Birds working the bait is another great indicator of fish. The larger the bait, the larger the fish. Large schools of large menhaden, pogies, might indicate jacks, black tip sharks, spanish, tarpon and other predator fish. Bait can be a strong indicator of fishing success. When possible fish the bait!
Summer time fishing usually focuses around the barrier islands. Flounder can be found along the banks of sandy bottom creeks and rivers close to the sounds. Likewise the best seatrout bite is usually close to sound or beach. Redfish action typically slow down during the dog days of summer. Reds are still on the flats but overlook fishing deeper water for redfish during the summer. Small reds are about 10 to 11 inches now. These little guys are just big enough to take a bait and bend your rod. When you're into small reds catch a few and move or anticipate on going through a lot of bait. If you catch one you're likely to catch a bunch!
Large bonnet head sharks are in local waters. Right now it's typical to see a bonnet head pinning shrimp and crabs against the bank A shark is an opportunist feeder. Feeding on almost anything in front of it. It's common to hear of a shark eating someone's seatrout while they were reeling it in. While trout fishing we had a line that just broke. Likely a shark cut the line while swimming through the water with its mouth agape. As the unattached float is floating off a fish hits and hooked himself. In a few minuets we recovered the float only to find a fish head attached to the hook. A shark subsequently hit the hooked fish. In short there are plenty of sharks in local water! This week we seen mostly bonnet heads and small black tips about two feet or so. Different weeks different sharks show up. As the male sharp nose became scarce larger females showed up. Bonnet head and black tips have been consistent. A few weeks male atlantic sharp nose sharks were everywher. Anticipate large fish on days when large bait pushes in. Acres of bait being worked by pelicans can mean large fish are on the rampage. Often strikes are immediate and powerful! So much for waiting for hours for a bite. It all about the bait.. When bait is present it's likely predator fish wont be far behind.
Often I'm asked what's the best time to fish a drop. It isn't a one size fits all answer. The norm would be hour and half on either side of the tide. Trust me this sacrosanct. This can vary one day to the next. The safe bet is to make sure you have enough water to float your boat. As you spend time on the water look for patterns and try to duplicate it other places. Like the birds and sharks be opportunistic. If a rip set up try fishing it you might be rewarded with some nice trout. Look for entrance and exist place in the grass that redfish will likely travel. Fish are creatures of habit. It's about finding what they like and giving them what they want. One fishermen today said he's catching plenty of trout. His secrete get away from the people. Basically this fishermen is fishing less fished water. Sounds pretty simple but actually it's very smart. Conventional wisdom says fish where the boats are. A fisherman who catching fish says get away from the boats. You be the judge.
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Practice catch and release!
May 28, 2008
Fishing has been for the most part good! When tides have been small, the current has been slow likewise the bite was slow. For the most part the best seatrout bite has toward high water close to the sounds. Shrimp are still scare. Some bait shops are carrying Florida shrimp: Ray's at the beach and Adam's Baitshop in Thunderbolt. The down side to Florida is they are small. The upside is you have bait, it's hardy and will catch fish. Peanut size menhaden can be seen in thick schools. Having a cast net is a good idea! Small menhaden are another very good bait for seatrout. When fishing a small bait downsize your hooks from a 1/0 or 2/0 to a # 2 or even smaller size. This is also a good time to fish a bleeding bait (red) hooks. Seatrout action can be very good when fishermen "find the fish". Even when fishing a hot spot timing is everything. Usually a drop will produce for a certain time. Then the bite will slow. Good flounder action in the creeks off the intra coastal waterway on bait and plastics. Mud minnows and finger mullet are great bait for flounders. Flounders will readily eat cut bait such as a chunk of blue fish as well. Typically flounder, black drum and sheepshead bite best on days with small tides. Look for flounder during the lower stages of the tide. Some small brown shrimp in the head of creeks. When throwing cast net in the creeks expect to pick up a lot of mud and trash. Fishermen can cast for shrimp but at present they aren't plentiful. Usually by the 1st. of June small brown shrimp are plentiful enough for bait shrimpers to make drags.
For those wanting their lines tightened this is excellent time to play with some sharks. Lots of atlantic sharp nose sharks in local waters. Some black tips and bonnet heads present. Male sharp nose sharks are thick.
As May wraps up tide are on the increase. As tides build the bite will build till it reaches a diminishing point. Often fishermen arbitrarily pick a number as the diminishing point. For some fisherman 8 feet is the magic number for others 8.1 or 8.2 or 8.3 or some other number. You can catch fish on tides over 8 feet. We have had outstanding days on tides in the 9 foot range. In general on high tides look for clean water and places with gentler currents.
Hope this of help for the coming week! Practice catch and release!
Good fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
May 20, 2008
The bite has been good! As Spring tides abated the bite has picked up. The flounder bite is picking up! Generally Memorial day can be thought of as the time when flounder fishing starts. These fish can be caught on mud minnows, shrimp, finger mullet as well plastics and cut bait. The whiting bite is still very good. Lots of sharks in local waters: black tips, atlantic sharp nose, bonnet heads are providing most of the action. Small blue fish and lady fish are also present. Sea trout during the summer are usually around the front side of the barrier islands. Redfish can be found in areas with favorable conditions. As temperature rises look for redfish holding around docks, in deeper water and where bait is present.
Shrimp will be in short supply for the next few weeks. A few bait shops are importing shrimp from Florida: Yellow Bluff Marina and the Tybee Island Baitshop to name two. Adams baitshop is finding some local white shrimp. These shrimp are large and generally more difficult to keep alive. Nonetheless, large shrimp will catch fish. Artificial shrimp can work well under a popping float. Mud minnows are also a good alternative to shrimp. Brown shrimp will start showing up in a few weeks. Until then anticipate bait to be problematic. Bo Bowen owner of Bandy's is recovering from lung surgery. Bo's wife Liz has been running the shop. Keep Bo and Liz in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult period.
Fishermen and boaters should check all safety equipment making sure all items are present, in good working, and up to date. A check list of Georgia and federal requirements can be found at most tackle or marine supply stores. Reading the regulations on boating and safety equipment could spare a ticket and perhaps prevent a worst situation. In short the regulations are for the benefit of all who use the resource. One common infraction is calling up porpoises by slapping the hull of your boat. This activity that can put porpoises closer to humans than intended. Reading the regulations and finding what's legal and be beneficial.
Tides for the remainder of the month look good. Tides will be springing as we head into June. Spring tides are higher tides than normal. As a general statement tides increasing in size over 8 feet become more difficult to fish. Generally tides in the 9 foot range are thought as spring tides. Wind and strong tide can make fishing difficult. When conditions become rough fish lee shores and try to fish spots with wind and tide working together. Tides for the next couple of weeks look good!
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
May 1, 2008
Fishing has been good! The pattern has been a little fall like in that some fishermen are finding lots of fish while others are struggling. Last week on a couple of occasions the bite was more of a bump than a bite. These light biting fish are usually large roe trout that haven’t move to beach front. The bite has been very good to very slow. The big factor isn’t finding bait and clean water. It’s simply finding the fish. Sea trout are in the sounds and on the inside. The bite is the sound in more traditional bite with sea trout slamming the bait! On the inside the bite has been soft and slow. Slow soft can mean big trout. Large roe are impressive to catch but better yet to catch and release! If the trout fishing thus far is an indicator of the fishing ahead we should have very good year. Sea trout action is taking center stage. Nice redfish can still be found on the flats. Although as things heat up anticipate more shark and toothy fish to appear.
A couple of reports of early season tarpon from Capt. Ray Crawely and Capt. Rick Reynolds. Both have either seen or hooked a tarpon. Large schools of ocean pogies have not shown up. Smaller river pogies can be found. Mullet in the Savannah River as well as in the sounds. The whiting bite has been very good to excellent. We caught a whiting the other day on a new penny jerk worm that was 14 inches. Thinking this was a redfish I put it the live well with another redfish to get a fin clipping for the DNR a little later in the day. To my chagrin one of our reds was a whiting. It was a large whiting! Lots of good reports of nice whiting catches.
Don Adams is finding shrimp. His shrimp are large white shrimp that over wintered (survived the winter). These shrimp look more appropriate for eating but will do fine in catching fish. Trash fish are present. When you get a bite look at what’s missing from you shrimp. This will give a good clue what kind of fish you’re dealing with. Light bite could be a sheepshead, black drum or even a large roe trout. When bits and pieces are taken from the shrimp you’re probably dealing with a bait stealer or as Miss Judy says a “fetish fish”. These are simply small fish that specialize in stealing your bait.
As we head into the first weekend in May we’re heading into Spring tides. The tides are getting progressively larger. Tides will be in the difficult range starting Saturday May 3 through Saturday May 10. This isn’t to say you can’t find fish. In general during for most fishermen the best time to fish on Spring tides is at the top or bottom of the tide. That being said quoting my uncle when is the best time to fish, it’s when you have the time. Hope this of help!
Good fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan 912.441.9930
Apr 25, 2008
One recent comment from a fisherman was this is typical Spring weather, eighty degrees one day, chilly and rainy the next, followed by fog Fishing despite changeable weather fishing has been pretty good. Nice sea trout in sounds, in the rivers and up river as well. Those finding fish have gone through lots of shrimp. Catches of ten or twelve fish have been typical. As tides began to Spring the bite has fallen off. Larry from Larry's Bait Shop in Port Wentworth has said there's plenty of bait up river. What this means is that local shrimp survived the winter. An abundance of bait means of course means bait for the fishermen and more importantly it's likely these fish will reproduce. All good things for a fisherman. Redfish action is primarily in the sounds. While shrimp is available not all creeks are holding bait. Areas with little bait mean few fish. Nature will fill in. In the mean time anticipate the fish to be where the bait is. Finger mullet being knocked out of water is a great sign of predator fish. Even if an area looks void of bait you might be surprised what's there. Once you in an area even the conditions look less great and there are no visible signs of bait. Slowing down and fishing the area could produce some nice fish. The key is just keep your bait or plastic in the water. If you get one good bite there's likely more.
The guys catching large numbers of fish are fishing shrimp. Those catching larger trout are often using bait fish or plastics that mimics a bait fish. This isn't to say a large trout wont readily take a shrimp, they will.
Whiting are coming in. In some places whiting have been large over twelve inches and thick. Recently Capt. Roger Straight had a bag full of whiting. We caught a nice bunch as well fishing close to beach on an incoming tide. We were anchored on the front side fishing a wind driven slick. When the slick would move and we were out of the slick the bite would slow down or stop. Letting more anchor rope enabled us to stay in the slick. Thank goodness for a heavy anchor a long anchor line. The whiting bite has been good. Small croaker can be a nuisance. If all you're catching are small croakers you better move. Shark action is heating up. Bonnet head and sharp nose sharks are moving into local waters. So far most of the sharpnose sharks have been males. Anticipate shark action to heat as water temperature raise. A few days we saw large bull sharks coming all the way out of water. It's not unusual to see a large ray or dolphin going airborne but seeing what look like bull sharks going airborne is pretty wild!
Another sign of Spring is look for birds feeding on bait fish. This can be an indicator for a good seatrout or redfish bite. The birds are likely feeding on glass minnows. We found seatrout in close and other toothy fish further out. This bite did not last long. As quick as we on it the dolphin found it as well. We did get several hook up and got only one trout to the boat before we were busted. Big tides, spring tides can literally pull bait and fish into the sounds when this happens dolphin can become much more aggressive in their search for food.
As tides and abate anticipate the bite to pick back up. In the mean time fish lee shores when the wind is up and look for drift (current) that isnt' too fast (about a walking pace).
Hope this of help. Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Mar 24, 2008
Typically as Spring approaches the weather can be mercurial. Last week fit the pattern: changeable weather with windy conditions. On one of the windiest days we still caught some nice seatrout pitching plastics (chartreuse or new penny Bass Assassins sea shads and Exude jerk baits). Pitching plastics was effective because the drift, flow of water was poor. Pitching enable fishermen to cover water and find fish. When the winds abated redfish could be found in the sounds. Lots of redfish already in the 14 to 16 inch range. Some flats are holding large numbers of fish about 27 inches. Reds are taking wide variety of artificial and natural baits. At present shrimp are available if not plentiful. It has been said that last winter was relatively mild and there are plenty of shrimp that over wintered, that survived the winter and that local shrimp are available at some bait shops. This time of year the availability shrimp is always problematic so giving your local bait shop a call is a good idea.
During windy days look for clean water and lee shores. If the drift is poor switch to pitching or trolling. On days when the wind is laying the sounds can be productive. An ideal spot is one where there is a good drift, clean water and bait is present. The strongest catches of seatrout have been south of Savannah fishing bait. Fishing will pick up as water temperature raises. Fishermen targeting sheepshead have done well both inshore and near shore. Whiting bite is picking up and should heat up in the coming weeks. Seems early but few flounders have already been landed.
Tides for the coming week are small from 6.6 to 5.6 feet. Small tides are ideal for redfish and sheepshead. Smaller tides give fishermen a longer window to target sheepshead as well as finding fish further off the structure and possibly easier to catch. Small tides also mean fishermen can stay up the flats longer allowing for more time with the fish. Small tides can mean poor drifts so when targeting seatrout fish spots that are prone to more current. Top of tide fish points. One definition of fishing is covering water. Pitching or trolling plastics will enable fishermen to cover a lot water when the drift is slow. Once you locate fish stay in that area.
Hope this of help! Remember to practice catch and release! Good fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Feb 27, 2008
February is quickly coming to a close that means longer warmer days and hotter fishing! Fishing has been pretty good for this time of the year. Good schools of redfish on the flats. These fish can very spooky. The best days to target these fish are when there is little wind, some current and a little overcast. Don't wait for the perfect day there is no such thing. My uncle would say go when you can and make the best of what nature provides. Most of the fish in Warsaw this week were very gold in color likely fish that moved from a brackish environment to a salty one. Heavy rain can cause fish to move. Despite new fish on the flats they are extremely wary. Once these fish have been caught one or twice they are educated and less likely to keep falling for the same tricks. Noise is another factor. Simply motoring up on a flat this time will likely spook any fish that were holding. Winter time reds can be caught use a little more stealth as well as lighter tackle. If a fishermen isn't sure how to fish a flat simply sit and watch. What you want to notice is how fast or slow other fishermen are fishing and of course are they hooking up. During the winter you want to give fellow fishermen so much room its silly'. When in doubt whether you're too close to another fisherman err on the side of giving too much room. You can try your luck at that spot another day. Anticipate slower fishing with fewer hook up but some quality hook ups. Last week the bites for seatrout and redfish were soft. There were exceptions but in cold water fishermen need to slow their hook sets. Capt. Ray Crawely told me to slow it down on my hook set. On one fish I was convinced I had the fish and missed. Two things going on here: First an early hook set means you're either going to get him or you wont. Second, when you wait on hook set even with plastics there is a good chance the fish will swallow the lure, hook or jig down to his crunchers. Not good. The fish will have a pretty good chance of surviving by simply cutting the line as close to its' mouth as possible. Lastly while still on my soap box use your fish gripper just to steady the fish not to lift him. Lifting with a fish puts lots of pressure on the fish's internals and possibly can kill the fish. All this being said there are reds on the flats that can offer fun and excitement for those who enjoy stealthy fishing. Nature is always changing. This is the pattern is what's going on now in a few days the pattern will likely change again.
Good catches of sea bass, sheepshead and cold water sharks on near shore wrecks and structure. Its 'all about location. If you're not catching fish keep moving and looking. Lots small sea bass close in with some keepers. Bigger ones seem to be further out. The sheepshead bite has been good both offshore and inshore. Capt. Wild Bill and I fish yesterday in his waters landing 29 the number could have larger had Bill wanted to catch more. Lots of fish barely legal to under sized with some nice as well. Definitely great action! Capt. Wild Bill did a great job!
Striper bite appears to have stalled. Some of the guys that have been pretty consistent pulling deep running lures have come up empty. Stripers action will likely pick up as water in the Savannah River get cleans up. Just nature, the water upriver has been pretty dirty. Some seatrout or reds being caught on the top or bottom of the tide.
Seems early but reports of some whiting and blacktip sharks on the sandbars. Around mid March look for stag bass to start roaming the beach fronts. At great bait if mullet are scarce is cut whiting. Fishing has been good this winter. Looks like a good Spring ahead! Want to mention when fishing Capt. Wild Bill we encounter a bunch or yellow tails (bait steelers) already. A couple of good catches of seatrout the beach. As front push through fishing should pick up as conditions clean up.
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Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Feb 18, 2008
Winter is quickly slipping by. Some good reports of redfish in Warsaw. Most of the catches were ten fish or less. Winter can be a tricky time to fish. Days when the water just appears to raise and fall can be difficult to fish. Little current means fish aren’t as likely to move and cold water means fish aren't as eager to feed. Noise on days with little current can be another big factor. Seek spots where there is more current such as creeks, creek mouths and heads. Where you find current a food chain is possible.
This week we've caught some nice seatrout and redfish. Most of the were on Glups (only caught a few on bait - mud minnows and shrimp). Glups aren't the only plastic that will catch fish but this week we leaned on them. My suggestion is fish a couple of different plastic as well as a Glup. Switch to Glup if it is out performing the other. One day we did well on Glups. The following day we pitched a Booyah Boogee Bait, Bass Assassin jerk worms and Glups. All caught fish. Nonetheless, it's hard to get away from a Glup when you're thinking the bites might be few. The Booyah Bait is large mouth bass bait and should be excellent for stripers, redfish and trout. The bait pushes a lot water can be slow or fast, white color, good wide gap hook. Very good all purpose bait.
Not a lot of reports. Most of the fishing has been those targeting sheepshead on near shore wrecks as well as by inshore fishermen. Tides the last few days were good for those targeting sheepshead. The inshore catches have been respectable but most of the fish are small with a few bigger ones thrown in..
As weather warmed caught some large seatrout on plastic fishing the heads of creeks. The bite wasn't fantastic but have had several in the three pound range. For the most part the bites weren't aggressive rather a small bump or bumps. A fast hook set will likely mean you'll miss a fish. As temperature continue to raise anticipate a faster harder bite.
This time of porpoises can be problem. If after an hour or so on a favorite mud flat you detect no life you might as well take your chance and look elsewhere. It's likely porpoises have already worked over the flat you're trying to fish. Just because a flat looks beautiful doesn't mean it's holding fish. Fish move. It's not uncommon in the winter to have incredible bite one day and nothing the next. Winter fish can be very spooky and will tolerate only so much pressure from fishermen or porpoises. During the winter keep your eye pealed for any sign of bait. Popping finger mullet can give away seatrout or redfish. Fishing during the winter is a little tricky. On the other hand you'll likely have the river all to yourself and never know you could have a great day that could rival fishing at anytime of the year!
Larry of Larry's bait shop (912.272.7339) in Port Wenworth is now carrying fiddler crabs. Larry's is the only local shop with shrimp and one of the few shops open. Nonetheless it's still winter. Call ahead to make sure he still has bait. This is a difficult time to find bait and stay stocked. He's done a great doing what he's done. Local fishermen need to show their support. Shrimping is a tough business. Winter is a particularly tough time of year to be on the water.
Hope several of you who are reading this report were at Miss Judy's Inshore seminar on Saturday Feb.16th. and plan on attending next year! Fun day with lots of story told!
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jan 11, 2008
Received a call today from Larry, Larry's Bait & Tackle. Larry says he has shrimp and will likely have shrimp throughout the winter! Larry's phone is 912.272.7339. Larry's shop is located in Port Wentworth close to the Houlihan Bridge. Most bait shops in the Savannah area close during the winter. Bandy's located off of Diamond Causeway and Larry’s Bait & Tackle are two shops fishermen that are open for winter business..
Redfish action in Salt Pond has been consistent. Fishermen are averaging six or seven redfish per boat per outing. The numbers while not high have been consistent. Redfish are an excellent fish to release and catch. A seemingly large school can fish down by a relatively small number of boats in little time. Lots of small seatrout in the sounds. These small trout will grow quickly and should be a good sign for the coming year!
The unusual catch this week were large whiting in one of local creeks. The report was as fast as the rig would hit the bottom a large whiting would be on it. Whiting fishing isn't just during the fall and spring good whiting catches can happen during the winter!
Winter time is good time of the year to target deep holes in creeks at low water. It possible to see some spectacular winter fishing by working the holes. One favorite technique is pitching jigs or jerk worms. When your'e on the fish you'll know it! Fishing the flats is another favorite winter time pattern. These flats soak up heat when exposed during low water and releases heat energy as water flood over the flats. Bait and fish are attracted to these warmer spots. Flats can be red hot one day and cold the next. Keep in mind fish move. Generally a prime time for fishing the flats is from about hour and half into the incoming till an hour an half before high tide. The shallower draft of your boat the sooner you can get on the flat. Some boats require just a few inches. Think light when fishing the flats during winter. DOA shrimp are good choice. Down sizing your jigs to 1/8 oz. is likely a good move. When the water is still, not much current moving, and very clear fishing lighter can make a big difference!
Striper action appears to be slowing. One fisherman who has consistently been catching stripers caught just one after a full day of pulling lures. Striper fishing is little mercurial. Big catches followed by little or nothing. When this fish moves into local waters they make their present known. When they are scare fishing is tough. Should be some good striper ahead. Those fishing around the Houlinhan Bridge generally seem to do better on smaller tides with less current.
Winter is a great time of the year to be thinking sheepshead! The inshore catches are usually smaller fish and smaller numbers than what's caught on the wrecks. Nonetheless fishing dock and bridge pilings, rocks and fallen trees on the inside can be very productive.
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
HOPE TO YOU AT MISS JUDY'S INSHORE SEMINAR AT TUBBY’S. SATURDAY JAN.19TH! Give Miss Judy a call for details 912-897-2478..
Dec. 8, 2007
Fishing has been wide open until big tides started on Thanksgiving. Tides remained over 8 feet until Thursday November 29th. As tides abate and winds subside the bite pick up. It is possible to catch fish in the wind and on big tides. It is just much more difficult. Large tides literally pulls shrimp and bait fish into sounds. Cast netters who were having little problem catching bait found catching bait much more difficult. Mild weather and good tides can trigger a bite. There have good reports of sheepshead caught at the jetties. Seatrout, redfish and black drum can be caught be on good numbers particularly when using live shrimp. A few flounder being caught on average one or two in a day of fishing.
There are lots of tournaments most if not all benefit excellence causes. I wont try to recap all the local tournaments. In brief Capt. Matt Starling's boat took top honors in the Savannah leg of the Redbone Tournament (a pro/celebrity tournament benefitting cystic fibrosis). Capt. Allen Collins' boat took the runner up position. Capt. Brian Woelber's boat won the honors for most seatrout and your truly captained the boat for most redfish. Brad Goodman caught 18 reds the first day on plastics. Great effort by all involved! Most, if not all, tournament are for a "good cause". The purpose of this tournament is to benefit those suffering with cystic fibrosis. All fish caught in this tournament are measured and released. With increased fishing pressure not only from tournaments, charters and recreational fishing practicing catch and release can and will have a positive impact on our fishery. That said keeping some fish no problem. In general going light redfish is only smart. It take this fish four to five years to reach sexual maturity.
December has already yielded some good fishing! The weather for the most part has been mild. When not fighting wind fishing has been good to excellence! Seatrout are mercurial here today and gone tomorrow. There has been good action towards the sounds of large trout that appear to be in the early stages of spawning. Not all water is holding fish. Just like the earlier fall pattern if you not catching its time to move. Redfish and seatrout are on or near the flats and in the back waters. Shrimp are available but its that time of year when bait can become scare. Typically Don Admas will close his doors around New Year's. Bo at Bandys will likely continue selling shrimp and mud minnows as long as customers and bait are available. So far conditions have been mild and bait shrimpers are finding bait. This is an excellence time of the year to pitch or troll plastics. Shrimp is a great bait nonetheless you can catch plenty of fish on plastic!
Capt. Kent Bird of Hilton Head reports this has been a banner for stag bass and seatrout with big catches on both . Cooler water means an absence of sharks and a greater likelihood of stags running the inlets. As shark activity wanes stags show up! Capt. Kent reports having a great year!
Cooler water means bait is likely deep. Water temperature is in the upper fifties. With very clear water mud bottoms will soak up radiant energy from the sun and release heat during the day. Watching several hundred mud minnow practically on the bottom I did not think much of this until receiving a call from Stanley Devegter. Stanley said he was unable to catch a fish until he put his bait on the bottom. Makes sense if the bait is on the bottom that's where the fish want to go. Basically Stanley adjusted to pattern in nature. If the bait is close to the bottom, fish close to the bottom. As the day heat up and a drift picks up a conventional float rig will work fine but don't overlook the lowly carolina or bottom rig.
Hope this of help!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Nov 7, 2007
Fishing has been good, real good! That said "it's still fishing". A drop that was red hot one day can be ice cold the next. When the drop you're fishing isn't producing there is likely a reason : dirty water, poor or no drift, or too much current. Little changes can produce big results. Look for clean water and a nice drift, not too fast not too slow. Sometimes moving your boat a short distance can produce big results. The sea trout has been excellent with lots of fish in the 14 to 16 inch range some fish are bigger some are smaller. Live bait (shrimp) has been difficult to come by. Don Adams, Adams Bait House, attributes the difficulty in finding shrimp due to the heavy rain we had a few ago. Bo, Bandy's, has been finding shrimp a little further south but as of writing Bo's boat is down. Joey's at Hogan's Marina has been inconsistent in finding shrimp. Don Adams found shrimp today south of Savannah. Don's brother Jimmy said its been awhile since we've had this many shrimp. Definitely good news for those fishing bait! Last Saturday when presented the option no live shrimp we fished some plastics and mostly dead shrimp. Dead shrimp can be productive. We caught nice eight nice trout, three nice reds and a flounder. Just about everything was on dead shrimp. Other fishermen have had good success using Glups under a float. Favorite colors are pearl, chartreuse and red, and new penny both swimming mullet, shrimp patterns, and jerk worms are catching fish. Sea trout can be found well up river or in the sounds. Although bait shrimpers are having difficulty finding shrimp, fish are keying on live shrimp. There are reports of sea trout eating DOA shrimp under the lights at night. November is a great time for sea trout. These fish are on the move and hungry as fatten up for winter. Cool crisp days are synonymous with trout fishing. A cold front passing through can help school the fish. Fishing just before the front or a few days after things have settled down fishermen can find good fishing One fisherman yesterday said they only caught four sea trout but had a great with the redfish. The way I describe it as some days are great redfish days some are great sea trout days. A lots depends on how you're fishing. Working the currents, concentrating on the rips you're fishing for sea trout. Fishing structure you more likely to catch some reds.
We've caught a varity fish this week: black drum, red drum, sea trout, sheepshead and flounder. Have caught lots fish. When conditions permit large stag bass can be roaming along sand bars looking for an easy meal. Wind and rain has limited the opportunities to fish for stag bass. Some atlantic sharp nose and black tips can be found be in a deeper around the sand bars but most have headed to deeper water. Plenty of 12 inch whiting along the sand bars as well. When fishing for stag bass and mullet is scarce a chunk of whiting will work just fine!
Tides for this week are close to but less eight feet. Should be good tides to target sea trout. Sea trout love current and rips. Incoming or outgoing tide can create rips. Look for rips around points, creek mouths or gullies. The rips can hold fish. Usually the best spot is in the secondary or slower current. Fish a spot just because it looked good and you might be surprised just how fishy it can be!
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Oct 23, 2007
Fishing has been good! There have been statements like the fishing is so good fish are literally jumping in the boat and last week will likely be the best week of the year for fishing. Both statements are overstatements. Fishing has been good for those finding fish. That said a good fisherman can still struggle if your drops aren't producing. Last week saw good to excellent action on seatrout and redfish! Shrimp in the Savannah area have been hard to come by for local bait shrimpers. Don Adams, Adams Bait House, thinks the large amount of rain has messed up the shrimping. On one hand if shrimp aren't in the creeks one would assume they moved out to the sounds but not according to Donny. As big tides approach during the weekend salinity levels should balance out and improve shrimping. That said cast netters are still able to catch a quart and half in thirty minuets or so. Throwing a cast net is messy business but it's a good way to get shrimp when supply has dwindled. Nonetheless, even cast netters will find catching shrimp difficult as tides build. Big tides literally pull shrimp into the sounds reducing the numbers left in the creeks. With more tournaments and more fishermen part of the shrimp supply problem is simply more demand . When shrimp aren't available artifical shrimp, screw tails or a paddle tail under a float can be productive. DOA shrimp, XPS and Bett's holgraphic, and Glup shrimp are all great choices. Some favorite colors are red with glitter, new penny, white, natural, clear, chartreuse as well a holographic patterns. Sea trout and redfish are taking center stage. One fishermen says this is also great time of the year for large flounders coming in from the ocean!
Fishing will likely become trickier as tides build on Wednesday to over 8.4 feet, peaking with a 9.3 foot tide on Saturday. Big tides means fast moving dirty water. Tides over 8.5 feet coupled with an east or northeast wind could be a good time to target reds back in the grass. When fishing big tides focus your fishing on the top or bottom of the tide. Generally as the currents slow down sediments will fall out of the water and you'll opportunity to catch fish. The trick is guessing right. If you pick a hot spot it's possible to limit out on sea trout. On the other hand if your first drop wasn't that productive there wont be much time to recover. Tides will remain over 8 feet till 31st. (Halloween) then subside to fishier ranges later in the week and into the weekend 9th, 10th and 11th of November.
Last night at first annual CCA barbeque honoring James Lynah. Michael Schubert announced President Bush signed a bill granting game fish status to redfish in federal waters. On one hand one could argue that wasn't necessary. On the other hand it is bold conservation statement saying red drum are important to our country and need and will be protected. Congratulations Mr. President! Michael also announced that the CCA reef will be renamed the CCAJL reef in honor of Jim Lynah and his commitment to conservation. Jim no doubt is deeply loved and missed. In my beginning days as a guide I'm proud to say Jim was friend and gave tangible help and guidance to me. Jim is due many thanks! God bless!
Hope this report is of interest and use. Join your local CCA chapter. Good Fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Oct 15, 2007
Fishing has been good despite constant wind. Typically a northeaster will blow for week then lay. Windy days for the past month have been rule. Fishermen who have found fish have produced catches of large seatrout and redfish. It's not unusual to hear of catches of over fifty legal reds with fishermen keeping only fish 16 inch fish or greater. Those finding success are finding clean water with little or no trash fish. Seatrout are on move fattening up before winter. Seatrout might be thick as thieves in an area for a several days then gone. Trash fish usually don't have a big presence when seatrout and redfish are around. Fishing a drop with lots of trash fish then suddenly no trash are biting. Stay put! The bite is likely about to turn on Some fishermen have covered massive areas in search of seatrout and redfish with little no luck. Water temperature is high enough to have plenty of trash fish (pin fish, pig fish, yellow tails to name a few) present. When fishing an area with lots of trash present expect to go through your bait quickly. A strategy that works is limit your shrimp to just a few shrimp unless the drop starts producing. Best bet when trash fish are biting just move. Shrimp are plentiful. Both seatrout and redfish are keying on shrimp. This is time of year to fish some of the many types of poppers and rattle floats. They all work. Find the one you like and it will likely be your next secrete weapon. Look for ones that cast well, make a nice rattle or pop and retrieves easily. Betts makes several good ones as well the all time favorite Cajun Thunder.
Black drum are present. On days with little or no drift this can be the time to pick up not only redfish but black drum as well. A give away for a drum bite is the shrimp is eaten from the tail to the head. When you think drum are present start tail hooking and crushing your bait. Drum are excellent fighting fish. Most are in the three to five pound range.
Those enjoying eating a mess of whiting now is likely time to catch a mess. For best success fish lee shores close to the sound using cut bait, pieces of squid, or shrimp. Lots of sting rays so be careful when handling or you might have an unplanned visit to the emergency room. A few large female bonnet head roaming the inshore waters but not nearly what was there just a few weeks ago.
A friend an avid fisherman Joey Wiggly is thinking about starting a sport fishing club for artificals only. Joey is testing the water to see there interest to sustain a group like this. As tournaments become more popular groups that are catch and release and artificial only will log valuable time on the water for tournament fishing. If there is an interest email me your name and number and I'll forward it to Joey.
One note of caution when fishing the Savannah River and the jetties pay close attention to where you are in relation to the structure. Accidents can happen. Don't cut corners. When in doubt, put it out.
Tides for the coming week look excellence!
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Sep. 28, 2007
Fishing has been pretty good despite wind and building tides. Redfish and seatrout are biting! A few reports of limits on seatrout. Most of the action is still on reds. Lots of fish in the 14 to 15 inch range. Some of the reds are up to 16 inches. A few bonnet head sharks can be found on the flats and hanging off of points. Lots of shrimp in the creeks and rivers. Big tides can blow shrimp out of the rivers into the sounds. Fishing big tides is definitely tricky. Nonetheless, fish can be caught. Finding drifts that aren't too fast and clean water is critical. In general when fishing big tides anticipate a smaller window of opportunity to find fish. Usually the best opportunity is around the top of tide, lasting about an hour. One fishermen today targeting the top of tide caught a couple of 19 - 20 inch reds and a 21 inch seatrout. Finding fish on big tides isn't unusual. Nonetheless bear in mind if you don't find fish on the top of tide you're now hunting for clean water and a fishable drift. Finding suitable conditions can be difficult but possible. Your favorite big water tide drop might have a fellow fishermen on it. Best advice for fishing less than favorable conditions "just go fishing". Nature is always surprising. Days that were suppose to be a bust can be very productive. Currents that were supposed to be ripping might be fine for fishing. As Miss Judy says, "it just fishing". With that in mind sometimes a low expectation can be greatly exceeded. Go fishing!
When heading out to look for reds on the flats a couple of fishermen in my boat said they saw a big fish jump. Thoughts were it was a late season tarpon or perhaps a spinner shark. The fish jumped again, this time the id was easy a large sturgeon.
Have heard several reports this week of one or two large flounder being caught while fishing. Several fishermen also report catching a mangrove snapper. This is typical a warm water fish that is found further south. Basically an indication of warm water.
One report that needs to be made is be very careful when handling stingrays particularly small ones. I'm always reluctant to write anything about myself but this is a little different. Today while removing a hook from ray I got barbed in the hand. The hook out device that is normally fool proof wasn't today. Small rays are more nimble than the heftier ones. Shaking the hook out of a larger ray might be suitable, for a smaller ray it definitely is not. Thanks to Miss Judy an the ER at Memorial Hospital a bad situation was righted. Lessons learned. Soak the injury in as hot as water as you stand and get medical attention immediately. The hot water actually draws out the toxin. It's difficult to describe the discomfort, it's real. When in doubt, cut the leader.
Anticipate tricky fishing conditions until tides start to fall. First tides under 8 feet are on Wednesday October 3rd. Tides look ideal going into weekend of October 5th and 6th. Hope this report of interest and some help.
Good fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Sep 17, 2007
September is turning out to the hottest month in waters near Savannah for tarpon! One fisherman reported landing four for six hook ups and six for seven on a following outing. Per Allen from River Supply, dirty water fish dead bait on the bottom. In clean water try live lining one on top and the other on the bottom. If the strikes are predominately on one then switch to one getting the hits. The likelihood of storms and rough conditions are the greater during September than any other time of all year. The opportunities to fish the outer sand bars will likely be limited but the chances of finding large tarpon are high. Small fish such as tomtates, pinfish, ladyfish and mullet all are excellent baits. Most fishermen prefer to fish large ocean pogies. Sometimes finding pogies can be difficult. The fall back baits can be just as productive or more. When surf conditions are rough try deep holes or the mouth of a slough. Water temperature is high per Wendell Harper, a great fishing guide out of Two Way Fish Camp, 82.6 degrees. It's likely as temperature drops tarpon will vanish. For now there are still big fish off the coast with large numbers reported from Savannah to St. Catherine's sound.
Don't despair if you wait too long for your tarpon you can find stag bass running the surf! You can use the same or lighter tackle. The magic number for big reds in the surf, by most accounts, is between 72 and 74 degrees. Finger mullet and cut mullet make a great bait for stag bass. Some fishermen prefer to fish from the beach while others prefer to fish from their boat. Anytime around the surf the key word is safety. Fishermen need to position their boat near as possible to the breakers with out being in them. Anchoring is tricky to say the least. As the tide pushes in what was safe one moment can quickly turn unsafe. Keep a constant eye for changing conditions.
For fishermen who aren't interesting in tangling themselves or their equipment in the surf there are lots 14 inch (legal size) redfish some 15 inches as well as some over and under the legal size (23 inch) in the creeks and rivers. It always a good idea to let redfish go or just keep a few. Lots of trash fish (little fish that steal your bait) so fishermen need to have plenty of bait. Having a pint or two of dead bait in addition to your live bait is a good idea. Redfish often seem to like dead bait more than live. To stretch your bait you might try putting a highly scented bait such as a Berkley Gulp or Bass Assassin Slurp under a float or on a jig. Little fish will still eat these baits but they can put quality fish in the boat.. Seatrout action has been sporadic. One day a good catch on drops in the Herb, Wilmington, or Bull river follow by not much on the same drop a few days later. The bite appears to be changing from a beach pattern to a river pattern. As shrimp become larger and more plentiful in the rivers and creeks the bite will likewise be mainly in these waters. With warm conditions lots of blue fish on the sand bars. Some bonnethead sharks but their numbers are lessening. Whiting are plentiful. As of last week lots small whiting, nine inches or less with plenty of keepers as well. Warm conditions not only means tarpon but sharks as well: spinners, blacktip and sand bar sharks. Until cool down anticipate small redfish to take center stage on the inshore bite. These fish are numerous and until they've been hooked they're not too savvy.
Tides look good for the coming week. The big question is the weather. Thunder storms and wind can blow out fishing. When weather isn't turbulent fishing could be good. Anticipate a sporadic seatrout bite laced with ladyfish, small trout and trash fish. In between all the bites there will be some nice trout. Redfish are plentiful and lots of them are legal. Incredible amounts of rain that fell last week near Savannah should have a positive impact on our fishery, washing out needed nutrients into the estuary and balancing salinity. On Thursday and Friday I had shrimp die in the bait well because the water was too fresh. This is pretty unusual. Nonetheless the rain was a good thing!
Hope this of help! Practice catch and release!
Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Sep 02, 2007
Needed rain over the Labor day holiday dampened boating and fishing activities. Strong northeast winds prior to the holiday coupled with high tides meant even higher tides than predicted. The result of tougher conditions and less quality fishing. For last week this was pretty much the case. Fish could be caught but conditions were tough and fishing wasn’t great. Even after enormous amounts of rain fell fish could be caught by bouncing a shrimp under a float. On Monday in a couple of hours caught seven or eight 13 inch redfish and three or four small seatrout and one two pound seatrout. After lots of rain in short period of time conditions will usually rapidly improve. Generally all it takes is a tide or two. As summer comes to a close fishermen are looking to the fall and indications are that this could be another good year on the coast! At present the flats are holding some fish but the water is still very hot. As water temperature begins to drop shallow water fishing will heat up!
Labor day always brings to memory of stag bass in the surf. This time of the large red drum start to run the beachfront. Inclement changing weather and be part of the mix that triggers the reds on the beach. Fishermen can target these fish in or out of their boat. Most surf fishermen prefer to walk the beach and outer bars looking for just the right rip or cut in the sand bar to pitch a finger mullet or cut bait. Fishing the surf can be gang busters one day and nothing the next. When reds on the surf are hot this can be a dynamic way to spend an morning or afternoon!
Shrimp are plentiful. Finding bait should not be a problem. That said when tide are large (spring tides). Bait is literally sucks out of the rivers and creeks to the sound. There of course is some bait around. The point is throwing a cast for shrimp during a high tide period could be frustrating for several reason. Not the least is that bait is pulled the sounds.
September is the time of year if you haven't caught your tarpon you better get with. Some have said this has been a better tarpon year in local waters. Others have lamented the bite hasn't been that strong. Likely like any fishing it's a matter of perspective. If you're on the fish, fishing is good. Larger mullet are abundant in local rivers. Medium to large mullet are great tarpon bait as well a medium sized ladyfish. Ladyfish are plentiful as well. The expression big ducks fly late can attributed to tarpon. Some of the largest tarpon are spotted and caught late in the season.
This week as tides fall back to less than eight feet and conditions continue to improve fishing will likely be good. Redfish and seatrout will hungry and on the prowl after big tide and poor conditions. Small tides during the fall are usually the best day for flounders and black drum. Lots of "trash fish" in local waters. Take plenty of bait be prepared to fish different drops if trash fish are overwhelming.
Fishing for the coming week should be good! Hope this of help! Good Fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Aug 16, 2007
The days are hot on the coast. Various sting rays can be spotted on most outings. Occasionally a ray can be seen jumping out of the water or crashing back to the surface. Unfortunately for cast netters and swimmers jellyfish are plentiful. August is likely the height of the jellyfish season. When surf fishing this time of year wear a shoe suitable for water and long pants! One remedy for jellyfish stings is Adolf's meat tenderizer. A Savannah resident Chip Grayson with some assistant from the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography has come out with a product to provide relief from jellyfish stings. The bad news is this product is not yet on the market. This will likely be a product that fishermen and swimmers on the coast during late summer will want to have on hand. Despite lots of particle matter in the water finding clean water has not very difficult. The drift, flow of water, has been poor most of the week. Conditions have been less that ideal. Nonetheless fishing has been good! Most the larger seatrout are a pound and half or better. Slow moving water while not ideal for seatrout is good for flounder fishing. Plenty of ladyfish. Most of the trout have been caught on Cajun Thunders rigs with about a 2 foot leaders. While fishing has not been fast and furious the bite has been good with steady action and quality fish. Chartreuse or another color? When pitching for seatrout chartreuse is usually a go to color. After many casts with a chartreuse fly produced nothing; the first cast with a gold/brown rattle shrimp produced a seatrout. Seatrout are keying on shrimp. Shrimp patterns and colors are hard to beat! A few shrimp patterns from Bass Assassin are new penny, native shrimp and red/gold shiner. Any of these patterns will catch fish particularly when shrimp are plentiful!
Nice size whiting are plentiful on the sandbars. If one spot isn't producing look for different spot with a more current. Black tips large and small can found along sand spits. If shrimp and squid aren't producing switch to fresh cut bait. Fishermen are complaining large schools of menhaden aren't present in the sounds. This can vary day to day. At present small menhaden can be found in the rivers. Larger schools of bigger pogies are further out. Bait patterns vary year to year. If your day of fishing depends on finding menhaden always have a backup. Mullet, tomtates, pinfish and ladyfish can make an excellent tarpon/shark bait.
Some reports of triple tail along near shore structure. These fish are usually targeted when the current is slack or close to slack using float rigs and shrimp.
Tides for the remainder of this week are pretty small tides (less than 7 foot). Drift will likely be slow resulting in a slower bite and good flounder fishing. Capt. Wild Bill reports he starting to catch some young of the year redfish in the keeper range. Most are still around 12 inches but some have already keeper size. That said there's not much meat on a small redfish. It's always good to go light on your redfish take, opt for other fish. The main reasons are redfish are so much fun to catch and second it takes this fish several years to reach to sexual maturity.
Hope this of help! Good Fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Aug 6, 2007
Summer is here! We're in the dog days of summer. Hot humid days, afternoon popup thunderstorms can be typical. Ample amounts of rain last week while mudding water in short run should be a help to our fishery. Lots of small summer trout (12" or so) showing on the sandbars. Capt. Wild Bill says it's reputed that summer trout hit harder than seatrout. Maybe so we had plenty of hard hits with fish you knew had to be larger. Large amounts of rain in a short period of time can push bait and the predator fish out to saltier water. In a few tide cycles conditions returned normal as slit and mud particles settled and rain water dissipated. Wind and rain last week made conditions difficult to fish. When conditions are rough the only alternative is to fish lee shores. Pick the most likely spot and fish the water in front of you. Rough conditions limit choices. Pitching a plastic might sound a little difficult on a rough day but not so. Remember you're fishing a lee shore. You're out of wind or practically out of the wind. Pitching can change your presentation. Fish that were reluctant might bite. When wind and tide are opposing, working against each other the result can be a miserable drift. You're fishing protected water and little if anything is happening. It likely there fish are there it's a matter of getting them to bite. Seatrout are predator fish. Pitching a soft plastic might trigger bite that otherwise would be hard to generate. As conditions began to improve on Saturday and Sunday so did the bite. Action reported near the beach fronts with seatrout, redfish, whiting and flounder. Capt. Vern on Monday of this week caught some nice seatrout fishing close to the sound. Fish early to try an beat the heat! Bonnethead sharks are plentiful particularly where crabs shrimp and muddy bottoms are presents as well as along sandbars. If you associate bonnetheads with mud you wont go wrong.
Another sign of summer is ladyfish. This is fast aggressive fish that can provide lots of fun on light tackle. The present Georgia state record is only 5 pounds. There are plenty of fish out there that will exceed that number. When seatrout aren't biting its likely ladyfish or bluefish will show up. Ladyfish seems to be a more impervious to summer heat. Seatrout will tend to bite best early or when conditions are cloudy. Ladyfish while not often kept for food can make excellent bait for tarpon and sharks. Ladyfish will take a variety of baits as well as artificials or a fly. For best action target areas with current and close to the sounds. The big eyes on ladyfish gives them excellent eye sight. Sometime its possible to catch this fish even in muddy conditions. Once you locate a school of ladyfish hold on! Anticipate frequent jumps, aggressive head shaking and strong fights. Some fishermen say catching a ladyfish is a sign of good luck to come! Ladyfish are in!
Hope of help! Good fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jul 31, 2007
Fishing has been good! Seatrout and flounder have provided the best action! Female seatrout are still loaded with roe. Most of the bite is close to sounds and beach fronts. The best time to fish for seatrout during is usually early in the morning or during the evening. Seatrout love current. The most dynamic action is often where there is clean water, current and bait. Given these conditions the seatrout bite can be dynamic. Porpoises and sharks can adversely impact on seatrout fishing. When predator fish are present try fishing closer to the structure. It's likely you can still catch some quality fish by making some anchoring adjustments. We're catching most of our fish on live shrimp. There are lots small fish out there so take plenty of bait with you. For past couple of weeks I've had a "double shot" of bait. Double what you would normally expect to fish. My preference is to fish bait not too large or too small. Bait that is just right. Granted a nice flounder or seatrout will take a small bait. On the other hand it's all about energy. How much of payoff will the fish receive if it goes for your bait. For a quality fish, fish a quality bait. The standard way to hook a shrimp is to run the hook just under the horn, in front of the larger black spot and behind the small black spot not touching either. For bait that is particularly frisky try putting a small spilt shot on leader to make it easier for a fish to target your bait. Usually when you see your shrimp dancing on top of the water it will be followed by a nice bite. There are lots of small fish around so a dancing shrimp might simply be your shrimp trying to evade a small one.
Rayburn Goodman, of the Yellow Bluff Marina community, says shrimp in his area have been scarce. Fishermen are catching fish but finding shrimp is another matter. Locally, in Savannah, we are fairing much better. Don Adams, of Adams Bait House, is finding shrimp. Don's brother Jimmy says after recent rains the shrimp are growing quickly.
The recent pattern has been seatrout towards the top and bottom of the tide. When current has slowed the flounder bite has picked up. Larger reds the last of incoming and the first of outgoing. Tides will be building this week to 7.7 feet on Sunday August 5th.. Larger tides will mean stronger currents setting up fewer opportunity for flounders. When fishing stronger currents target seatrout until currents subside. Large whiting (12 inch and larger) can be found on the sandbars as well as lots of bonnethead sharks. Bonnetheads are very abundant up and down our coast. This shark main diet consist mainly of shrimp and crabs. It's not unusual to see a crab swimming by get nailed by a bonnethead. Bonnethead will work sandbars and oyster encrusted points that bait is passing over. A large pregnant female bonnethead is likely over three and half feet and thick. They can provide a nice tussle on light tackle. Don't anticipate a great seatrout if bonnethead are numerous. Black tips and other predator species can be found along the rips.
Most of the menhaden has been further off the beach front. Likewise most of tarpon and jacks that have been seen or caught have been on outer sand bars to near shore wrecks. Tides for the coming are building. Nonetheless, high tides will be less than 8 feet with slightly negative tides on Saturday and Sunday. Overall tides look fishy! Afternoon pop up storms are always a possibility for best chances of success during the summer fish the early morning hours.
Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jul 10, 2007
Fishing has been good for the most part. Nice seatrout in the ICW, sounds and neighboring creeks and rivers. Seatrout prefer clean water and current. When the drift is slow often seatrout can be found well off the structure. More current fish tighter to the grass lines or whatever structure you're fishing. Capt. Eric Traub reports redfish popping up from Ossabaw to Hilton Head. Eric says the fish he's finding are in schools of about or ten to twelve fish and skidish. Despite conventional wisdom that redfish are always in shallow water; try fishing well off the structure in deeper water you might be surprised in what you catch! Deeper water is likely a little cooler and more oxygenated. Some black drum being caught. Small drum will often congregate on stumps or fallen trees. Sargassum moved into Warsaw sound around mid week due likely to strong east winds. Any debris on top can fowl fishing line adding one more chore to getting a hookup. As quickly as the weed appeared it is breaking up just as quickly. The bite for small sharks( 3 foot and less) has been slower than usual. Tons of tiny black tips (12" or so) some two footers but the usual over abundance isn't there. The bite for small sharks will improve as more bait (pogies) pour into Warsaw sound. Pogies that can normally be found in the sound are well up river. Likely small sharks have followed. Bonnet heads are still numerous. Bonnet heads main diet is blue crabs. What dictates the presence of a species is favorable conditions per Capt. Wild Bill. It's likely in the coming days conditions will change again and black tips and sharpnose sharks will be in abundance the sounds.
Those fishing shrimp might still have difficulty finding bait. Although the bait situation is improving daily. White shrimp are moving into local waters. White shrimp are still small but recent rains should help give them a boost. Brown shrimp for the most have move out to the sounds. Shrimper are having a difficult time keeping up demand. In the coming weeks shrimp should become plentiful. The shortage is seasonal. Capt. Wild Bill said he had outstanding day on seatrout on mud minnows. Most think of mud minnows as primarily a winter but its also a great summertime bait as well. Lots of trash fish so running through a quart of shrimp isn't difficult. Seatrout are primarily live bait feeders but occasionally will smack a piece of dead bait. Cajun thunder floats as well as wide variety of poppers will work well doing this time of the year. The only draw back is that a dinner bell draws them all in (sharks, trash fish, etc.). Nonetheless, if seatrout are in the neighborhood a rattle float can be effective!
Tarpon sighting and hook ups are beginning to trickle in. Ricky Duffy said he saw several around Little Tybee. Capt. Eric reported sighting three as well. Brent McCollugh hooked one while trout fishing. Tarpon fishing isn't hot but it's starting up! Large sharks around the outer sand bars as well as massive rays. An occasional cobia might seen or hooked around the Warsaw rip, as well as blue fish, mackerel, whiting and sharks.
Tides for this week are in the negative range. Evening tides will build to over 8.1 feet. Tides for this week are not ideal but fishable. Morning mid outgoing tides are tricky to fish. Simply just not enough water for many fishermen to fish most drops. If you have a good flounder hole now is a good time to pull it out. Likely the better fishing will be later in the day. The tides next week will be in the 7 foot and less range likely good fishing!
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jul 02, 2007
Fishing has been good prior to the full moon over the weekend. Tides were gentle despite the full moon. Nevertheless, fishing has been off. Are fishing feeding at night and less likely to forage during daylight. This is likely. Wind and tide opposing each other results in slow or almost no drift. Water that is not moving isn't likely to produce good fishing for seatrout. A drop one can be very productive and almost dead the next. A good drift is a key to good seatrout fishing. Slow or poor drift days can lend itself to fishing for redfish, black drum and flounder. Lots of little redfish can be found around oyster rakes. A few larger reds but don't expect good numbers of larger reds until bait is more abundant. Bait shops are having difficulty finding shrimp and keeping up with the demand. Shrimp in local waters are a mixture of some brown shrimp and some very small white. The shrimp situation will improve as the summer progresses. As of now shrimp are relatively scarce and bait shops are quickly running out of bait. Ray Golden (Tybee Island Bait & Tackle) is carrying shrimp from Florida. Captain Ray open his shop at 8:00am. Again best bet is to call ahead to make sure bait is on hand. Ray's number is 912.786.7472. Bo Bowen, Bandy's Bait Shop, has been consistent is finding good quality bait. Bo's number is 912.354.6444. Don Adams, Adams 'Bait Shop, is finding shrimp but keeping up with demand is almost impossible with the bait thats' presently in the creeks and river. Nonetheless, the Adams always does a great job! Adam's Bait Shop number is 912.898.1550.
Heading into 4th of July holiday tides look pretty good. There is a slight negative on low water. Anticipate highs and lows to be slightly greater than what's on your chart. So far this has been the pattern. Usually the best summer time fishing is early in the morning. Flounder and tarpon/shark seem to handle mid heat better than trout or bass. With high tides mid week around mid day this could be a good time to crack out the shark/ tarpon tackle. At present not seeing large pods of pogies. Nonetheless, it's the right time of the year to start targeting tarpon!
Hope this of help!
Good fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
"Practice catch & release and join your local CCA chapter"
June 21, 2007
Fishing this week started in a nice way! A nice seatrout bite near the sound. The seatrout bite isn't red hot but definitely good! Action can best be described as interesting. Roe trout can be found near high water around marshy points. Clean water and a good drift are always a plus in trout fishing. Male seatrout can found close to sandbars in around 12 feet of water. Action around the sand bars is red hot! A variety of fish are working the bars: whiting, ladyfish, bluefish, spanish, bonnetheads and blacktips to name a few.
Redfish action is picking up but the bite remains off. Young of the year redfish are barely able to bite a hook. These small reds are likely only seven inches or so. Not catching many of these tiny fish. These young of year will quickly grow and by the July 4th they should be biting everything hitting the water and by September or October these young of year will be legal size (14 inches).
John Bruke reports our salt water catfish is in trouble. Come to think of it when the last time you caught a gaff top or regular old salt water cat? If you're like me it's been a long time. Most of us can remember catching so many catfish that were consider a major nuisance. Granted a lot not love is lost for an obnoxious old cat much like an obnoxious old charter captain. On the other hand as Capt. Wild Bill says, this is a sign something isn't right with mother earth. South Carolina is immediately closing the taking of these fish while this situation is being studied. The point is to be aware of changes impacting our wetlands and that water quality is a major issue facing our coast and to stay informed.
Fishing for the remainder of this week should be good! Rain and clouds early in the week helped cool conditions and provide some much needed rain. Tides throughout the week look good. When winds kick up fish protected waters. Afternoon storms can kick up on any given summer day. Best fishing during summer is usually during the morning. This afternoon a dockhand said he launched a small boat from the marina and the family headed directly into a storm. Rain in a distance will look like sheets coming down. Running into a storm is not fun and potentially not safe. Check the weather forecast before and during your day on the water. Several GPS units have weather radar capability. A VHF radio is another good source of information and last but not least call a friend ask them to look a weather radar either on the weather channel, by internet or actual radar unit. There's lot of information out there. Now is good time to familiarize yourself on how to obtain weather information.
Hope this of help! Good fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
June 11, 2007
The seatrout bite has been pretty good. The bite is primarily in or near sounds. Capt. Wild Bill says the sounds have cleaner water due to sand bottoms. Capt. Rick verifies the same report that the bite has been near the sounds. Contrary to the bite in the sounds roe and male trout can be up rivers in brackish water. Lots of dirty water due to the aftermath of storms and wind. Fishermen are finding fish when they find clean water. When fishing for seatrout there are lots of other fish to take your bait so take plenty of bait. Rick reports lots of small trout as well as ladyfish.
Not lots of reports on redfish this week. A couple of fisherman have reported good success on glup baits. New penny is the favor of the week. Plastics can work very well. Glup baits can produce bites at times better than live bait. On the other hand it's good to have a variety of baits on hand. Brown shrimp are moving into local waters. New penny is basically a shrimp pattern. Another tip is change your float size when fishing. Line or float diameter is more important than color. That said trying smaller floats might be effective.
The shark bite is on! Dropping a line along a sand bar will likely produce a bite in little time. A favorite bait is the head from a menhaden. Squid can work well as well a variety of cut bait like bluefish or ladyfish. Allen from River Supply reports a variety of fish within five miles of the beach: jacks, bluefish, spanish and kings. When near shore isn't too rough fishing could be hot!
The flounder bite near the sounds continues to heat up! Best tide to fish near low tide. Best bait large mud minnows or finger mullet.
Tides this week are building with the evening tides Thursday peaking at 8.5 feet, an a .8 negative tide in the afternoon. Spring tides can be difficult to fish due to fast currents and dirty water. For best success try to find slower moving clean water.
Hope this of help!
Good Fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
June 3, 2007
Thank goodness for the drenching rain on Saturday! It rained all day, a great soaking rain! The wildfires in South Georgia and Florida are 98% contained. Rainfall is a blessing to coastal marshes and our fisheries. Prior to the rain the river water was beginning to look cloudy. This is an algae bloom. A normal sign of warming conditions. This week there were seatrout caught on the beach fronts when conditions werent' too rough. Small sharks are plentiful along sandbars and in deep holes. Red drum and seatrout can be in brackish water as well as near the beach. Redfish are along the flats. The flounder bite is on! During Saturday rain storm the flounder were biting. The leading edge of front can trigger an intense flounder bite. Its 'not uncommon for a fisherman to feel a flounder picking up the bait only to miss the fish. Slowing your hook set and waiting till the fish commits is usually the best. Finger mullet and large mud minnows are a great flounder bait. Flounder will readily take a shrimp but it's easier to lose a shrimp. Capt. "Wild "Bill Jarrell says its all about energy. If you want a quality fish use a quality bait. With that in mind a finger mullet or large mud minnow is very appetizing. Tarpon had been spotted in local waters. Large schools of menhaden are not in Warsaw although schools of medium sized menhaden can be found in creeks off of Wilmington river. Tarpon fishing will correspond with bait. When bait is abundant it's likely the fish will find them. Seatrout and bluefish are biting. The best bite has been on high incoming tide. Key indicators for finding seatrout are a good drift, clean water, and bait. Strong winds have made fishing difficult. When wind is blowing try to make it work for you by fishing the windward side. If the wind is too strong then fish the lee shores. Excellence places to find seatrout are on points, along grass edges, small creek mouths or gullies. Seatrout will show up only for a limited period of time. The indicator is current. When the current is swirling in or out a food chain is likely taking place. Little or no current the seatrout bite will likely be slow. What's hot one day can be cold the next. In every type fishing there are patterns: seasonal patterns as well patterns within patterns. In a fishing report likewise look for a pattern. Most fishermen are looking for that magic spot. Yes location is important. My encouragement is look for patterns. Fishing is hopefully more than just killing a bunch of fish. Keep a few to eat if you desire and release the rest.
Last Friday Capt. Ray Crawely brought a dead redfish back to the Westin dock. There was a little friendly fishing competition among a group of fishermen (for the largest fish). The fish was meant as a joke. Apparently the fish had died a short while ago but had not begun to decompose. It's likely another fishermen caught this large red (32" or so) and held with their fish gripper. The larger the fish the care more in handling and releasing. One fisherman can do lots of damage they arent' even aware of. When using a fish gripper on a large fish use the gripper only to hold the head in place not to suspend the fish. Dropping a large redfish into the water is not a good idea. Often the fish will belly up. It's likely that fish will revive. Why put the fish through that stress? Place the fish in the water, point the fish into the current and hold by the small of the tail. Hold the fish until its dorsal fin pops up then release. Swishing the fish back and forth can force water through its gills counter to the natural flow. If a fish is slow to revive wait until the fish can swim off.
Tides look good for the coming week with negative starting Saturday. The following week evening tides will be over 8 foot. Big tides again! Brown shrimp should be showing in good numbers in local creeks and rivers. Rainfall on Saturday and good tides should provide good fishing for the coming week!
Hope this of help!
Capt. Jack McGowan
May 28, 2007
The weather pattern for the last several weeks has been high pressure over southeast. As a result, windy days with little rain. This is likely a record year for the lack of rain. Not a good record. Salty conditions can mean lots of shrimp and lots of seatrout. Nonetheless, rain is very much needed. Last week despite windy conditions seatrout are biting mostly around high tide. On the inside, around back barrier islands, there is a mixture of small males and roe seatrout. A few good catches of seatrout and redfish reported in the Savannah River but the bite has not been consistent. Flounders are showing up in good numbers with the best bite towards the sounds fishing around low tide. Some brown shrimp are in the heads of creeks but Don Adams says of Adams Bait House, the brown still have not come in.
Last week the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) held an annual Guide Meeting in Savannah at the Savannah Mall for fishing guides and any interested persons. Lots of good information out. Lots of folks are going to great efforts not only to put out information but to reach out the fishing community. One piece of pertinent information is that fishermen who charter will need to obtain a mandatory license guide license (in person) starting as of June 1st from either the Richmond Hill or Brunswick office. This license is addition to your personal fishing license. Fishermen can also purchase a voluntary license covering those fishing on their boat. Not many people like change but better managing our fishery is the future. Most people are in favor of more redfish. The DNR , GACCA and the Savannah Sport Fishing Club have combined efforts to "study the efficacity of stocking red drum of Georgia coast". Basically this means these groups are trying to see if stocking red drum could be an effective way to boost our stock. I encourage those interested in red drum on our coast and in particular those fishing Savannah waters to turn in carcases at drop off points and to participate in the fin clipping project. For complete information on how to participate contact the Brunswick DNR office.
The weather looks like more of same till the latter half of the week. Starting about Thursday rain is expected. Till then expect high pressure to dominate with wind 10 to 20 miles out of the east. Local shrimp are not available. Local bait shops typically are stocking up (Florida shrimp) during the weekt. Bait shops can have plenty one day and out the next. Fishermen who like artificials will likely have less hassle and more fish. Tides are relatively small all week. Best fishing for seatrout likely be in areas where wind and tide are working together to create a better drift. Early morning can also be a good time to fish before the day heats up and the wind picks up. Best tide for seatrout is around high tide. Target flounder near low tide. Some redfish on the mud flats. Look for bait fish or birds to find fish. Those targeting cobia are having a banner year. Most of the action is centered around the Broad River in South Carolina. The last couple of years have been poor to fair for cobia. This year appears to be a very good one! Salty conditions also means sharks. Lots of bonnet head sharks in the creeks.
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Practice catch and release!
May 21, 2007
Last week was a pretty tough week for inshore fishing. Evening tides were unusually high. Day time low tide were in the negative range. Couple extreme tides with strong wind, smoke from the Ware county fire, and not much bait in local waters and that what local conditions were like. The fishing last week was a little like work. That said we still caught some nice fish. Monday was likely the fishiness day with constant seatrout, redfish and ladyfish action. Caught a couple of flounders as well. The bite became more difficult as the week progressed. The typical catch was four or five nice fish in four hours. We caught and released several small trout that might have measured. Most fish bit soft and tentatively. The bite can change with in a matter of hours. A soft bite today does not mean a soft bite tomorrow!
Don Adams, Adams Baithouse, has been buying shrimp from Florida. Florida shrimp are little smaller than what we're use to but still a good hardy bait. When fishing Florida shrimp definitely look for the bigger shrimp your bucket. The lowly mud minnow is great Spring time bait as well. Flounder are starting to show up! We're not catching a lot so far but likely averaging a flounder or two in addition to the seatrout and reds. The flounder bite will be heating up in the coming weeks! Redfish action has been slow but will likely be picking as well as tides subside and brown shrimp start appearing in local waters. Seatrout remain center stage with good catches near the sounds and in local rivers.
Despite drought conditions fishing near the flood gates has been slow. Some fat seatrout and reds are well upriver. When fishing areas with lots mullet. Try fishing mullet or mullet imitation lures. Drought conditions means salty water. Salty water means sharks. Fishermen should have little problem getting their line stretched by these toothy critters.
Fishing for the coming should be improving! Coming off of Spring tides, the current will be less and the water will be cleaner. Mild days with little wind will be a pleasure to fish regardless of the catch. The conditions will be much more auspicious for catching fish. When winds kick up windward shores can be hot spots to fish until they become to rough; then fish lee shores and protected waters.
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Practice catch and release
May 8, 2007
Plenty of action for the inshore fisherman last week! Seatrout biting in the creeks and rivers as well near the beach fronts! Several seatrout landed in excess of three pounds. Shrimp are in short supply. Some local bait shops are getting Florida shrimp. If you're depending on shrimp, you better call ahead. Mud minnows are a great substitute for shrimp and usually can easily be obtained either from local bait shops or by setting a trap. There were reports of birds feeding on glass minnows. Blue fish were pushing the minnows to the surface. Birds find the minnows and fisherman find the birds. One fisherman said the blue fish action was non stop and "he can't wait to target them with a fly!" In short lots of action - a dynamic food chain!
It's obvious the Spring run of mullet in the Savannah River is taking place. Fishermen can see mullet jumping along the river banks. Fish feeding on mullet wont readily take a smaller bait. Bring your cast net! Fishing the bait that is most prominent can yield good results. Those who like eating smoked mullet now is the time to head up river!This looking a good year for cobia! One Savannah guide: Capt. Greg Davis and Larry Hartenhoff landed five in one outing! Great job! Most of the catches so far have come the Broad River in Carolina.
The redfish bite has been slow. A few good catches but for the most part redfish has been slow. When brown shrimp start making their arrival the redfish bite will likely heat up. At present the action on most flats has been slow. There have some good catches in local creeks. Likewise some flounder being caught but anticipate the flounder to pick as Spring progresses. Whiting action has been good. Sharks are becoming plentiful as temperature raise and salinity remains high.
On Sunday the Savannah area received some much needed rain. It was a slow drenching rain. Rain is critical for a healthy fishery. Rain water helps to balance the salinity and wash needed nutrients into the system. More rain is needed but thank goodness for the rain we've received. Wind in coastal fishing is a constant factor. The past week it seems as if we've received our share. Despite windy conditions many fishermen found good fish! Seatrout are taking center stage with several large catches and large fish being landed! Keep a few to eat and release the rest! Martha Stewart would say it's not a good thing to load a boat with large roe trout. Keep a few if desired and release rest. These large roe represent next year crop of fish. Keep a few and release the rest - it's a good thing!
Hope this of help!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Apr 27, 2007
How's the fishing? Pretty good despite strong winds and a lack of rain. Strong winds couple with large tides pushed water much higher than predicted. When fishermen are on the move it likely means they are struggling. Despite challenging conditions some fishermen were able to produce good catches of seatrout and whiting. When when wind and tides abated fishing picked up. Slow moving water due to small tides following the large tides can be challenging. Best action for seatrout is usually when fishermen find clean water and a good drift. This week we've caught seatrout on plastics as well as shrimp. Sharks are being to show up. Bonnet head sharks can be found close to their primary food source, blue crabs. When fishermen decide to keep a small shark make sure it's legal ( 30" TL). Try to avoid taking large bonnet heads. These are pregnant females. The presence of large bonnet heads is a sign of a healthy environment. Some states are experiencing a decrease in the size of this shark. There are small sharp nose sharks on the sand bars. So far the size remains of the sharp nose are less than two feet. Hopefully as the Spring progresses wel'l see larger sharp noses.
There are reports of glass coming into the sounds just sounds just south of Savannah. Glass minnows are indicator of good fishing. When this bait fish pushes in seatrout, redfish and lady fish will be close behind. This is the time when you can spot terns and ergets working glass minnows and find seatrout and redfish under them.
The whiting bite has been pretty good, not awesome but pretty good. Most of these fish are small 9 ½ or 10 inches with some bigger ones mixed in. One fishermen says he only keeps fish 11 or 12 or bigger. This is a pretty good rule of thumb. Small whiting can be fatally damage when unhooking so use care.
Seatrout are starting to roe up. As seatrout become laden with roe anticipate the bite to shift to the sounds.
The last couple of years seems to have been fair to below average years for cobia. So far there are reports of some nice being caught in the Broad River even in windy conditions. Live eels appear to be the bait of choice.
Bait shrimp is still available in the Savannah area. Usually there are a few weeks during the Spring when shrimp become scare in local bait shops. Maybe this year will be the exception but don't count on it. Capt. Wild Bill Jarrell says Rayburn of Yellow Bluff development was having difficulty in finding shrimp. Shrimp season for the large boats opened last week. Local boats are still at dock. When fishermen see shrimp boats in the sounds the bait in! Capt. Wendell Harper says, do you fish shrimp boats? Fishing close to shrimp boats can produce a variety of fish. When setting an anchor fish close but definitely not obstructing the shrimper's course.
Hope this of help! Keep a few seatrout, whiting or flounders when desiring some fish to eat. Always go light on take of reds or preferably release reds for another day.
Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Apr 12, 2007
Looks likes a good year for seatrout! At present not much rain. One benefit that seems to go hand in hand with high salinity is good numbers of seatrout. That being said we still need rain. The seatrout action thus far has been good! Seatrout are starting to roe out. As these fish roe out the bite will shift mainly to the sounds and beach fronts. At present the bite has been scattered. One day in the creeks, another in sounds and the next closer to fresh water. Live shrimp is still available and in good supply (Adams Bait House). Anticipate shrimp to become scare as large roe shrimp move to the sounds.
Despite water temperatures being all over the place from the low sixties to the low seventies. There are small sharks already in the sounds (likely due to high salinity). We've caught mostly bonnetheads and small sharpnose and a few cold water sharks. As conditions continue warm up the whiting and shark bite should heat up!
Redfish action has been fair. Catching a few but the action has not been great. As conditions continues to improve and winds subside reds will likely start reappearing in good numbers. During windy conditions redfish are likely present just more difficult to target. It's more difficult to keep a lure in the strike zone, the fish just aren't eating or fish have moved to more into more backwater settings . As I've said before this one fish that it's good idea to go light on your take. Keep a few seatrout, flounder or whiting if you desire a few fish to eat.
Strangest catch of week was a short nose sturgeon by Jeff Smith at the Flood Gates. We were bouncing jigs at flood tide around when the fish hit. I thought we had a big old catfish. Then when I saw the tail I thought somehow a shark wondered up river. The sturgeon was quite a surprise. Also caught a few seatrout and a hybrid and red. Fishing upriver wasn't hot but caught some nice fish.
The best action for last week been seatrout. The bite has been all over: one day in the sound, the next in a creek, the next in a river. It all about conditions. Is there bait and is the water fairly clean? If the answer both of those questions is yes. Then I'm looking for current to stimulate a bite (food chain). The seatrout bite has been good. Roe trout are next year's crop of fish. That being said seatrout are very prolific. Keeping some should be no big deal (releasing big roe trout is good idea). Always stays with in the limits and encourage your friends to do likewise and support catch and release. I'm reading Tom Manns' book, Think like a Fish. Tom talks about a fish he caught and put in captivity. His wife named this fish Leroy Brown. The point is was a dominate fish that could only be fooled once and exhibited incredible survival instincts. In our fishing we're likely to come some Leroy Browns or Big Reds. These fish deserve to be released.
Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan
Apr 2, 2007
Fishing has been pretty good! The seatrout have provided the best action. Seatrout can be found in the creeks and rivers. Don Adams, Adams Bait House, has been able to find shrimp south of Savannah. These shrimp are white shrimp that have made it through the winter. Most of these shrimp have been large but subsequent drags have produced smaller shrimp. Super large aren't a very good bait for trout fishing. Super large shrimp are best for frying up and eating. Anticipate shrimp to become scare in the coming weeks as white shrimp move to the sounds. Brown shrimp will appear around the 1st of June. Seatrout will also take a wide variety of platics. The criteria is often flash. Seatrout are primary sight feeders. Bright colors are usually the best. When in doubt fish a white Berkeky glup bait. Redfish can be found on or around mud flats. A good indicator of when to fish for reds is when bait shows up. High outgoing can be a prime time to target reds as they feed on mullet coming out grass. Another prime time is towards low tide just as the current slows. Hard fast moving water is less fishy for reds. Looks for slower currents, clean water and bait fish.
Last Saturday Capt."Wild Bill" Jarrell and I fished in the Savannah Redfish Tour (artificial only) Tournament. Lots of fancy go fast boats. Quite a spectacle! I believe there were 41 boats. My understanding is these tournaments are only going to become more popular in the coming years.. I believe about half the boats produced a goose egg. The other half turned in some nice fish. The good news is none of these were killed. We finished 4th with two 23 inch fish weighting 9.37 pounds. Tournaments can and do provide opportunities to reacquaint with old friends and making new friends. As fishing for redfish becomes more popular, practicing catch and release will become important! Encourage your friends to do likewise.
Water is in the mid sixties. Whiting and sharks are in the sounds but a strong southeast wind this week has made fishing around the bars sloppy. When fishermen have ducked out of wind fish can be caught but the bite has only been fair. As conditions continue to improve the whiting/shark bite will heat up!
Good Fisihng!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Mar 9, 2007
Fishing has been good just not consistent. When fronts have pushed through fishing has been poor. On the other hand just prior to the fronts and during good weather fishing has been good. Seatrout can be found in deep holes ( 7 to 12 feet) at low water fishing bait or plastics. Seatrout can also be found on traditional drops when the tide is moving. The bite can be soft and slow when water temperature is hovering in the low 50's. When water temperature is on the rise the bite can be hot and fast! When fishing a hole you believe is holding fish and nothing happens slow your retrieve. Capt. Eric Traub reports large seatrout are filled with hard backs - small shrimp. This is a good time to down size your bait!
There have been of reports people seeing schools of redfish and not able to get these fish to bite. Sometimes that just the way it is. Fish, even redfish do not continually feed. Current, water temperature, clarity and predators can all impact a bite. Another consideration is how much pressure are these fish experiencing. Fish that have seen just everything thrown at them can be very spooky. This is an excellent time to try something different: stay further away, pitch quieter lures (such as a DOA shrimp), use a push pole in lieu of a trolling motor, simply drift or anchor up. Even spooky fish will eat. The range of a school of redfish isn't miles and miles. Reds will be near structure. When redfish are in open water its usually because they have been pushed from a favorite spots. These fish are on move and not likely to eat. When several boats are presents on a flat your best bet isn't to compete. Look for fish elsewhere or simply stake up.
Fish the conditions
Sounds simple. Everyone wants to know where did you catch those fish. Location is important but just as important are the conditions. Look for what the day will allow and fish those conditions. When fishing a drop for seatrout in clean, clear water lengthen and lighten your leader, down size your hook. This simple step can mean all the difference in a day of winter fishing. Fish in water just above 50 degrees will usually bump at bait several times before committing to the bite. Watch for subtle movements of your float or a slight bump of plastic. This slight indication could be a nice seatrout. Slowing your hook set is usually what's in order. Twice this week I've caught myself missing the first fish or two due too fast a hook set. In one day you might see a soft bite in the morning turning to an aggressive bite in the afternoon as conditions warm. Even within a few cast you might notice an aggressive bite followed by soft bite. All I can is thats' winter time fishing! Fishing can be good just a little unpredictable.
Those looking forward to bumping the bottom need to wait no longer! There have already been several reports of good whiting catches! Wind and tide are the biggest factors. When the sounds are rough whiting fish is limited to protected water. Despite lots of wind there have been several good catches up and down the coast. It seems a little early for sharks. Nonetheless there reports of black tips showing up as well.
Hope this of help! Practice catch and release whenever you can and go light on take of redfish!
Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan
Feb 8, 2007
The last couple of weeks have been cold and wintery, not much fishing going on. Once the sun reappeared fishermen ventured out to find surface water temperatures from 47 to 50 degrees. That's pretty cold! Despite low temperatures, you catch fish in cold water!
A couple of winter patterns Miss Judy and I spoke about (during her inshore school) were fishing up river and along mud flats. Both patterns can be effective! Those preferring to fish bait can find success fishing a mud minnow under a small float or live lining. Generally the smaller the float better. When fishing a rattle float in clear calm water during the winter its best to let the bait do the work, make little or no noise with your float. Jerk baits can be effective as well as a variety small plastics. Lengthening and lighting your leader can be a plus in winter fishing. Cold temperatures impact the seatrout bite more than the reds. Nonetheless, some fishermen caught seatrout (last week) in 47 degree water. If the seatrout bite is slow switch to redfish or stripers. Even though conditions are cold redfish can be found schooling and hungry! Always go light on your catch of redfish. This week there have been good catches in sounds as well as upriver. With redfish sometimes when you catch one the others in the school will literally turn on. When this happens these fish loose wariness and fishing is nothing than popping a bait out. Working an artificial can be a little trickier. A big red can literally pull a moving boat into the path of other fish blowing any chance for multi hook ups. In general fishing for reds has been good! Seatrout action has been slow.
Leave stone unturned
After catching some nice reds on plastics Capt. "Wild Bill" Jarrell and I were exploring a small creek. We saw a fish pushing awake that from the size could have easily have been a porpoise. The wake was well out of casting range. We were pitching plastic working down the bank. The fish sensed the disturbance caused by the plastic and swam from across the creek, zeroing in on the plastic following it all the way to boat. No doubt a large red (perhaps 20 pounds)! The big red inspected the plastic and mulled around it, allowing time to make another soft pitch, then the fish was gone. What happened! As we worked the boat back up the creek we noticed a fish gasping for air along the bank. I thought it was likely a catfish because it looked so fat. Bill thought it was a trout. We proceeded another 100 feet or so. Bill said we need to check out that fish, "leave no stone unturned "were his words. My expectation wasn't very high seeing a dying catfish. As we got to the fish we found out that it was a pretty large mullet, maybe a pound and half. The mullet's head had been crushed, blood was seeping from its gills. We concluded the big red was looking for his lost meal. Our plastics caught his attention but the large redfish had a bigger meal in mind! What was amazing was how acute the big red senses were. Bill pitched the mullet in open water maybe the big red would return and reclaim his feast. Both Bill and I agreed and this fish has likely broken more than a few lines and hearts. Maybe we'll see big red another day!
Good Fishing!
Capt. Jack McGowan
Jan. 16, 2007
A warm trend, for last couple of weeks, has meant rising water temperatures. This means shrimp are still available. Despite shrimp in the rivers only Bandy's and Larrys' Bait & Tackle are opened for business. Shrimp can be plentiful one day and gone the next. Despite the abundance today. It's likely shrimp could become scare in the next few weeks. If your fishing trip is dependent on shrimp you might want to the call ahead to make sure shrimp are available. Bandy's number is 912-354-6444. The last number for Larry's is 272-7339. Larry does carry live finger mullet when he's able to find them. Finger mullet is an excellent bait for those targeting stripers!
Fishing success last week has been mixed . Small tides and gentle drifts helped some types of fishing and hindered fishing dependent on moving water. Small tides and gentle drift can mean a slow seatrout bite. On the other hand even though action was slow there were several large seatrout landed as well as lots of small ones. Some fishermen have limited out while most were catching some fish. With water temperature in the high 50's to low 60's and fetish fish (small fish that steal a bait) are out and about.
Small tides and slow drifts were ideal for sheepshead fishing! As water cool down and the bite for most fish slows sheepshead action is heating up! Sheepshead for the most part are thought of as a tricky fish to catch. On days with a slow drift the sheepshead fishing could be a good fish to target. It's possible to not only catch quality fish but have lot s of bites! Most fishermen prefer to fish around slack water. There have been several reports of good catches of sheepshead last week.
Redfish can be found along mudflats and in spots that poise the least amount of amounts of danger from porpoises and humans. The more disturbed fish are the more likely they are to seek new areas of refuge. Creeks that are rarely accessed and are holding bait can be likely spots for redfish to hold. Winter is the time of year to see large schools of reds. Large schools of fish don't necessarily mean large catches. These fish are easy to spook. This time of year clear, cold, slow moving water can make fishing challenging. Longer casts and artificials can work well! The best artificials are usually soft plastics like DOA shrimp and jerk worms. Any unnatural noise can send a school of redfish scurrying. It's not unusual for winter redfish to honker down. Blind casting can and does produce fish. Far more redfish are caught by blind casting than sight casting. Nonetheless, be on the look out for anything unusual in the water: a push of water, bait popping out of the water, or nervous water. Likely those sights and sounds are signs of redfish. As always keep only what you intend to eat and release the rest. Going light on your take of redfish or practicing catch and release is always a good idea.Tides for the coming are building. Could mean a good seatrout bite as tide build. Anticipate the best bite just before a front arrives and a couple of days after a front has passed. We're continuing to catch some nice seatrout and reds. Winter is a great time to target sheepshead. Striper action while not hot should produce some large fish as the winter progresses!
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Don't forget next Miss Judy's Inshore School is Jan. 27th . Call Miss Judy for more information and to register @ 912.897-2478. Lots of fun and good fishing information!
Thanks again! Capt. Jack McGowan
Jan 3, 2007
Some seatrout and redfish are being caught but the bite is slowing. Seatrout are scattered. Nonetheless it's still possible to for good catches! As water temperature drops seatrout will avoid strong currents. Fish are cold blooded (meaning its body temperature is regulated by the environment). As water temperature drops so does their metabolism. Seatrout can be found where they will expend little energy. Likely areas to find seatrout will be in or near marsh grass and out of direct current. Seatrout can also be found well upriver and deep. Seatrout are looking for favorable areas where they expend little energy and where there is bait. This time of the year fishing rips and strong currents will likely not produce fish. Lighten your tackle and fish upriver and deep or along marsh banks. The best marsh banks are those out of direct current. Anticipate fishing to be slower in winter. Redfish can be around mud flats. This year seems to be little off for reds. You might want to concentrate on seatrout or sheepshead. There have been several reports both inshore and offshore of good catches of sheepshead. The best bite for sheepshead is usually on small tides. Fishermen usually will fish one hour on either side of tide. The better fishing is usually on low water although high water can produce good catches as well. Striper action has been only fair. Fishermen are complaining the flood gates in silting in and that the water dynamics of the Back River are changing. This same complaint has been lodged for the past few years. The word is the better striper fishing is in the main river. Those fishing the main river have lots of structure to fish: rocks, docks, trees and remnant structure. The main bait of choice for most targeting stripers is still shrimp. Occasionally there will be a catch of 30 or more fish in the five to seven pound range but river the last few years is losing its consistency. Not many fishermen are taking these fish. The changing bite appears to have more to due with water flow. Most striper fishermen are catching their fish in the main river and further up the river.
Don Adams, of Adams Bait Shop in Thunderbolt, so far is still able to find shrimp. Donny is having to ride south to find bait. Donny is at the extent of his range. As long as the weather stays mild Donny will likely have bait. Bait shops further south sometimes will be able to find bait after the bait has left local waters. The seatrout bite has been scattered. Some redfish action. A few stripers some big ones. Allen, from River Supply in Thunderbolt, said this week there more reports of sheepsheads being caught both inshore and offshore.
Don't forget Miss Judy's first of two Inshore schools will be held at Tubbys 'Tankhouse in Thunderbolt, Jan. 13., 2007. Hope to see you there and look forward to sharing some adventures and lessons learned of the past season. Hope this of help! For information or to sign up for Miss Judy's Fishing Schools call 912-89-2478.
Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan