Coastal River Charters – Inshore Fishing Report

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Dec. 22, 2003

Colder Water....but fishing should be heating up!
Several cold days this week has driven the water temperature to around 47 degree. Prior to the cold snap there were reports of big trout taken in the Wilmington and the Savannah River. Warmer days going into the Christmas holiday will likely mean the trout bite will be on. There's still plenty of local bait available but you might want to call ahead. Shrimp have "gone deep". It's common this of the year to someone throwing a cast net in 30 feet of water. A couple of warm days and the trout will back in shallow water. This is an excellent time to troll lures like Mitte Mike aka Christmas tree and chartreuse grubs. When float fishing the bite can be on one day and off the next. Warmer temperatures will likely mean active hungry fish with empty stomachs. When pitching, trolling and float fishing fail to produce don't forget the lowly bottom rig. Sometimes a simply bottom rig will catch fish when everything else fails. A big hungry trout can resist a large mud minnow. When your mud minnow isn't getting slammed just chalk that drop up for another day.

Redfish are schooling on the mudflats. The flats that most active the ones that heat up easily, are close to deep water and shell rakes. Don't expect to motor in on these fish. Water clarity is exceptional and currents slow. This combination makes it easy to spook these fish. Just stepping carelessly in your boat can panic a large school. The only practical way (flats boat included) to fish these is plan to be on your mud before the fish arrive and fish light tackle. When pitching plastic opt for something soft and light. Live bait under a small float with a fluorocarbon leader should work fine.

Tides for the remainder of the month look good. Redfish on the mudflats, seatrout as water temperatures rises, stripers on structure and in the current. The best stripers tides have been the top of incoming and the first three hours of the out going. The most intense striper activity is at night. Be careful because the Savannah River can be loaded with debris. Most of fly fishermen are taking striper on deep sinking lines although you might what can happen with a floating line. Look for shadows. Those shadowy areas are likely hot spots. Multiple fish can hold one spot.

Hope this is some help! Good Fishing, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

Capt. Jack McGowan

Ded 12, 2003
Stripers, Redfish and Seatrout
Most of the striper fishermen have been lamenting the striper has not been strong. The past couple weeks provided several cold days pushing stripers down stream creating a very good bite for fly fishermen, buck tails and live bait. Whistlers and large clousers have worked well on the fly. Bucktail fishermen prefer 1 to 1 1/2 yellow or white jigs. Stripers are also taking both dead and live shrimp and mullet. The striper bite is good. The key to striper fishing, like most fishing, is having a "good drift". Slow moving water generally isn't the most productive. Fish structure and look drifts.

The redfish bite has been good but it taking on more of a winter look. Namely slow moving cold, clear water. Fish under these conditions are easily spooked. Most of fish are in small groups, rather than large schools, probably due to fishing pressure. As fishermen avoid cold days it's likely to see large schools of reds warming themselves on local mudflats. Live shrimp is still available. This is great bait for redfish. You might try gobbing shrimp on your hook. Sometimes fresh dead is more effective than live bait. Fish with minimizing sound in mind and you'll probably catch some nice reds. There have probably been more second year redfish caught this year than we've seen in many season. Some have said we're seeing more second year redfish due to limits on redfish that in acted a few year ago. Fishing for redfish has been very good!

The seatrout bite is still going on. Some fishermen look at 50 degrees as the critical number when the bite shuts down. At present water temperature, in local waters is around 53 degrees. The trout bite can go either way depending on cold fronts. A couple of warm days will bring seatrout high onto mudflats. The best bite has been by those trolling and pitching grubs in the heads of rivers and creeks as well live bait fishing in those areas. Although we're approaching winter the late fall bite has been good for fly, artificials and bait fishing.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Nov 27, 2003
Big Tides, Dirty Water and Redfish back in the Grass
Fishing prior to Thanksgiving was generally tough. The exception were for those who found some redfish and clean water. Tides have been high. A persistent northeast wind push water higher than expected with several high tides well over 9 feet. Extremely high water gave some opportunity to fish back in the marsh grass. The difficulty with this of fishing is there are lots places for the fish to hide. With a little luck fly fishermen and conventional fishermen can pull a few fish under extreme conditions. The high tide on the 28th (the day after Thanksgiving) will will be a high of 8.4 not bad but not great. As tides continue to fall going into the weekend fishing should improve. High tide can suck bait from the creeks into the sounds. Tides Saturday and Sunday should be easy to fish with high tides of 6.7 and 6.6 respectively. Sometimes the first "good tide" after a spring tide will provide some good fishing. My thought is fishing definitely be better than the past week. Whether fishing is fast and furious remains to be seen. If the bait and fish move in fishing should be good. If you have some favorite near wrecks this could be an excellent time to give them a try. There's still plenty of bait in the bait shops. Like previous years most will try to stay open till New Year's. Bait in the coming weeks will be shorter supply. You might want to call if you don't want to be disappointed. Hope you all caught a lot of fish over the holiday! If not wait a few days and conditions will change. The bite for past week has been mostly redfish on float rigs. We've caught some small redfish that look that looked like they ran a gauntlet this week between fishermen, porpoises and high tides. Fishing will likely return to a more seasonable bite this week

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Nov 19, 2003
Bing Phillips said the sea trout has finally taken off at Yellow Bluff. The sea trout bite in Savannah likewise has been good. Lots of small trout with 13 and 14 inch trout in the mix. Larger trout are being caught. The redfish bite continues to be strong. In some areas the water was actually too clear. Gentle tides meant there were plenty of catches of both trout and bass. This is the time of year any oyster rake or grass edge might hold plenty of hungry fish.

Tides through the coming weekend look good. Tides are building to 7.8 feet on Sunday the 23rd.. Definitely fishable! North to northwest will probably be the pattern for the next several days. If winds are around 10 mhp fishing should be awesome! Stronger winds will mean anglers will need to fish protected waters: creeks and lee shores. A faster water flow will likely mean a faster more consistent bite for those who find fish.

Pete Herber said the stripers are biting well. His suggestion is fish the rocks and use large shrimp. Water temperature is in mid 60's. There's still plenty of bait although bait will soon become scare. Fishing should be good for the coming week!

Capt. Jack McGowan

Nov 05, 2003
Sea trout, Stripers and Redfish
Sea trout, stripers and redfish are hot on the coast! Sea trout and stripers are both on the move. Stripers are moving down fresh water rivers to the coast. Sea trout are moving into creeks and rivers seeking to put on additional weight before winter arrives. Many veteran fishermen are saying they've never seen the redfish bite as good as it is now. Limits on redfish and sea trout are relatively new on the coast. The quality of our fishery is due in part to limits. It was common while growing up to read of massive sea trout and redfish catches. The glory days of loading a boat down fish is part of the past. Nonetheless, the quality of fishing on the coast is good!

Our Best Fishing is Yet to Come!
Stripers are foraging on menhaden. Stripers are greedy eaters. It's not unusual for a striper to puke a menhaden up once you landed him. Smaller fish are usual found in smaller bodies of water. Look for big fish in big water. Big stripers and sea trout aren't compatible. A small sea trout could be a likely part a stripers diet. Small stripers (dinks) and sea trout can be found in the same water. Sea trout prefer a current, moving water. Little or no current means sea trout fishing will more challenging. Our best fishing is yet to come! Cold fronts play a big role. A cold snap will likely trigger good fishing. Right now our temperature is still around 68 degrees. This means there are still plenty of bait steelers (small fish) in local waters. As water temperature drops small bait fish will soon scatter! It's not unusual to find redfish and sea trout schooling after and initial blast of cold air. When we find fish schooling I'll tell my clients not to expect this on every trip. It can happen. Usually we'll take some fish from the school and leave the fish for another day. Catch and releasing sea trout is problematic. It sounds great to report that you landed a large number of fish. On the other hand, I'm told once a sea trout loses his slime he's done for. A sea trout isn't likely to survive once netted. Trying to remove a hook from a sea trout in the water is problematic. A trout large will slam its head into the hull of your boat. My suggestion is keep what you want to eat then target another fish. Small redfish seem to take handling better than sea trout. When releasing a large red (any fish over keeper size 23 inches) take your time to revive the fish. Dropping a large red into the water will likely result in that turning belly up. Take your time! Hold the fish in the water occasionally pushing the forward so water is forced in. Once his dorsal fin raises you'll know he's ready. If you need to a sea trout my suggestion is pull out of the water, turn the fish upside down, quickly remove the hook, and send him on his way.

Tide look good through out the week. The tides are building, meaning getter higher. Some fishermen believe building tides means the bite is getting progressive better. Tides are only building to 7.9 feet heading into the week end. Wind not accounted for, should be good fishing!

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Oct 21, 2003
Trout, trash fish and clean water
Sea trout are moving into the creeks in search of their favor meal. For medium sized trout is shrimp the meal of choice. Water temperature at present is still hovering around 70 degrees this means there are still plenty of bait steelers (pin fish, needle fish and yellow tails) present. When conventional float fishing fails to produce you might pull out your favorite plastic. We've had success on plastics resembling finger mullet and sea shad. When fishing a plastic the bite might be hard and fast or soft and subtle. It been said when working a plastic - don't stop . My thought is to the contrary. You can stop a bait, work it at constant pace, vary the retrieve or twitch your bait.. A hook set should be firm enough to accomplish its objective and no more! Redfish can mouth a bait. By this I mean the fish has picked up your bait but hasn't committed. He can just as easily spit your bait or inhale it. I'll set the hook on a redfish holing a bait. More often than not the result is hook set squarely in the size of his jaw. Sea trout are known for aggressive hard strikes. On the other hand, a sea trout can "bump" a bait. Usually after a couple bumps a frenetic bite will follow. Both redfish and trout are head hunters. A head strike will often stun or kill a bait then the trout or red will follow up to enjoy his meal. Select plastics that work. ( see Chuck King @ Cranmans or Allen @ River Supply). There are lots of plastics on the wall but all aren't equally effective. Things to look for in a plastic color, size and shape, smell, and last but not least feel. Look for colors that stand out. Counter shading or multiple colors that mimic or exaggerate work well. A plastic that feels fleshy can draw multiple strikes on a retrieve from the same fish. The size of plastic for redfish and trout is usually between 2 to 6 inches with a 3 inch plastic as standard. The smell of a bait is important if not for anything else it mast your our odor. If you're not satisfied with the scent on your plastic you can sweeten your plastic by rubbling it with shrimp or by putting a small chunk of shrimp on its hook. There are several salt water scents in the market. Fin Essence and Berkley attractants work fine. Garlic favors know for years by fresh water bass fishermen and are equally suited in salt water. Gentle tides has meant water clarity has been exceptional. Couple clean slow moving with tons of bait steelers and you might want to try your hand at plastics. You might be surprised.

Tides are building with a high tide Sunday the 26th of 9.3 feet couple spring tides with a northeaster this could make for challenging fishing. Nonetheless the cool down will likely heat up the trout bite. Day light saving time ends on the 25th so remember to fall back, set your clocks back on Sunday. Fish'n been good!

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Oct 15, 2003
Bass Abound (Redfish)
Early fall is time of year when living is easy. The days are noticeably shorter and milder. Life seems to beat to a different pace in the fall. Fall is measured by things like tassels on the marsh grass, incredible colors and of course bass. Those of us who grew on the coast simply called redfish, bass.

Next few weeks should be exceptional for redfish! These fish normally forage on fiddler crabs. For the next several weeks shrimp will make up a large portion of their diet. Many small reds or first year fish are now legal 14 inch size, some are larger. Second year fish can be found in creeks on flats and near the sounds. These fish can be taken on incoming or outgoing water although outgoing tides usually produce nice opportunities to tangle with quality fish. Its not unusual while fishing a grass line to release two or three dozen keeper sized reds. When the small fish stop biting fish between 23 and 30 inches might moved in. The fish don't bite this every day. Tides, luck, porpoises, wind, water clarity, interference from an unwitting angler and all play a part. The biggest factor is possibly the one we have the least control over that is porpoises. Porpoises can scatter a school fish to parts unknown and turn world class fishing into asking your fishing buddy what just happened!

Last fall Chuck King, manager of Cranmans Sporting World and I were scouting for trout and bass. Drops that I fished earlier in the fall weren't producing. Chuck said lets fish a big bass place of his. We caught all sorts of fish. I estimated we had 50 bass between 7 and 10 pounds. Chuck had two on the fly. The fishing was spectacular!. A few days later on a similar tide I found porpoises all over the grass line. I motor in to drive the porpoises out. Four casts produced four fish. I got one 10 pounder to the boat. Then the porpoises were back. I often tell clients porpoises are the real fishermen. Instead of begrudging them you might as well look at them with awe and on some days with little envy. When porpoises discover the school of reds you're trying to fish just move on. Drawing porpoises to boat is a crowd pleaser but should done with caution. Porpoises that get to use to human contact might come up to boat just to investigate who's in their water. My suggestion is keep contact to a minimum.

With a little luck, the next several weeks should be ideal for redfish. Mild temperatures and plenty of bait will likely mean a strong redfish bite. Often fishermen who are not familiar with redfish will impressed my their fight. Its not unusual for a small fish to fight like he thinks he's a big fish! A big fish might scream off yards of line as he high tails it to the grass or an oyster rake for protection. The best trout fishing usually takes off after the first winter cold snap. Before the cold snap think redfish! These fish will usually hold close to structure, if you're not fishing close to structure you're likely missing a lot of fish. Think in for bass and out for trout. My preference for a live bait hook is a gold #1 khale hook. The key for any bait in bass fishing is that it needs to be fresh (per Spud Woodward senior DNR biologist), the fresher the better. Bass will readily take a live or dead bait such as a large shrimp, a mud minnow, pogies or finger mullet. The stomachs of most bass are filled with fiddler crabs another excellent bait. Shrimp nonetheless is the primary bait during the fall.

Capt. Ray Crawely saids shorten leaders on float rigs as the tide ebbs (sometimes one foot or less). Capt. Ray prefers a 20# so the leader. My preference is a heavier leader, usually a 30# flourocarbon. Large fish can and will be in skinny water (usually less then 2 feet). It's make little sense to fish skinny water with long leader but it's done all time. Fish lighter tackle that less likely to spook fish. Plastics can and do work well. DOA shrimp are great in skinny water. Remember work your bait or plastic at a realistic pace. SLOW! For best result fish close to structure and on lower tide stages. When the drop you're fishing fails to produce try drifting a bank. When someone is hooked into a "good fish", ease your anchor over. The fish will often give themselves by push of water, a wake, jumping shrimp or you might see all or part of the fish. Spooking fish isn't the kiss of death often fish will return to the same area. Allow for everything to settle down and you might be surprised! My belief is there is good noise and bad noise a thrashing redfish might turn other fish instead of scattering them. Tossing an anchor over or running your boat in shallow water will definitely spook fish.

Enough taking about reds let's go fishing!

Capt. Jack McGowan

Tackle and fishing update Chuck King landed 6 redfish bewteen 4 and 6 1/2 pounds on live shrimp with me on 10.13.03 using a low country poping float. Light tackle is effective.

Oct 1, 2003
Fall has officially begun! Fall means fishing! Cooler temperatures give a welcome break as seatrout school and move into local creeks. Last week fall fishing was off to a slow start with spring tides and strong winds. Further south around St.Simons there were reports of some of the best tarpon fishing of the year. Off of Warsaw and Little Tybee fishermen reported seeing smaller tarpon. In short there are still a few tarpon in our waters but that wont last long. October is generally thought of as the month for stag bass in the surf. These fish are over the legal keeping size but can be fun to catch! Outer sand bars on the first of the incoming are usually deemed the most productive areas and tides to fish in the surf. Small trout are numerous with occasional catches of larger trout reported. As fall back under 8 foot fishing should be hot!

Chuck King at Cranmans said the adjusted popping float is catching fish. Some of the best trout of season have been caught on Chuck's popper (several four and five pounders). The flounder bite is slowing down but the seatrout bite is heating up. Action in the Savannah for the most part has been slow. Some four and pound stripers have caught but thus far the Savannah River hasn't taken off. Look for good fishing in the creeks as fall arrives. Tides look good through the week and on through the weekend. The biggest factor appears to be a breezy north wind. Despite the wind fishing should be improving.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Sep 17, 2003
Fishing for the past week has been fair to good. When fishermen have found clean water fishing has been productive for redfish, black drum and small trout. Incoming tide has been productive for sea trout while the best bite for large redfish and black drum has been close to high tide. Shrimp are thick so if you're not fishing live shrimp you're probably missing a beat. Mud flats and areas like Salt Pond have produced good catches of both trout and bass in recent days. Lots of fishermen are on the water this time of year. In regards to one fisherman I've seen on the water several times in recent days Capt. Brian said "don't these guys ever work". All I say is I'm not sure, truth is as fall draws near many fishermen will take off or plan vacation time to coincide with trout fishing. Fishing looks promising for fall. Ample spring and summer rains have helped to produce healthy amounts of shrimp which is a primary food source for most inshore fish.

Tides look good through this week and on through the week end. So far strong winds have yet to materialize as Isabelle passes by. In windy conditions fish lee shores. The shore lines that are out of the wind. Look for clean water and bait. When you find those conditions clean and bait you'll likely find fish.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Aug 27, 2003
High pressure this week has meant hotter more summer like weather. Shrimp are plentiful in the sounds, so plentiful that price per pound is as low can be expected. Some of the best reports of trout being caught (both in the creeks and in the sounds) are on large polywogs. Large polywogs can be a more resistant to trash fish. Simply keeping a large meaty bait in the water a little longer will increase yours odds for a hook up on a quality fish. There's plenty of bait (pogies) around salt pond and the south end of Warsaw Island. When schools of bait fish aren't plentiful shark and tarpon fishing will usually be slower. Fishing close to where you find bait is as Martha Stewart would say is a good thing. Mud minnows are a great durable bait requiring little oxygen and care. Nonetheless mud minnows (also known as polywogs) are still susceptible to heat. In general trout, bass and flounder will readily take a mud minnow. Black drum and sheaphead prefer shrimp or small crabs. Having more than one type of bait you give a fisherman more options. Plastics that resemble shrimp and ones that are darker colors such as rootbeer have been working well.

The big event this weekend in Savannah is the Savannah Sportfishing Shootout. This tournament has both a kingfish and redfish component. Local tackle shops and marinas should have the information on how to register or go call the event organizer Ken Thompson at 888-242-7919.

Lots of fishermen have been reporting numerous small trout and bass. The expectation is fall looks promising! The flounder bite has been excellent. As we head into the dog days of summer in general the best fishing will likely be early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Fall is right around the corner so despair about the mid day heat. Drink plenty of water and try to plan your fishing during the cooler parts of the day and fish where a breeze is likely.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Aug 18, 2003
Fishing has been good in the Savannah area! Sea trout are biting on the beach fronts. Lots of small red fish near almost any structure. Most of these fish have already reached 12" in length some are 13". We've been catching more black drum in local waters usual. Tarpon fishing is probably better off Savannah than further south due to warm local waters and colder temperatures further south. Sharks appear more numerous in deeper water, possibly due to saltier water further off shore. Spanish can be seen on the beach fronts as well as an occasional king. The down side to summer time fishing is there lots of small fish to steal your bait. This is a good time to fish a fish or an artificial. You'll get plenty of action on shrimp although sometimes its hard to keep your bait in the water long enough for a larger fish to find it.

Tides will building though the 27th often this means the bite will building as well. Sometimes just before a front passes the bite will pick up. In general usually the best fishing will either be during the morning hours or in the afternoon. Fish can bite during the heat of the day but usually this will the slowest fishing. Should be plenty of opportunities during the week for some good fishing!

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Aug 8, 2003
We've been looking at the same weather pattern for the past several weeks. Namely southwest winds and afternoon thunderstorms. The thunderstorms can dump lots of fresh water in a very little time. Lots of fresh water can make finding pogies more difficult and fishing for tarpon and sharks more problematic. Nonetheless, despite ample amounts of rain there have been good catches of black and red drum, flounder and sea trout. Best action for seatrout has been on or near beach fronts. There have been several reports from the pier at Tybee of plenty of action for black drum seatrout and flounder. Later in the week a weak cold front pushed through, changing the wind direction and triggering a strong bite.

Tides will be decreasing during the week. Conventional wisdom says this is best time for fishing. Not necessarily so. Moving water is critical for good inshore fishing. When you're fishing water with no or little drift the water is "dead". Look for moving water. Slower moving water can be ideal for red drum and flounder but stealth is critical. Fishing should good for the coming week. Target red and black, seatrout and flounder. When live bait fish and you don't detect a strike and you reel in just a head of shrimp you've likely been picked clean by a black drum. Try changing the way you hook shrimp. Hook it through the body instead of its head. Black drum have biting well up and down the coast as well as flounder. One fishermen has said the flounder bite has saved his inshore fishing there biting so well. Plastic such as terminators with spinner blades have doing great. Chuck Smith (of Cransman's) and I caught several nice flounder a new Bass Assassin called the electric buzzer (crazy name). Should be another hot plastic particularly in dirty water.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan