Coastal River Charters

Good news for those fishing shrimp. Shrimp are getting larger! Don Adams says he’s now able catch shrimp in the rivers. River shrimp are larger than shrimp found in the creeks. Pogies are present in the rivers but these fish are small and sound quickly. Large pogies can be found close to the sounds. Tarpon are present and can be found close to the bait (pogies). Several fisherman have landed tarpon; most have been well under 100 pounds. However some large tarpon have been caught. In general big fish show up during late summer or early fall. Redfish and seatrout have been biting on finger mullet as well as shrimp. The best redfish and seatrout bite has been near the sounds. Capt. Stan Allen says the bite has been inconsistent with a good day followed by slow one. The best bite has been usually either in the early morning or late in the afternoon. Plastics will work! Plastics can allow a fisherman to cover a lot of water and to literally hunt the fish. Keep in mind, work your plastic slow in slow moving water. Covering lots of water is fine just make your presentation is realistic to the conditions. There’s tons of bait in the creeks so make whatever you’re fishing stand out. Large baits stand out! Pin fish and other small bait fish can be numerous so bring plenty of bait. Fishing should likely improve as the summer progresses although it’s pretty good now!

Tides are less than 8.3 for the remainder of the month. As tides builds into the 8 ft range the bite will likely pick up as well. Moving water equals a food chain. Try to fish moving water during your fishing trip and you’ll likely catch more fish. Look for a good drift (flow of water), clean water and bait and you’ll likely fine fish! There have been several reports of good catches of seatrout and redfish. Chuck King reports that most of his customers are releasing more fish. This only makes good sense as more fishing pressure is placed on resources. Present limits are likely unrealistic to sustain a healthy fishery. A keep few fish to eat and release the rest. Hope this report helps you in your enjoyment of our sport!

Capt. Jack McGowan

Tip of the Week
Bring plenty of bait and fish larger baits. You’ll likely be surprised at the results you’ll get.

Fishing been good! Tides have been gentle. The bite at times has fast and furious. Most of our action has come on finger mullet and Lindy’s snagless rattle sinker We’ve been tying this sinker directly to our line then adding a piece of fluorocarbon leader. This rig has consistently produced some nice fish. For fish that get gut hooked try using a circle hook or rigging like a fishfinder rig. The bite has been mostly seatrout and redfish. We’ve caught some flounders but likely the best flounder fishing is yet to come. Tarpon are showing up along the sand bars. Bill Bowers, an avid tarpon fisherman, says the tarpon bite is going strong off St. Simons. The thought is tarpon have not shown up in mass in local waters. The best tarpon fishing is usually in August in our waters. Allen from from River Supply reports spanish have been plentiful just not consistent for those wishing to pitch spoons or plugs at them. Small sharks are plentiful on the sandbars so have plenty of bait and tackle with you when whiting fishing.

Bait Situation
Shrimp can vary in size this time of year; one baitshop will have small bait another might have larger baits. My preference is fish larger baits when you have a choice. Use a little common sense. If your shrimp looks a lobster it might be ideal as a crushed bait for redfish.

The Tides and Fishing Strategy
Small tides means not much moving water. Anchor and staying put will often produce fish on days with slow moving water. If the bite doesn’t materialize then hunt your fish. Otherwise stay put and try not to make too much noise in shallow water. Tides are small going into the weekend. These are the tides that fishermen like the best. My preference is for a stronger drift or bigger tides. Small tides are easier to fish. The water is cleaner. On the other hand it’s easier to spook fish in slow moving . Nonetheless, the tides look good and seatrout are on the move. Fish that have been on the beach fronts are moving into the inlets. Keep a few release the rest.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Well the holiday is over! Hope you had a great one! There are a reports of some some tarpon caught in local waters. The bulk of these fish are still south of local waters and will likely start arriving in greater numbers in the coming weeks. Large jack crevalles have been working Cabbage Island Spit although these fish aren’t staying on top of the water for very long. Large schools of pogies (bait fish) can seen in local rivers and on the beach fronts. Bait fish bring in bring spanish, jacks, sharks as well as other fish. George Hammond reported a nice caught of spanish in front of Wassaw pitching small silver spoons and trolling. The seatrout bite is on the beach front one fishermen (this week end) caught 15 roe trout off the public pier off of Tybee. This is a great catch! Keep a couple for supper and release the rest. These are the fish that will replenish the stock. Redfish action can be good. Best action for redfish has been pitching Bass Assassins (pin fish) as well as fishing live bait. Chuck King, Cranmans manager, and I caught several this afternoon on live shrimp. Our best result came on a “snag proof rattle sinker” (Chuck sells), 18 inches of fluorocarbon and a live bait hook. We caught several wary reds. The largest Chuck landed was 9 lb plus. Ask Chuck about the one that got away. Live bait and slow fishing is hard for even a wary redfish to resist. The flounder bite has been fair and will likely pick up in coming weeks. There’s tons of bait in the creeks so take your cast net with you when go fishing. There’s nothing like fresh bait!

Ron Thomas (Bahia Bleu) says afternoons can offer some of the best tarpon fishing. Most angler prefer incoming water. Ron says tarpon can bite well on either tide. The bait in so it should be only a matter of time before we start seeing tarpon rolling on the beach fronts.When you can chum ‘em up. A trail of fresh fish aromas might turn a slow day in constant action. Today we were into some nice black tips. Purist might consider a black tip a nuisance while tarpon fishing. We look at black tips a possible harbinger of good things to come. Keep chumming or you might be watching others catching the fish!

Hope this report is of help! .

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan