Coastal River Charters

Despite dirty water this week there several reports of large roe trout around the beach fronts. My suggestion is practice catch and release. These fish are the producers of future fish. Most of these fish are being caught on live shrimp. The tsunami black mullet has been a favorite as well. Looks like another good year for flounder. Several nice flounder catches have been reported early in the Spring. Usually the best flounder is later in the summer. It’s likely is yet to come! Lots of small pogies (menhaden) showing up in the rivers. Bill Bowers reported seeing some large pogies on the beach fronts. As of yet no tarpon sighting or hook ups reported in local waters. Tarpon are already in just south of Savannah. It should be any day! Cobia action has heated up as water temperature bounced up. Joe Thomas reported seeing some nice spanish in the Wilmington River. Lots of lady fish around the sounds. These fish can provide plenty of fun on light tackle. They typically jump and are very fast! Lady fish aren’t too particular when it comes to bait. A lot of water that hold redfish and seatrout are holding lady fish. Redfish action has been consistent. Dirty water and strong have made fishing more difficult this week. Nonetheless the bite has been good (seatrout ,redfish and flounder). Local bait shop still don’t a consistent supply of bait. Don Adams is trucking in Florida shrimp. Florida shrimp are expensive. With a little luck local shrimp will be available shortly. Until then expect an inconsistent supply and the bait to be pricey. With all of the rain we during the Spring shrimpers and crabbers should have a good year. Abundant shrimp and crabs is good because it means there is more for redfish and seatrout to forage on, salinity levels are in balance and likely the next crop of shirmp and crabs will be plentiful (barring disease and environmental factors). Fishing will likely be improving as we move into the weekend and into next week. Tides are subsiding and water should becomes cleaner. Last week the best fishing was at the top and bottom of the tide when the water was the cleanest. When tides fall below 7.4 expect the better bite to be areas where you find a “good” drift, not too fast, not too strong.

Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan

Both Don Adams and Capt. George Bowen of Bandy’s are struggling to find shrimp. Mrs. Bowen said George was wearing himself out on the river. Shrimp have been difficult to find and when bait shrimpers have been successful the catch is relatively small compared to demand. Thank goodness brown shrimp will start appearing during the latter part of May and the first of June, hence the nickname for these small brown shrimp “junies”. Artificials can work well! The biggest factor when pitching any artificial is confidence. In general opt for clear colors when the water is clear. In murky water look for something that will penetrate. In dark water pitch darker patterns. Finger mullet and mud minnows are great live bait in lieu of shrimp Don Adams said he’s expecting another load of Florida shirmp for the coming week. This bait is a little more expensive; on the other hand, these are hardy shrimp. You better call ahead if your day of fishing is hinging on your visit to the baitshop. Most of our fish have been caught on artificials. Having a clear, a dark and chartreuse will cover most any situation.

Last Week
Tides looked good for fishing. Nonetheless wind and rain made conditions challenging. Windy conditions limited the choices of fishing areas. Rain water runoffs made conditions muddy and almost impossible for fish to feed. There will nice seatrout, flounder and redfish caught when favorable conditions were found. A few large roe trout were caught close to sounds as well as on some near shore wrecks. The whiting bite has likely peaked. More and more sharks are showing up: bonnet heads, sharp nose and others as temperatures heat up. Anticipate the shark bite to heat up! Cobia action has been slow due to cooler than normal water temperature. As conditions quickly warm up anticipate a strong bite to follow!

Coming Week
Relatively small tides means fishermen can fish most of their favorite drops throughout the tide. These can be excellent tides to target flounder. It seems a little early to think of flounder but they’re biting! Try bouncing a large mud minnow on bottom and you’ll likely entice this flat fish. Take your time on the hook set because they’re notoriously slow in committing on the bite.! Fishing will likely be steadily improving a water conditions improve!

Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan

Last week was definitely a seatrout week! There were several catches of around 10 fish. Ronny Reed had the largest catch with a 100 fish on Wednesday. Don’t worry Ronny was catching and releasing. Seatrout action has been good but not consistent. Many things can effect the bite: wind and tide stage to name two. The bottom line is one large catch doesn’t mean that kind of catch can be easily duplicated. Timing is everything! Seatrout are in the creeks and rivers. The bite will likely remain strong until these fish venture to the beach fronts. DOA gold 1/4 oz. shrimp have been effective on both redfish and seatrout. We landed one four trout a DOA shrimp. We’ve caught trout this week on mud minnows, soft plastics and live and dead shrimp. Live shrimp is likely the bait of choice if you can find some.

Whiting
John Bruke has written this is likely a record year for whiting! There are plenty of these small, tasty fish in the sounds! These fish are biting aggressively. Characteristically these fish will bump a bait followed by a light bite. Last weekend the fish we caught were inhaling the bait! The whiting strategy is simple fish bottom rigs around the sandbars or in rivers not far from the sounds and you’ll likely have plenty of bites!

Sharks
Small sharks are on the move! When fishing for whiting gets a little old hat try fishing larger pieces of cut bait for sharks. These fish can definitely test your equipment. If you want to land a few sharks a steel leader is good idea. I usually use about 12″ leader with only a 30 pound leader. You’ll be amazed at the fish you can catch on it! When the big boys arrive I’ll fish a 90 pound steel leader. Any fish that goes through a 90 pound leader is likely a monster!

So Long to King Arthur
The king has died. Arthur Brannon was know to many around the river as King Arthur or simply as Arthur. Arthur’s lairs could be spotted on small hammocks around Savannah. For most Arthur was just eccentric river rat who resembled father time. For others Arthur was a skilled cast net maker who totally enjoyed life . Arthur charged much less than his product was worth. Arthur could be seen from time to time riding his bicycle replete with a couple of 5 gallon buckets, probably loaded with a net or two. His stamina was remarkable but more remarkable was his spirit. He loved a good party, he loved being around people and I believed he loved Jesus. Some who did not know Arthur were scared of him. Those of us whose path crossed with his knew he was a gentle spirit making his way back home as he traveled the *”king’s highway”. He once told me that someone called him crazy because he choose to live his life on the river, under the stars and not straddle by work as we know it. Arthur said to me who do think is crazy me or one calling me crazy. Free spirits like Arthur who remind us of simpler less complicated world. Thank God for Arthur may he sit with Jesus on the bank of river.

*This was small path that meandered through the woods in Bonaventure cemetery to one of Arthur’s liars. Arthur appropriately named his trail the King’s highway after himself.