Coastal River Charters

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

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

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