Coastal River Charters

Fishing has been good despite windy conditions. When there has been little drift due to small tides or a competing wind against the tide those days are usually better redfish days. Good drifts, those not too fast, not too slow are often good for seatrout. Stripers prefer strong moving water and generally bite best at the last of the incoming or first of out going. Bait (shrimp) is still in good supple but George Rentiers of Joey’s Bait Shop said shrimp are becoming more difficult to fine. Usually most bait shop will try to remain open until New Year’s. Don Adams said he’ll stay open as long as he can find bait. For those depending on live shrimp, be prepared shrimp can be plentiful one day and gone the next. Bait shops south of Savannah often will be able to find bait longer into the winter than local bait shops. The closest bait shop that is likely to have bait into the winter is Harrison (good luck on getting them to answer a phone). Now is the time to dig out that mud minnow trap or look for finger mullet in the heads of creeks. For those wanting to get away from baits you’ll be surprised at what you can catch. Jerk worms, grubs, paddle tails will catch plenty of fish!

Redfish action during the past week has been exceptional! The trick has been to get out of the wind and fish structure. Redfish will hold on almost any structure. These fish are schooling and putting on their winter feed bags so when you find they can be easy to catch. I always suggest keep a few if you wish and release the rest. Despite the seeming abundance going light on the resource is only smart.

We’ve had some great seatrout action this month and we’ll likely see more good action through December. November is usually our peak month for seatrout but given the mild conditions we’ve seen we’re likely to see some great trout fishing in the coming weeks.

Stripers have been biting but for the most part these fish have been the smaller fish. As days shorten and temperatures drop big fish will move into local water availing themselves to flies, jig and bait. Days with slow drifts are usually poor stripers days. Stripers like active water, shadows and structure. The colder the water, the bigger the fish!

Tides for the coming are gentle decreasing tides. Expect the trout bite to be more scattered. Redfish action should be excellent. Striper action only fair due to small tides. Overall fishing will likely be very good.

Tip of the Week
Gentle tides approach the drop you’re fishing as quietly as possible. Ease your anchor over, be quiet and you’ll likely catch more fish.

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Grand Champion Team, John Kicklighter, John Drawdy, & Scott Poppel – Capt. Jack McGowan

November 18-20th, 2004 Savannah hosted the Savannah Red Trout Celebrity Classic part of the Redbone Tournament Series originating in Florida.. This was a major inshore fishing tournament designed to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The tournament brought in legends in fishing like Stue Apte, Sandy Moret, Gary Ellis and Bob Rich. The tournament was a two day catch and release event. Points were awarded for fly, plug or bait. The points were 200, 100 and 50 respectively. Seventeen boats made up the field. The guides were some of the best from the “low country”. Captains were permitted to instruct but could not fish.

The Tournament
Tournaments take energy. Dr. Brad Goodman and Dr. Bruce Finkel were the local coordinators who spent countless hours in turning out a first class event. After the first day of the fishing a party and silent auction were held at The Westin Savannah. The weather for the second and final day of fishing was much like the first.. A gentle morning breeze coupled with an early morning low tide. Conditions were excellent for those wishing to target redfish on the fly. Gentle tides lessened the seatrout bite. Nonetheless, conditions were as good as one could ask.. Capt. Gary Ellis, series coordinator, stated the main purpose is the main purpose. Namely to benefit those suffering with cystic fibrosis not simply the competition.

Awards of the event are as follows:
Grand Champion Angler – Jim Daly
Captain, Grand Champion Angler – Capt. Matt Starling
Runner-Up Grand Champion Angler – John Kicklighter
Captain, Runner-Up Grand Champion Angler – Capt. Jack McGowan
Grand Champion Lady Angler – Sue Moret
Captain, Grand Champion Lady Angler – Capt. Scott Wagner
Team Grand Champions – John Kicklighter, John Drawdy, Scott Poppel
Captain, Team Grand Champions – Capt. Jack McGowan
Runner-Up Team Grand Champions – Jim Daly, Dale Daly
Captain, Runner-Up Team Grand Champions – Capt. Matt Starling
Pro-Celebrity Grand Champion – Sandy Moret
Captain, Pro-Celebrity Grand Champion – Capt. Scott Wagner
Celebrity Grand Champion – Bob Rich
Captain, Celebrity Grand Champion – Capt. Toby Hansen
Most Redfish Releases – Wynn Cowan (18 redfish)
Captain, Most Redfish Releases – Capt. Eric Traub
Most Trout Releases – Susan Ellis (25 trout)
Captain, Most Trout Releases – Capt. Brian Woelber
Biggest Redfish – Mindy Rich
Captain, Biggest Redfish – Capt. Toby Hansen
Biggest Trout – Bob Dibenedetto (19.75 inches)
Captain, Biggest Trout – Captain Matt Williams
Spin and Plug Division Champion – Craig Reagor
Captain, Spin and Plug Division Champion – Capt. Kent Bird
Fly Division Champion – Sue Moret
Captain, Fly Division Champion – Capt. Scott Wagner

A special thanks to my fellow fishermen and all those who helped to pull this event together and to John Kicklighter who put up with my coaching for two days

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

“The coming weeks should provide some of the best fishing of the fall!”
Fishing has good for the most part. Several large seatrout have been caught during the past week. The seatrout bite has noticeably picked up. Nonetheless, there are still lots of small fish present that can steal your bait and make fishing frustrating. When fishing and there are no small fish present that can be a good sign. When there no small bait stealer biting it can means big fish are present! Expect to find lots of small until water temperatures drops. At present water temperature is in the upper 60′s to low 70′s. We’ll need around a 10 degree drop to see these small fish starting to disappear. There’s plenty of shrimp in the creeks and rivers. Likewise there can be good fishing in the creeks and rivers as well. Allen Collins has had some good seatrout action in the Wilmington River. Activity in the Savannah River has picked as conditions have improved. Small male seatrout are the move as well as some large females. Usually the best seatrout fishing is where fishermen find a “drift”. A drift is moving water. Redfish are usually found closer to structure. Seatrout are thought of as further off the structure and in the current. A few bonnet head sharks are still present but most of the shark activity has slowed. Whiting are running the sand bars with some large bull whiting being caught. Some black drum activity has been reported. Usually black drum bite best in slower moving water, often at high tide. A black drum bite can easily be confused with a small fish bite. Often a black drum will have a soft bite. Shrimp that are eaten from the tail forward might indicate a black drum. Black drum are schooling fishing so its uncommon to have several drum in the area if you’ve caught one.

Still lots of small seatrout being caught. A good sign for next year provided we don’t an extremely cold winter. The coming weeks should provide some of the best fishing of the fall! If you don’t catch fish immediately don’t get discouraged. This is an excellence time of the year for inshore fishing! Look for clean water. Try to distance from other fishermen. Groups of boats together might indicate a big catch. More than likely it’s simply the law of attraction one boat attracts another until there’s a small raft of boats trying to fish one section of the river. On days with a slow drift, not much current, boats moving to and fro will likely deter the fishing by scaring the fish. On slow drift days try to minimize your noise and keep a respectable from other fishermen.

When to leave
Leave your drop after you’ve exhausted the possibilities: try the bottom, try fishing out away from the bank, try pitching a plastic. Sometimes the problem might be the fish are there but you can’t get your bait through the small fish. Pitching a plastic letting it sink through the small fish and slowly working your plastic in. Work your plastic slow in slow moving water. Fish moving water! The most difficult time to catch is on slack water. When fishing look for clean moving water and bait and you’ll likely catch fish.

Tides
The tides for the coming week are in the 7 foot range. Should be fine for fine! Watch your noise on small tides. Last week tides were much bigger than predicted, perhaps due to the lunar eclipse. Tides this week should be easier to work. Should be good fishing!

Capt. Jack McGowan

“Fall means fishing”
Fall is the time that most associate with inshore fishing. Water and air temperatures are dropping. There’s still plenty of bait in the creeks and rivers as redfish and seatrout fatten up for winter. Last week inshore fishing was hot with many fishermen limiting on seatrout. Black drum, redfish, flounder and sheepshead were biting strong as well! Bait shrimp became scare due to very clear water and strong demand at local bait shops. Despite very clear water many fisherman did exceptionally well with several limits of fish taken in the sounds. Striper action is also is heating up! Capt. Matt Williams said he fish his first day of the season for stripers. Matt reported catching 32 stripers with several in the 20 pound range!

Fishing should continue to heat up during the coming weeks as long as temperatures remain mild.. Fall fishing is little like playing the lottery. Keep playing and you’re likely you’ll likely have a nice return.. The fish this time of the year can be schooled up and aggressive. When one drop isn’t producing another might produce. With many fishermen on the water this time of the year a safe bet is to get on drop and fish the tide.

Tides will build to 8.8 feet on Saturday. Tides in the beginning of the week appear more fishable than the latter half. Strong northeast winds have hampered fishing. Northeasters typically last around a week. Northeasters can exaggerate high tides making the tides much higher than predicted. As winds subside good fishing will likely continue. Some fishermen believe that the bite increases as tides build. This statement is true up a point: as tides get over 8.3 feet the water will likely become dirty and the current too fast to fish. When tides are close to the 9 foot range look for the fish back in the grass.

Fall is a great time for fishing on the coast! Fall means fishing!

Capt. Jack McGowan.