Coastal River Charters

Redfish and flounder have provided most the action for last week. Small male seatrout are in the creeks. Large females (seatrout) on the beachfronts. The quality of bait shrimp has been poor. White shrimp are very small. They die easily and their small size isn’t appealing to a large fish wanting a meal. Mudminnow and finger mullet are both availale to those willing to set a trap or throw a cast net.. These fish make excellent baits. Seatrout action has been slow with best catches likely coming at night fishing under dock lights. The flounder bite has been good but will likely pick up in the coming weeks. Whiting have become scare along the sandbars as small shark abound. An ocassional small redfish will take a bait but these fish are still a little too small to want to tangle with most baits. Gabe (from the DNR) said small redfish should start appearing in mid July. Despite ample rains some large mouth bass fishermen are saying they’re catching some nice reds. Action for redfish along mudflats is slowing as more toothy fish move in. Sharks have been plentiful. Pogies are showing up on the beach front in force. Should be a good tarpon/jack year. The guess is that we’ll a good bite but it will likely wont happen later than normal. Water temperature is already in the mid 80′s. Best chances of success are usually found during the summer in the early morning. Fish moving water before the day gets hot and storms build. When the bite slows it’s time to move to another drop. Last month’s Salt Water Sportsman had a couple of articles which inshore fishermen could definitely apply to local waters for seatrout and flounders.

Tides are only in the 7ft range going into the holiday weekend. Southwest winds could slow the outgoing tide to a slow trickle. Best bite is likely early.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Fishing conditions have been challenging for the past week. Strong (east, southeast) winds made for difficult fishing. Although fishermen who fished lee shores were able to catch some nice redfish. Seatrout fishing was slow due little drift. Flounder fishing continues to improve as summer progresses. Lots of small blacktip sharks can be near almost any sandbar. There have been reports of monster sharks in the Wilmington. The whiting bite is slowing as sharks become more plentiful. Local bait dealer, Don Adams reported dragging for shrimp was tough due to overly clear water. Don stated he made four drags in Gray Creek and caught a quart and half. Don said the bait is there but the water is too clear to catch them. This is a complaint you don’t hear too often. Don said the shrimp can get out of the way of his net in extremely clear conditions. The local bait situation is still inconsistent but will be improving towards the end of the month. Don said this week he has shrimp from Florida. Jack Crevalles have already been caught in the Wilmington. Looks like it will likely be a good year for jacks and tarpon. Last week we marked large schools of bait but everything appeared to be down. Small mullet and brown shrimp are plentiful in the creeks. Those who are a little more energetic can likely catch plenty of bait in short order.

Tides for the coming week are relatively mild. Should be good tides to try your luck at flounder or redfish. Simple bottom rigs ( carolina rigs) and jigs can work well on days with poor drifts. Last week we caught seatrout on carolina rigs while float rigs weren’t producing. Fish lee shores when winds knick up. Fish early to avoid the heat if possible. Fish a drift or moving water. Slack tide or still water is the most difficult to fish. Keep a few and release the rest.

Good Fishing!!! Capt. Jack McGowan

Tip of the week
Fish lee shores when winds knick up. There are two schools of though one says when the wind is blowing on a shore line, bait is likely to be pushed in. Perhaps but you’re more likely to be in difficult conditions with muddy water. This is not conducive to catching fish. What looks good to you is what will likely hold fish. Fishing lee shores will make your fishing more enjoyable and likely more fishy!

Well I would be remiss if I did not mention the G8 submit and security on local water ways. In short stay clear of the Savannah River, the South Channel up to and including Field Cut. Fishing has been mixed bag. There have a few excellent sea trout catches near outer sand bars and sloughs. Sharks are very plentiful as well as ladyfish Local bait shrimpers are catching brown shrimp. The size of most local bait is about prefect for fishing, not too large, not too small. Landing Harbor, Bandy’s as well as Adam’s Baithouse are currently stocking shrimp. Shrimp are relatively plentiful in local creeks. Nonetheless call ahead as bait shops are still having difficulty getting enough bait on hand to satisfy local fishermen.

Tarpon
Yes, it seems a little early. Large schools of bait fish have been inconsistent. Schools of bait fish are here one day and gone the next. Nonetheless, there are reports of a couple of tarpon landed. Best tarpon fishing is still ahead when pogies are more abundant Should be a good year tarpon and jacks.

Redfish
Probably the most consistent fish on the coast are providing fishermen with plenty of action. Best tide to fish. Mid outgoing to low going tide. Yes, you can target redfish on almost any tide. Mid outgoing is generally deemed the best because the fish have get out of the grass with the tide. Remember wherever you fish for redfish keep plenty of water under your boat. Getting stuck is no fun. Fishing for redfish is like going to a party. Enjoy the party (the fishing) just don’t stay too long. Small first year fish are showing in the Herb River. Small redfish will be abundant probably by July. These fish will be too small to keep but fun to catch. It easy to watch this grow a little each week by fall these small fish will 14 to 16″. Large schools of small redfish means we will likely have some nice redfsih by fall. Fishing for redfish has been good. Even the best oyster bars or mudflats can only take so much fishing pressure. The redfish limit in Georgia is 5 fish limit per person. This is highest limit on the Atlantic.

Keeping 20, 23 inch will hurt any school of redfish. Our limits are likely too high for our fishery. I’ve heard it said a 23 inch redfish is too beautiful to catch only once. My thought is keep one or two for supper if you desire and release the rest. Redfish have a large rib bone. After cleaning the fish you’ll be left with not much for the size of the fish. If you’re targeting fish to eat try catching and keeping a variety. Whiting eat surprising well, as do flounder and seatrout. A small shark or two will provided plenty of fish. Think variety!

Seatrout
Seatrout as mentioned earlier can be found towards and sloughs. There have some good catches of seatrout. Conservation still needs to be the watch word with this fish. Roe trout are in the waters. Many veteran fishermen believe the quality of our fishery has declined as usage has increased. Again our limits are higher than neighboring states. Keep a few fish if you desire and release the rest! We as fishermen as a group need to escape the mentality of scraping the bottom of barrel, of trying to catch the last fish. Instead my encouragement is view fishing as an adventure. Keeping some fish is a bonus Keep the future in mind!

Good Fishing!!! Capt. Jack McGowan

Tip of the Week -Fishing Etiquette
Don’t follow the heard. Lots of boats usually doesn’t equate to great fishing. For example one boat is fishing an area. A boat pulls up, then another and another. This is pretty lame. Fish an area according to conditions not according to number of boats. When fishing around other fishermen leave ample room, as not to disturb fishing conditions for others. When a fishermen is catching fish never but never try move in. I don’t care how nice a guy you are this is inconsiderate!